001I may have to ask for order periodically should noise begin to interfere with our recording capabilities. I am pleased you have taken time to join us this evening. We are very proud of the school system and thank you for your interest in the Hartford public schools. This will now be read in Spanish. Harford. administr [Music] important. Thank you. We will now move on to public comment. Mr. Mouse. Hello everybody. We as a board in collaboration with the superintendent and district leadership are committed to cultivating a culture of excellence at all levels of HPS. We thank you for taking the time to attend tonight's board meeting. We appreciate you coming out to learn more about Hartford Public Schools and for sharing your thoughts and concerns. We've established a protocol to track and respond to concerns raised.
002We want you to know that we take your concerns seriously. And to that end, staff will follow up within 48 hours if follow-up is required via the preferred method of contact the speaker has indicated on the sign-in sheet. As a reminder, you have three minutes to speak. At the two-minute mark, the bell will ring, letting you know that you have one minute left. At the second bell, please wrap up your comments. Now, this will be read in Spanish. Bu sorry the Harford. investig Carol Gail. in preparation for a transition. Oh, better mic. Thank you. Okay, start my clock over again. uh you will soon announce who our next superintendent will be in preparation for a transition to new leadership in our district. I list here the various systems that are not working and need attention.
003All of these areas impact staff retention which is a major area of concern as it directly impacts the quality of education our students receive. And just so you know, since I had to try and chop this down to three minutes, I'm leaving you all with a copy of this entire list in its full length. Number one, special ed. High case loads and increased workloads contribute to high turnover. Number two, disciplinary systems for students and staff. Restorative practice is overwhelmingly supported by teachers, but we find it falls short in its implementation. It is not achieved simply by holding a restorative circle, but by actual restoration. If this is to succeed, Hartford Public Schools must engage in a paradigm shift towards restorative practices for both students and staff. Number three, grading. The grading committee has tackled the
004controversial minimum 50 grading policy as well as grading with integrity and standardsbased grading. Much work remains and should be completed before any policy change is made. Number four, grievances. The 71 grievances HFT filed this year indicate a problem with the process, with management, or a combination of both. Blanket denials and scheduling delays prolong the process and fail to resolve issues, further eroding staff satisfaction and retention. Number five, transfer process. Reductions in force result in a lot of staff movement without regard for seniority, perpetuating a climate where staff do not feel valued for their years of service and are disregarded due to subjectivity and favoritism. Number six, district failure to initiate bargaining. The district must show good faith in bargaining by proactively seeking to solve workload concerns instead of waiting for the union to issue demands
005to bargain reactively. Number seven, lack of exit interviews. This prevents the district from improvements based on feedback. Number eight, lack of art and music. 12 schools continue to have no art next year. 13 schools have no music. This is poor quality education and is unacceptable. Number nine, lack of support for United Unified Arts. Hartford Public Schools combines arts and wellness whereas most other districts, in fact, all that we could find separate the two. This leads to a leadertoteer ratio that is six times higher than the average in our area. Number 10, lack of communication. Mixed messaging from principles, directors, and cabinet leads to confusion and complaints. Number 11, contracting out of bargaining unit work. This is a mandatory subject of bargaining. Therefore, this board should not consider any contracts until the district has reached out
006to the related union for negotiations. Since that has not occurred to my knowledge, do not approve the contracts on your agenda. Hold the district accountable. Number 12, culture and climate. Five schools have repeatedly been raised with district leadership for culture and climate concerns. How long must our students, staff, and families contend with these concerns before changes are made to address them? All 12 of these have been problematic for my five-year tenure so far as HFT president. Nine of these have been concerns throughout my 35 year tenure as a teacher in this district. If Hartford is to see improvements that our schools need, please use this list as a roadmap. Work with your staff and your unions and let's find real solutions. Thank you. [Music] Good evening, superintendent. Good evening, board members. My name is Amado
007Moika and I'm a former school principal with Harvard public schools. I served 32 years in the system, 16 as principal at Quirk Middle, two years as principal at Barney Brown, and a host of a number of other things that I've done in the system as well. But I'm not here this evening to talk about me. I'm here uh to talk about Hernand la. And I appreciate the opportunity that you've given me to read a couple of lines that I've put together on his behalf. I am a former principal at Thomas J. Cork Middle School who worked with Hernal La Fontaine during his tenure as Hartford Public School superintendent. I can attest that Hernand Fontaine is an outstanding school superintendent. He was a he was a dynamic leader who who visited schools on a regular basis
008and communicated with staff, students, and parents. He worked closely with administrators, teachers, and parents to provide an excellent educational environment for students in the Harford public schools. He was a knowledgeable, active, hands-on educator. His excellent leadership was a steady influence in establishing a school system which was which has been in this had been in disarray for a number of years. He his sound leadership contributed to the improvement of educational programs in our district. He together with staff accomplished many initiatives, some of which included instituting a citywide standardized curriculum, completing a textbook acquisition plan, developing a remedial instructional plan, establishing a promotion policy, eliminating social promotion, establishing efficient control for financial planning and expenditures, and actively involving parents. An important accomplishment is that he initiated and was the founder of the classical mandate program at Quirk
009Middle School, which continues today at the classical magnet school. because of his excellent leadership during his 12 years 12via tenure as superintendent and his many contributions to Harford to Harford public school district and and president of Harford of city Harford city council as well as service and many boards of organizational and institutions that his name is be added to the classical mandate school a program which he founded and initiated it would be a welldeserved tribute in recognition of his commitment and service to the students and community members of Harford. I hope you will approve this request in honor in in and honor him in this way. Thank you very much for the opportunity to speak this evening. Don Caro Good evening members of the board and uh and members of the audience. As former principal
010of uh Moan and Mcdana schools, I had the opportunity of working with Anan La Fontaine during his 12-year tenure as Harford School superintendent. Also, prior to my positions as principal, I was the district-wide coordinator of reading and language arts. I'm pleased to share with you that Hernand la Fontaine was an effective, approachable, and dynamic leader who worked closely with administrators, teachers, and parents to provide an excellent educational environment for students in the Harford public schools. He was a knowledgeable, active, and hands-on educator who visited schools and classrooms on a regular basis to interact with the school personnel, students, and parents. His excellent leadership was a steady influence in improving the educational programs in our school district. Some of his major accomplishments that come to mind were that he instituted a citywide standardized curriculum. He initiated
011computer-based education programs, completed a major textbook acquisition plan, developed a remedial instructional plan, and established a promotion policy eliminating social promotion. Also, he initiated and was the founder of the classical program at Cork Middle School, which continues today as the classical magnet school. Upon his retirement, Ernan Laontaine continued his commitment to Harford by serving on the city council for six years, including two years as council president. As a member of the council, he continued his advocacy for the Harford public schools. Ernan Lafantine, a longtime Harford resident, is still remembered by many for his dedication and outstanding tenure as the Harford School Superintendent and his participation in important work on the city council. Given Erlan Fontaine's accomplishment and steady leadership as superintendent, it is fitting and appropriate for the school to be named the Ernan La
012Fontaine Classical Magnet School in his honor. and is a welldeserved recognition for his excellent service and commitment to the students and community of Harford as an outstanding educator and civic leader. Thank you, Jeff Foreman. [Music] Good evening, board members, superintendent. Uh, thank you for the opportunity to speak tonight. Um, so I'll just read this statement to make sure that I can get it all in. Uh, please accept this statement of support for the renaming of the classical Magnus School located on Asylum Avenue and Woodland Street after Hernand La Fontaine, the former superintendent of the Harford public schools and president of the city council. I truly believe Mr. Lafantine is worthy of this recognition. I served as a senior assistant to the superintendent in the 1980s and uh where I was a direct witness to his
013accomplishments, passion, and dedication to the children, staff, and families of the Harford public schools. I subsequently served in this same position for eight additional superintendent through 2001. Mr. La Fontaine arrived on the scene as the first school superintendent of Puerto Rican heritage in the city of Hartford, the state of Connecticut, and in fact the United States. During his tenure in Hartford, Mr. La Fontaine achieved major accomplishments including the improve improvement of student achievement revision of the total curriculum establishment of computer-based education programs and the initiation of mastery learning and assertive discipline approaches. Here are just a few of just the accomplishments where I was immediately and intimately involved with Mr. La Fontaine as superintendent. Mr. La Fontain was was acutely concerned with the social emotional needs of Harford students, families and staff where he led
014our our participation as a social development project utilizing the Culr model for elementary schools created by James Comr out of Yale University. The I have a dream and other scholarship programs funded and supported students from their elementary school through their college experience. The Educational Enhancement Act created a massive infusion of grant resources, emphasizing equal access to education and aiming to shorten the achievement gaps between students by providing federal funding to support schools with children from impro impoverished families. However, one of Mr. Lafantine's most significant achievements is of the creator and founder of the classical education program at Cork Middle School which continues today at as the classical magnet school located on Asylum and Woodland Street. Mr. Lafantine is clearly a memorable leader in the storied history of Hartford and he has dedicated the greater part
015of his adulthood improving the lives of not only students and families in our schools but the Hartford community at large. He is well deserving of this recognition and honor. [Music] Thank you, [Music] Katherine Canelli. Good evening, members of the board of education and superintendent. Thank you so much for this opportunity to speak with you. Um I so uh last fall I did write a letter in support of the naming of the classical magnet school in honor of Hernand la. So I'm not going to repeat the things that I put in that letter. Um but I will say that um I met him 45 years ago. Um he was my former boss, is now my long-term friend. He had been a superintendent um for about a year when I accepted the position of director of financial
016management and a position that I held for 14 years at the school system. Mr. Lafantine made it his business, as other people said, to know the administrators well at the over 40 locations where we had programs. He also knew the teachers so that he could be familiar with every school and a myriad of special programs and and various at various locations. He was the superintendent for 12 years and no superintendent since has other superintendent since then has been in that position for that long. When he left this position, he did not leave Hartford. He ran for the city council successfully and was a member for six years. He was also the council president for two years and he served on many citywide committees and boards. He has lived in Hartford for more than half of
017his life. He also continued his service to education by participating in accreditation visits in American schools throughout the world after he was not a superintendent anymore. He worked with teachers and educational administrators who wish to advance their careers in education. and he also shared his expertise in bilingual education at state and and national levels. I ask you to consider what a unique honor it would be for you to be able to personally thank an honore on the day of a school renaming committee uh ceremony. Thank you so much for your attention. Michael Dones [Music] Evening board members, superintendent. My name is uh Michael DS. I live at 74 Rosemont Street in Hartford, president of the Hartford Federation of Substitute Teachers as well. And um I think it's appropriate this time. Well, to first of all,
018I when I started uh substitute teaching was 46 years ago, nearly 46 years ago, and uh Edith Gaines was the superintendent. And um I uh u I've been president of the union for um well o over 33 years. And um I um I just want to say that the present superintendent, Dr. the Torres Rodriguez. I appreciate her tenure. Um 9 years is a long time. Uh the only one that did serve longer is uh uh Hernand L Fontaine and um I would say uh that uh although um as a union leader we often have differences don't see eye to eye and everything but um in the end it works out because we're here for the the students here of Hartford. we want what's best for them. And um and I think that uh uh Dr.
019Torres Rodriguez, you've done that. And um um I would just say that uh uh maybe someday 20 or 30 or 40 years from now when uh I probably won't be here and many many of us will be uh or other of us many of us in that I saw come up and speak won't be here either. Uh but um because I knew them back when they were principles and teachers and and worked for the board and um uh but uh maybe we'll be naming a building after you um as well and um so certainly I wish you best in the future and whenever you do leave. Um thank you. Um also um I think it's time for an update on Buckley High School. I mean, those poor students in the south end of Hartford uh
020have gone long enough without high school really. And uh it's it's just not fair. And um also I'd like to end by saying I hope that you're looking seriously at the money sources I brought up in the past few meetings and at the news conference uh press conference and at the city council meeting a couple of city council meetings and that is the source of uh the $30 million for the transportation the city pays. That's a state that's a state responsibility. The transportation's intended for integration of the school system and the state's responsible for that. They took over the system in 1998 and uh they said that they're responsible for education. So they are responsible also the $550 million that the state owes in pass pilot that's money that was that was voted on by
021the state legislature to give to us and they never got we never got it. And um thirdly, uh with over a trillion dollars worth of corporations in the city, we ought to be able to get a little more tax from them. Thank you. [Music] Mike, Susie [Music] Christina, did you help her with the pronunciation? Okay, that's No, I know it. It took a long time. That's okay. All right. So, this is the thinnest I've seen this packet in a while. Kind of happy. Um, so, um, so just a couple things. I'm I'm happy now. The school year's over. I have my job back. Um and um that's when you know there's not a lot of people in the audience. Um I know that some of the effort uh went from um the board of ed.
022I know a lot of you had reached out. A lot of you when I'd seen you outside of here, whether it is at a track meet or graduation or what have you. Um you guys like the first question I was coming out was do you have your job? I'm like and once I got my job back or once I was restored I was really really happy. Uh because well it's been on record. I really like being where I am. Um for those of you who have seen me a lot at least you get two months off for me. There's no sporting events or anything like that. So if you see me, it's just by chance in I don't know, Walmart probably. Um, but I I want to also So there's gratitude to the board of
023ed. There's also I want to show gratitude to the superintendent, right? Even though a lot of times I did not see eye to eye, I know that you do you did you do have the best interest of the kids at heart. Um, I tell students I give credit where credit is due and I also give constructive criticism. So, this is giving where credit is credit is due. Um, but now the school year is over. I can relax two months. I just hope that next year we're not um teachers like me are not put in the same position last year. And obviously, a lot of that is going to come down to whoever the next superintendent is. Um, I know the council will be the board of ed will be the same, but um, I'm grateful.
024I'm happy. And I am going to enjoy my summer. Richard de May. [Music] Good evening. My name is Richard Demay and I speak tonight not just as a concerned resident and taxpayer of Hartford, but also as a as someone deeply disillusioned by the board's deliberate rejection of best practices, peerreed research, and even its own bylaws in the superintendent selection process. And let me be pretty clear, the superintendent selection process, I'm not talking about the search process. Let me be clear again. This board has betrayed the community. It was select elected and appointed to serve. We have something in common. You were elected and appointed to serve the community. and I have been blessed with this being in Hartford also to serve the community. You have shut out families, educators and stakeholders from having any voice,
025any say in who will lead our schools. In doing so, you have disregarded a mountain of educational research and welldocumented best practices that clearly show community involvement in superintendent selection leads to better leadership, increased trust, and longer tenure. And that's not my opinion. That is peerreed facts and facts always matter. And yet you chose secrecy. You chose exclusion. You chose arrogance. And let me give you the definition of arrogance. that is having or revealing an exaggerated sense of one's own importance and abilities. The rationale we've heard that secrecy strengthens the candidates pool is baseless and unsupported by empirical evidence-based credible data. In fact, the National School Boards Association and the Connecticut Association of Boards of Education both emphasize the opposite. Transparency builds trust, community voice builds legitimacy, and you silenced both. Worse yet, this board
026seems to operate as if it is infallible, above reproach, above precedent, and above the people. You've overcorrected for past process flaws by enacting a policy of absolute control, falsely blaming the community for past conflicts that were actually caused by prior board dysfunctions and political gamesmanship. Let's name what this really is. Malpractice. Simply put, you've even violated your own bylaws, which call for public engagement, transparency, and meaningful stakeholder participation in major district decisions. This is not just a misstep. It is a willful departure from your legal and ethical and equitable obligations. And every month you come up here and you mention the word equity and we appreciate community. You're placating the community when you say that it's performative. Your actions speak to that. So I ask, what are you afraid of? Are you afraid the public
027might ask tough questions? That we might expect accountability if we were in an open process that we might not rubber stamp your decision. Let me remind you once again, you serve the people of Hartford, not the other way around. And when you say things there up there on the board, make sure your act your actions speak to what you're saying and not just simply words because those words then become rhetoric and you are again placating the community. I know that you know because you I know that you are continuing down this path of exclusion and you are in and this is inviting scrutiny civic and journalistic because what you did isn't just malpractice it warrants investigation. Hartford deserves better than governance built on arrogance, built on secrecy, and built on exclusion. We in Hartford expect
028and demand a return to truth, transparency, and the democratic process. Thank you. This concludes public comment. Thank you. I'm sorry when Mr. Walton's not here. I never know when it's actually going to end. So, we miss you, Mr. Walton. Um, thank you everyone for coming out for public comment tonight. As I always say, we appreciate your words. We appreciate your time. So, thank you very much. Now, we're going to move on to what is likely the longest chair's report I've ever written. So, please bear with me, but I do have a lot to say tonight. I will start with our board members in the community. So, as as always, we have been very active in the community this month. Um, since our last meeting, we celebrated with the class of 2025 and their families at
029graduations across the city. We spent time at Hartford Day at the Capitol speaking with lawmakers and community members about the needs of HPS. We met with representatives from the Harlem Children's Zone to discuss cradleto career opportunities in Hartford and we celebrated with the teachers at the teacher of the year celebration. Our legislative and advocacy task force. So the legislative session ended earlier this month. We are incredibly grateful for the efforts of the task force and all those who came out to advocate for funding for HPS. Whether you showed up in person at an event, made phone calls, or signed postcards, your support, time, and efforts were seen and appreciated. We hope you will stay engaged as we continue to advocate for HPS. Now for an update on the superintendent search process. The search for the
030next superintendent is coming to a close. We are down to our final two candidates and background checks are underway. We hope to announce the next leader of our district soon. Um, I will add that I have probably received 50 plus phone calls and emails over the past two weeks and I had wanted to respond individually to every single one. However, I have a full-time job and a family and I serve as the chair of the board of education. So, I crafted an email and I was not able to send it to everyone. So, here it goes. As many of you have reached out to me and other board members over the past few weeks, and due to the sheer number of messages and the lack of time to respond, I wanted to share publicly what
031has gone into the search in response to those messages. We appreciate the time you took to share your thoughts on the process and your concerns have been heard. The board set forth a process for the search for the next superintendent that we feel is sound and thoughtful. While I appreciate it is different from what has been done in the past and I recognize there are things we might have done differently if we could do it again. I still stand by our choices for a variety of reasons. As a board, we are incredibly committed to finding the best leader we can to serve the Hartford community. I have heard a lot of messages claiming there has been no community input. In fact, the board made a conscious effort to obtain as much community input as possible
032at the beginning of this process. Receiving feedback from the community in the beginning allowed the board to understand what is important before the interview process began. Without this, we have not have had a roadmap for what qualities were important to the community and what we should focus on. This feedback was important and valued. The input was was received in a variety of ways. We did surveys. Over 700 surveys were completed. More than half left open-ended responses that the board was able to read. Twothirds of those respondents were staff members and about a third were parents. We had focus groups and one-on-one meetings. We had 30 in-person and virtual meetings with an estimated 86 stakeholders. We also hosted three town hall meetings, two of which were interactive with our board members who sat up here and
033interacted with our community and individually we have had countless conversations directly with principles, teachers, parents, neighbors, everyone in between. So we have engaged with this community for months. The information was gathered, summarized and used to construct the leadership profile. This leadership profile is a comprehensive list of important qualifications that the board has used while reviewing applicants information. Each applicant, there were 40 in total, submitted a letter of intent, a resume, letters of recommendation, college transcripts, and a four question video interview. Our search firm reviewed all 40 candidates and recommended their top 10 candidates in two tiers for our review. The board also chose to review several individuals who did not make the top two tiers but who were from the district because the applications included video responses. The application process was quite similar to a
034first round interview. While I hear those not on the board who are not able to participate and have a voice, I would like to emphasize that this is a board of nine members who truly represent the Hartford community. As a board, we are current teachers and former Hartford Public School teachers, close family members of current and former Hartford Public School staff, parents of current and graduated Hartford Public School students, members of the LGBTQ plus community, community leaders and activists, Hartford natives, parents of students with special needs, immigrants, graduates of Hartford Public Schools, Go Weaver, children of trade workers, diverse First, in our professional careers, we have lawyers, project managers, community activists, municipal government leaders, nonprofit leaders, and teachers, just to name a few. And we represent many other groups that are not listed here. Our
035board is incredibly diverse in both personal and professional experiences. We are all very committed to the work at hand and to serving the Hartford Public School community. We hope that this is clear during our board meetings and when we speak to you one-on-one. This work is incredibly important and difficult and we have not taken the superintendent search lightly. Once our new superintendent is announced, we hope that you will take the time to welcome and get to know them as they begin to serve this great community. I hope you will join us in providing your support as we all come together to do what's best for our students, which is after all our collective mission and goal. Once the dust settles, the board plans to debrief to document lessons learned, recommendations, and things to consider for
036the next search in the spirit of community or continuous improvement. Thank you for listening. As a reminder, you can find the superintendent report, full committee report, student reports, all attachments and videos in the meeting 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 on board docs. I highly encourage the community to view the meetings and read the reports when possible. If you have any questions or feedback, please contact Christina Santiago, our board leaison at cantiago hartfordpublics or hartfordschools.org. All right, before I turn this over to the superintendent, I want to take a moment to acknowledge that this will be Dr. Torres Rodriguez last official Hartford Board of Education meeting as our superintendent. Tonight, we gather with deep
037appreciation to honor a leader whose impact on Hartford Public Schools will be felt for generations. Our superintendent, Dr. Torres Rodriguez. Dr. Torres Rodriguez's journey is one of full circle inspiration. A proud graduate of Hartford Public Schools, she returned not only to serve, but to transform. Her leadership has always been rooted in her lived experience, her deep love for the city, and her unwavering belief in the promise of public education. Since becoming superintendent in 2017, Dr. Torres Rodriguez has led with vision, compassion, and a fierce commitment to equity. She guided our district through some of the most challenging moments, including a global pandemic, and did so with transparency, resilience, and grace. She often reminded us again and again that our work is about our beautiful and capable students. That phrase wasn't just a slogan. It was
038a call to action. A reminder that every decision, every policy, every budget line must be center the must center the needs, dreams, and potential of our young people. Under her leadership, graduation rates steadily improved. Community schools expanded to become vital hubs for support of families. and a bold communityinformed 10-year plan was launched to guide the district's future. She also navigated over $140 million in budget deficits with strategic foresight and always protected the classroom and advocated fiercely for our students and staff. Dr. Torres Rodriguez, your legacy is not only in the numbers, it's in the lives you've touched, the educators you've empowered, and the students you've inspired. You have shown us what it means to lead with both head and heart. On behalf of the board of education, thank you for your decade of dedicated service.
039We wish you continued success in your next chapter and that wherever you go, you will continue to be a champion for equity education and for all beautiful and capable students. You will always have a home here in Harford. And now, as a tribute to your extraordinary journey and the legacy you leave behind, we invite everyone to join us in viewing a special slideshow presentation highlighting just a few of the many moments that have defined your leadership, your passion, and your love for this community. [Music] I'll let Heat. Heat. [Music] You are my forever. [Music] forever. [Music] She stood tall in every call. Her legacy lives on and every child smile. Superintendent Les who are the extra mom. As the spin and the trumpet sing, we gather together in a joyful rain. The spirit will guide
040us as we move ahead with gratitude and love full of touch. [Music] Beautiful and capable students she inspired with guidance they reach higher legacy lives on and their dreams and the leader touch so many ohms let the music play on a special day with a Heart full of passion and dreams of sword. We honor our leader forever more. In the heart of Harper, country's legacy stays. In the laughter of children, in the sun's m [Music] Someone write a song about me. We would like to present you with this plaque for your service and beautiful flowers. I don't [Music] Sir. [Music] Okay, So on a personal note, Dr. Torres Rodriguez, I am incredibly grateful for all you have done for the students and the Hartford community over the past decade as a leader at HPS. and
041I've genuinely enjoyed uh being a thought partner with you and being on this journey alongside you the past year, although it's felt like six lifetimes. It's only been a year, believe it or not, but I'm so grateful that I got to do it with you, and you will be very missed. And I hope our paths cross again very soon. And with that, are there any other board members who would like to share any words before we move on? M is it working? Okay, so um it's been a long road. um as long as I've been a board member and I'm well into well I'm halfway into my seventh year um when I think back um what comes to mind is all the places that we've been even outside um the city we've been um telling
042our story many places we've been to conferences we've been um I've had the pleasure of being invited into spaces um that have developed me um as a board member and just as a overall person. Um we have in over the years have thought it was a different way to get to somewhere, but at least that somewhere was the same place. Um and kids was in the center of that place every single time. and I respect you for that. Um that there was no other more important thing, no more important group of people that we serve in this school system other than the children. And I will definitely hold that um forever. Um just so the audience here and the um the listening audience can know um as far as um seeking opportunities and trying to
043fight for the best things for Harford kids um with organizations um across um the United States. she has done that been a champion and being a champion in spaces that people don't see um is tough because you're the boss of everybody in the school system and it's hard being the boss. Um you've always stood um as folks say 10 toes deep. You've stood your ground. You demanded respect as you should. um you've been a role model for the students to see um I don't have to accept less I could ask when people think I shouldn't ask even if the answer is no that has been an inspiration to young people especially my daughter whenever you've been in the spaces you've made her feel special because the superintendent knows you. Um but you've been a role
044model to a lot of young women and men too. But it's important for um our students especially women to be able to be leaders in spaces and be at times unapologetic about it and to be strong and show that. And that was just something we've had the pleasure to see sometimes regardless of how you know people feel about it. Um it is an inspiration for young people to be able to see um women lead. So with that um I wish you all the best. Um you deserve it. Um and thank you for um whether just like our chair said through co very hard time. I had to just at the drop of a dime change and make decisions and try to get through it, but you stuck it through. Um, and we just thank you
045for for serving the children um of Harford. Um, I turned it off. Um, I have to admit I had a perception about you before coming onto the board. Um, sitting in that seat down there, um, trying to advocate for parents, advocating for Weaver. Um, you know, you sort of have blinders on, um, because you're looking for what your school needs, what your kid needs, and and so forth. And a lot of times that eyeire um, of the community gets pointed at you. Um but having sit having been in this seat now for a year, I have a another level of respect um for that seat that you're sitting in and the job that you have done. Um so um I appreciate you um more so than I I I did prior because I have a
046better understanding of what it takes and I wish you all the best. Mr. Mill. Okay, it's my turn. Um, so typically I really hate when people do that thing where they all say really nice things when people like enter or leave. I always find it a bit fake. Um, but I think this is one of those few times where the the praise is absolutely warranted. Um, I remember at the beginning of the school year, I was able to go to the beginning of the year thingy at the yard goat stadium. Uh, and the superintendent made me walk around with her three times and we couldn't move 5 feet without some child just running up and hugging her. And you could really see that connection and that joy every time she interacted with a child. And
047I think that's that's an amazing thing for a superintendent or for any sort of government leader. Um, I don't want to make this about me. Um, but I am a huge dork. Um, which should surprise nobody, but one of my favorite u things to read is the epic of bailwolf. Again, should surprise nobody. Um, but one of the overarching themes in that book, they repeat this one line. Uh, he was a good king. Um, sort of at the time period, I'm not giving you history lesson, but um, in that in that story, it was the person who exemplified all the the qualities of a great leader. And every time they would do something of note or or spectacularly, they would say Beaolf, he was a good king. Um, and I can think of sort of
048fewer I can't really think of anything as praiseworthy um as to say, you know, Dr. Torres Rodriguez, she's a good person. So, thank you for everything. I am the newest member of the board, but I wanted I I would be remiss if I didn't say I think you know bora salad creaki and to show up you know being borua being a woman being raised here being from here and dedicating your service not to you graduated from here and you dedicated your service to the young people from this from this city often that we all get told that we are never going to do much that we are no good that we are all this trouble, right, when we are not. And so, I just want to thank you for the years of service and for
049sticking with our young people and sticking in sticking here and showing them the reality that we are all capable of beautiful things and we are all capable of reaching and that we are all able to not just see ourselves in those processes and in those people, but to feel the care and love with which you have moved. Um, and regardless of like all of the other feelings, right, the reality of like our young people were centered, our young people of color were seen. [Music] So, I just wanted to say that because I would be remiss if I didn't because often we are told that, you know, I I remember when I went to college right out of Weaver, they said, you know, Ka, your Puerto Rican flag walks in with you. We know you're from
050Harford and we know you're Puerto Rican. and they couldn't quite understand why I did that. And part of why I did that is because we don't get we have to always defend ourselves. So I just wanted to say in appreciation, thank you for all your years of service. Seeing no more mics on, I will Oh, sorry. Yeah. Um, superintendent, I have been a member of a board for a few years and I I too remember being from on one side and then sitting on this side. I think um as a leader you have um been the recipient of both laurels and and darts. I think it comes with the territory and there are circumstances where um we've not um seen seen eye to eye. Um in saying that I think your um your professionalism and
051I think your demeanor here as a happy warrior u is to be admired. I think uh the reason I'm speaking though is uh because recently I think we sat at graduation and I kind of had a visceral moment and a kind of emotional moment and just thinking um the seat you're in of being the superintendent of your hometown school. It's it's the job of a lifetime. It's it's one that um draws so much pride, you know, to actually lead in your own hometown. And so I I so celebrate you being given the opportunity and you walking with that the time that you have and walking uh with enthusiasm and with energy and with a pride and I can tell that there's a pride that that I think that still I think you still beam with
052that you know and it's it's where you have to go get your reserve at the end of a long day. And so I I kind of connect with that when we were together. And so just wanted to recognize that and to celebrate you for having u the opportunity and and representing Harford as you have um and there's a lot of pride in what you've done for the city and so just celebrate you for that and and wish you the best in your journey ahead. Thank you. Uh doc uh yes Dr. Torres Rodriguez, I turn over to you for your superintendent. I have something to say. I'm not Oh, I my mic was not working. Uh, Miss Dariselle Ledger, the floor is yours. for everything. And there's a quote that I want to read really quickly.
053Um and it says in the end we will remember not the words of our enemies but the silence of our friends. And this is what Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said. And I just want to say thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Uh thank you. Um before I go into the official report, I do um want to express my gratitude for uh my journey here. My heart, as you probably um my heart is so filled with gratitude um not just for the work that I have done alongside all of you, but also what it has meant. And I think some of you alluded to this um what it has meant for for the little girl from Park Street and then later on um from Nelson Street and in North Hartford. And we we
054hear uh the negativity growing up in the city from others. Uh, and we also hear to get out of the city, to get out and never come back, never look back. I heard that directly, indirectly, subtly. And I think that some measure that as success if you're able to like escape. I believe that the success is actually when you're able to come back and when you're able to make it just a little bit, even if it's just a little bit better. So, I am deeply grateful for that. To our educators, to all of our support staff, to our district team, to our families, our caregivers, our community partners, higher ed industry, to you all as a governing body. Um, thank you for for all that you continue to pour into our system and for your
055commitment to making it better. And most importantly to our students, yes, beautiful and capable you are. And I wholeheartedly believe I I don't like speaking for people. Um, I don't think that I'm wrong in speaking for for all of us here that um or at least I believe that we believe that our our students are greatest pride. And so to you all to our students um not only are you my greatest pride, but you are also like my endless hope. And thank you for allowing me to serve each and every day, every sleepless night, every every decision, every advocacy moment for equitable access and opportunity um has always been for for our students. So it has been uh the privilege of my life to to lead and to serve in the community that shaped me.
056Thank you. And I wouldn't be me if I didn't try to say that in Spanish. Park. Jennitude. Alexito exist. Central. me. [Music] Sego. Gracias. [Applause] Miss Santiago, now if you can share the PowerPoint, I will shift to my report, which is really going to be about uh a budget update. And so I'd like to um also share a visual with um our community. And now that now that uh the city's and the state's budgets have been finalized, uh I wanted to provide an update on the budget and the status of key programs and services. As a reminder, due to an anticipated revenue shortfall and increases in costs, right, those were the biggest cost drivers. Um we worked diligently to mitigate the $30 million. And by we, I mean not just the team, but with you
057all as a as a governing body. Um, we also work through program and staff reductions, estimated assumptions, and potentially um new incoming revenue. So the table here that you see shows the $30 million uh mitigation in the proposed budget, which is what was voted on on April 15th and the recent updates to the budget based on city and state funding paired with mitigation strategies. So uh what you can see that the main way that we mitigated our deficit was through making reductions to our budget. Uh we made $22 million in reductions but will only now need to make 19.1. We assume $3 million in additional city funding and actually will be receiving 4.5 million. We also will be working with the city to achieve um $3 million in additional mitigation through consolidation of services between
058both the city and the board of ed uh Harford public schools. And finally, if you recall, we had assumed a $5 million um in state funding for special education in terms of the grant. Actually, we are receiving $3.4 million of that $5 million that was assumed. Um and that 3.4 will go to increase special education expenditures uh for next year, which was, as you know, a big cost driver in our budget. Uh this uh includes increases in salaries and benefits for our special education teachers, par profofessionals, as well as other uh rising costs for student services. So the original and the updated list of mitigation both add up to that $30 million deficit. So the original budget um and the updated budget is still $452 million, which means that you do not as a board
059need to vote again. um right that the dollars are still the same. And the goal of this presentation is to just kind of give you uh visibility into what has changed from that proposed budget to the amended budget. And if we go to the next slide, uh right based on the updates, uh that I actually just talked about the city and the state funding and the mitigation strategies, we will be able to restore uh those programs uh those items that you all prioritized full service community schools, uh lead agency funding, opportunity academy, the dental uh clinics, readyctic, and CT rise. Um, I'd be remiss if I just didn't express gratitude to o uh and chair chairperson Haken Hall, you spoke to this, but to um the members of our of our community who joined in
060our raise your hand campaign um as there was a lot of advocacy done at the state capital to increase uh public funding. Also gratitude to all of you as our board members um for your advocacy um uh mayor Ara Lampalam, the city council, our delegation of state representatives also for their advocacy and the moves that they have made. Um the state will be providing uh additional funding and cost-saving um uh measures to Harford public schools through the increases in the ECS, the education cost sharing grant for special education in its bi-anual budget. And so that final phase in for full uh funding of ECS of that formula and then also by maintaining the cap on the general um education magnet tuition. That was another big item for us. If that had not passed, that translates
061into $12 million. Um, and so we were um we didn't talk about that a lot, but um we were hoping secretly that it would it would stay the same. And so it has. And so these measures support our ability to u maintain that which was um in the budget. And then the last slide is a slide that you have seen before, but it does have an added column. It shows the list of those uh the high-risisk reductions that we made to our budget in order to balance it. Right? The first column is the uh total cost of the program. The second uh column is what was reduced in the April 15th budget vote and obviously the last column is where we are today in terms of what will be restored with the additional city funding
062at as as you can see there on the slide. Um, one note is that we did not um, I know there's every every now and then I hear elimination of athletics or success centers and I just want to clarify athletics was not reduced. That was early on um, and a decision that you all made in terms of preserving um, also uh, we did not eliminate the student support uh, success and support centers or hope academy. there's been a reduction and you see the reductions that were done there. Um, student support and success centers went from four staff members to three and then Hope Academy decreased from 12 to five roles. And just a reminder on just like historical context uh for Hope Academy, some of you might recall Hopemies came on during the pandemic. Um,
063and it was an opportunity for us to, you know, support our students at the high school level. Hope Academy, while it has supported our students, I just want to make it clear that it has, it was never um intended to uh continue to exist past um the sunsetting of pandemic relief funding. I just wanted to clarify that as as you all think ahead um for future budgets um in terms of of decision-m um and if if there are questions with regard to uh the impact uh of either of those programs, you know, I certainly have some of that information as well. Um that I'll pause there. I just really wanted to make that the center of the presentation for tonight. Thank you. One quick question, Superintendent. Um what is the per pupil cost for hope
064in student success centers? That is yes. So um per pupil cost for hope is about $20,000 per student. Um and success center is about $2,000 per student. Um, and in terms of the I know those are numbers and so I maybe I should kind of contextualize in terms of the amount of students that are that are served. Um, hope has served a total of has graduated a total of um 178 students and success centers. um students um I know there are different programs um right hope is you know top tier in terms of the intense level of support which um I think you know there's an opportunity for the team and for you all to think about uh the role that opportunity you know OP plays in the continuum of support for students um whereas
065the success centers at the three comprehensive high schools are um a lower tier and are preventing students from getting to a higher level of need and kind of getting back on track um to graduate. Yeah. Yeah. through the chair. Um, superintendent, um, given what you said about the Hope Academy, can would you um would you task someone um staff to write kind of like a final life report then about, you know, Hope Academy, its intent and its impact. So, you know, post your departure, we can really understand what is done, how it's supposed to be, and and and use that as a little bit of a road map for some future considerations. Abs. Absolutely. Um that is one of the things that will go on the list for the new superintendent in terms of transition
066support and background and context. Yes. Any other questions? I do, Miss Brody. So the hope academy um with the reduction can we quantify that in students? Uh let me see if the team is here that can speak to uh so we're now at one school just a reminder of we were we had two programs we now are at one school at Harford High um team I know that right now this year 64 I don't know if anyone is here that can speak to over at least 30 students is what I know but I'm I can I can while they think about that if they come up with something and I know that's on the spot um question and might might not be able to answer tonight but so the superintendent was very nice in her
067statement I'm not going to be not so much the we had a pri we had priorities as a board um we were asked to prioritize this list um we did receive funding um additional funding um from the city. We greatly appreciate that. But that funding came with this is what you're going to do with the funding. So that's why I asked the question about a hope academy because that was very high on the priority list. Um and it's still receiving not um as much funds as we thought it would. And I just want the community to fully understand what that means. Um because the those population of students that need all those extra supports um they will be in our mainstream classrooms without that extra support. Um and most likely they're not going to be
068at the schools that are staffed in a certain way that just have luxuries in a certain in certain categories. they're going to be at our most struggling comprehensive schools and that is going to affect this upcoming school year. So, I definitely would not let tonight go by um without saying that Hope Academy was on our high priority list because we know what those students need and that was not a priority. um that was not a listed item um that made the city's list as a priority. So, I just wanted to say that I appreciate how it was presented, but that is really um what happened and that was a huge disappointment to me and probably anyone else who are in our schools that need so many support, so many hands on deck. these sta staff
069work tirelessly securely like all everybody is contributing to the success of these schools that don't have what they need and we are now um putting more students in the mix of that which is not good and it's not fair is not equitable in from my lens but I just wanted to um say that but I do want when we can think of that number um if I could get it because I've had conversations um with you know principles that are going to receive those students and they have to plan for that. They have to wrap their heads around it and especially with Weaver High School losing a critical partner that was helping. They will not have that community partner and they will receive some of the students that will not have the supports in place.
070So they have to plan for that and have the best possible school year and you know plan with what they have. We have to plan for what we have to work with. But it is um it is not fair when we're picking other things um over what this board deemed what was a high priority. Thank you. The number is around 30. um board member Brody um and uh I hear you and want to acknowledge what you're saying and that um student support and success centers was also an area of priority for the board. So I I hear you talking about hope and I Yes. And I recall Yeah, I recall Sorry, seeing no other questions. Superintendent, did you have more? Nope. All set. Okay. Oh, I'm sorry. France, Miss Darst Ledger, the floor is yours.
071Thank you. You hear me? Yes. [Music] I just wanted to echo what what Bernie was saying with regards to um captain and the cuts that are going to take place. Um but I have a question with regards to the um staff going from 12 to 5. Um, and I don't know if superintendent can can speak to this, but what exactly or or how will that impact the service to the students of the of the program and the number of students that you know who will be serviced? And another part of that part two of that question is um what supports will the schools who are going to be receiving these children who need those extra supports um what are they going to how will they be supported? Yes. So in terms of the impact on
072service deliver delivery, it's less students that will be able to be served u at hope and in terms of the students that are no longer going to be uh served. I know that the team was working really hard to make sure that um obviously the students that were that had graduated that they were not replacing new students that they were keeping the students that were either in 10th or 11th grade um or rising rising seniors. Um three teachers will remain in the program. I know that there was a reduction to uh on this uh security staff as well because they it was almost like they were operating like a school within a school. Um and so uh right now there will be less students that will be able to be served. Uh the student support
073and success centers the team is thinking through how to support uh some of those students that might benefit from the services in the support center. I know that at the at Weaver and the concern that is being raised um we do um we did submit for we're exploring a grant with um a foundation to support at waiver specifically um I'll say more um when we get more information follow question go ahead um how do How did you determine who would get serviced and who would not? How did you determine those cuts? How did you decide in terms of students? Yes. How do you determine who's going to get services um or who is going to be cut aside from students who have graduated? The students that were in the program will remain in the program.
074Those that have shown uh improvement will have a different support uh support plan that that will be developed outside of hope because as of now about only 30 students will be able to be served. Thank you so much. All right, we will now move on to the uh business agenda. Uh business agenda item 4.1, contract approvals, special education contracts. Motion that the Hartford Board of Education authorize the superintendent to execute contracts with entities listed below for the terms outlined in the contracts not to exceed the amounts listed below. Stepping Stones, $4,782,240. Solient, uh, $500,000. AMN Healthcare, $660,450. CBS Therapy, $821,100. King Speech, $500,000. CT behavioral health $729,330 creative interventions $366,300 and a brand new day $300,000. Do I have a motion? So move. Second. Second. Thank you. Uh Dr. Torres Rodriguez. Yes. I'll actually provide
075um a little more uh detail in terms of um the amount of FTEES for all of those um if that is helpful uh board. So uh stepping stones and by the way these are for uh supporting students that have uh mandated services. Uh, Stepping Stones will be providing speech and language service uh services as well as para educators and that is every year as you know uh speech and language pathologists have been uh designated and continue to be designated by the state as a a shortage area. During this uh year that is concluded, we contracted 19 FTEES and next year would like to increase to 21 um and two additional um FTEES for extended year services. ESY is uh summer programming for example um and then the increase would ensure that we can replace the
076speech and language pathologists that are are either resigning or retiring. Um and then for next school year in terms of para educators we'd like to increase from 40 this year to 50 uh next year for Solient U that is also a uh contract for uh speech and language services for students and um Solient has been one that as you know you've um we've used before. AMN is also for speech and language services. This year um we had six we would like to continue for six with six for next year. um SLP um or sorry no CBS therapy um which you're familiar with also speech and language supports uh contracting um 8.5 this year requesting the same amount for next year uh let's see CB uh Connecticut behavioral health this is for uh reg board cert
077certified behavior analysts um and for uh they've also supported us with behavior technicians, registered behavior technicians. Um they've also supported the development of our indist what what is known as our uh transition learning resource room um with highly trained staff. And that has allowed us to expand the pilot program uh benefiting up to 50 students within four of our elementary schools throughout our district. Um in addition to the resource rooms, they've provided direct behavioral support through their consultation services um and then supporting with um mandated services per the students um individualized education plan. Uh this year specifically uh we expanded the specialized resource rooms specifically to support our students under the autism spectrum uh disorder uh and high needs to um more six additional elementary schools. So now this year we're able to have nine
078schools um as a result of having the additional uh board certified behavior analyst support. And so this contract uh for Connecticut Behavioral Health aligns with um our our efforts to try to mitigate um and make sure that we are mitigating in terms of our staffing shortages and uh let's see creative solutions also looking for board certified behavior analysts uh going for um look we had one this year uh assistant superintendent Hoffman hoping to go to two for next year. And lastly, a brand new day. These are um I was referencing to board member Tatum behind earlier that all of a sudden there's so many of these um companies and that speaks to the level of need that that exists. Um and so for a brand new day um it is also for behavior board certified
079behavior analysts um as well. I think that has covered all of them. Anyway, uh Miss Fortune, thank you, Madam Chair. Um superintendent, I'm not sure if you or someone else from administration can answer some of these questions. What is the internal process for ensuring that the quality of services being delivered from these various providers is the quality that our students deserve? And I ask because I do recall parents coming in um during many meetings. Uh I mean one mother in particular mentioned how her child um who has Down syndrome was receiving a lot of these services virtually as opposed to in person and virtual delivery of those services to her child just was not the quality that the child needed to be able to develop and the child was indeed falling behind. So, I'm hoping
080someone can speak to that. Um, and then after that, I'll ask a couple more questions. Assistant Superintendent Hoffman, the virtual services are are in regard to speech and language, not the um BCBA or the RBTs that um deliver services on our transition resource classes. Um we do contract some virtual um clinicians through this the agencies. Um as we have said multiple times there is a shortage of speech and language clinicians. So if we can contract somebody that is virtual it's better than having no clinician at all. Um we do recognize that some students um can make progress with a virtual clinician and it is more challenging for others. Um, in those situations, we do try our best to have somebody that's either in person or um, we adjust the services so that it meets the
081students needs. Okay. So, just to clarify, are you saying that none of the providers listed on this agenda today or providers that provide services virtually? So, all of these are in-person delivery providers. The inperson are all the BCBAS and RBTs. Those are all inerson services. The only virtual would be um some speech. Okay. So, for instance, um Solient provides speech and language clinicians. Perhaps it's one of the providers that provides virtual services as opposed to in-person services. Correct. How do internally um the administration or the schools specifically determine which students get the in-person service versus which students get the virtual service or which schools get in person versus virtual. It depends on the number of students in the school that require speech and language services. Um we we do try to have our in-person clinicians
082service our younger students, our elementary students. Um it's not always possible, but um we're always looking to provide our elementary or our youngest um learners with an in-person clinician. Thank you. Um, I do have a lot of concerns about uh the delivery method, especially when I do hear from parents that it's not often effective and then seeing the price tag that goes along with it. Um, my second um setup question is more related to stepping stone. Um, so I see that $2,293,000 is going towards 50 PAR educators. Um, can someone speak a little bit to the caliber of the PARA educators that are being provided? And I'm particularly curious because that's that's exactly $45,860 per para educator. That's almost twice the average cost that we pay a starting para educator. So if we're paying, you
083know, nearly double the price to stepping stone, ho how how much more qualified are those PAR educators than the ones who are hiring directly within the district? The the PAR educators that are hired through that contract are then um enlisted into our actual in district programs. So they do come with some level of um training around either autism or some behavioral um concerns that students might exhibit. Um they are also then trained in our programs to then um support our um highest need students. Aren't the paras that we hire directly also doing the same work? they're servicing children with high needs and being trained internally in those same programs. They may not be um providing services in our in our indist programs. They might be in a um neighborhood or a magnet school where students
084may have more mainstream classes. So that there's a continuum of um supports that are provided. So, I don't think that quite answers my concern. It It just seems like it's we're having and I was really involved with the superintendent. We were trying to increase the number of paraprofessionals that we're hiring and some of the incentives we're offering. If we're struggling so much to hire people because we're not really paying them a living wage, and I understand the budgetary constraints behind that, it seems like we're doing ourselves a disservice by then contracting out to an agency that's likely keeping a percentage of that and likely still paying that person, not the full amount that we're paying to them. Why why is that still the strategy? We we had a plan to hire more PAR professionals. We
085did hire quite a bit of people. I know we negotiated a contract where they did get a modest increase because they haven't received an increase in a long time. Why why are we still trying to do 50 PAR educators through this program when we're we could hire our own people and give them a better incentive upfront and train them. Um and we have put effort towards that. It just seems like it's not the most efficient use of of 2 almost $2.3 million. The contract um allows us to hire or keep pair educators through that agency while we're continuing to hire our own PAR educators. So, as we're hiring, we then don't need the PAR educators through the agency. So, it's like we're back filling, but we are always looking to hire our own and then
086fill those positions. I'll also add that and I know that CFO Richard is not here um but the believe the average salary for PAR educator is about $45,000 with fringe. the fringe for our um non-certified staff is actually at around 40% um of the salary. So if like doing some math, I think it's um maybe a difference of about a couple million thousand dollars um when you when you compare what we you know the what we pay and fringe to um the cost with the with the agency. I hear what you're saying in terms of like at the end of the day um should we be looking at a different compensation model. Um I know that right now we don't have all of our vacancies filled even with u the new contract. Maybe as the
087summer goes on and um team continues to spread the word um we'll be able to fill more which means that we'll we'll have less in the contract. Um, I'm hearing what you're saying, but I also wanted to clarify that the salary is different in terms of fringe. Thank you for that clarification. So, essentially, you're saying that it's not half as cheap to hire our own PAR professional because of all the additional right health and so on that we provide up to employees that we don't provide to say a contractor. So, I understand that point. Thank you for clarifying that. Um it's I I think fundamentally though the the part that I struggle with is why not try to build in capacity within versus bringing in contractors. Um and and I guess overall I'm curious about
088as I asked before the quality of the people they're bringing in is are those people those pair of professionals are they in the schools throughout the entire academic year? Are they people who are staying with us on an ongoing basis as they develop relationship with the child um or classroom that they're working with? These are all things that I think we are more likely to get from an employee than from some third provider contracting out to how whoever they're contracting out. But also if those contractors are able to find people who are willing to do the job for essentially close to the same cost, something is being missed because then those are people we could just hire directly, right? Because they're they're doing the work. um what is the disconnect and why are we not
089able to hire those people internally so that they are employees and more embedded in the fabric of our schools and and have a a better sense of of what I would hope would be a better sense of belonging and and sense of continuity uh in the work that they do. There is some language in the contract around um time frame where we could pursue um those um pair educators as our own employees. Um I believe it's three years and so we probably don't even have some contracted staff that have been with us for three years. So we couldn't go into that conversation to hire them as our own at this point. Miss Fortune. Um, we're going to go on to others, but we'll come back to you. Okay, Miss Brody. Yes, this is my least
090favorite part of the year with all these contracts. Um, I am definitely a proponent of us having our own employees. Um, and I don't like that all of these contracts are lumped together. I think it would be beneficial um especially if we're we're having a um you know we're going to have a new um superintendent soon to wrap our head around all of these contracts. I understand the work. Um I worked with um assistant superintendent. I'm in PPT, so I'm not disconnected at all from what needs to be delivered, but I cannot stomach all these contracts. Um, so I would like um I don't know if it comes in a work um because we we've gotten to the place over the years, right? Remember, we were just contracting with no um just contracting. So, I
091appreciate we've evolved to we need to hire these folks. We need them for our own. Um, so we've made progress in that area, but we have not made progress in needing more of I totally get the the shortage areas in the shortage areas of folks that are not local because everyone is struggling. But for those that are local, I do not understand that part. So I don't think it's a ask of you, but I think it's more ask of um talent management. We need some type of presentation of how what our efforts are. Um because the these um contracts are actually overwhelming for me. Um we need to know what our efforts are in regards to obtaining our own permanent staff um over going um this route um so we can better understand is it
092that we don't have enough staff to because of budget cuts right to obtain and go out and do all the things we want to do because we just don't have enough staff to do that. Is that a is this a result of that? How much does that play into it? Because this is a lot of people um that are going to be working with our students that are not our staff and I struggle um deeply um with that. Thank you, Miss Brody. Uh just a quick question playing off of um what Miss Brody just said. Superintendent, can you talk a little bit about the um the our attempts to recruit sped teachers? And we did receive a letter from E4E recently about um perhaps con reconsidering the contract around some of those teachers. Yeah, I
093think that's all right. kind of like under this umbrella in terms of the I'm going to use the word crisis that we and others are relative to special education service delivery and staffing particularly in the urban the urban centers. Um yes, we did receive a letter and I actually began to do some research with other urban centers. Um, I believe you're talking about the letter that encourages some differential um, compensation for special education teachers. Um, and that, you know, that requires uh, contractual um, conversations with the HFT. Uh that said, I know that there is another urban system that does what we do in terms of the $5,000 uh a bonus, but they also do a 10% differential in salary, which was shocking to me. Not shocking, but I guess everyone is going to try
094to do what they can to do to to recruit and retain. And we know that we have a new contract, but even with that, that is a significant difference when you think about a teacher's salary. Um, obviously that is a um that's a financial implication and I I guess it would be an a math exercise to do to determine um what exactly is if there is a a cost saving. At the end of the day, we're going to have to um if you all are going to have to approve the contracts to pay for the added the added in the added cost of partnering with a third party agency, would it would it be cost effective to do a differential for for special education teachers? Um ultimately right it's a long road ahead. If we
095don't have a third party providing the supports for the students then we talk about compensatory services then then we lose out double we lose out on the fact that students then are delayed in their in accessing services and the cost of those services um right continue to increase which then drive our you know one of the cost drivers in the budget. So it's it is a snowball a snowball effect. That is a very long answer to your question chair chair person hugenhal. Um but um yes we did receive the letter and I did do a little bit of um research. I do have additional calls to other superintendents um to know what exactly they're doing. Um, I'm hoping that they will share their strategies knowing that it means that we're trying to get the same
096people from the same pool. Thank you. Um, I think Tyrone was up next, Mr. Walker. Um, thank you um um to the chair. Um Um Yeah. Um it's Hoffman. So um clarify this for me. So I think um virtual versus in person. So, as I'm hearing it, stepping in stone virtual I'm going to sorry about that. I need to double check on stepping stone. Actually, I can I can get exactly who is virtual and who is in person. Well, their speech language pathologist are virtual stepping stone. Correct. And from what you were saying, the so where I'm tagging it, stepping stone is virtual for speech language pathologist. Solient it's virtual for speech and language pathologists. AMN healthcare CBS therapy. King Speech in person. King Speech is in person. Correct. Amen. Well, we'll knock them off.
097So, okay. That So, that gets me as I'm counting it about 6.75 million for virtual. Okay. Um, I was challenged last year after this time to because that list I went through represents um a lot of a lot of persons and um so the other thing that I I I need I'm going to request is can we get an accurate accounting of um spot culture at special ed hiring this year. Um how many total we bought in, how many departures, net gain, um these are all continuations. I see the exact same numbers and um the feedback that I heard is that virtual speech language pathologist isn't as effective. Um the other thing I want you to confirm is the other piece is there was um the the law rules say supposed to be some kind
098of privacy here. So if students going to their speech language pathologist or special sessions is if these are pull out supposed to be private. Correct. Correct. I've heard some instructional staff talk about times where there had to be a session held within a classroom session maybe in the back of the room. Is that factual? That not factual? That is not factual. we actually have um guidance, district guidance around how services should be provided. Now, the the other thing that I've heard is that staff had to assist um online person with technology at times um with filling out reports sometimes. Is is that factual? Not to my knowledge, but I can double check on that. Um and um I think um my my inclination is um not and I definitely support uh board member Brody's position
099that rolling these all together makes it very difficult to approve these because um I agree with the superintendent that student need services, but I was challenged not to approve at such a high level to really leverage our energy to get more inbuilding people. Everyone I talked to wants an in building person. Um, for this many millions of dollars, it feels like we could recruit some. And so that's why I wanted to know what our 8 OTM numbers say because I would want to have some of this I would like to have these kind of contracts tied to performance. So if recruitment numbers and totals were met, then I don't have a problem supporting you to help students. My sense is when I look at these numbers that we aren't doing a great job recruiting and
100this keeps filling in our gap every year because the numbers don't seem to go down. They say the same. It looks like it's even growing a tiny bit because I see a few more providers than I saw in the past. Um, it's more of a comment, but I'm but the thing that I I think to lead into this for me, I would feel more comfortable that I really could see OTM's progress. Um, because I feel like this is second or third year that I've proven these same types of numbers and I'm not hearing at a schoolbased level people feel more in school support. So, that would be my comment. Thank you. Just also to um add to the request is also to filter through through the lens of uh services any increases in services. We
101know that every year the level of need increases either students are identified at at higher rates or require additional services. And so also to yes look at the staffing numbers but also at whether or not the service need has has gone up so because our costs continue to grow up go up and so that's another lens that we should consider. Thank you through the chair. Can I then amend my request also then talk about the amount of student need so we can look at that as well. Okay, Miss Berton. Um, thank you, uh, Madam Chair. So, just to sort of go back, um, first I should say to be clear, I'm not expecting that this is going to be resolved immediately because I think this is something that we need to be working on long
102term and develop internally. But I do think that we should consider um, hiring more internally. Um I'm curious to know a little bit more about what process I think I asked this but I don't recall hearing the answer. What is our process internally for evaluating each of these providers um based on the services that they're delivering? Are the students um filling out surveys or parents receiving surveys to see if their children are being serviced properly? Are the classroom teachers of these students filling out anything to see if those students are indeed improving? Are the principles involved in that process? How are we assessing the product and the service that they are providing to our students? The directors and the schoolbased staff work on a weekly basis with the providers. So that's through a special ed
103uh weekly team meeting. Um they're those ser providers are part of those um part of those meetings. In terms of evaluating, we would really look at the IEP goals and objectives and see where students are making progress. So, we don't have a survey that goes to parents. Um, but it's it's the IEP that's driving that, right? But the student has a mandated, you know, mandated services through their IEPs. Are we tracking the progress based on the services that are being mandated? And are we tracking how well these providers are offering those services and how much these children are improving? Is there is there type of data that we're keeping on them? not an evaluative um measure from it would be through the agency but it's the progress monitoring through the IEP and then at annual
104and trienal evaluations. Okay. I think maybe we'll take this offline to to make sure that there's a process that's clear to us that we can um comprehend and understand. Um, typically when we're approving a contract, at least since my one-year tenure on this board, I I think perhaps not all times, but most times the vendors are here and we ask them questions directly. Sometimes they come to committee meetings. Do we have any of the vendors from these eight any representatives from these aid providers here tonight? We do. We have some online and I believe Dr. from CVS therapy and Jess from Creative Interventions and Dr. Losia from the stepping stones group. Okay. So, three and I have somebody Dr. Los from um CB um creative can we have real help? Thank you. Um, I personally
105would like to hear from them and hear what they do, how they do it, and their process and and why they think um the contracts should be renewed. Um, I think along the line of what the superintendent said for next time, it would be helpful to know when did we start um uh retaining those services. So, did we start contracting with someone in 2022, 2019? Is there an increase or decrease in the number of dollars um that is being sought? Is there an increase or decrease in the number of students being served? And certainly some type of qualitative assessment of the of the services being provided. Um so we can better gauge how they're doing and servicing our students. Um I I will pause there, but again I would like to hear from each of
106the representatives from those uh providers that are here. Um, and just for everyone else, particularly Mr. DS, I know last year you mentioned you really want the summer meetings to be in person. We are meeting in person this summer. We're not doing virtual meetings. So, I would hope that if we're approving a lot of contracts over the summer, we are here in person. I would really like to hear from the representatives of these various vendors in person as well. Thank you, Madam Chair. Uh, yeah, Mr. Mills. All right. Got two questions. one, if these are not approved today, do we risk losing anything or interfering with anything? Like, can't we do this next meeting? We have students that are attending ESY that require services per their IEP, so we would be out of compliance with
107meeting those mandated services. If they were not approved for next year, again, we would be out of compliance for speech and language pareducator BCBA support on an IEP. So, just to clarify, we have to have all of these approved today in order for it to be in effect as of July 1, like yes. Why are we just getting them now then? Uh, I'll let Dr. to get to jump in. Uh it's a cycle that we actually having them a little earlier. Um in the past we've waited to the summer and that has caused a back backlog. Um so so this has to happen today or else students don't get these services over the summer. Yes. some of our students will not be serviced over the summer. The other thing that I and maybe this is
108the the providers can answer this. Um I'm correct my assumption that we are we know we're not the only district that is looking for service providers. Um I I see you shaking your head. Uh I assume you don't have a list of people that are going to be waiting and so is this an are we at risk also of not having people available by waiting? No, I guess I just want to state for the I guess going forward, can we have these things before this? I really wanted to refer this back to committee so we can separate all these and have more questions. But if we don't approve these today, we now risk our own students not having these services, which is ridiculous. from a maybe this is a Lori question um in terms of
109approving contracts before budget is approved for the following year before approving a budget for next year. I'm I'm just trying to forecast out if a budget is approved in April. But the like we just found out where the state was and the city and so I guess we have to wait until that to approve a contract for the following fiscal year, right? Okay. just thinking in action here and trying to mitigate, you know, answer what you're saying and the possibility of when in the timeline does that happen. So, just to be clear, there's no way that we can deal with this in the next meeting without losing services to these students. we will not have access to the services and the other risk is other districts beating us to the line. That's the question for
110providers be as they're deciding who to answer. Superintendent, I'm just trying to wrap my mind around this. I guess my my understanding of supply and demand is that if so many districts need the service and we're paying a fair market price for this, there's enough providers to provide such services to students. So I think I I don't know if the idea that we need to beat other districts to it is necessarily so I'm curious to hear from them. But the right the idea is if if there's really this need in the marketplace and the districts like ours are willing to pay there, you know, we're very uh entrepreneurial nation, people will be jumping at the opportunity to create these types of companies so they can provide these services and provide it at whatever profit works
111for them. So I I I'm curious to hear the answers, but I think sort of the the premise of that statement to me does not seem to align with my general understanding of economics and just the free market that we operate in. Well, you when you answer I also the backdrop of there is a national shortage and there has been a national shortage of speech and language therapists. So they might f again I don't know what how you ex how you interact with the market. Um I wonder for you to find speech and language therapists that have to come from somewhere. They're not coming from recent they're not recent graduates and so they would be coming from our schools could be anywhere. True. I I've g we've given you several questions but I'll pause there.
112I'm I'm maybe I'm again challenge I'm I'm challenge my assumption around the availability um in the market. Sorry about that. Hi, I'm Dr. Lawson, the executive director at Please. Sorry, I'm Dr. Lawome, the executive director of Kinetic Behavioral Health. We provide BCBA and RBT services for the district. We've been doing so for at least, I'd say, a half dozen years. And the services that we provide, as Miss Hoffman said, are in person. So, we're supporting upwards of 50 plus students, maintaining them in district um for the costs that she described or indicated about $730,000. In terms of the numbers and staffing that you're looking at, there is not an abundance of BCBAS and quality RBTs that are out there. when you I can speak to other districts and we get requests very frequently from other
113districts to staff these roles to find experienced and quality staff who understand how to program within schools is not an abundance. So as we have these requests that come to us obviously we want to be able to fill those requests for districts and provide them with quality staffing. um the individuals that we've had with you all this year, a number of the RBTs have been with the district for multiple years. BCBAS as well have established good relationships with both the teachers, uh administrators and students within the district and have built out and increased the number of programs. So, they know the programs well. So maintaining that consistency in staffing is highly valuable for the district because each student that you keep within a program within the district from just a number standpoint is you know
114exponentially costs saving exponential cost savings for the district. You know each student that might end up outplaced if a program isn't there or the staffing isn't provided would run the district 140 plus thousand dollars per student. So servicing 50 students across in this case seven staff members um is a huge differential but in terms of numbers to find and keep quality staff is imperative for an effective program. I hope that answers the questions that that you had in terms of availability accessibility as well. Thank you doc Dr. Lawson. Um that is very helpful. Um, and again, see, this goes to a lot of the questions I had, right? What is the number of students you're servicing? How are you servicing them? How long have you been servicing them? Right? So, now I understand Connecticut Behavioral
115Health, Behavioral Health, you have seven staff members. Um, don't know if they're all necessarily full-time within our district, but seven different people from the full. Okay. Full-time, right? So, then I can sort of crunch the numbers. What is this cost per person or working with our students, 50 plus students in person? It it just it it humanizes this a little bit more versus just this abstract contract with an abstract number. Um and it's reassuring to hear that it is in person. I would also like to hear how are these students doing. Um right. So so some more qualitative um reports independently from you because I'm sure you're doing great work but I don't get to hear that from from where I sit. Um so that would be very helpful. But thank you for being here
116and for um providing that information. You're welcome. Good night, chair. Excuse me. Um just to um you know follow up on that as well. Jess Sanders from Creative Interventions, a behavior analyst also supporting Hartford. We've also had um a relationship with Hartford Public Schools for many years um and have provided services um in person, all in person um across um the years fulfilling a number of different needs. Um the the need in districts is great. um and the needs of students, particularly students with um autism or students who are significantly impacted um with behavioral and other challenges is rising um yearbyear. Our staff that are coming into district are full-time in Hartford. They um I'm a former special education administrator and special education teacher um myself. So they do receive a significant amount of training
117on how to best function particularly within the school setting because it is much different than a medical model or um a clinic or other um settings. We focus very heavily on building capacity um and staff training and collaboration with districts. Um and as has been mentioned previously, we do attend those um special education meetings weekly. Uh, additionally regarding the quality of services, we do um anonymous surveys to school district staff to um get their responses on how they feel the quality of service provision um that students are receiving um is going. And that's based on the recently recently released um guidelines for behavior analysts working in public schools that was um released by the department of ed in conjunction with uh CTBA which is the behavior analytic organization for the state. Thank you. Uh, are
118there other providers that want to speak? And then I'll go to Ledger. No, I'm sorry. I was asking if there were any other providers on Zoom that wanted to speak and then I'll go to Maested for a question. I would like to speak, please, Jen from CBS Therapy. Thank you, Jen. Go ahead. Okay. Thank you. Um CBS Therapy has been providing speech language pathologists to Hartford public schools um since 2014. We are fun run and founded by two bilingual SLPs um who actually worked in the district contracted understand the district. We provide about eight FTEEs total to the district. We always try to staff in person first. That's our first priority with Hartford. We unfortunately have had to fall back on telepractice in the last few years. I feel like especially with the pandemic, it
119got challenging um with people wanting to work remotely. Um but we have been offering more compensation to our staff and not passing that along to Hartford for people to go in person. Um so I would just like that noted. I'm not an SLP, so I cannot comment on, you know, reports and things of that nature, but I would just like to say that we love working with Hartford and we hope to continue to do so. Thank you, Jen. Can't see the name of the other provider online. I'm sorry. Yes. Hi, my name is Maria Coffeeoffe Hearnen and I'm with the Stepping Stones group and we actually provide um a total of about 23 speech language pathologists in Hartford. Um I actually oversee the speech language pathologists. Um I have a counterpart that oversees the behavioral
120side that handles our PAR educators. Um, however, I've been working with Hartford since um the 2018 2019 school year. So, um, we do provide both in-person and, um, tea staff and as Jen mentioned, it did get a little bit more challenging with the pandemic um, with trying to find in-person providers. That is our goal is to provide in-person providers to Hartford public schools. Um and we do so whenever possible. Um we do work with clinical fellows as well and um provide the supervision for those clinical fellows while they're going through those are individuals that have finished their um graduate year and are in the process of getting their full lensure. They can fully function as an SLP. they are supervised by SECCC SLP um until that happens but they do become fully licensed SLPs and
121um we are trying to cultivate that process we do recruit on an annualized basis we recruit pretty much 12 months out of the year 365 days a year that's why a that's why agencies are able to provide um licensed clinicians whereas sometimes school districts find it a little bit more difficult. We do have very large recruitment teams and clinical management teams that actually work trying to um recruit the individuals that we provide to school districts. And we are a national company. We provide to school districts only. And we've been doing so for um about 35 years. Um, so we actually have part of our recruitment process and part of the way that we bring clinicians into schools, we actually have um SOPs that work directly for us, we call them clinical managers. So they actually
122support all of our staff that is servicing all of the districts that we service, Hartford included. Um, and they actually do clinical interviews. So they do a strict skill set. um and determined that the clinicians that we are providing have the skill set needed to provide services to students within the school um district. Um there's a lot of clinicians that like to switch from medical to schools. We vet that very carefully. We make sure that they do have the skill set to provide the services and follow the IEP protocols and the processes in order to make that happen and make it successful for the students. Thank you. Uh Mer Ledger, thank you so much. Can you hear me? Yes, we can. Okay. Thank you. So, um I wanted to say uh a couple of things.
123One, um the it's critical that we follow, you know, the IEPs that the students have because that's if we're out of compliance, that's a whole that's a whole other problem. um legally. Um the other thing I wanted to say is that you know I hope that we are not looking to compromise um the integrity or the the quality if you will of the service um that the the children are getting who need the services. Um we have to follow the IEPs. Um I have seen as an educator the effect uh and the impact of um you know RBTs um SLPs uh BCBAS all of that when they all of those all of them rather when they come into the schools when they service the children and it makes a huge difference but they they have
124the children have to get are are required to get those services have to get those services. Um, I did ask when this came up in the teaching and learning committee meeting, um, if this is something that that we can perhaps look at as a track, if you will, um, you know, we can offer this as, you know, as a cohort, have um, have teachers perhaps get trained. But you know my understanding with regards to the speech and language um pathologist it's a whole that's another certification process but perhaps we can look at is there an opportunity to look at perhaps getting RBTs um trained inside the schools so that we can um lessen the effect of having to contract. But I will say it is a it is, you know, a a nationwide um problem,
125if you will. But is there is there a way to get folks who are in house um in Harford public schools trained as RPTs at least? Can someone answer that question? I think that was a question. I Dr. Hoffman, we can certainly work with OTM to determine if um educators can get trained different um category. So, we would have to work with OTM on that. Thank you. And perhaps look at the cost as well because that that would definitely make a difference. All right. Thank you. I feel like everyone has their hand up right now. I'm really really sorry. I don't know who was first. My question is really quick. Do are all of our contractors providing summer services for our kids. Creative interventions, not CB, not CBH. Creative interventions is And I would have
126to check on the speech. Okay. The stepping stone group, the stepping stones group is I believe King speech is as well. [Music] I believe there is at least one from CBS Therapy as well. Could I jump in with a process question? Yeah. Um my question is about like the budgeting process and like what these dollars are and where they're coming from. Um so we approved the budget that included funding for staff in these areas. And you know, at each at each one of these, it's listed the funding is using budgeted funds for existing vacancies. Part of what I'm having trouble wrapping my head around, and I tried to get at this, but not very well, during the committee meeting, is like is is that are there existing vacancies now and like for next school year?
127And is this is this money that that we're projecting we will not sp it it was already budgeted for we're projecting that we won't spend it on staff because we're projecting that those positions will be vacant and therefore we're approving a contract for the money that we already allocated to those positions to fill essentially those positions through these um through these providers, the speech and language and the PAR educator are um filled through the vacancy funding. The BCBA and RBTs are um funded through the IDA grant. Okay, understood. And then a follow-up question to that process-wise is it also says funding only used if a candidate is hired. I know that through the year this year we filled a lot of paraprofessional vacancies for example. Um if we fill a position what hap like what
128happens to the contract? I guess the question is if we fill a position through one of these contracts, is that for the whole year and that means that position would not be filled by a mid-year hire or if we can fill a position midyear, do they bump out uh some position that's been filled? Yes, we we always try to um hire our own and then it would replace that agency pareducator and that that is possible within the contracts that we have here. Um yeah, then I then I would say in general although the sticker shock is real and like wrapping our head around like this is the state of our education system right now that like communities can't fill the positions that are required to raise our children. Um and that these agencies have have
129been created to try to meet needs. um that exist in communities. I think I think that is you know putting it I I don't want to disparage the work that that any of of you do with your agencies and to me it's a indictment on uh our broad education system that like this is where we're at um and that this is this kind of service providing is is what is required. Maybe there are ways that it does provide services more efficiently. Like I think there's an argument to be made for that that um at least in the case of of some of the more specialized positions um for providing services for smaller districts, agencies like this can be really useful. Um but in the case of large districts that have um you know years years
130of guaranteed full-time employment um it does it does sort of strike me as as unfortunate that that is the system that we're living in and like we as a board are in a difficult position because like our our students need these services. Um, so I'm somewhat comforted by the idea that a this is money that we've already approved in the budget for positions for these positions since we anticipate some of them being vacant yet we need someone to provide that service. There is a way to do that through contract through these contracts. Um, and if we are able to hire and and I certainly hope that a a contractor filling the position doesn't stop our efforts at hiring. And I think there have been requests for more information about that process. Um but knowing that
131if we do hire that that would replace the position that had been um filled sort of on a temporary basis by the contractor, I'm more comfortable with the idea of moving forward with these contracts. Mrs. Stratford, thank you chair. Um I have a few questions and thoughts. Um I think what would be really helpful to know is um I have a list of things that I think might be really helpful to know and some of them have already been mentioned but I kind of want to go through them. Um I think this might be common knowledge for people who are involved in education but I wanted all to you all to get a chance to answer. The reason there is a shortage of educators that are providing these services does that is that is starting
132at the higher education level with the number of graduates that we have and then the number of graduates that are then picked to be in that then picked to be in these uh institutions. Is that accurate? It's definitely um we're seeing smaller numbers of people going into education, special education especially the BCBA is is a very specialized position. So we see an even even greater um or smaller population going into that as well. I would probably I would defer but I would probably say the same thing with speech. Okay. It's a it's a um intense program. It's a it's a very long program. Um so we are not seeing the numbers you know of people going into those um college programs and then coming to uh schools. Thank you. I I say that to say
133to to your point about the broader conversation about education. higher education plays a role in this and if it's a low program it's probably very expensive a lot harder for people to be able to maintain and stay um and so they wanted to understand that a little bit and set it in the stage. Um, I think what would be helpful to know to I think thinking creatively, I know we cannot approve contracts until we have the total amounts that we have, but we make we can make assumptions about what we think we might need even if we do not have the approval so that we can at least have some of the language of the contracts earlier. That might be helpful so that we know some of the intricacies that allow us to sort of
134what a board member Tatum just went through. There's a mechanism for for for replacing a a um a p professional if one is hired, right? So I think getting them a little bit earlier even if we don't know the dollar amount would be helpful even if we cannot approve them at the moment we know the language that we're going to be confronted with that won't change much so I think that is one way um I think um what would be helpful for the district for at least for me to know is and some of this has been mentioned is the number of vacancies in sped I know that's available but if we can have sort of like a quick one pager report of what is the special ed hiring plan have we partner with um
135CSUs or Yukon ons and what what are some of those maybe they don't maybe there are no pipelines there but are there pipelines um are there the number of special ed resignations that we may be having it will be also important to know the number of students that are receiving virtual services and like the percentage of students that are receiving virtual services um and the number of the percentage of students who are receiving in person would be helpful and then designate that by the type of service they're receiving so that we have a clear idea of what that looks take and to your point board member uh Fortune about evaluations. I know that we said that part of the tracking mechanism is uh figuring out like what uh progress have been made through the IEP
136goals and objectives. Uh but would be helpful to know is are we tracking the percentage of the improvement of those IEPs? Do we have those numbers to see what that progress looks like? Um and is there any other ways that we can do evaluations? Not necessarily as a gotcha, but like what are some things that are working? what are some things that need a little bit more um support that is either through an evaluative process that might be out of outside of the IEP because IEP very specific um that we might be able to support so that we know some of the the intricacies um of those services. So um those are all the thoughts that come to mind. So not many questions but just sort of like the things that might be helpful to
137know. Thank you um Mr. Walker and then Mr. Darstedger. Okay. Um thank you chair. Um, so, um, my, uh, my comment is a is a request. So, um, in talking to staff over the years, over the years or so here at Hart Public Schools, I've run across a few folks who've gained special ed certification or degree, you know, in that journey. Um, what I'm requesting is, uh, you do asset mapping. Can you can you and OTM really asset map? Um um what occurred in my conversations is folks would lift up right to the system that oh I got this bad degree now and it kind of goes nowhere while you're talking super high need I didn't get the pressure that at an OTM level they were tied in to how to deal with that and
138so my sense is um it won't solve world hunger But it feels like if four or five folks across the district get this in a year, maybe someone has a speaking language pathology double certification somehow. And these are folks I understand that are currently employed as elementary school teachers or middle school teachers. Um my thinking is maybe easier to replace a fourth grade teacher and and us convert a person that over a decade that may add 50 staff let's say or maybe a little bit more. Um the other request I'm asking is I know as a um body we increased um staff development dollars you know in terms of accelerating the ability to get degrees and whatnot. Can can we identify as you said certain areas that we may think are highly desirable and maybe
139I may encourage people to pick that as their degree area. Um, and we could talk about maybe from a policy standpoint incentivizing that even further so we can do a little bit of grow our own in the special ed area because I agree with the other comment that doesn't feel like higher ed is going to give us enough. So, so can you report back to that because I I just don't want to hear people tell me that they have this other thing and and then no one is addressing it. Um, thank you. Uh, Mr. Ter ledger and then misfortune. Miss Terell ledger. Okay. Uh, Miss Fortune. Thank you, Madam Chair. Um, so just try to summarize everything that I sort of said before. Um, I am grateful that we have these providers who are working
140with our students, but I also believe that holding each other accountable will lead to better and improved services being offered to our students. Hence, the request for some type of qualitative way to measure the services that are being offered. And I am keeping in mind that I have heard from parents who aren't necessarily pleased about the virtual services and and quality of services. So I just want us to keep the endusers in mind who are the students who are receiving those services so that we can continue to improve no matter how good the services are. There's certainly ways to build upon that. So that's really the the rationale behind the request for the qualitative um data that I've requested. Um, and I also do understand that our students need those services. I by no means
141am trying to say let's not provide these services or let's be disruptive, but I think I see it as part of my duty um on this board is to really understand what I'm voting on and understand what services are being offered. And I don't see a better way to do that than to hear directly from those providers. So, I I would like to hear in the future from from providers of contracts that we're um voting on. Um I'll stop there. Um I think um thank you for those of you who have shared information. Um, in terms of to the school district, I do think internally we we need to look into how we're recruiting and how we're recruiting because if these outside providers are able to find people that they can bring within our schools
142and for example, if we're telling me that the pair of professional cost that we pay the provider is about the same ultimately that we would pay internally between salary and fringe, then something. There's a disconnect there, right? Why are why aren't we hiring those pair of professionals? What are we missing in our own recruiting system, right? And that goes the same for all of these other professionals, whether they're speech language pathologists, whether they're um what other types of professionals, whether they are certified behavior analysts, if these people exist out there, they're employed by someone, we need them. Why aren't we going after such people? and why aren't we hiring them? Because we can if we were really having the proper measures in place. I want us to internally examine how we're doing that. And it's
143not to say that we should never have outside contracts. I think in some areas it's very much needed. It can be supplemented. They there can be, you know, a little bit more flexibility and they could be more nimble. It's not to say we don't need those. But for core services that we know we need, the need is only increasing. I think we need to align our strategy for recruiting people to be more robust in attracting the people that we need and I don't know that I have seen that in my interactions with OTM and with however we're recruiting folks and just from what I hear from people who are applying. So I really do urge us internally to consider how are we attracting talent in the areas that are high need because ultimately if all
144of these people worked within our district they would not be providing virtual services right there's no teacher within HPS who can work virtually so we do have a little bit more control over the quality of that delivery when they are employees versus a contractor so ultimately I think a lot of my comments are more towards us because what we have control over is what we do within district. In the short term, in the immediate future, we may have no choice but to approve these contracts, but I think more scrutiny is warranted moving forward. And I think we do need to work harder and more strategically at trying to fill in some of these positions internally versus budgeting for vacancies when we know someone else is hiring those people because they're bringing them to us. It's
145not that they don't exist. Not to say there's no shortage. Sure, there's a shortage, but if they're being hired somewhere, right, and we're paying these contractors, they're not hiring them and and taking, you know, a cut. It's not like we're being discounted in what we pay. So, they must be paying them at least what we would be paying them. So, we should really be considering how do we attract more of that talent internally where it makes sense to do that. Any other questions or comments? Oh, Miss Dell Ledger, are you back? Okay. Um, any other questions, comments while we wait? No. No. Yes. Okay. Sorry, I was in and out. I I apologize. Um, thank you so much. Um, so my question is if someone can answer this um to give a perspective of of
146what services look like. Um because it's very hard for one who either doesn't work in the field of education to see how these students um you know some of these students are being serviced or if they don't have a child or family member of their own who needs these services. Um it's very hard hard to paint the picture. Um so my question is can someone answer the question what is the pretty much the I don't want to say burnout um but what is like the how long does someone who is in this field with regards to not so much speech language therapy speech langu language pathologist but RBT U BCBA what is their how long would they pretty much and even special education how long would They they pretty much stay in the profession. BCBA
147they longevity is can be quite long. The what the specifics of what a BCBA is going to be doing on a day-to-day and or weekly basis. They do a number of different roles, but in terms of direct specific student contact, what they're doing is they're working and supporting students with their different developmental and behavioral needs through just training students directly as well as training the RBTs with the implementation of a behavior plan, behavior program as well as supporting teachers and training them paras and training them as well. on the RBTs are implementing the plans you to support the students success academically. Some of our RBTs specifically in the programs that we run are also supporting further training and support of paraprofessionals when they come into some of the transitional programs as well to make sure
148that there's greater diversity or distribution if you will of the skill set that they possess so that they're demonstrating and modeling the skills so that the pair can also implement them when they're out into the mainstream classroom environment. So there is some training that the the RBT or the BCBA will pass on to the say the Hartford public school parah the one who's been hired directly from Harford public schools very much so. Yeah we have again as they indicate for us specifically seven staff yet servicing 50 plus students. So with that you have to have a a really a top- down model of support. So the BCBA is going to design the program. They will demonstrate and model that program, train our RBT in the implementation of that program who then trains others in supporting
149that program. So it spreads the skill set, you know, across multiple providers, you know, to that students. Yeah. Um again to follow up on that to answer the first portion of that question um the industry rate of turnover for RBTs um is estimated to be between 45 and 75% depending on the role that they're um filling in in the kind of service delivery model um whether they're in clinic, schools, things like that. So high high burnout high burnout in special education specifically where when working with high need populations um and for behavior analysts as well um you know there's very high need in schools but there is um a a u a significant need for for behavior analysts um who have the skill set and training to work in schools. Um and and behavior analysts
150can also work in many different settings as far as you know clinics going into homes um birth to three services. So it can be very difficult to find staff who have the skill set because it is a very specific skill set to work in the school setting. Um again, you know, speaking to the the training model, we also utilize a behavioral skills training model. Um that's a requirement for the supports that we're providing. And that means it's it's kind of an I do um we do you do um and that is built into all of the services um that we are providing because we are primarily working um in in the programs that we're supporting um with Hartford school staff. So we're really working directly with them to train them on how to implement the
151services because the students need the services across the school day and environments um even when we're not there. So, it's really important to build capacity and skill set and um you know comfort level and understanding um from those those district staff um as well. Thank you so much for answering that question and once again I'm hoping that we can actually look and explore um some type of internal training program training our staff um or and giving them that certification so that there could be an incentive for them to stay and stay with those students for say three years or even longer. Thank you. My bad. Oh, there we are. All right. Okay. Seeing no more questions, uh, where were we? Okay, sorry. The motion on the floor is that the Hartford Board of Education and
152Sorry, I my I think my motion's wrong. the motion that the Hartford Board of Education authorized the superintendent to execute contracts with the entities listed below or sorry previously listed for the terms outlined in the contracts not to exceed the amounts listed. All those in favor signify by saying I I I nays nay. Abstensions abstain. Okay, the eyes have it. The motion moves. Thank you everyone and thank you to the providers who were here tonight and um provided information that was very helpful. Thank you so much. Thank you. All right. Item 4.2. Second reading and adoption. Challenging behavior prevention restorative practices response policy. Motion that the Hartford Board of Education adopt the challenging behavior prevention restorative practices response policy. Do I have a motion? So move. So move. Second. All right. Uh, Miss Fortune, I
153will toss it to you. Sure. Thank you, Madam Chair. Uh, this is the second reading and adoption of the challenging behavior prevention restorative practices response policy. A state law passed in 2023 requires all boards to adopt the restorative practice response policy. The Connecticut Association of Boards of Education, commonly referred to as CABE, developed a model policy, which is what is being presented for first reading, second reading. The policy is focused on ensuring the district has a continuum of strategies focused on use of restorative practices to respond to nonviolent challenging student behavioral conflict. The model policy defines key terms like challenging behavior, restorative practices, and social emotional learning. The policy lays out guiding principles and guidelines for implementation of restorative practices, but the staff developed the specific details on how those principles and guidelines are implemented.
154HPS already uses restorative practices in many behavioral situations, but this is a new policy providing the overall framework for this work. Thank you, Miss Fortune. Are there any questions or discussions on this policy? Oh, Mr. Tatum, thank you. Um, yeah, I'm I'm strongly in support of this policy. Um, I would just like to kind of flag a couple of the uh things in it that I think point to a lot of the work that lies ahead. as Misfortune mentioned, like this establishes a framework, but doesn't like get into the details of of what that really looks like. And and one of the things that I'm sensitive to as a as someone who has worked in schools that were implementing restorative justice practices is how easy it is to kind of talk the talk of restorative
155practices and and claim to be uh following restorative practices and and how difficult that cultural shift really is. Um so for example on the fourth page of this policy like one one two three four the fifth page of the policy as it gets into some of the general policy guidelines um it lists uh that uh one of the um evidence-based and and researchbased systems that goes along with restorative practices is ensuring that each student has a role in repairing relationships and reintegrating into the school community after harm has been caused. Um that is like a significant shift in practice uh from how uh discipline situations can be handled and and requires a lot of time and teaching and intention behind making that happen. Um similarly at the bottom of that page um the policy recall
156rec calls on schools to develop and sustain a restorative infrastructure that builds capacity, accountability and sustainability. A lot of this stuff takes time. A lot of it takes staff. Um, doing it well really means looking at ways that that you can reallocate time and staff to support students as they're um learning a different way of dealing with uh challenging behaviors um in themselves in others. Um this goes for staff as well. Um I think I think you know the idea has been brought to us in public comment that one way to walk the walk is to practice this uh practice restorative practices in in staff as well and apply to adults what we are expecting of our of our young people as uh so I think that's something to that is worth looking into as
157well and it's honestly it's not unrelated to the conversation that we were just having about uh the the the professional need for behavior intervention and support. Uh I think sort of culturally we have decided to pathize and professionalize a lot of challenging behaviors and the tradition that restorative practices comes from is very very different from that. Um, we're talking about like the indigenous cultures and traditions that uh inspired a lot of restorative practices, much as it's been sort of corporatized these days. Um, really staying connected to the the cultures and traditions and roots of of these practices, I think, is part of the cultural learning that we need to go through as a school community and as a broader uh community if if we're going to really see the promise of something like this. Thank
158you, Mr. Tatum. Yeah, just want to offer that um just today uh Dr. Ratley and I um were having a just a routine uh meeting with our partners at ATAN that are helping the team of 40 um that are developing aspects of the strategic plan. And you will see um explicitly an action item in the strategic plan around restorative practices. and the conversation ended with us talking about it as part of a framework for social emotional learning um that's part of the larger umbrella of of the system and needing to have a vision for for that framework. So everything seems to, you know, all align. And then the conversation around the tiered levels of of support and restorative practices being right that tier one um that everyone in an organization or the system has access
159to. Um so yeah, thank you, Miss Dester. Thank you so much. just wanted to kind of um echo um what board member Tatum was saying with regards to um it the pro you know it taking time for restorative practice um to actually for the teachers to actually you know get this work done and have it be effective. Um there is a difference um though with between doing it well and doing it with fidelity. Um it's important that you know everyone who is you know buying into restorative practice in and who is trained in the restorative practice um is actually doing it with fidelity. And if it's not working then perhaps we need to revisit and give the you know give the teachers um more whether it's more professional development more professional learning time more uh
160more time and attention to the professional learning and also we need to look at cultural competency um with regards to making sure that the students are getting what they need. So not mistaking um certain types of behaviors for um you know saying that a child is misbehaving or being dis disruptive or disrespectful when that child might be hungry or that child might be tired or that child may have experienced some type of trauma. So, we need to look at the whole child and I know that that's where the SEAL part comes in, but I think we need to perhaps take a closer look and make sure that the students are getting what they need or have what they need so that the restorative practice can actually be effective and be utilized when it needs to
161be utilized. Thank you, Mr. Estelle Ledger. Any other questions, comments? Uh yeah, Mrs. Shber, I just wanted to add um I think that you know part of I'm glad to hear that. Thank you. I'm glad to hear that um we are thinking about it from like a law broader perspective because restorative justice is one of those things that often people think it's like all right, we did it, it's done, it's a circle and we're over and it's not really true. really it's a culture shift about how you handle discipline, how you handle interactions with one another, how you build relationships with your students and each other in a process of accountability, but also that it's not punitive. And so I'm excited to see how that will be implemented across and what those tier support systems
162so that educators get it. They have the time to be able to do it. And I think also process because part of it is processing our own emotions, right? Like when adults have interactions with young people, they might need a second to sort of re reframe, right? And so I think or young people might need a sec [Laughter] and the young person might need a second to step away, right? So I think um I'm glad that it's going to be a much more compre comprehensive and excited to be part of that conversation because I know it could be really transformative in the ways that young people can relate to one another and to the adults in the room. And honestly, it gives adults also a ton of skills that they can then employ themselves while
163they're dealing with young people. So it's not just for young people. Um, so I just wanted to add that because I think that's going to be such an important and highlight what they al what was just shared about understanding that it isn't just behavior. It's sometimes people are hung kids are hungry. Sometimes they had a really horrible night the night before at home and no one gets to know that but them. And so figuring out how do we relate to our young people and one another is a really beautiful way that we can do that intentionally. Restorative justice if done well. So thank you. Thank you. All right. Seeing seeing no more no seeing no more hands because I'm not looking. Um the motion on the floor. The motion on the floor is the Hartford
164Board of Education adopt the challenging behavior prevention restorative practices response policy. All those in favor signify by saying I. I. I. Nazs. abstensions. All right, the eyes have it. The motion moves. Now moving on to the consent agenda. Contracts on the consent agenda were all discussed at various committees. The first reading first readings will be discussed again at the policy committee providing another opportunity for feedback before coming back next month for adoption. The items are 5.2 contract continuation approval frontline technologies. This is software that tracks time and attendance and substitute management for the district and hosts evaluation forms and documents. And that was read in the finance committee. Um 5.3 first reading policy 9012 powers, purposes, and duties board bylaws. This proposed change is to restore the board's vote on the appointment of principles. 5.11
165approval of minutes from the May 20th, 2025 meeting. Any comments or questions on the consent agenda? All right, seeing none, do I have a motion to vote on the consent agenda? So moved. So second. Uh, did you have a question? Okay. one is it okay? Uh with respect to um one of the uh policy changes um the at some point the policy was that the board would be approving and I'm bringing this up I know because not all of us sit in all the committees so I want to highlight this for your attention. Um the policy was that the board the superintendent could hire cabinet level positions with the um approval of the board, right? I I would say and the it was later changed that it would be it used to be that it
166was principles and above and it changed to cabinet levels and above and um board member Brody requested that it be reverted back to principles and above. So essentially the larger group that it previously was um and that's the change that's in this policy. Just wanted to highlight that for all of you. Um because that will be something different from at least the one year that five of the nine of us or really six of the nine of us have been on this board. So before a new uh principal is hired for a school, we as a board get a chance to to to to meet with them and uh object or or agree with with with that hiring decision. Um so just wanted to make sure if anyone had any questions, they get to to
167voice those questions or ask anything. And that will be in the policy committee. Yep. So the next policy committee meeting which I think is probably in two weeks or so. Um do I uh sorry we do I have a motion to vote on the consent agenda. So moved. Thank you. Second. Second. All right. Thank you. All those in favor signify by saying I. I. Nazs. Abstensions. The eyes have it. The June 18th board of education meeting is adjourned. Thank you for joining us.