HBOE - Regular Meeting - 9/16/2025-ORG

001Good evening. As vice chairperson of the Hartford Board of Education, I hereby call the September 16, 2025 regular meeting to order. 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 Hartford 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 Hartford 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. They 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 designated for the public to address the board. Decorum 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 with our recording capabilities with our recording capabilities. I'm pleased that you have taken this time this evening to join us. We are very proud of this school system

003and thank you for your interest in the Hartford Public Schools. Now, this will be read in Spanish. [Music] at the Hartford. superintend audience. forch. Thank you. And now we will have our chairperson vote. And now I will open up the floor for nominations. Are there any nominations? I >> um I um nominate myself, Tyrone Walker, for uh chair of the Harper Board event. >> That's Tyrone Walker. Do we have any more nominations for chair person? >> I nominate board member Corey Mills. >> We have Corey Mills. And do we have any other nominations for chairperson? >> I'll nominate board member Shante Brody. >> Shante Brody. And do we have any more nominations for chairperson? I nominate myself. France Destelle Ledger. Do we have any more nominations for chairperson? No more nominations for chairperson. So I

004believe we will close nominations and we will vote. Congratulations. The new chair is Shante Brody. [Applause] Thank you um everyone. So I don't have a speech um prepared. So um we're going to go right into um our opening statement, but I think um our first vice Thank you. So, we're going to move on to public comment. >> Mr. Mills. >> Yep, that's me. All right. So, public comment intro. So, we as a board in collaboration with the superintendent and district leadership are committed to cultivating a culture of excellence at Hartford Public Schools. We thank you for taking the time to attend tonight's meeting. We appreciate you coming out to learn more about Hartford Public Schools and for sharing your thoughts and concerns. We have a protocol to track and respond to concerns raised. We want

005you 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 prepared method of contact the speaker has indicated. 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. in Hartford. participants. It's a person investig Minister. commentary. Angelica Martins Good evening members of the board and superintendent. My name is Angelica Maddox. I am a parent and a coach helping implement the bottomup approach with Albertan University and Harford public schools. I want to thank you for putting forward the first reading for the volunteering policy. The goal of involving families and

006community while protecting students is important and needed. But as written or proposed, some of the language could work against that those very goals. The draft leans heavily on protection, but the tone makes volunteers feel more like risk to be managed than partners to be welcomed. If we want more involvement, the invitation has to feel like trust, not suspicion. The section on removal uses vague terms like inappropriate or detrimental behavior. Without clear examples, one school might treat a situation very differently from another. That inconsistency open doors to personal bias in how staff interpret those behaviors. Authority is scattered between principal, staff, coordinators, and safety team. A symptom of no clear structure without a defined process for decisions or appeals. Families are left guessing where to turn turn. Placement is said to be based on qualifications, availability,

007and school needs and require staff consent. Consent that puts too much discretion in individual hands. One staff member may welcome parents while another may keep them out and this policy as proposed allows for that. And what exactly are qualifications? If I'm expected to be qualified, then the district has a responsibility to qualify me with clear training, clear expectations, and real support. Otherwise, qualifications become gatekeeping instead of a pathway for families to be involved. Orientation is also reactive, provided only after approval. A proactive standardized orientation upfront would set expectations fairly and prepare all volunteers equally. In summary, this draft has good intentions, but our school lack consistent structures and expectations for volunteers. Without standard guidelines or SOPs, um decisions will keep varying from one school to another. Families feel like families should feel like trusted partners

008in our school, not risk to be managed. Volunteers don't need more barriers. They need clear structure and real supports. Thank you. H yes Jenny welcome >> Good evening everyone welcome superintendent um and board members, welcome back. It's a new year, right? I'm hoping you all feel the energy and um making sure that everyone in your staff in the city in general are feeling that same energy to get back to work. So, I'm hire Cynthian again and I'm a community leader. Um and for those of you who don't know me, I um I had three children that went through the school system to Harford public school system and they are all hold a doctor title. All right. So, um I'm here to speak in general on um consolidation and you have to, you know, be strong

009about doing something. We have too many high school in our district and we can't afford to keep them all open. You have schools that were built for eight or 900 kids with 200 or 300. I'm asking the superintendent, the board members to come together and start looking at a study to figure out which school we should be consolidating on. Especially the high school, the magnet school in general. Our kids are being stretched so thin. Our staff are stretched so thin. They don't need to lose their job. We can bring them together in a bu in one building like we do at Weaver and like we used to do at Harer High. And now we are going to have Buckley open. We need to figure out how we can come together. As we know all most

010of our budget is going into transportation. So we need to seriously address that. This is hard time when we have to look at hard things and all as a superintendent all you need to do is explain it to parents. It's all come down to quality of education that we have in our building. And as we talk about sending our kids into the suburbs for education, I'm I'm not sure if we haven't gotten it yet to see where we can get good quality education in the city of Hartford. If we only make sure we have quality in our building, all the amenity that kids think they're going out in the suburb to get, we need to show it right in Hartford here. And because we have too many buildings, well, we are stretched thin. So, we

011need to do something about that. And I'm hoping, superintendent, you will work with your board and get that study done so we can move forward. All right. All right. And I'm here to support whatever needed. I can I can help. Okay. And make sure your teachers are getting the support they need, your principles are getting the support they need. They don't need to be stressed out. I always said when people are stressed, you cannot get a lot done from them. So, please make sure you're working with your principles and your teachers. And the other thing I wanted to also mention is to do a summit with your teachers, just your teachers. Find out what's working from what's not working. You do not need to reinvent the wheel. All right? So, let's do something like that.

012If you can do that, you're going to find out that you have a lot of people on your side. Okay? Thank you, Millie Arcas. good evening um superintendent Dr. Dr. Tonsel and honorable board members uh chairman chairwoman Shante Broaddy it's good to see this too many years go back 25 years and it's good to see this. We're finally here. And I say that because I don't know if I said my name, Millie Arsenz from Harford Parent University. I say that because there were women before us that led this effort on parent engagement and myself and many other parents learned from them and here we are today and I'm proud I'm proud that Miss Shante Brody is now chairman of the board. So with that said, I want to talk about a couple of things tonight.

013One, welcome Dr. Tonsel. It was great having our 30-minute meeting. Hopefully there'll be more. Um, and I hope that we can get Title One to where it needs to be. Um, I don't think it's there yet. And I I want to work with you to ensure that there is a conference, a title one conference for parents so that parents can learn what their children um in each grade have to learn. Right? Way back then we had brochures and um it was nice it was nice to have those conferences so that parents can know what Title One uh is providing for their children. So, and then the other thing that I wanted to talk about is data sharing. I know there's been a lot of talk about data sharing between school official uh school district and

014uh nonprofits and even at the state level. There's a public act out there that allows for data to be shared. Uh but what parents are struggling with is, you know, how is that being done? When they enroll their kids, it asks them if there's like an option. Do you want your data shared with the Hartford Youth Bureau? They don't know who that is. So, they don't know what they're checking off on. And then on top of that, they don't know how to opt out if they want to opt out. So I think you know we can work together trying to help those families understand it better on how their data is shared and who sees what and how is it aggregated so that parents can um you know uh uh go to those services without

015having to think where their data is at. Thank you, Mike. Saucy There we go. That's okay. You guys know who I am. Anyway, um first off, I want to actually start off on a on a good note, and that's that superintendent, you made your way to Hartford High today, and uh you got to see some of the great teachers at our school. Oh, I know that it was actually a good timing that you came in because Miss Medina was starting uh Hispanic Heritage Month. you saw her all dressed up and uh she really goes uh she really puts a lot into that into those uh four weeks and the students love it and I know that you also visited our engineering and you uh pathway and you visited our allied health pathway and you can

016see what we offer at the school and what opportunities the kids have in our building. So, and also I heard that, correct me, I heard that you came in on a scooter. I'm still trying to visualize that, but you know, you you have a parking spot, but that's okay. You you do you. Um, so what I want to talk about is actually something that's not necessarily on campus. It's on um we have to as teachers, we have two options. It's we park on Fourth Street or we park on a satellite lot which is a third of the mile away from the building. I wholeheartedly go into the satellite lot because I despise parallel parking but and there's a few colleagues of mine who do. Now there is a parking agreement that was signed um obviously

017not under you but under the previous mayor under the previous superintendent. There are two copies, one from 2021 to 22 and one from 22 to 23. So, I'm not sure if necessarily this is on the board or the superintendent on your radar, but let me just read you some of the things in there that are supposed to happen and address and tell you what's not being done. So, uh we're supposed to be given spaces for 180 vehicles for staff with key cards to go into a gantry in a gated lot. The gantry does not exist. The um the gate does not close. Uh the city is supposed to be in charge of it's supposed to be open from the hours of 6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p p.m. so as to allow not allow people from

018in the community to park in the lot. Uh that does not happen. The majority of the cars in that lot are from people who park who live in South Marshall and they'll park in the parking lot. So let me tell you the responsibilities from the city. They are supposed to be in charge of lighting, sweeping, snow removal. Uh I have pictures and I can send them to you from Monday to from Monday morning of a glass bottle of alcohol in the parking lot. There is glass all over the place in the parking lot. Uh I have to make sure that I do not drive over the glass or god forbid hit the bottle. Um they're in charge of opening and closing the gate. That does not happen. And also I did find this out because

019people had been asking me is who is responsible for the damages. So if somebody breaks into my car um the city is responsible for that and that's according to this contract and I know I'm over time. Um the only thing that Etna is responsible for because this is an Etn lot is they are in charge of utilities. So paying Eversource and the gate control system which I can tell you that last year there was a period of time where that thing was broken and I actually moved it out so that I can get my car out. So my last speaking point on this is this cost from when this contract was signed was $125,000. As of now it is over $150,000. So, and I was here last year talking about my position. I got paid

020last year $51,000. So, we're saying we're paying three times the salary of a teacher for that lot and it's not being taken care of. And I just find that appalling. I've tried to go through many different channels to get this solved. And this is essentially my last resort is putting out public record for you guys to see what you can do about it. All right. I apologize. I'll make up for it next next month and do a little short thing. Melvin Colong uh distinguished members of the board of education and friends. Um I am former uh resident of the city of Hartford and I also served as the chair of the Hartford school building committee for five or six years. Um I was delighted to see on the agenda the renaming of the uh classical

021magnet school. Um uh I one of my uh um I lived long-term resident uh I was a long-term resident of the city of Boston and one of my biggest disappointments while I lived there was that uh Boston did not hire Mr. Mr. Lontaine, a school superintendent u and hired someone else who didn't do as good a job as I'm sure Mr. Milan Fontaine would have done. Uh Mr. La Fontaine has been a national and international pioneer in bilingual education. Uh he established uh the first complete master's program in bilingual education at NYU. uh and he was the first head of bilingual of the bilingual education program for the city of New York uh school board. He helped found and served as president of the National Association of Bilingual Education, NAB. Um and he was the

022longest serving superintendent when he came to Hartford to become superintendent, he he was the longest serving superintendent of uh of uh the city of Hartford. One of his many contributions to Hartford was to establish a computer to establish computer-based education. He established also the classical magnet school which is on today's agenda. After leaving his post as superintendent, he served uh and uh he ran and won a seat on the city council and eventually became city council president. Uh he's never left Harford uh and he educated his two sons in the Hartford school system. Having a school named after you is a really big honor. Uh you have to do something really extraordinary. You have to have extraordinary qualities and do extraordinary things um and make extraordinary contributions to to deserve such an honor. Mr. La

023Fontaine has left a record of accomplishment, contribution, dedication, service um of such magnitude uh uh to merit uh having a school named after him. Thank you. Anthony de Jesus. shut it off. Good evening, distinguished board members and superintendent Tanzel. My name is uh Dr. Anthony Jesus. I'm a professor of social work at the University of St. Joseph. I'm a resident of Hartford and um former school governance council chair at Annie Fischer Monasuri Magnet School uh where my daughter is um a student and I'd like to add to the support that um Mr. Melvin Kolong has uh provided for the renaming of classical magnet school after Dr. La Fontaine, the first Puerto Rican superintendent of the city of Hartford. Um, my wife uh Dr. Maline Perez and I co-authored an article in 2009 in the Centro

024uh journal, the Center for Puerto Rican Studies Journal that documented the work of Dr. Fontaine in New York City as the founder of the first bilingual school in New York City uh and uh a leader in the movement for bilingual education in New York City and nationally. Um certainly as a as a New York Rican, I'm uh very proud of that. But my daughter is a Hartford Rican and uh she attends the school that's named after the first woman superintendent of the Hartford public schools and uh we certainly would like her to consider being a a student at the first um at at at the Hernand la magnet school. So um I add my support and thank you very much for your consideration. [Applause] Raquel Calderon. Good evening, Dr. Tonsel and good evening board of

025directors. My name is Raquel Calderon and I am a substitute teacher in the for the far hard far public schools. I'm primarily here to to thank you to the to Dr. Tonsel. I heard uh comments that he had visited several schools and I'm happy about that. And secondly, I'm here to support the change of name of classical magnet school to I have the name written down here. It's um to uh Fernando Fontaine and I have found out that he is one of the the most important things that he he is the one who initiated this school. It was his idea to for the establishment of the classical magnet school and is the same school that you that what you are going to go tonight to to see whether you're going to change the name or

026not and I hope you do. I am here in support of that and the reason is uh that changing the name of classical magnet school is is really important. They are they they have contributed a lot in hard for for the hard for children and they are contributing a lot and hard for I uh do Dr. Sullivan used to be the principal and he work really hard there you know is is uh Miss Sullivan and uh they are doing excellent job. I do substitute there once in a while and I and I love it and I hope you do support to change the name. Good night. Michael DS. [Music] Good evening board members and superintendent Dr. Townsel. Um my name is Michael DS. I live at 74 Rosemont Street in Hartford and I'm glad to

027see that one of my neighbors was elected chair of the board of education this evening. It's about time. She's been on the board a long time and she has a lot of experience. I'm sure she'll do a good job. Shante, congratulations. Um I I support also finally we're getting to name the classical magnet school after Hernand la Fantaine. Very good man. I I was a substitute teacher. He became a superintendent. I I was a substitute teacher about six months before he became superintendent. Um I also want to remind the uh Dr. tells us um uh that the school system still has no vocational technical education. We used to have that. We have no uh family consumer science. We used to have that. We used to have a a full contingency of music, art, library. We

028don't have that now. Um and uh we also had plenty of extracurricular activities, especially in the high schools. We don't have that now. We need that. And uh there's money uh $550 million that's owed by the state still that the city hasn't collected. Uh there's a the state should be paying for the state uh encouraged the the uh uh was actually uh in charge of u u of uh com of of uh bringing the schools together and uh and um they uh they should be taking over the um transportation $30 million transportation for the city of Hartford. um and to promote integration which is very important. It was a long time overdue when they passed that uh um that bill or that uh it wasn't a bill. It was a court decision. Um so also

029uh I want to uh uh if we're going to start combining schools and closing schools, we need to move some of these magnet schools into the regular high schools. We spent a lot of money renovating our three high major high schools, Weaver, Harvard High, and Buckley High School. We need to move some and there not enough students in there. They have to have we have to move some of our u uh combine some of our magnet schools, our magnet high schools into the regular school system. Um, and also uh in the newspaper this uh this past week I mentioned the uh privatization of special education. We got to look into that. I think we have to stop privatizing some of our special ed ed students are taking it over ourselves. Thank you. Alisa Peterson >>

030really can't hear back there. Good evening, board of education members, and welcome se Superintendent Townel, and congratulations, Miss Browy. Um, I've read articles about your success elsewhere, and thank you for transferring to our perpetual problem child that we loving lovingly call home, Hartford, Connecticut. I come to board of ed meetings infrequently, whereas I used to be a regular attendee decades ago when we were under state control and later Horton Chef oversight. I am newly concerned that the prior il illegality of socially promoting kids who couldn't read or perform basic math has that landed us under such strict control and oversight has returned. It's only a matter of time before the latest painful truths come out via investigations or lawsuits. It happens every time in Hartford, I assure you. I separately had hopes that Mayor Arolam

031was serious about restoring neighborhood schools because former mayor Bronin totally ignored them and send his children for private education. Sadly, I don't think this one-term mayor has time on his side. So, I am here to implore you, Superintendent Council, to take a thoroughly fresh look at our schools, their locations, their budgets. I do believe a focus on AI can make a difference. I'm hoping the mayor's new AI working group will undertake the board of education as a practical experiment to help rid us of expensive software in corporate subscriptions and consultants so we can create our own basic curriculum and achieve other cost-saving efficiencies. Another request is for you to take a fresh look at our out of town campuses in East Hartford and Manchester. Specifically, there is an opportunity to give back the Pathways Academy

032building to Goodwin University. Bring those teachers and staff and funding back to our neighborhood schools in exchange for creating a bigger tech magnet program that more Hartford students can attend that features aviation and flight operation and defense manufacturing technologies. A 1.5 million state study strongly suggests Hartford's Briner airport and our strongly supports Hartford's Briner airport. And our governor just hired a new chief manufacturing officer whose focus is high school tech education and training so our future graduates can get higher paying jobs at manufacturers throughout the state. Working with Goodwin University can help realize these dual opportunities. To sum up, I am going to pay very close attention as to how this board and you, Dr. Council, handle prior illegal um prior allegations of illegal social promotion. Second, we need to hear how AI can be

033deployed for cost-saving efficiencies. And last, I will be in touch to get budget numbers for these two out of town campuses. Thank you very much. Carol Gale. Good evening. I I I do agree this microphone is pretty bad to hear from back there, but uh I'll try and speak loudly. Good evening, members of the board, superintendent of schools, and congratulations, chairperson. My name is Carol Gail, and I'm the president of the Hartford Federation of Teachers. Dr. Townsel in his first few weeks in Hartford Public Schools has brought forth Aha. How's that? Is that better back there? >> Ah, thank you. All right, let me start that paragraph again. Dr. Townsel, in your first short few weeks with Hartford Public Schools, you have brought forth a more positive messaging regarding our school district. My comments this

034evening are going to be in keeping with that momentum. First, there are many positive reactions across the district to our new 7-hour school day. In speaking with staff from many different schools, the overwhelming response that I receive when asking about the seven-hour day is smiles, thumbs up, and positive feedback. Staff do feel less stressed, and they report that students are getting through their day more attentively and with better energy levels throughout the entire day. So hopefully some staff are even speculating that the reduction in staff from the shorter day may have a positive impact on staff attendance and even hopefully student attendance. Let's hope that speculation bears fruition. And thank you to all of those who worked diligently last year to negotiate this new length of the school day. Second, Dr. Council met with the

035union coalition representing 11 of the unions within the Hartford public school system for an open and honest dialogue. The meeting ended with the goal of scheduling regular such meetings and we look forward to getting those on our calendar. In previous speeches before this body, HFT has expressed concern over the rising number of grievances that the union has filed. Dr. council upon hearing this has set a goal of resolving grievances at the lowest level. HFT welcomes this approach. Also, there is currently a joint effort underway between the union and the district to try and resolve the many outstanding grievances from prior years. We are actually close to having resolved three matters that would otherwise result in arbitrations. So, that would be awesome and definitely a step in the right direction. Uh the district also agreed to

036combine nine related grievances so as to speed up the time it takes for these grievances to be resolved. These actions illustrate the district's desire to resolve matters which in turn makes employees feel valued. These are indeed the types of steps forward that can lead to improved staff retention in the district. Dr. Towns will also express openness to of uh hearing ideas that can reallocate our resources and reinvest in our schools. This allows our staff at all levels who best understand the strengths and shortcomings within a building or program to offer ideas for ways to better utilize our resources and improve upon our models of instruction and service delivery to our students. Finally, I'd like to share some invite insights from a survey recently conducted by the Hartford Current of Best Places to Work. Their findings

037noted that the most resilient organizations are those with strong cultures rooted in trust, recognition, purpose, and adaptability. These aren't things that happen by accident. They require systems, commitment, and a willingness to involve in the spirit of collaboration. HFT stands ready to work towards creating these systems that will evolve Hartford Public Schools to a best place to work and a best place to learn. Thank you. here. I look forward to working with you as a council president um going forward. Congratulations. And most than anything else, I want to thank you all, every one of you for your service to the city of Hartford and to the students in the city. I know it's not very easy and the work you have to do and so it's very appreciative that you're giving of your time to make

038and honor our students. Um, two things. I wasn't planning on speaking. So, I just want to let you know my thoughts. And um before I was council president, uh many many moons ago, I worked for the city council as a staff. And I remember meeting our superintendent, uh Mr. Fontaine. It was amazing the way he brought our community and our youth together. So I respectfully ask you as you consider renaming the school after him. I think he very well deserve it. Um as a staff again I say that he was very helpful in bringing our community together. So please respectfully consider that. My other um items I want to speak with you on is uh school consolidation. We went through a very difficult budget this year and I am looking forward to working with each

039and every one of you for the upcoming school year budget. But I will have to say this, I would like to see uh some sort of new way of thinking. Not sure how it is because I this is not you guys are board of education. It's your fore I don't do not know about the education part of it. But I do want to tell you that as a council member and you bring forth your budget, we have to vote on it. And we really and truly need to make sure you as board members realize that you are the fidiciary responsibility for our youth in our city. And you need to really consider how you're going to use your funds to provide the best education for our kids. So, in summary, I'm looking forward to working

040with everyone, but I'm also looking forward to seeing if you have a plan for consolidation, working with our parents, working with the city council to go ahead for this fiscal year 26 budget. Thank you. And our last speaker is John Walton. [Music] Good evening, Dr. Tanzu, and good evening, distinguished board members. Also, good evening to the new board chair. Good evening to all the board members. Uh, your enthusiasm is recognized. Bear with me. I don't feel very well this today, but I'm going to push through this. Also, good evening to the council members. Good evening to the district leaders. Good evening to the supporters of uh Dr. Lafante. You all know how I feel about the renaming of uh the school building. I'm in agreement with that. But we have to get to the business

041of today. Uh Dr. Townsel, you are a breath of fresh air because you don't notice this, but my guys and and gals through this district get to travel throughout the district. And all I hear about is you on that scooter flying down Main Street in your suit going to schools visiting. And I also have pictures that I posted on my union website of you visiting every single person in the school, shaking hands, looking them directly in their eyes, talking to them. So there's a very real part of you that people are starting to notice and that and that's very welcoming. Um, and why I mention that is because, and I'm going to dig a little deep here and be a little preachy. Uh, there are two major religions in our country. Uh, Christianity and Islam.

042And ironically, both of the prominent figures in both of those belief systems, uh, are just common people. One, uh, Muhammad, uh, was an orphan and Christ was born in a manger. So I know uh this particular board and I can tell and people in the audience uh I have a very vast Christian belief background. And why I say this is because it amazes me that we, you know, celebrate Christ who was actually born to a carpenter who is a tradesman and I represent the trades and a and a regular uh lady and Mary. And why I say that is because a lot of times we forget that a lot of the good advice and things that we need to know to fix fix things come from common people, not from titles, not from accolades, and

043not from accomplishments. And for a long time, Local 566 has been forgotten, not recognized as 80 over 80% of them are Harford residents, and they're the exact stakeholders that this board helps represent. makes decisions for and their children their staples in the community and we need to start readjusting our thinking and Dr. Tanzu, you have begun that work by changing the culture. And we've had a culture here where we build from the top down. And if you talk to any engineer, he would never tell you to build a structure from the top down. But yet in Harford, we continuously continuously build from the top down, not realizing that we should be building from the bottom up, the foundation up to create something strong enough to stand. We have some of the most talented people in

044all the title positions yet forgetting that in order to make sure that our kids are successful, we have to start from the ground. The people that they see that are not certified, the people who serve them the nutrition, the people who help keep the lights on so they can read the books, the people who are what I call the forgotten. And a lot of times I have a vision that I think is shared with some of the people on your facility side, especially the COO, of making sure that all of the people that we represent that work here that are non-certified that I represent are looked at as educators as well because that's what they really are. They're the they're the the the structure and the backbone of why these schools stay open, stay clean,

045stay safe. When you walked into the schools, you know, none of the schools have a selfcle button. It was somebody who actually had to work hard and what I respected about you Dr. Tanzo when we had our meeting you said my dad grew up on as well while working on assembly line. So I'm sure you heard stories when he came home about how things were operating when he was working and those were real tangible stories for you to understand that his work contributed to the greater work of building cars that Americans could drive throughout this country. And that's what we're doing here as well. I know you have put the charge on your team to make sure that we're treated well in our contract negotiations and I see that and and I'm hearing that and

046things are looking to go in the right direction and you have a lot on your plate to try to steer this ship into the right direction. What I just want to say to you and to this group is let's stop forgetting the forgotten people. Let's make sure we highlight them as educators. And as one uh lady spoke in the audience about changing the educational structure to include things in the industries that have real life rewards immediately like good paying jobs and good futures and hands-on and building their community because that's a real investment. That's what's going to attract an the enrollment back into Harford public schools because we're going to be meeting children at the areas that they want to be at. Yes, we can give them a broader education, but if we don't meet

047their needs, and I've repeated this a million times, if we don't meet them where they are, if we don't start addressing their basic needs where they are, we lose them. We also want to be attractive to the kids that are forgotten in other districts because not every kid is going to be able to go to college and not every kid is going to be able to be a superintendent or be a a a professional in the educational realm. So, we're going to need to start attracting kids from other districts that have been forgotten and bring them into Harford to increase our enrollment and to show them a future. Harford's a melting pot and I'm sorry I'm running over my time, but Dr. Tanzo, I know you have a lot on your plate. This board has

048a lot on your plate. I thank you for your time. I thank you for your efforts. And I appreciate actually the choice you made. Thank you everyone um who um offered up um public comment. As a reminder, all of our reports um including our full committee reports, student reports, all attachments and videos in the meeting agenda is in the media agenda 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 and I highly encourage the community to view the meetings and read the reports when possible. Um, if you have any questions or feedback, please contact Christina Santiago, our board liaison at cantiago atarfordschools.org. and we'll move on to the um report of our superintendent. >> Thank you and congratulations,

049Chair Browy. Is it Browy or Brody? Brody. >> Thank you, Chair Brody. Uh ladies and gentlemen, first of all, good evening. Very excited to be at my second school board meeting. Let me share I'm I'm within my first 100 days of listening and learning across um Hartford Public Schools and the greater Hartford community. Um, so, so you know, I've visited 35 of our 39 schools. I think it's important to have boots on the ground and see for yourself the things that you hear. And I'm doing exactly that. I'm learning a lot. I'm listening a lot. And my goal and plan is to ultimately share with our board of education, the community, what I've learned and what themes emerge so we can have a plan moving forward to align with our already strategic plan and other

050things that we're talking about or considering such as consolidation etc. But I'm listening, I'm learning because someone also said previously the goal is not to reinvent the wheel. It's probably to make it roll better than it has. So, I just want to share that. Um, moving on, uh, Senator Richard Blumenthal, shout out to him. I have an opportunity to do a, um, press conference with him at Martin Luther King Middle School, um, about the raise act. And the goal is to find an opportunity to use a tax source down the line to put $15,000 in the hands of all of our teachers. Uh, so keep your ears open for that. I think anytime we're talking about putting money in the pockets of our educators, that's something to lean into. So, I want to share that

051and pressage that right here with this community. I'd like to give a major shout out to Calling All Brothers. Um, Pastor AJ Johnson, the gentleman across the community stepped up for 10 years in a row. If you do not recall, uh, Calling All Brothers, they clap young people in on the first days of school. And it's been a a practice that's been duplicated across our country. So when you see on the news or on CNN these brothers or sisters, whomever, clapping in young people, that started right here. So a major shout out to our calling our brothers organization locally because every day of the first week of school, they were out welcoming young people into our campuses and that's how you set the bar and set the tone for what to expect as far as

052engaging our young people. I want to share um the results of the summer reading challenge. I'm proud to share the results of the 2025 reading challenge. One city and many stories. We had a total registration of 2,259 students who read for 1.2 million minutes and that's 20,000 hours of reading. Congratulation to our schools with the highest number of reading registration, which is SAND with 318 students registered. And kudos to all of our other schools who participated. And I do want you to know, ladies and gentlemen, it is very important that we lean into literacy. When we talk about our student achievement, anytime somebody's talking negative about Hartford student attendance, they're talking about our literacy scores and our mathematics scores. So, initiatives like this is very important. And one thing I shared with our elementary principles

053is that I'll be doing my read across Hartford tour at every one of our schools promoting the importance of literacy and getting our young people engaged in all types of books. And I really get into character so I hope no one films that. But it's going to be a real good time with our young people. Let me give an update. So when you think of Hartford Public Schools, um there's no doubt that we have challenges, but the goal is to support our families and meet them where they are to give them their young people the best education possible. So I would like to give you an update from our welcome center to let you know what we're dealing with and how we're supporting our families. Um we processed and triaged so far this year 1,138

054intakes for services and information for the month of August. The top 10 reasons for our intakes were the following: homelessness, transportation issues, uniform assistance, clothing, school supplies, bus passes, student transfer requests, enrollment, school records, and we're going to continue to provide those resources. So, I ask us all to signal boost the message that we have support at all of our schools to support our young people with what they need. See when everyone are want to talk down on Hartford public school is about the challenges that we face and I'd like to shout out all the educators and anybody who contribute to our school system to ensure that we meet our young people where they are and give them the resources to be successful. So shout out to our welcome center and any educator in Hartford

055public school that's adding value to our young people. I want to update you on a strategic partnership we have with our community-based organizations and our workforce development program. For this academic year 2526, Hartford Public School has engaged so far with 27 community-based organizations to provide services to students where 18 of them have solidify their partnerships via anou or memorandum of understanding as well as five organization with a focus on career and workforce development. We will continue to work through these processes with these organizations. We do have, if you go on our agenda, a full report on all of our partnerships so you can see what we're doing. The goal is to be as transparent as we possibly can be. And while being transparent, let me say I never discourage public comment or accountability. I rather

056you tell me where the weaknesses are so we can address that and get better over time. We're not dodging no smoke. We want to just fix whatever it is to be fixed and be the best that we can possibly be. And let me share this. Uh on tomorrow and Thursday, I'm doing a community listening session. Very specifically tomorrow, I'll be with the North Hartford Ascend community conversation at Milner Middle School starting at 6:00 p.m. Um I encourage any and everyone who's available to show up there. We will have dinner provided, uh refreshments, uh translation services. It's an opportunity to just chop it up, to just get down in the grassroots and talk about whatever it is that's on your hearts and minds. So far, if you go online, there's an opportunity to register ahead of

057time. But if you do not register, just show up. We will find our best way to accommodate you and ask anything that's on the tablet of your heart so we can address that. And on Thursday, we'll be at um Sanchez School, same time. Uh registration starts at 5:30, but we start the program at six o'clock with dinner refreshments, child care, translation services, and an opportunity to collect. And before I park my bus, I want to give a um another public service announcement with regards to why you should probably choose Hartford Public Schools. Um we all hear about the Hartford Promise, but I don't know how much we understand about the Hartford Promise. When I talk to the leadership at Hartford Promise, there's so much money every single year left on the table. I'm talking millions

058of dollars. If you go to a Hartford public school, if you live in the city of Hartford, if you only maintain a 3.0 0 gradepoint average and come to school with a 93% attendance rate. Ladies and gentlemen, you are guaranteed up to $100,000 in scholarship money to a school of your choice, not limited to a school in in in Connecticut, a school of your choice. I don't know how we don't understand how much of an added value that is. And I understand sometime in some cases possibly trust has been lost along along the years. But I'm asking us to reinvest. I mean, I can come in and wave the white flag and just close schools, but why? We have three, 4,000 students choosing to go elsewhere. The goal is to make Hartford Public School the

059best system possible, and we won't have to worry about what are we consolidating or closing because the goal is to have an overflow. And I do believe in that. So, we're going to do the research 100% and see what it means to consolidate. See what the data says. How much money can we possibly save? What's the best way forward, but also we're going to try to provide the best system possible and hope over time we choose Hartford Public Schools. When I say we choose, and this is the reality, I talk to us all. The reality is we do also have employees that live in Hartford and send kids elsewhere. And I get it. At some point along the line, trust was lost. But it takes all of us. My approach is team teamwork. But here's

060the threat when it comes to team. You can just sit on the sideline and watch and not participate. So although there's no eye in team, if we want to win, the eye is in the win. That means every individual, you do what you supposed to do and look at the scoreboard, it would probably take care of itself. The enrollment would take care of itself. When the pedigogy is where it's supposed to be, when the climate and culture is where it's supposed to be, where the fiscal responsibility is where it's supposed to be, then that trust come back. We have trees falling in the forest all the time and no one hearing it. Esports at all of our schools where they can get scholarships and go off into college by participating in electronic sport competitively. So

061many great things happening, but the good news do not spread like the bad news. So, I'm asking you, as long as you're engaged, if you see that good news occurring, I need us all to signal boost the message so the rest of our lives can be the best of our lives, specifically to Hartford Public Schools. So, with that, I will park my bus. That concludes my report. Thank you. >> Thank you, Superintendent. We're now going to move on um to the um business agenda. And first up, we have item 4.1. And what a pleasure to do this on my first um night as chair. Um the stars aligned on this one. Renaming classical magnet school. Um the motion is that the Harford Board of Education rename the classical magnet school to Hernand Lafantine Classical Magnet

062School. Do I have a motion? >> So moved. >> Second. >> I'll ask um our policy chair um board member Fortune to um lead us into um this discussion possibly. >> My pleasure, Madam Chair. I remember joining the board and being handed the packet that Mrs. Lafentaine had submitted to the board um prior to five of us joining this board and reading about Dr. laugh and then speaking to his wife about him, his legacy and what he has contributed. And what I've observed is everyone who's been new to the conversation when they learn about him, the work that he's done, how he's poured his heart and soul into Hartford schools and then Hartford City Council and has been so incredibly invested through friends who went to schools in Hartford. They've talked about remembering Dr. Lafentaine

063and remembering his children going to the schools and uh how the only phone number that was not in the phone books at the time was the superintendent's phone number because everyone would be calling. Everyone seems to remember him fondly and I have taken on that fondness. I have appreciated hearing from so many people from so many walks of life over decades of his tenure and decades of his career and it is an absolute privilege to be able to share more about this vote and have gotten to know Dr. Lafantine through the various testimonies through speaking with his wife through reading about him and it is a tremendous legacy um that he has left. It's also not lost upon me and upon this board. I believe that history serves to not only inform who we are

064in the present, but also to teach us about how we can be better and stronger in the future. And Dr. Lafenta has really planted strong seeds. He's planted trees that have shaded so many of us along the way, so many Hartford students along the way. and honoring his legacy by renaming classical magnet after him is certainly welld deserved, well-earned, and it's a privilege to be part of a school system that he's contributed so much to. >> Thank you um for that. Um board member Fortune, does any other board members have any comments they would like to make? Corey, Mr. Mills? Uh before I start, I'm going to vote yes. All right, just just in case I need to say that out loud. Um I'm not going to lie to you though. I was originally very

065hesitant about this. Um mostly for incredibly selfish reasons, right? So like I went to University High. Um and as every single board member who who went to Weaver, uh there's about three of you, um knows, there's there's sometimes a rivalry that exists amongst schools here. So, as a proud graduate of University High School, uh our rival in so much that we could be rivals with anybody was classical magnet. Um and I say we couldn't really be rivals because we played soccer against them and lost every single time. Uh so I am slightly bitter about that still to this day. Uh but as UHS is a small school, we did not have our own swim team. So I had to swim for Classical Magnet. Uh so I was technically and officially a gladiator uh when I

066was swimming. Uh, so I was really proud of that. Um, so I think there was a small part of me that didn't want to lose that name, the classical name is is sort of important to me even just terms of my own like villain arc story. Um, but having met uh, you know, Dr. La Fontaine and hearing from his wife every single board meeting since we've gotten here, um, I just want to say that it's it's incredibly inspiring for me as someone who, you know, is from the city and has worked for the city of Hartford for nine years. I aspire to such a lengthy career and and dedication to this community uh as I have seen uh from you. So I just want to point out that is it's incredibly inspiring. So uh you

067and your family have absolutely deserved this this very high honor. So yeah, >> board member Dro Leger. >> Thank you so much, Madam Chair. Um, I wanted to say this is an exciting opportunity to vote um on the adding the name the renaming um of classical Magna School. I love to see people get their flowers while they're here. It's an honor to be able to be part of this. Um Dr. La Fontaine has done tremendous work. Um the community has benefited from classical magnet. The students have um have benefited. I recall attending or participating in the graduation um a few years ago and as board members were able to help facilitate the graduation and I remember sitting on the deis and it reminded me of my high school experience. Unfortunately, I didn't attend Hartford public

068schools. I attended private schools. Um, and it was very striking striking to to me. It seemed as though this was a private school. So, it was like a private a public school with a private school experience, if you will. Um, the students were excited, the the speakers were excited, and now I have a child who attends Classical Magnet. So it's I feel like history history is being made and you know I'll say to Mr. Mills board member Mills once a gladiator always a gladiator. So even if the name is is added um which it's it's going to be definitely an honor you'll always be a gladiator. Thank you. Any other comments? I don't see any hands. Um, so the motion on the floor is that the Harford Board of Education renamed the Classical Magnet School

069to Hernand Laaf Fontaine Class MA Classical Magnet School. All those in favor signify by saying I. I. >> Any nays? Any abstensions? The eyes have it. The motion moves. [Applause] >> Mr. La Fontaine, do you have any words you want to share? This light is so bright we can't see. Mr. La Fontaine, are you here? Do you want to offer us um words? And I just cannot give my usual five hour speech. But I do have to concentrate on one thing and that's only to give my appreciation and thank you. to four categories. I want to tell you quickly I came to Harvard total strange. I knew nobody. No one knew me. And I came to Harvard and I began to see people and the people who I saw the Hartford Board of Education. They

070were the ones who said, "Let's take a chance on this guy." even though he's another New York City slicker, but he said, and I can tell you today to the extent that my memory holds on, Kurt Clemens, Maria Sanchez, right, Kate Campbell, Sue Ginsburg, Bob Buckley, Wayne Casey. I I remember those people like it was yesterday. They took a chance on me and it worked and it kept going and I just was wonderful and I loved it. And uh after that, you know, everything the staff that I had, the the cabinet members, you know, the assistant superintendent, bensh shots and so on, sometimes they were a little concerned about perhaps my abrupt ways. But as a matter of fact, Mr. superintendent the when I said I'm going to be visiting all of the schools all

071of the schools they said you you can't can't do that yes I can and we did it and within the first year I had I personally had escorted more than 500 people through the school because I had a plan with in those days the bishop of the Hartford big shots in the insurance and I told them point blank, you can criticize, you can advise, you can recommend, you can do anything you think is appropriate, you know, with the school and so on, but if you haven't visited a school in Hartford, I'm not going to be paying attention to you. And then I invited them, very simple, 7:30 in my office. You pick whatever school you want. I don't care. We won't tell anybody. We're just going to go there. And surprise surprise, we're going to

072be there. And that was marvelous for everybody. Even though a couple of them were a little scared standing out during the period change of period in high school, but you know, that was good. That board, the staff, all of the people that were involved in helping me create the classical magn the classical program after I came back from Washington. We did it. We pulled them together. Everybody concerned about their things. We did it. All of those people deserve tremendous credit. It went from a little program in one school to a big big school. And now we're at this kind of stage years later. And I am blessed to have this kind of honor as a legacy for not just me, but my whole family and all of the young ones. And quite simply, I mean,

073you talked about my wife and boy, I tell you when she gets her mind set on something and I used to worry sometimes because she takes things seriously. She was also a principal of a school in in South Bronx and so on and all. She's seen the the field out there as it is. But she said, "We're going to do this. you should do it. We want you to do it. I'll do it. And she did it. And here we are. And so she with the support and help of our my two sons, my two daughters, my niece was a daughter. We I call them the quintessential quintet. And they are our base of support as well. And so now we're here. And my final final note of appreciation, I don't know if I can

074do it, but I used to be able at one time to thank Steve uh Steve your last name. Alman Tatum. Tatum. Steve Tatum. Steve Wilson, right? Janet. Jennifer Hawkenhole. Shante. Shante. Shante. Shante Brody or something like that. Yes. Yes. France D, right? They're so good. And Terrone Walker, Corey Mills, Ruth Fortune, and did I already no Pis and I'm not going to translate all that into Spanish, but thank you so much. It is a dream come true. [Applause] [Music] The next item on our agenda is item 4.2, contract continuation approval for Harford Performs. The motion is that Harford Board of Education authorize the superintendent to execute a contract with Harford Performs for the term outlined in the contract not to exceed $358, excuse me, $358,710 ending June 30th, 2026. Do I have a motion? >>

075So second. >> Second. I'll tag in Dr. Al Saki, assistant superintendent for teaching and learning. That's green, right? Okay. Good evening, members of the board, board chair Brody, and superintendent Dr. Townel. Thank you for the opportunity to share some information with you regarding Harford Performs. I'm here with our director of elementary Mario Kurulo and the executive director of Harford Performs Ree Priier Campbell. We also have an administrator and teacher available in case there are additional questions. We presented this information at the last committee of the whole meeting and so tonight is going to be a summary um of what was discussed. Harford Performs is not replacing our current art programs. It is an addition to what our students are currently receiving. We're requesting $358,710 from grant funding for this contract. $314,000 is for district programming

076and is through the alliance grant. 4,000 in additional programming for Breakthrough North is coming from the magnet extracurricular grant and 40,000 in additional programming is from Mcdana School and that's coming from the from their commissioners network grant. Harford Performs is in alignment with the district's priority and supports all four areas of the district strategic plan in regards to whole and healthy students. Harford Perform provides arts integrated experiences and foster social emotional learning encouraging a growth mindset in students. It also enhances reading comprehension by connecting arts activities to classroom content. In regards to expansive learning and opportunities, students gain hands-on experiences at theaters, museums, and historic sites, building background knowledge, and making cultural connections to their studies. In regards to skilled and diverse teams, staff benefit from differentiated professional learning that increases their capacity to use

077arts integrated teaching strategies. In regards to operational management excellence, the program leverages a 3:1 funding model, maximizing district investment by contributing $2 to um for every $1 invested. Some of the key benefits include enhanced student achievement and engagement through arts integration, broader access to enriching hands-on learning opportunities, increased teacher effectiveness via professional development, maximize return on investment through a favor favorable funding model. I will now have Reed share a little background and the positive feedback we received from our staff regarding the program as well as the additional funding they get for our program. Thank you, Dr. Saki, and good evening board members, superintendent, and madame chair. Um, Harford Performs has been really proud to partner with Harford Public Schools since our inception. As a matter of fact, we were created at at the request of

078this district to bring um community resources into the schools to foster academic learning and social emotional development. Hartford Public Schools is our entire focus um and our reason for being what we bring to SCU students in Hartford is a network of um dozens of community teaching artists and arts organizations whose programs are specifically created to support Harvard curriculum um to give students new ways of accessing um academic content. So this is not as Dr. Saki said this is not arts instruction. This is using the arts to teach English, math, science, and other curriculum. And it's especially important this week. This is arts and education week. And that is exactly what we do. We bring arts into education to teach academic subjects. We were created as a public private partnership. So each year we secure hundreds

079of thousands of dollars in grants and contributions to subsidize this programming, heavily subsidize the programming. So, um, effectively tripling your investment, Harper Public Schools investment in this work. This year, we plan to provide every classroom in preK to grade 8 and elementary schools, um, at least two curriculum aligned programs. In K to 5 classrooms, our goal is that every program will be tied to a specific module in the Wit and Wisdom literacy curriculum. programs will take place both in classrooms and in um in as field trips in museums and theaters and historic homes and this is many students first experience with these organizations um and it connects them with the broader community which is an important part of their education. Each school also will be able to select programming either for their arts and PE

080teachers or for the larger school community including families for the four neighborhood middle schools. um will provide project-based learning residencies that pair a teachering artist with a teacher for an entire academic marketing period. Um allowing students to create something of substance as something of a significant performance or a body of work. And for teachers, we'll again provide professional learning. Um most of those will focus on unified arts teachers, but some of them also will support um classroom teachers with wit and wisdom curriculum model uh modules. We're really diligent in serving teachers after every single program to measure results and um almost universally teachers say that our programs increase students interest in and knowledge of the subject matter. It builds vocabulary and it builds skills including active listening, critical evaluation, problem solving and verbal expression. Twothirds

081of teachers say that our programs support attendance in schools. That's really important. And about 40% say that seeing how students respond to what the teaching artists do gives them a new gives them new ideas about how to engage their students more fully. We surveyed middle school students last year as well directly and 88% said that they learned a new skill with our program. 77% said they learned a new talent and 86% said that they wanted to come to that class. They looked forward to coming to that class. So, we really look forward this year to um continuing these services for 10,000 students across 31 schools across the district. Thank you for considering this. >> Thank you. Any board members have any questions? >> Miss Fortune, >> thank you so much for the presentation. Um, I

082wanted to re-emphasize what you said that this is a private public partnership and you secure private dollars to offer more services than we're paying for. So, our students get more than we're allocating via this vote because you're getting these extra dollars. Can you speak a little bit more about the sources of those fund the private sources for funding um and the amount? I know it's listed here, but for public consumptions for everyone else can hear. >> Sure. We um most of the money comes from grants. We also get money from contributions from individuals, but most of it is grant funded. It comes from foundations such as Harford Foundation for Public Giving as well as smaller foundations. Um the the amounts are anywhere from $2,500 to um $50,000 to support this work. And uh we also

083get money from the federal government by the by the National Endowment for the Arts and Community Development Block Grant from the city. um it and from corporations as well such as travelers. >> Thank you. >> Anyone else? >> I'll just lift that um when I was working in the schools um the alignment to the curriculum was like really is is a game changer. So I appreciated that part that part of it. I wanted to lift that. So, if no other um questions or discussion, the motion on the floor is that the Harford Board of Education authorize the superintendent to execute a contract with Harford Performs for the term outlined in the contract not to exceed $358,710 ending June 30 of 2026. All those in favor signify by saying I. Nays. Was there a nay? Abstension.

084The eyes have it. The motion moves. Thank you. And we're going to transition to item 4.3, contract continuation approval for our piece of the pie, Opportunity Academy. And as um folks are walking up, the motion is that the Harford Board of Education authorize the superintendent to execute a contract with our piece of the pie for the term outlined in the contract at an amount not to exceed $660,000 ending June 30th, 2026. Do I have a motion? >> So move. >> Second. and I will tag in Liliana Ques, director of postsecary and alternative programming. >> Good evening, board members, uh, superintendent and madame chair. Congratulations. Thank you for having us here today. Um, our piece of the pie, uh, through his academy engages over age and underredited students in achieving their academic goals. They provide a

085comprehensive support including youth development, post-secondary preparation opportunities in an academic program that emphasizes technology and projectbased learning. Um, HPS has maintained a partnership with our piece of the pie since 2009. Um, and tonight we have our partners, uh, principal Tama Mack, excuse me, Grant Mack and senior director, um, Mr. Gerard uh toss in. Thank you. Um for any questions, Madam Chair, I pass it back to you for any uh questions uh from our partners. >> And I know we had the opportunity to have a in-depth conversation during committee, but did any board members wanted to ask questions this evening, >> Mr. Walker? >> Yeah, thank you. Um just for um public consumption um I wanted you to speak to uh the average number of students um in the program. Um it's not totally clear here

086in the contract but I think you can share how many students have and and anticipate to be part of the program. Thank you. >> For the last school year for the 2425 year we touched 74 students. Our current enrollment as of today is 38. Our contract um holds for uh 75 students. So we are working with HPS in the referral process to um engage more students. >> Thank you. >> Follow up to that. Maybe if you explain how throughout the year more students when referrals come in and like the trend maybe to um help those watching understand how that works too. >> Sure. Absolutely. Um we have a process in place um and we are okay. We have a process in place um through our alternative referral uh program that we we have with uh

087within our high schools. So we meet on a bi-weekly basis to re to review any referrals that are coming through. At this point we have about 25 students that are in the process of being um vetted to ensure that this is uh the correct programs. uh students and school counselor, social work and administrators meet uh with our students and our families to ensure that they are in agreement um to explore Opportunity Academy. And so bi-weekly referrals are made, are reviewed, um our students go through an interview with Opportunity Academy where Opportunity Academy has the opportunity to meet with our students and families to explain the process um and as they review their transcripts and create a plan um an individualized plan to meet the needs of our students. And that's an ongoing process throughout the

088the year. I obviously our focus is to ensure that we have our students placed before the end of the first quarter to ensure that they can get into opportunity academy um and get to work and it uh uh oh my goodness gracious recover their credits that they need, create the plans so that they are able to graduate and meet their needs. So, I'm not sure if um OBP has any thoughts to add on the process of the recruitment. >> Not at this time. >> Thank you. I thought Miss Fortune, did you have were you had a question? I thought I saw you reaching for the microphone. >> Um my question was partially answered um with respect to enrollment and how do we ramp up to 75 since we're committing to paying for a minimum of

08975 students. I recall having this meeting last year to renew the contract. It was fairly contentious in terms of the cost per pupil for this program. So, if you could speak more about what goes into you assisting an overage underredit student so that they could make it to graduation. What is that process? What are the resources that you pour into each child? One of the major resources that we utilize is our youth development specialist. Our youth development specialist spends um 30 hours per year, which balances out to about 32 minutes um a week on each youth. And and that and during that time we work on um social emotional issues. They work on um barrier reduction and they work on setting goals for academics and attendance. We also um utilize um the our teaching staff

090to help put in prevent um interventions because there are students that have gaps, academic gaps um and working with them to uh obtain their credit. We um were mostly credit recovery and their initial credit. >> Mr. Wilson. >> So I know that a lot of times my mic feels uh I know a lot of times some of the roadblocks for these students is attendance. Can you speak to how this program assists in that? Right. So, you talked about um going through the vetting process and getting the parents on board. Um but I'm still I'm sure it's still a struggle. How do you go about the business of ensuring that the kids are coming in and they're meeting the requirements of the program? Um, so one of the again with that the biggest piece is our

091youth development specialist. And so they make uh phone calls and text messages to students prior to the start of the school day. They that happens for all of the students and reaching out to families as well. And that continues out through the start time of the school day. And then we continue with uh setting goals. Our school social worker uh works with students to and our school counselor works with students so that we can kind of identify what it is that's causing the attendance issues and we um encourage that relationship. It's really big about relationship building for opportunity academy and our students. And so that has also helped to increase attendance. And so we utilize a variety of strategies just to engage them and let them know that they are an important part and we

092we reach out daily and we also do home visits and we work with community partners. Um I believe I mentioned at the community of the whole that compass and other organizations that provide assistance to some of our students um we are engaged in conversations with them about the their students attendance as well. >> Thank you >> Miss Daris Ledger. >> Thank you so much um and thank you for the presentation. I have a question with regards to once they graduate. Um, how what or and what are you doing to prepare these young people for after post-graduation should they graduate? Because oftent times this may be a last resort. Um, they may feel defeated if you will at times. They may feel a bit hopeless and they may wonder what's the point of getting what's the

093point of finishing what's a what comes afterwards. So if you can tell me how you prepare these students for that. >> Yes. Um good um good evening uh board members superintendent and congratulations um Miss Brody. Um yes so what happens is during the orientation phase students um create a post-secary plan. So this is upon entrance into the school and they meet with the school counselor as well as our post-secary specialist to set up a plan. Um they do an interest inventory to figure out what they like and they may um find out some things that they thought they like that they don't like. So then that plan will go into effect and essentially throughout the year they will revisit the plan on a quarterly basis to make sure that they're still moving towards that plan.

094We do college tours. We do tours to places that have um skills training. Um we have the military coming. We do um workshops around job readiness. And upon uh graduation, every 100% of our students have a post-secondary plan and they bring that plan to fruition. So we make sure that they connect to a program. When students graduate, that doesn't mean the end of opportunity academy. They go on to OP. they may get a new youth development specialist who will continue to work with them as needed. >> Follow-up question, have you been tracking these these individuals once they graduate? Where are they one year from now? Two year two years from now, five years from now, and what is what are the numbers? >> So, I don't have the numbers with me, but I will say

095that um we do have retention services. So we follow students up until the first quarter of whatever post-secondary option they go into and we we keep track of that and we continue to make phone calls for for the year and then once they are settled for that year then we then we dismiss them out of the program. So I can get some numbers to you but today I'm not prepared to speak to the numbers of how many or what places they went to for postsecary. >> Thank you so much. I just want to give individuals who may be looking at opportunity academy um as an option and feel hopeful that they will be successful. >> Thank you, >> Miss Fortune. >> Thank you, Madam Chair. I I do have one question. So, I understand 38

096students are currently enrolled. Um we're committed to a minimum of 75. What is I I guess it's more for um HPS. What is the expected time frame for us to ramp up to the 75? >> Well, our hope is to and all the work that's going into is to have our students placed by the end of the first quarter. Um and hoping that maybe within the first, you know, the beginning of the second quarter. So, we do have, like I said, about uh 25 students right now that are being vetted. Um, and we'll be moving forward to our OP staff to then interview. So, our hope is to have them at least uh 50 if not more by the end of the first quarter. >> What were the numbers this time last year just for

097comparison sake or two years prior? Is it usually starting this slow and then ramping up? So this time last year was it 38 students roughly enrolled? Was it 25? Was it 50? I'm just trying to gauge because that's that's less than half. So that >> well that's almost exactly half. >> So again, I don't have the numbers with me, but I can say that that it was probably between 50 and 65 somewhere up in there. >> So we're down double digits in terms of students who started the program last year versus this year. I just want to be clear on where we are. Okay. >> Do you think we will reach the 75 this year? >> I think we will. Yes. And we do have a plan in place to to to make sure that

098we we meet that number. >> So let's say we go the whole first quarter, we don't reach 75, but at some point in the fourth quarter, we exceed 75 and we're at 80. Do we have to pay for this these additional five students given that we've been under 75 for a prolonged period of time? Are you taking weighted averages for attendance or the second we go over 75 at any moment in time we have to pay more money? >> So I believe there is a weighted structure um for students at each quarter >> at each quarter. So if one quarter goes over 75, that means we're paying over even though this first quarter we likely won't even reach 75. Is that your understanding as well? >> The superintendent wants to add um comments. So all

099I want to share is I think um we we have to hit 75 in each quarter you know and I know we're it is what it is right now but whatever we can do to add value there to kind of lean in uh because you know return on investment we talking about over a half a million dollars. So what's the academic return on that investment? Um because the question is the great question. Why are we down this time compared to last year? That's a ROI right there. Um, but happy to lean in and I'll probably meet with the team as well as OP uh to know what I don't know to add value there to ensure that we get the return. >> Thank you. >> ROF, you have another followup. >> Yes. So, thank you

100superintendent for adding that. Um, I'd be curious for us to follow the numbers and if we do end up having a prolonged period of time of being under 75 next year when we're reviewing the contract, I would like it to be structured such that we're taking the average of the four quarters so that we're not paying any additional fees until we've reached the 75 throughout all the quarters. And if we don't reach it this year, then we should consider lowering that number so that we have a lower base cost so that we're only paying for students we're educating because paying for this means another program is not being funded. Other opportunities are are are being are not being funded. So I I I think you're doing great work. I've heard wonderful testimonies about how moving

101graduation is um through this program and how terrific the work is. But I do as a fiduciary for the school, I do want to make sure that our dollars are going towards educating students, not to cover base overhead for a program. >> Thank you, Miss Fortune. >> Thank you, Chairwoman. Um, yeah, I wanted to echo what board member Fortune said, too. I think part of what we want to make sure that you're all collecting in terms of your data is at least three years or four years out the a like how many students per per year, how many students per quarter, what is the average? Because I think the question that I have here, it's a big amount of money. And so if we for example don't hit the mark, do we don't get any

102of that money back, but if we do go over in one or two quarters to her to uh board member Fortune's point, u we actually have to end up paying more. So there's some inequities here and how that from what I understand, and I could be wrong, please correct me if I'm wrong. Um, but I will say that I think in terms of data collection processes, I think uh at least of the last four years, the average amount of students per quarter and maybe even a list of go of how it is that you all go about um recruiting students, making sure those paths are fulfilled so that we know what your goals and the way in which you navigate that process um is and any hiccups that you may have along the way because

103I think it's going to be really important because it is a big amount of overhead. Um, and we also recognize and I think the other part that I would want is a little bit more details and I appreciate your answers on what those um, attendance and um, support systems for students. But if part of that conver that one pager conversation includes a very detailed account of what those support systems look like and in practice, I think that helps tell the story of why the dollars are going to where and and and it's a better understanding for us, at least for me, and how it is that we can move, right? Because um, yeah, I just want to make sure that that's that that's happening. Mr. Tatum, >> thank you. Um, I'm in support of continuing

104this contract and um, in large part because of how essential it is that we as as a school system um, have an ability to to reach the some of the students that aren't being reached by the I believe too narrow um, constraints of the traditional academic path. uh through school. And so I applaud the efforts that OP makes in along those lines. it is and and I think I resonate with the the questions about the funding and the resources and and and the return on investment um especially you know in the wake of I think we we all remember last year that this program was identified as as a possible um high-risisk reduction in budget cuts and we'll be likely facing similar challenges again in a few months here looking at looking at the budget

105and I I certainly hope that we can prioritize um a program like yours that serves students and uh serves students that that otherwise would fall through the cracks and and um it's clearly the right thing to do on a number of number of levels, not least long-term financially. Uh but um yeah, just just keeping in mind that it's always in in those conversations. And I'm glad that funding came through and we're able to approve this contract here tonight. And I believe, sorry, I believe that funding came through in part through additional dollars from the city, uh, one-time funds, I believe, from the city, uh, that was appropriated. So, you know, I think I think I'm correct and and someone can correct me if I'm wrong that we're able to approve this contract in part because

106of the hard work that was done at the city level to uh close the gap that was uh identified by this board and the former superintendent as part of last year's budget cycle. So, um glad that we can continue the work for this year and hope that we can um find ways to continue the necessary needed work going forward from here. >> Thank you. And last thing, I owe you a visit. I promise that I will get there in the next three, two, three, four months. >> Doors always open. >> I'll make it happen. >> We're good. I and I wanted to say it was one of your parents because when we advocated at the um city of Harford budget, you had a parent who because we were like the last speakers of the night

107and you had a parent that weathered that and because she felt it was that important to say what it meant to her daughter and without the program um she she would not have graduated. So that was a testament that she was waiting hours and hours just to make um the city um council and mayor aware um of what the program meant to her family. So, the motion on the floor is that the Harford Board of Education authorize the superintendent to exe execute a contract with our piece of the pie for the term outlined in the contract at an amount not to exceed $660,000 ending June 30th, 2026. All those in favor signify by saying I. >> I. >> Any nays? Any abstensions? The eyes have it. The motion moves. Item 4.4. Um, lease agreement continuation.

108RA. I'm assuming I'm saying that. RA. Rico. The motion is that the Harford Board of Education authorize the superintendent to execute a contract with RICO for the term outlined in the contract not to exceed $650,000 per year ending June 30th, 2030. Do I have a motion? >> So move. >> Second. And could someone explain to me um why we're going multiple years on a contract um when we normally keep it to one year and I don't think it I don't know if it's the gentlemen that that are sitting before us. Um does anybody can anybody offer some background on that? >> Uh yes, board member brewery. Uh and chairperson, congratulations. Uh hello board members, superintendent. Um, it's been a great day for me as a Puerto Rican seeing Hernala Fontaine, so I want that in

109the record. Thank you very much for your vote. Uh, and unanimous vote. We put out the press release just now for everybody to know. Um, Christina, do we have the do you have the slides? You don't have slides. Um, so my understanding is that because of constructions, many machines have been or some machines have been added along the years. Uh and some of these contracts will automatically renovate every year unless we renegotiate. Uh as to why it is five years, I know board member Mills asked for a one year and and uh right to go go for the 650,000 uh which is the yearly lease amount. Uh but if if Mr. Um, Maxi Al Max Maximino is the Rico rep and I also have our tech guru for Harford Public Schools, Dave Draxel, here because

110I know board member Fortune had a question as to how we assess if we have the right equipment uh uh to address the need or if we have uh too much equipment. Um, so uh could you explain a bit about the five-year lease? >> Good evening. Uh the implementation of the uh fleet that's currently in place uh began in 2019. At that point, the majority of the uh MFPS copers that were uh placed within the school system were owned by Hartford Public Schools. So we went on a process of implementing a print management software so we could control the number of copies, get a better idea who was making copies. and we staggered the implementation plan. It was done over a four-year plan basically because you had a couple schools that were transforming uh and

111we also had construction that was going on. So there was almost impossible to implement all the MFPs in the same timeline. So they were done as needed. The first implementation was strictly the staff rooms and all the schools that the uh teachers utilized. uh the last implementation was the main offices and all the schools so that all the main offices had the same devices. Over the last five years, we've uh driven down the cost pretty significantly uh with the implementation of the print management software. The volume has reduced pretty dramatically in the school systems. It's close to a 20% reduction in copies and prints that have been made over the last five years. What's in front of you is not a five-year lease program. Uh that $650,000 represents the annual expense for the next year.

112I believe, and Dave can correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe that was part of the budget that was approved earlier. So that encompasses all 150 MFPS and encompasses the print center uh that you have located off Weathersfield Avenue and includes all parts, service, and support. The only thing it does not include is the paper that you copy or print onto. So I'm just trying to give you an idea of what the total program looks like. It's not a single contract for $650,000 uh dollars. It's various contracts have been implemented over the last four or five years. So, I don't know if that answers your question, but I can give you all the background. I've supported the uh state of Connecticut contract for the last 25 years. I've been engaged with the Harford public

113schools for the last 25 years as well. questions. Miss Darell Ledger, >> thank you so much. Um, as and well, first looking at I I I did the math. Um, I just added up the 650,000, you know, for five, you know, in in five years that's 3,250,000. So, as an educator, as someone someone who utilizes copy machines um not in Hartford public schools but in another district um and having had worked for Hartford Public Schools when the printers would kind of get jammed or there were certain issues. Now does this include um toner? Does this include people coming out? And I'm talking about specifically for the copy machines because I'm thinking about the teachers who may have, you know, certain testing that needs to be done or or whatever that or, you know, worksheets or

114things like that. And also, does this include like print shop when you send the paper when you send the the um the jobs to a certain department? Does it include that? >> Yes, it does. The uh program is all inclusive except for the paper. It provides for on-site service, on-site training. The other thing it includes is when we uh implement your software, your paper cut software, which the school system owns, we also integrate the device that there's no charge for that. That's included in what we provide. And as far as the teachers, there's both on-site training and there's how-to videos, how-to videos to help them uh operate the uh devices themselves. So, everything's included on-site service, all toner, all service, all support. The only thing that excludes is the paper. And as far as the

115print shop, yes, they also now have a job ticketing software that allows the schools to send the work directly to the print shop. Uh the work is then done and then delivered back to the schools. >> And followup question, and are you like do you pay for that or does this $650,000 a year include the transportation from from print shop to the school who ordered the work? >> No, that's that's a service that the uh school system provides. You've got a courier that visits every school every day. >> Okay. So, it's produced in the print center. There's a job ticket that the uh school or the enduser uh generates. It's received at the print center. There's a dashboard. They see exactly what the job is. They turn it around and then they deliver it within

11624 to 48 hours. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Yeah. It's not us transporting it. That's your folks. >> Thank you. Board member Fortune. >> Thank you, Madam Chair. I also wanted to hear from our uh internal IT person who does leers with our staff just to hear about what the user experiences and um suitability of equipment on various sites and so on. >> Sure. So when we u were looking at where to outfit the MFPs in the buildings, um we took feedback from staff. Um, we placed the printers based on student count, staff count, uh, physical location in the building to ensure that there's easy access to a printer, copier, um, regardless of where you are in the building. The overall user experience has been good. Uh, experience has been uh, feedback on the experience

117has been positive. Um, especially once we have implemented the, uh, paper cut print management system. Um, one of the big benefits of the paper cut system is that it allows uh users to have a secure release. So instead of queuing up your print job and it just disappears at a printer because it comes out right when you click print on your computer, uh you submit that into a queue. Um and then the user can then swipe their uh ID badge at the printer to securely uh release the job at the printer. >> Thank you. Mr. Walker. >> Yeah. Uh thank you, uh Madam Chair. Um yes, I wanted to to follow up on uh that user experience. Um I want to ask I I support this and I understand what he's offering in the end

118the whole printer solution, but there's still delivery to teacher. So I'm I'm I'm asking um to talk a little bit about um the potential to to to strengthen the kind of networks within the school-based site so that teacher computers all over the school can actually you know throw jobs right from the classroom to the local printer. um and to to ask right is if there's opportunity to strengthen that and if there's a process in a way that that schools get to assess and say hey we need a color printer maybe maybe we only have a a a black and white printer. I'm only asking these questions because the whole value of this is that we're delivering maximum value to the instructional staff that needs to use this or central office staff. So, I'm only offering

119at this moment um to consider some of these other things that would enhance for the $650,000 if people can't totally hit a button and get it out to a a printer or if they don't have right at their hand, a color printer, right? The other thing I'd ask if there's a way to make a service level agreement where if a person needs a rush job, can they get it within the same day versus waiting two days? because the value of that instructional material may be enhanced if I can guarantee I can get it for the very next day my class. So I want you to maybe just talk about that um and one that's been thought about and can we think about those as ways to enhance what we're paying for here? >> Yeah. One

120of the things that we did five years ago, it was led by uh John Fergus at the time, is without a print management system, you had color printer copers throughout many of the schools and they were really being used as print centers. They were producing uh color copies and color prints that really didn't need to be produced. So one of the things that we did back in 2019 is all the schools the color copers capability was removed except for the monator schools. All right, Annie Fiser and Bachelor. Those two were using them strictly uh for curriculum. Uh so all the colored devices were taken out with a game plan. We're going to put a print management system in play. We're going to put a job ticketing uh system in play. So if someone needs color

121copied color prints, they send them to Marcos in the print center. He produces them at a significantly less cost per print. And we made that transition. So all of those MFPs that are in main offices throughout the school locations are being replaced this year with color capable devices because one of the things that we found out is that the schools do have some oneoff printing needs for certificates to recognize students. We understand that's important. The other thing that did happen is that a lot of schools went out and bought color printers which they couldn't afford to run because those cartridges cost so much. So by putting a color MFP in the school, you're reducing the cost. You're giving them more capability and it's going to be in the main office location. So every school, every

122main office location will have a device that has color, print, color, copy capability. >> Um yep. Thank you. That does kind of answer that explains why and it's a good response um based on what you found out. >> And the other thing I want to mention is and Dave deserves credit for this with John Fergus the print management system that you put in place not only reduced the number of wasted copies because prior when someone hit the print button on their computer it printed. So now it goes to an on premise server. They have to walk up to the device, authenticate with their ID, and then that job's released. I can't tell you how many times they hit the print button and they never walk up to release the job. If it's not printed, within

12324 to 48 hours, it disappears. That in itself not only made your printing more secure, it reduced a significant amount of waste of copies. >> Um, thank you. That's um really good explanation to my questions. >> I don't see any more lighted um microphones. So, the motion on the floor is that the Harford Board of Education authorized the superintendent to execute a contract with RICO for the term outlined in the contract not to exceed $650,000 per year ending June 30th, 2030. All those in favor signify by saying I. >> I. Any nays, abstensions? The eyes have it. The motion moves. Item 4.5. Thank you, um, gentlemen. Item 4.5, first reading. Policy 12121212, school volunteers. Um, policy number 5141.28. 28 sudden cardiac arrest and policy 5141.7 student sports concussion. Um, Miss Fortune, did you want to

124add um anything to these first reads? >> Um, sure. Thank you. Uh, Madame Chair, um, on the policy uh for school volunteers 4541.28, 28. This is an update to a current policy last modified in 2004 to bring in alignment with current practices. It clarifies applicable policies that apply to volunteers. It lists categories of volunteers and it adds an appeal process to district safety team if volunteer request is denied. Um, and I know earlier today we also heard from a parent uh, Miss Angelica Maddox about her input to the volunteers um, policy, school volunteers policy and we will have a chance to visit that during the second uh, reading and take into account her very thoughtful feedback. >> Mr. data >> um for public consumption. Could we be reminded of the date of the next policy

125committee meeting when this policy will be discussed further? I don't have that from memory, but I believe Miss Santiago has that that she can provide. >> And Miss Santiago, if you could invite Miss Maddox to that meeting. Um October 6. So, next policy meeting uh is October 6 and we'll have the second reading of the school volunteers policy. Thank you, board member Tatum. >> Yep. Um and and just to make a point that like this is a policy obviously that that does have a direct impact on parents involvement and and community members involvement in schools which is um part of our strategic part plan to like increase those uh relationships and wraparounds for our students. So, please, if anybody has uh comments about this policy, uh get in contact with any of the board members,

126ideally ahead of that October 6th meeting, so that we can incorporate that feedback in any revisions that happen at that committee meeting. >> Thank you, board member Tatum. And I misspoke earlier. So, this policy is policy 1212. The next policy that we have the first reading for is 4541.28, the sudden cardiac arrest. This is a policy for Hartford public schools that was adapted from the CABE model policy. CAB is the Connecticut Association for Boards of Education. Hartford Public Schools um have been following cardiac arrest prevention guidance as required by CSTE, the Connecticut State Department of Education. This codifies uh those policies in the Hartford Public Schools own policies. The policy contains awareness, education, program information, training requirements, and consent forms that include a summary of the sudden cardiac arrest program and applicable board policies on

127sudden cardiac arrests. Um, it also deals with the removal and return to play guidance for student athletes. Uh, lastly, the third policy for first reading is the student sports concussion policy 5141.7. This is a new policy for Hartford public schools that was adapted from again a cave model policy. Uh, HPS has been following the concussion education plan and other guidelines from the state NCIAC since 2015 when the new regulations were put in place which are outlined in this policy to include initial training course on concussions required of coaches as well as a requirement for an annual review by coaches, parents, guardians, and student athletes of relevant and current information regarding concussions prior to participating slashcoaching. Thank you. And as this is the first reading, no vote is required at this time. So now we're moving

128to our consent agenda. The consent agenda has several contracts and policy readings that were um discussed in committee. Is 5.2 two, acceptance of funds and contract approval for the family resource centers. Um the board annually accepts funds from the um state of Connecticut um department of education to run five family resource centers. 5.3 contract continuation for Raptor Technologies. This is for the visitor and volunteer management platform. 5.4 for acceptance of funds and contract approval for from NIA grant um LAR consultant at Renulli. Renulli sought a grant to contract with an enrichment consultant for students. Um the next policies were discussed in the August and September committees and are now up for a second read and adop and adoption 5.5 second reading and adoption for policy student health services. Um it's updated to reflect the current

129practice 5.6 second reading and adoption for policy 5141. um for the opiate overdo overdose prevention. This is a new policy um for HPS adapted from the CAD model. Although the district has had the protocols reflected in this policy in place since 2022 and I don't know is there a number because they seem to have the same number. >> It has a 213.3 okay and 5.7 approval of the minutes from August 19th 2025. Any comments or questions on the consent agenda from anyone? Miss Daryl Stell Ledger. >> Yes. Thank you, Madam Chair. So, according to the document that we all have, 5.6 reads the second reading in adoption and the number is 5141.213 opioid overdose overdose prevention and 5.7 is the second reading and adoption. And that one is 5141.3 health assessments. And then 5.8 is

130approval of minutes >> for August 19th, 2025. >> Thank you. And Miss Fortune. >> Um thank you, Madam Chair. On item 5.4, acceptance of funds and contract approval for the NEAG grant um for Renzulli. I believe Dr. White is in the audience. I just would like her to stand and be recognized for going above and beyond for applying for $70,000 to go into our school to support her students. Um, she took that initiative upon herself and pursued it, wrote the grant, sought assistance in doing it, and it's just admirable and it's refreshing to see our educators going above and beyond the call of duty to bring the necessary resources into their schools and the classrooms and our schools. So, please uh feel free to stand and be recognized. Thank you. I don't see any other

131um hands. Do I have a motion to vote on the consent agenda? >> So, move. >> Second. >> All those in favor signify by saying I. >> I. I. >> Any nays? abstensions. The eyes haven't. And I believe that concludes um our meeting, our September meeting. Have a great evening. >> Motion to adjurnn. >> Motion to >> second. Who's second? >> We are journed, folks. We're >> you want to vote on it?