001I hereby call this meeting to order I would like to have Kathleen Stowe handle the show let's go thank you so much Joe um it's an honor this evening to have my when I can you admit that you have a favorite school you can't do that as a board of ed member but as a parent Parkway has served all three of my children and it's wonderful to have them here this evening to do the pledge with us and then I'll turn up after the pledge we'll do something else so could we have the fifth graders come on out from Parkway to start up our meeting we need help saying the Pledge come on all out come out okay okay get in front of the microphone and then we're gonna stand this is the uniform at
002Parkway okay it is yes we're very traditional Backcountry okay thank you very much okay guys now I'm going to turn this over to Kate mizaraki who is not only the elf teacher at Parkway but perhaps you all remember her as one of our distinguished teachers from a couple years ago and I'll let you take it from here Kate thank you I was on this stage that I was receiving that award it was incredible experience very honored to be able to have that opportunity but um really this is where my heart is and working with these incredible actors you will not think they're in fifth grade let me just say because Shakespeare is not the easiest type of language to pick up they're so dedicated we worked on this for weeks and it's very hard to
003pick just a few slivers from the play but I thought it would be fun to pick from a couple of scenes we're going to feature our witches and that is Maddie leader just raise your hands Gigi Randle and Ryan Chas and then we have um to the well to Ryan's right is John Wick who plays Macbeth and to his right is that is Kathleen's daughter Mary Stowe who plays Lady Macbeth and then we have Oliver bierke playing McDuff tonight and I might add we had multiple roles so there were some amazing costume changes and it was quite a production so without further Ado we're going to give you a couple of scenes from Macbeth all right so the stuff from Mary from over here thank you awesome Hail to the stain of power oh shall
004make that thou shall be changed okay now they're like myself now what makes this keep your following this business sale or false fault doc no and our final scene will be from the end of the show when Macbeth is about to face his ultimate Doom at the hands of McDuff they are Charmed like this is like what I'm calling from see that tongue that tells himself you know you kiss the ground before we run back and speak I'll try to get outside a lot enough success McBeth make back you have lost everything your wife your kingdom and now your life thank you for giving us this chance appreciate it hi I'm Mary Granville I'm the very proud principal of Parkway school and you're seeing such wonderful representations of our student body and of course of
005our wonderful staff so thank you for giving us this opportunity thank you Joe that was a proud moment as a parent and a board member yes I never knew you had an English daughter wow very interesting we work on many things at home okay well back to the meeting thank you everybody successful back to the man we have to uh I moved to approve the consent agenda as presented uh all in favor raise your hand that is everybody how many do we have six six zero zero and now we have this really cool U.S presidential scholar award uh Dr Jones is it you that's going to explain how really cool this thing is oh yeah but it was so impressive and so few people get this honor and I know as a as a board
006member I'm really really proud with little contribution we make at the board level to the success of our students it certainly makes us feel more certainly makes me feel good I'll speak for myself so I'm looking forward to hearing absolutely how cool it is thank you and um I wanted to bring up the actual article where they were writing about ambika because Mr Mayo is not able to be here tonight because he had a family situation this week that took him out of the high school but he had some lovely comments about ambika and just what a phenomenal year ambika has had we've already seen her once for regeneron um and Mr Mayo was so complimentary um and again I'm sorry the site keeps going down or I can't it goes away but Mr Mayo
007actually was commenting not only on just your academic prowess and everything that you have brought to the high school but just that you are a phenomenal person as well and I think we can't say enough not only for your academics but for your character and the model that you are not only for students who are in high school right now and they're definitely watching you you know we have 8th graders who are going into the science program now and I can guarantee you when you spoke at our last board meeting you were so impressive and to be one of I believe it's 166 U.S Scholars only two from the state of Connecticut congratulations sambica for everything that you represent and you're welcome to come forward and say a few words if you would like to
008we do want to congratulate you and you make all of us so very very proud so congratulations but according to the speech I love it so I don't necessarily have anything prepared but I think I just wanted to take a moment um and thank so many people at the Greenwich public school system that have made this journey so possible um the science research program for one was a huge part of my journey there so I owe so much to Mr Andrew bramonte um if he's watching or listening um truly what he does is take people's ideas and finds people who are interested in science and really helps us turn it into something that we're able to go out and pursue our passions and do really awesome things with our work there um I also want
009to extend thank yous to like a bunch of teachers who I think have just been so wonderful Mr Ian Tiedeman who is our advisor for the economics club we recently actually had a lot of success in that team as well miss Karen Boyer Mr Jones thinking of all the wonderful people but really I think what I love about being a part of the school system I've been a part of Greenwich Public Schools since kindergarten and I'll say that the teachers and the people and the environment in the atmosph fear has been so wonderful so really so grateful to be a part of this wonderful Community thank you thank you that's great we're all very proud of what you've done thank you great speech okay now let's go to the student government comments Mitch okay of
010course you're gonna miss Mitch's Mitch's speech Mitch Goldstein the student body vice president come on up Mitch and please begin with the score of the game so for all those wondering the score is currently 11 12 Ridge fields and there's just a little under two minutes left on the clock so you know they're still in it uh good evening board members and meeting attendees uh I'm Mitch Goldstein if you don't know already I want to start by saying that I'm thrilled to announce that our seniors are now on their internships and projects which is a defining chapter in their educational Journey these remarkable young individuals have ventured into various professional Realms ready to apply their knowledge hone their skills and explore their passions the opportunity to gain hands-on experience in real world settings not only
011solidifies their academic foundations but also nurtures the spirit of innovation and adaptability within them we applaud their dedication perseverance and relentlessness and their Relentless pursuit of Excellence as they forward surpassed towards success furthermore I'm delighted to inform you that the strenuous period of advanced placement testing has successfully drawn to a close our students have exemplified unwavering commitment and Resolute determination as they navigated the demanding curriculum and rigorous assessments the culmination of their efforts is reflected in the countless hours of studying the sleepless nights and unwavering Focus they demonstrated throughout the year through these rigorous exams they have not only expanded their intellectual Horizons but also gained valuable skills such as critical thinking problem solving and time management skills that will undoubtedly serve them well in the future Pursuits now I want to take a moment
012to shift the spotlight to a lighter and more joyous occasion the tailgate event that took place on the seniors last day of school last Friday was a lively celebration that truly encapsulated the vibrant spirit and sense of community that flourishes within our educational Institution the atmosphere was electric filled with lapped laughter camaraderie and an overwhelming sense of accomplishment as our students gather together they revealed the culmination of their High School Journey reminiscing about cherished memories and yearly anticipating the adventures that lie ahead the tailgates served as a place for students to engage in spirit conversations enjoy delicious food and bond over their shared experiences these moments truly encapsulate the strong sense of community that thrives within our school leaving lasting memories for all who attended reflecting on my tenure as a student body representative I
013cannot help but expressed by profound gratitude for the invaluable relations relationships I have filled with each of you over the final month I look forward to our last meeting together and to seeing you all at graduation on June 15th thank you all for your time and I now pass my friend over to Isabella thing all right Isabella at state championship coming up soon don't you before I begin I do want to congratulate inbika one more time and vika is in my science research class and I love this girl with my entire heart she never fails to put a smile on your face so even Beyond her overwhelming accomplishments she is just such a great person so I wish her the best of luck everywhere um so good evening chairman Kelly Dr Jones members of the
014board and meeting attendees I am Isabella gega you're the student body president at Greenwich high school last week as seniors prepared to embark on the next chapter the campus buzzed with air of anticipation the hallways were filled with joy seniors as their laughter and camarader camaraderie resonated throughout the school reminding us of the memory's forged between these walls as seniors leave our Juniors begin to enjoy their time together they had a blasted Junior Prom and were eager for this Monday anticipating the perks that come with their Newfound seniority among these perks is Junior parking without the seniors in the lot juniors are now able to complain sorry to claim these Prime parking spots which is also a symbolic step towards their new roles on campus on another note Mitch and I continue to work with
015Food Services to improve Cardinal Cafe our monthly conversations are extremely meaningful and productive most recently Chef Nico has explored cultural Cuisines which have been very well well received by the students and throughout the year we have introduced a brand new menu featuring a wider range of healthy and delicious options catering to the various dietary preferences and restrictions Beyond this we have been able to increase line efficiency cutting down on cafeteria wait times and as Mitch and I head towards our final days as leaders of the school we are Beyond optimistic for what the future holds our Student Government speeches and elections took place this past Tuesday and newly elected officers are excited to start planning for the next year we are proud to announce that Caleb Callan will be the new student body president replacing
016me even though I'm unreplaceable and over over the law will be the next student body vice president they will be introduced to the Board of Education meeting next month and we will and sorry and we'll speak throughout the next high school year it is bitters free can't speak today it will be Bittersweet for me and Mitch to pass the torch but we know Caleb and Omar will continue our Legacy in service to our high school Community as I mentioned our time together has almost come to a close as always thank you for this opportunity and for your time here tonight the board has always been receptive to student updates and feedback and I look forward to our final meeting together next month he's really nice and a force to be reckoned with on the Rugby
017field I'll tell you holy smokes okay speaking of forces to be reckoned with let's have a lil Peron come on up for the Gea yes it's like don't text and drive don't text anymore I know that's right that's right well in honor of uh the win and we had such a long board meeting last week I'm going to be very short as my gift um so I liked it I like to welcome um to our GPS family our great new hires um Dr Daniel Russo for new level on Dr PJ wax for Western Mr Mark Guerrero for Eastern Middle School Mr Stephen grosha um so uh we have to stop hiring marks and Jonathan's because we're starting to have too many people um also um ambika I just want to say it's outstanding so proud
018of you for the presidential scholar thank you for recognizing the great staff we have in Greenwich the great administrators and the great teaching staff that support um all our students and I probably won't be here for the Father's Day but I want to wish our fathers give them equal because I wish the mothers Happy Mother's Day so happy Father's day so far thank you well now Pizza my new friend Francis obey we talked regularly we're friends now right Francis can we say that all right yeah uh good evening I'm Francis unobe Mama 3 GPS kids and the 2022-2023 president of the Greenwich parent teacher advisory Council to start we saw chair Kelly's opinion piece in the Greenwich time and we commend the team for the well-reasoned factually based points made and the collegial collaborative and
019forward-looking tone conversely PTAC has been surprised to find ourselves targeted in very partisan ways and various opinion pieces and social media let me take a moment to clarify the particulars of PTAC Greenwich PTAC is the umbrella organization coordinating connecting and collaborating with the 15 public school ptas as well as various Town bodies including the Boe PTAC is a 501c3 and each of the 15 Public School ptas are separate independent 501c3 nonprofit organizations it's the ptas at your local neighborhood schools Who deliver huge value to the schools and communities they coordinate parent volunteers communicate to keep families informed raise funds to support curriculum enrichment and family events get involved to ensure school safety and so much more PTAC and ptas are non-partisan non-political and we welcome all GPS families we encourage everyone to join their local
020PTA while we are non-partisan and non-political we do Advocate and we Advocate strongly for all students for all families for teachers for schools and the best darn school buildings advocacy is apolitical advocacy is why we speak tonight and since the founding of the PTA in 1897 as PTAC president I hope this helps to clear up any confusion about the role purpose efforts of p-tech and our 15 neighborhood school ptas please join me on Thursday May 25th 10 a.m at Town Hall to award the 2023 p-tac Essence Award the PTAC Essence Award recognizes an outstanding PTA member who through exemplary achievement has inspired others demonstrated selfless spirit and made a significant difference in our school Community please join us turning to Hot Topics and tonight's agenda three thoughts please keep up the hard work to define
021the Strategic plan the old adage if you can't measure it you can Improvement matters and we encourage the Board of Ed and administration to continue the collaborative effort to develop a plan that we can all stand behind number two as uh Lil mentioned p-tech's delighted that nearly all open principal and assistant principal vacancies have been filled before the start of the school year our ptas look forward to welcoming these newcomers to our GPS community number three p-tex ready to help in any way that we can support to get a shovel in the ground for our building projects the annual budget process is down behind us now it's time to be forward-looking it's time on getting um what's happening it's time to be forward-looking and specs and sizes and designs and other particulars and Logistics are
022completed as we said at the beginning we appreciate the collegial collaborative and forward-looking tone in the opinion piece from chair Kelly to appreciate that this Boe has shown real genuine leadership in advocating for the best school buildings for our students and for our town in closing as our amazing teachers do every day and it was so great to hear ambika mention that as well please keep your eyes on our future right here the students we do this work for our kids thank you for everything you do thank you and now we get to hear from our community uh Community comment we're going to start with uh Jackie Jackie Homan how are you today Jackie are you doing well so excellent good now right now now that you have the win what could you complain about
023now so good evening Board of Education members and Dr Jones I'm here tonight because I want to offer free tickets to all of the board members and Dr Jones to attend a panel discussion that's taking place in Greenwich on Sunday the topic is near and dear to my heart it's about social emotional learning Equity Dei CRT all those acronyms that I've been speaking about frequently in these meetings and I know there's disagreement about whether these concepts are being taught in school but the evidence shows that these concepts are really present in Greenwich and not only in in the schools but even in the PTA the PTA has a Dei position for instance I think that a lot of people are confused about these topics because we use different definitions for these things and I think
024that part of that confusion causes people not to pay too close attention to what's going on and I think this is a really important issue to understand so this panel discussion that's taking place has some really amazing speakers including Dr Jason Hill from DePaul University in Chicago and he's a liberal professor of philosophy and an author of Five Books including one on racial Justice he came from Jamaica to the U.S when he was 20 years old and rather than being faced with bigotry and systemic racism he found incredible opportunity here and he's living the American dream and he joins retired Air Force General Rod Bishop who has experienced firsthand the negative effects of critical race Theory and Equity policies on the military also on the panel is a Woman by the name of XI van
025Fleet she grew up in China under Mao's Cultural Revolution and ultimately found Freedom when her family moved to the America in the 80s she's very concerned right now because she sees the education system in our country right now is weaponizing our youth to become activists using the same style tactics that the marxists use to create Division and to indoctrinate children in China when she was a child so I really hope that you consider joining this important conversation it's from four to six pm on Sunday it's just two hours it's at the Hyatt it's open to anyone else who wishes to come and if there are any students that are interested in coming I'd be happy to get you tickets as well I just think it's a really important conversation and I hope that this is
026something that can bring our community together if we understand what we're each saying on both sides 30 seconds so thank you so much and I hope to see you on Sunday and I'm going to hand you some flyers so you have the information thanks thank you Jackie and next we have a board of ed alumni Peter Shearer come on up Peter hello everyone uh values of openness transparency Integrity non-bullying adherence and compliance with laws and policies and regulations our values of Greenwich Public Schools the Board of Education must have policies that assure outside organizations associated with Greenwich schools also adhere to these values unfortunately some ptas are not adhering to these values ptas I note are independent organizations and they are entitled to set their own rules of conduct as codified in their bylaws however
027the Greenwich Boe has extended to them special privileges and resources available only to them these resources are at taxpayer expense and they include use of town I.T resources rent-free access to public buildings and special access to staff recently the CMS building committee chairman and vice chairman met with the CMS PTA these public officials were acting in their official capacity under town of Greenwich standards and state law their meeting is therefore in the public it is in the public domain the cmspta has an internal rule in their independent bylaws than any meeting of their board is confidential or essentially Secret despite having clear whistleblower rules also in their bylaws the CMS PTA leadership retaliated against a parent who disclosed this meeting that was actually in the public domain ptas are critical organizations to the success of
028GPS they provide many ways for parents to support schools and they are an important part of the success of the organization therefore the Boe must establish in policies rules of conduct rules of the road consistent with board values and laws and policies and regulations that provide clear guidance to ptas of what is acceptable and what is not acceptable then the ptas can decide independently because they are independent organizations if they want to continue to Avail themselves of these special taxpayer funded 30 seconds I hope you will refer this matter to the policy committee so that the events that recently occurred here at CMS are not repeated in other schools thank you Jan B hat sorry you want to go together sure absolutely I'm good with that and Dina urso as well thank you Mr Kelly
029good evening everyone uh my name is Dina urso let me first start off by addressing Mr Sure in indicating on the record that we have had a few conversations he has my phone number we've actually discussed some of the points that he just went over and um since uh apparently he wants to bring it into this forum we just want everyone to understand that uh we're quite shocked by the position we were quite shocked to hear comments that people are concerned about policy and transparency um and we'll leave it at that but we will continue on with the prepared remarks if that's okay effects that were just um so again I'm Dina urso and I'm here with Jen behet we are the co-presidents of cmspta and we are here to continue to advocate for this
030project as we've been doing for over a year as you're aware the PTA is an independent organization within our school system Guided by p-tac Connecticut PTA and National PTA our views are our own and not subject to outside organizational pressures in this case of the CMS rebuild our advocacy has been consistent in that we have always asked that this building be built to educate students the size and the scope of the building is for you all to figure out we will continue to ask however that the focus remain on educating our children input from teachers and administrators who know best what a current Day Middle School needs is vital and we are glad to see they have been such an integral part of the conversation we also have consistently advocated for the project to stay
031on schedule as the repairs in 2022 as we understand it were intended to last for about five years if there is delay on the front end our concern is that the repairs may not have the lifespan to carry this building through until the end of the project with this in mind we ask that you do that you all do what is necessary to stick to the timeline as so that no issues arise in the future with regard to student safety while in our building another important timeline piece is for the June 30th deadline for you to apply for the school construction reimbursement Grant this opportunity may be missed if there's not adequate funding we look forward to hearing from Turner Construction in the coming days and find out what the cost estimates are and whether
032the allotted budget will be viewed as adequate by the state we plan on continuing our advocacy in this regard should there be a need to and welcome our members to voice their opinions on these topics regardless of whether they align with ours or not there have been many attempts at Outreach over the course of this project some seemingly more legitimate than others last night we were here for the building committee's second public forum it was very informative and a great recap of areas the building committee has been working on since the first public forum was held in March many questions however seem better suited for this board to address and weed excuse me we would like to suggest you consider having a town hall to answer questions from parents we know scheduling's tough but perhaps
033having one at the start of the next school year is a possibility it is our sense that parents are starting to follow the project more as ideas start to take more realistic shape a format that would allow them to ask questions and get answers from you would be beneficial and appreciated while last night's Forum was a legitimate source of Outreach we have received questions and concerns about two other not so seemingly legitimate attempts over the past few weeks the first is a survey many received from Harry Aurora It Was Written in the same format and with the same markings as emails he sent when he held political office it however leaves out the fact that his wife is a voting member of the building committee parents of CMS and a feeder schools were confused as
034to whether the contents of the survey were being seriously considered as viable options will you clear up any confusion about this survey and say unequivocally whether the Boe is considering bussing children for a school year to another location where the results from the survey shared with you seeing that the Boe is the final decision maker on questions like these these are some questions that parents have raised to us that we now bring to you and would appreciate any insight on and finally drop off and pick up at CMS is the site to behold and not in a good way anyone who has done it knows that drivers have a lot to maneuver through between figuring out if you can safely make a left turn while also making sure to not run over kids who are
035not always aware of their surroundings it's a double helix of Chaos to have outside adults think this is a good time to hand out flyers is confounding to say the least parents have reached out to us and to you and we appreciate the effort you made to the CMS Community to ensure that our school remains a school and not a three-ring circus in closing we appreciate all that you've been doing to move this project along it may seem like a thankless job now but thousands of children will benefit from the work you do and the work that other volunteers are putting in as well on their behalf we thank you thank you janandina Angie hartofilas how to fill us one of these days I'm gonna get it right Angie I'm sorry of course all right
036good good to see you all right I got a lot to say here we go Dr Jones Board of Ed I'm happy to introduce you to Abby Clark our additional Green Schools co-chair all right guys I need everyone to hold on tight tonight I want to share with you the massive amount of accomplishments our PTAC Green School volunteers have made this year I'm so proud and thankful for the motivated productive group we set out the air with three goals for each chair to work on towards their respective schools so let's see how we did goal one zero waste schools initiative this was our team's biggest goal for the school year and it required hundreds of volunteer hours in cooperation with the Board of Ed and have a Meyer we held annual Green Team meetings at
03710 elementary schools and two Middle Schools elementary school students diverted an average of 43 of trash by weight New Lebanon schools nearly zero waste and a role model for all other schools in the district with a new commercial dishwasher reusable metal trays and an Organics hauling pilot new lab has an 86 percent reduction in trash by weight just so cool okay work with Administration um we updated with working with the administration cycling regulation 3512.1 R the donation program through food rescue USA has provided nearly a ton of food to the Boys and Girls Club of Stanford kids in crisis and Barbara's house we are thankful for our collaboration with Dr Jones Dan Watson Blaze Mark Bria school principals custodians lunch monitors and more our community collaboration collaborators especially waste free Greenwich and Julie deschamps I
038want to thank Joe Kelly for attending meetings in person to get us off the ground in the fall Christina Downey for her support and feedback and Cody Kittle for reaching out and engaging with us Cody we have buried McDonald's french fries for you at ISD and we will invite you to come dig them up with us later in June just more on that if you're curious Dr Jones um your updates to the recycling regulation was really incredibly appreciated thank you goal two each Green School rep is asked to do something for Earth month big thank you to our collaboration here with the town Conservation Commission here we go anti-idling awareness campaign marker recycling Drive hosted tracksuit table rethink waste Fair Earth week mural created with plastic collection from the cafeteria created pledge to Nature tree
039played recycling relay games collaborations with Old Greenwich honey and quiet yards Greenwich students planted in the school Gardens participated in Greenwich town Earth Day Bingo there were battery drives shoe drives old fabric drives there were spirals giveaways we raised funds to donate to local environmental organizations students did letter writing campaign to local and state representatives there was Earth month bulletin boards we promoted the live like beach cleanup packing waste-free lunches and a meatless Monday we promoted the Conservation Commission towns Earth month activities all right our third goal we asked 30 seconds okay each um to participate and promote one green theme item each month so we did things like National walk and or stroll to school day National recycle day we hosted a Greener holidays Public Presentation we did Halloween costume exchanges coat and boot
040drives newer newly used sports equipment swaps book swaps school spirit exchange wear swaps stem Granite Green project recognition Awards School Gardens and pollinator Gardens we added new refrigerators and share tables we want to give a quick shout out to Francis and John and Bob for their senior support in p-check all these accomplishments will be posted on our PTAC annual report to be posted on the PTAC website thank you all for your service awesome Angie that was great thank you love the positivity thank you okay speaking of positivity let's roll right into the superintendent's report thank you chair Kelly how can I follow that that was awesome and by the way she is also known as the resident Gardener at ISD and you can catch her on Twitter often um so just celebrating in just a
041reminder that Fiddler On The Roof is happening um at the high school there's still some tickets available uh if you're wanting to go somewhere exciting I'll be there tomorrow night um also we're getting ready for our end of the year I was out in the classroom today watching little first graders you know count down with their calendar and I believe it was 21 days of school left and preparing for graduation on June 15th and it's so funny because it you know on a day to day it seems like it's a really long year and then you get to the end of the year and you're kind of blank and wonder where it all went so um so we're really excited about that I also just want to mention I know the students commented about the
042interns one of the fabulous things for the schools is that our students who went to a particular Elementary that want to do an internship at the elementary where they actually went go back back to the schools and get to contribute in the classrooms and we hope we're building some future Educators which we know we all need and last but not least I just want to make sure that the board and the community know you know when we were building the calendar for this year we talked about Juneteenth and we made a commitment that we are working on that it was our total focus on our leadership meeting this week where we actually just talked about we took every administrator back through the history of Juneteenth because it is such a new holiday we wanted to
043make sure everybody really had a good base on the historical aspect we did some activities with the team and then our curriculum team is very hard at work right now developing lessons for every single grade level and in the high school all the way through and it's really amazing some of the things that we're going to be able to offer our children I think from a learning standpoint about Juneteenth so I just want you to know that work is ongoing thank you any questions of our superintendent after her report seeing none uh we will move on then to reports of officers committees and Liaisons if you see on the uh on the itinerary that we have uh your report to be had later on don't make your report now so but if you don't see
044it then make a report now Michael you look like you'd like to make a report a strategic plan is on the agenda so let me just uh briefly mention the uh as I mentioned every month now um so board members may recall that at one point last month we had hoped to bring a resolution before the board around hosting the research Ed conference this time next year however we um we hit a little bit of a snag with the date and uh particularly because of the High School Musical and certainly you know given the success of fiddle on the roof we don't want to mess with that so we're we're back at the drawing board and hopefully we will have a resolution and a new date this time next month Kathleen just the Greenwich Alliance
045is celebrating 10 years of college dreams on Saturday June 10th and so they're having a party at the teen center and they're selling tickets there's going to be Kovac Brothers Band and food trucks at 6 30 so go online and buy some tickets if you're around Christina we haven't talked about the entryway in a while um there was of course a little more paperwork with the state but we are out to bid bids are coming back on June 1st so we are feeling very confident that the shovel will hit the ground in in June and move the project along bids willing Karen uh thanks Joe I just wanted to I don't know why this sounds so loud to me but um I just wanted to say you know siac uh met this year and uh
046this year this past week uh for their bi-monthly meeting um and shared some information from the enrichment committee to in regards to some of the workshops that they have held this year um as well as the long list of speakers that they have lined up uh and they're working on for next year and if anybody wants to see some of those presentations as well as some of the incredible resources that ciac has worked so hard to put together this year they can be located on CX webpage which is housed on Greenwich Public Schools main site I believe it's under uh special education but if you can't find it let me know and we'll we'll get that linked to you they also uh voted in uh new um or thanks outgoing members and we're discussing uh
047incoming members as well as talking about the recommendations that they had shared last at the end of last year with the Board of Education and had an update from uh Dr hagenthaler as to where we are with some of those recommendations and when we get down to agenda planning I want to make sure that we have them on for our June meeting to present this year's end of the year um end of the year Report with some additional recommendations going forward so that's just a little bit about ciac and I just wanted to I know we have him at the next meeting so I'll really give them their big thanks then because they deserve it they've done a lot of work this year thank you I should say a lot of great work Cody um
048Karen Kowalski's not here and she asked me to read two updates so I'm going to read them and I guess I'll be identifying as Karen for the moment so when I say I or we I'm I'm pretend I'm her um policy committee the policy policy committee met we agreed to a policy cleanup that will clarify that officers are elected every year there were conflicting policies and thus it was agreed by the committee to confirm that officers are elected every year and we will be bringing that to the board for a vote the committee will also be bringing you a naming rights policy for large gifts by our next meeting additionally State legislation has required us to make some other changes to policies that will be coming to you in the next couple of weeks after
049the committee finishes our comments are the FAFSA policy which we all hate and a change to the policies discussing when students can opt out of high school from as young as 16 to now 18. second as my lead Still Still me Karen as my liaison rolled to the Saint Rocks Church Festival I wanted to give a brief update here the background work on the sprinklers is moving forward and we have asked for a legal opinion from our town attorney as to whether we need to seek bet and RTM approval parks department is now cooperating with the processing underlying italicized of the permit for the festival I know some of us may or may not be here next year when we have to deal with this yet again however I think we should consider passing a
050motion that allows Saint Rock Church to go to the school principal for permission to use the property via policy 3515 as opposed to going to the parks department because Joe S has made a personal policy that parks department ignore and not engage with this particular applicant Saint Rock when it comes to the initial and most critical stage of the process permission to use I will be sending you all some language to socialize such a concept so that this board will not have to relitigate this again unless and until a circumstance change that causes the need for further input from this board in case anyone asks about policy 3515 Cody has it for reference thank you Karen Cody for that report very nice uh and hearing no more I'm going to give a quick report on
051the very quiet and subtle building Committee of Julian Curtis we have uh in this uh summer season we'll be installing HVAC throughout the building we're very excited about that we have met probably about 25 maybe 30 times so far maybe not that many but we've met a lot and we've toured the building to try to find out where we could put the elevator in we've now narrowed it down to two sites the difference in the two different sites is one will give us access to the basement as well giving us the second floor first floor and the basement where one is only the main floor and the second floor so we're trying to weigh the added cost versus the advantage of having the elevator reach the basement so we're working on that we're also uh
052we have our designs and drawings of the brand new entryway for all those who are concerned about the uh the new look of the entryway because we all love the Julian Curtis building we think it's a beautiful building I my personal opinion the renderings make the building look nicer and we have the two ramps on either side you have nice shrubberies drawn in and if everyone behaves themselves tonight that we might actually bring the renderings in the next meeting and you can see those you can be excited about those as I am and then we're also looking at the opportunity of expanding the cafeteria because that is the smallest cafeteria in all our 15 building Fleet so we want to make that a little bit bigger but that's once again down the road the Julian
053Curtis building committee is an ongoing building committee that will go on for some time it was decided that we were not going to do a renovation of the total building so what we're trying to do is a long-term phasing of this building so that way by the time it's all done and all the components are put into it it's as if we did a renovation but over time so that's what we're doing with the uh with the uh JC building committee run by uh Bill Kelly who's doing a fine job of running that of that group I have another group I'm working with which is the waterfall committee uh group not committee I don't want to say committee right I get in trouble for saying that sometimes okay so we have the waterfall group we've
054now found a philanthropic individual who's going to give us the initial money for the draw for the design of how to read to the whole area and then uh we'll work on raising some funds going forward to redo that whole waterfall area but that's a future project and hopefully it moves along at a nice Pace uh that is it for me oh Mike you have another thing the Old Greenwich committee so I was it important yeah so the Old Greenwich building Community continues to rock and roll event twice this week it got a number a lot of engineering and septic and and um Asbestos and toxicity reports in um as we um as the committee pursues an aggressive timeline to have a design um ready next month so potentially for the board retreat meeting in
055a few weeks we'll have something for the board if not what like I said last week we met my last month we might be looking at the possibility of a special meeting so we'll see thank you well you know what there's one more thing I'm going to add not trying to get the last word in but I'm going to start bringing in anyway because there'll be a way to apply this uh the Cabe organizes a board share Zoom which meets once every month or so every three weeks whatever it is I sat in one today and uh there was some discussions about a lot of different topics but one came up about uh they were comparing the uh the at various end times to their Board of Edmund and then I put I put my
056hand up and they said they called on me and I said do we uh could I see a show of hands by all the other board chairs how many of you actually have an end time to your meetings and we are one of the only ones that do not have an enzyme to the meeting so we'll uh we'll discuss this uh in the near future the way it works and they explained this to me if the uh issues at hand are quite important then it takes a two-thirds vote to continue the meeting so that's a suggestion that's a good job here if she's gonna do some research oh no I would just saying Joe and I talked about this earlier but this was something that the board has done in past years so it's not
057it's not a foreign concept to the Greenwich Board of Education so we'll continue that discussion I can get you other information thank you now we're in the discussion item oh there's another question Laura no you're on the list out of order she's so excited we'll get you don't you worry all right it's discussion item time right now and strategic Plan update is that you so give it to Dr Jones and then uh you want to run the discussion would that be okay okay Dr Jones the Strategic Plan update oh good thank you um we really just wanted to get this this document in front of you and it's online just so you can see the work that's happening behind the scenes um we have our curriculum team again is just doing doing phenomenal work this
058is the driver document we've talked um a little bit about at the board and they've gone through they're working through every goal and so you can see that reflected in the packet we didn't do a big presentation because we just wanted to keep this as a simple update um and again just thank you to all of the curriculum team K-12 everybody's working hard on this I also on the very back page what you'll see is that the site plan that our schools will do we work on those in the summer we'll also tie right back into all of those strategic goals and the metrics and you'll see over on the right hand side where their metrics will go and again every school will be slightly different because depends on their strengths their weaknesses where their
059perform warming right now and how what type of growth gold will be setting and I do want to give credit on this one certainly it's gone through some tweaking but the first person who actually helped that was so excited to put together was Tom Healey and when he saw the actual strategic plan and so then they've taken that template and continued to build on it so just very excited about the work that we're doing and a lot of this will really get refined over the summer months when the whole leadership team comes together as well yeah I think uh just to just to add on to what Dr Joseph was saying I mean the the idea behind these background documents is to talk about how the Strategic plan lives in the district so like every
060year we have the school schools put together you know the school Improvement plan and sometimes you know in the history of that sometimes they're aligned to board goals sometimes they're not so this is a very aligned template just like we have this document for the whole District now every school will have a similar version of it that they'll present to their communities all aligned to the goals so I think that's fantastic and it shows all real um cascading of goals throughout the organization the other documents are um some of the how right so the goal document that the board approved a few months ago was the what um nowadays um the other documents are informing a little bit more of the how like how these goals are are being approached as far as the primary
061and secondary drivers Aaron well first of all I just want to say thank you because one of the biggest questions that has come from parents community members like myself for years in regards to our prior strategic plan was making sure we had that time we were calling them smart goals something that we could follow along so we could see the actual movement as of where we were uh and meeting the goals as opposed to just trying to backfill things so this is really fantastic um so I just had one or two questions obviously not for now but I'm hoping because I know I was looking through this document and some of it is this is an internal document in many ways um and as we start rolling on on moving forward on trying to meet
062some of these goals I'm assuming we'll be able to to turn narrow it down a little for forward facing so it's just so that uh you know members of the community that want to track our progress on on our goals can understand because there's a lot of edgy speak in there and then I love the idea you know we had talked about in committee about having the school-based Improvement plans have a similar document so that they all tie together and I think it's fantastic and I noticed that you made sure that there were spaces that each school could modify and adjust their school Improvement plan to add in their school specific topics and I just want to make sure that we're clear with you know obviously you know not just our schools but those who
063are reading these documents um that some of the schools may have some you know some of these goals are Elementary and Middle School focused some of them are high school focused and so they might look slightly different as the schools adjust them to really meet the needs of that particular school so I just wanted to make sure that that was clear because you put it in the document but I just wanted to highlight that it's it's real important to know so thank you for all the work that was put into this because this is what we've been asking for for so long so thank you um Tony thank you I'm kind of echoing and following on Karen's I think um because these are internal documents I think I guess the question is if I were
064a parent and just looking at this I think it's and and also it is a little confusing just I don't know if it makes sense to kind of give an overview for people who are listening to the meeting just using one page I mean you know of kind of one of your sub goals to just kind of explain kind of that as an illustration I mean I think we all understand the ones that tie into the Strategic plan but just kind of people are listening and talking about what's what's the difference between a primary driver and a secondary driver and strategies I think that would be helpful to the community just educationally what what you're seeing on here um is when you look at a primary driver you can see like I'm just going to
065look at the first one the math sub goal a you're looking at things like our benchmark assessments our summative assessments that are common across a grade level across schools and then what you see behind that is if we really want to increase let's say our s back scores and which is really the core metric that we're looking at because that's how the state measures us how do we make that happen well when you look at the secondary driver what you're seeing is like for instance on that first one it has rollout of Big Ideas Math and partnership with all of the building administrators and you'll notice on the top of that the coordinators have the responsibility and that's really my career for instance in Ka to make sure that our administrators like right now we've
066got new ones coming in make sure that they have all of the background knowledge before the year starts to be able to lead their staff and then as you go down you'll see you get to the K8 admin which is about out almost towards the bottom and you'll see year one to three that's the day-to-day building implementation are we actually out in classrooms are we visiting making sure things are being implemented with Fidelity and that's part of their role that's why they're listed there and then you'll look at where the teachers are are they able to follow you know pacing guides and they're getting through the content that we would expect for the teacher to get through so that you don't have four fourth grade teachers one teacher is or three are right on Pace
067and then all of a sudden you have one teacher who's just so far behind and kids that aren't ready in the spring because they weren't able to keep pace so that's really the secondary driver when you look at the long-term foundational strategies again you'll see some of the big like Big Ideas Math it's providing you know the materials the resources everything that they need because if we go back just two years ago we did not have that and as a reminder at 11 elementaries we had at least three or four different implementations happening there was no consistency using the IXL they've done phenomenal work in their development of IXL which is an Adaptive computer program so that if you really want to differentiate at the highest level a student who needs to be working Beyond
068student who may need some remediation they're able to work through that and they've tied this year during math and it's tied to the standards as well and there's parent resources our website is is just amazing curriculum team continues to put those front-facing documents for the parent community and Guardians to be able to see the professional development you know that when you look again if you really want to have long-term success we have to be sure our teachers are prepared and know what they need to do so that's what you're seeing as we move right across on this template in order to meet the targets that we have on that far left hand side and some of them are pretty lofty targets um you know we're going to have to really really work hard to get
069there does that do it thank you so I would I love this document I love all the work that goes into the street strategic plan um I would just say it needs like a legend for parents because I don't know that you know they understand in a lot of ways what tier two tier three tier one all those kinds of um interventions and strategies are not like yeah what Karen said edu speak so and you know a lot of us as parents see IXL um there is not a whole lot of enthusiasm about IXL but um I'm just sort of looking at increasing the student and teacher usage of it is it is it changed at all um or is it really just as we saw it over the years with practice it really is
070making sure that we're meeting the standard of expectation because if you don't hit certain amount of minutes per week you're not going to see the growth so why did we invest in this product that can be quite expensive if we're not going to use it and use it appropriately um and there are you know we can actually connect with there's one of our buildings that is just connects with the actual representative for the whole Northeast and their school is kind of leading it's actually New Lebanon that is leading like in the Northeast in the amount of growth they're seeing because they are implementing with such Fidelity and before we might have a program and maybe somebody would log on and do it 15 minutes a week well it's really not worth the investment if that's
071what we're going to do and it's not like they're on hours and hours it's not a whole lot of minutes and I'm sorry I don't know exactly I am I don't have that in front of me but it's just with Fidelity making sure that we're implementing correctly your thoughts great well the Strategic plan committee will continue to meet take this feedback and thanks in as Dr Jones said the leadership team spends a lot of the summer on this they um I think the one thing I heard which we were already thinking is the name for it makes sense the um the need for a um at the school level like a public-facing um narrative and how they you know that explains in in in parent speak um some of the how um I think you
072need the edges speak to the um for the technical side of things is for the school operation but having goals I think makes sense so we'll we'll take that all all back to the committee thanks thank you um that I guess we're done with this one time you move on to Laura can you ask can you give us an update and also run the conversation after can I ask you to do both I would be thrilled thank you uh so I will Begin by saying the CMS building committee held its second uh Community Forum here at CMS last night I see some faces who were also here last night back in the audience um our architect slam uh hopefully you can hear me presented the latest version of its draft site plan as well as
073some draft floor plans and a draft uh building exterior uh if you are so inclined we would love to hear feedback if you do happen to watch the uh recording of the of the event um our architect is also currently distilling the raw data from a traffic study it's hundreds of pages of data um and the committee is anticipating a consent conceptual design estimate from Turner early next week and if it comes in above our current appropriation level uh from the BET and based on information from Turner it likely will the we the Boe will need to meet and decide our next steps so um with that I'm happy to answer any questions yes yes Joe well if I may there's a lot coming at us real quick over the next couple of days can
074you walk us through what you anticipate to happen uh within the next uh leading all the way up to the submission in uh June 30th but I don't want to steal your thunder by mentioning that well so uh if we need an interim appropriation we will have to meet and make that determination I assume and then request those funds of the board of estimate and Taxation and if they are so inclined to give us an interim appropriation it will then have to be voted on by the um BT and the RTM uh all that has to happen before a June 30th submission and um you know there's a lot of paperwork that will have to be signed probably by you probably by the chair of the building committee probably by the superintendent so that uh
075all of this can be submitted to the state smoothly so if if I can add to your wonderful comment uh what we're going to do is on the 24th as you mentioned or the evening of the 23rd we'll receive the uh the Turner constructions estimates that'll be a six a 30 page document 25 page document I think they said and we have to get really quickly to understand what that 25 page document is uh we need the BET to look at it we need uh the Boe to look at it what we're going to try to do is have a combined meeting with the BET and the Boe with the Turner Construction to actually present that uh that sheet to us and give us the breakdown on what cost we have there's also some possibilities
076of value engineering if necessary because there's materials we can make decisions on uh if I know at one point Michael you said you wanted those Diamond Windows uh yes oh and the gold covered uh yes of course and we're going to maybe cut those down to something less than that or leave it as it is but the bottom line is we have to look at the opportunities when the number comes in when the construction company gives us that number we then have to identify or Talk Amongst ourselves bet has to talk amongst themselves but we all have to come together and that would that we have to kind of do by could be on on the May 30th so uh be prepared to possibly have a a meeting on May 30th with the building committee
077uh the Board of Ed and the bet because we have to move really quickly to get this stuff done and then if we can get the appropriation go through the proper channels to do so there's a really tight schedule with the BET and the RTM to get that approved by the uh by the 30th of June as Laura talked about so we've got a really tight schedule and also to asking for the appropriation or the proper word for what it's called because it's not quite an appropriation because it's not in this calendar year it's in a in a future calendar year then we have to get all the wording right and we're still trying to figure out whether it's the building committee lawyers committee that actually goes for the uh appropriation or us but we
078work that out with the BET and uh and discuss that with the RTM but there's a lot of moving Parts over the next couple of weeks so be prepared to be called on uh to uh to join in in some discussions I believe since we requested the initial funds for the building that were reduced this would also come from the board but I can be persuaded otherwise for sure um and uh you know I will make no plans so that I am at a full disposal of the building committee and the board so that we can get this done um if there's no other question say oh go ahead no I just I want to clarify because we had a conversation about this just because people who are listening or paying attention because the amount
079we've already have appropriated is 67.5 million and whatever number comes in from the cost estimate we have to have an appropriation of that amount in order to go make our application to the state like it has to be to the penny or like do you know have enough information or just has to be that number as far as I know you need an adequate appropriation for the project thanks Dr mercanty right so I'm I'm just assuming based on the the president what we did last year with the high school since when the high school when we had to reappropriate more money for that that was a board of ed vote so it seems to make sense that it would probably come back to us because it was the same process we did last year don't
080make any plans where um so the Edge specs right so the revised ad specs based on the meeting we did last time the um I know we got um we got them this week and then we got um a little bit of a a tweak to them are they are they somewhere I know they're not in board dock so are they online somewhere for the public uh currently in a processed um thank you Miss Hirsch for your diligent work on also taking a look at those so yes so that that concerns me right so so what what's what's I don't know if you can someone can update so what's what's your go ahead well I mean just some of the things I found were were minor missing periods and and things that were not removed
081from the prior iterations such as the fact that we deleted the Makerspace a makers it was still noted it wasn't in The Matrix but it was just noted in discussion so it shouldn't concern you in that way because it's it's little knits but if we approve the document it should be exactly what it it is and I'm also one of those people that likes to make sure that you know it's our our eyes are dotted and our T's are crossed so I went through a little fine tooth comb on that so that's the kind of stuff happy to share my notes with you if you'd like CSG did make the corrections that I had emailed about there were about 15 of them so Karen is the artist's second backstop there have been others who have
082also been very helpful in this process so thank you if there's nothing else I just do want to um loop back to an issue raised by Miss behet about the survey that was sent to some of our families which did cause some confusion there was no knowledge or involvement with Mr Aurora's survey on the matter of the by the board by the board yes um on the matter of the cmspta exec board um meeting with two members of the building committee I just do want to read in part from the legal opinion of the assistant Town attorney because I know that some of our volunteers have been very anxious about this particular topic um quote from Miss Ahmad the assistant Town attorney it is my understanding that the meeting was that of the PTA exec
083board the initial analysis of the Law Department was that the foia posting requirement was not violated by virtue of the chair and vice chair attending the PTA executive board meeting this was later confirmed by a Connecticut foic representative so there was no violation of our Freedom of Information practices by the building committee or the PTA thank you more for that report and well run a very well run discussion so thank you for that uh and now we go to Western now Tony I guess that's you going to bring us up to speed on Western some exciting things going on there we're moving forward right yes um we are still making progress at Western um we've been in front of the Planning and Zoning we just um the last couple of days got back the letter
084that had the comments from Planning and Zoning they're working on answering some of those or special requests like well you know they want to see more of the of the trees and what we're going to be doing for the trees and then um you know the lighting the sidewalk Pathways things of that nature nothing really major but it again they've got to respond to that um the AECOM has managed the pre-qualification uh process for the companies that will be actually bidding on the project they are using the same process that was utilized for the ghs campus and very detailed rubrics are provided and again they pre-qualified some companies letters will be going out this week we expect in the next two to three week um weeks all the bid documents will go out and we'll
085wait and see what that response is I would would say just to set people's you know tone the day school gets out you're not going to see a shovel in the ground we're working there but we should be there at some point in the summer or right before school starts and it just really depends on they did some resubmission to the state at the state level and that is because they're actually working really well with the school district and in some areas where we were having to go down several feet they've been able to lift that a little bit which is good because it means number one the project timeline will be a little faster because you're not removing as much dirt as well as it will help a little bit with the cost to
086not remove quite as much dirt so they wanted to do a resubmission and we all agreed take an extra couple of weeks to be able to have a faster timeline overall in cost savings was worth it to resubmit the uh just to be clear on on what I had discussions with uh Margaret our wonderful head of Planning and Zoning Margarita who told us that uh uh when we became when we came before her uh for our applications what she did is granted partial uh to move forward under remediation uh but she said our application was uh incomplete as far as Trees and Landscaping uh there was some minor confusion about whether we had to re-evaluate whether we needed to continue whether we can go forward with our turf plan uh or whether we had to
087examine an opportunity for grass the conversation I had with her uh she had said that must have been a little confusion between her and and our group submitting where she didn't need that application to be done for grass just some minor uh incomplete uh designs on the Landscaping is that is that where so going forward on the remediation Planning and Zoning is allowing us us they've broken it up and planting a zoning is allowing us to go forward on the remediation and they just want further work done on the design that is correct we still do have to answer some questions that were sent as part of that letter about um Turf versus grass but um I think the it's it's clearer now than it was thank you anybody else any questions on Western good
088all right then we'll move on to blaze blazey with us hello yeah yes Mr chair can you hear me I can hear you yes okay I apologize I'm in the car but I'm here and I'm not driving so uh right now the monthly report the financial report this is a very challenging uh time of year right now I do want to thank all of our principals um and members of the administration who have been working closely with Finance we've been kind of jointly going on this effort we froze the district on March 20th um primarily I won't repeat all the drivers uh that everyone here knows what they are they're the same four drivers and they're in the they're in the report that you might expect um but all you know everyone kind of came
089together went through all their accounts went through the negatives we've done a lot of account cleanup uh it's been a huge lift um you know just cleaning things up so we're in we're in hoping that we're in a fairly good condition uh revenue is is a stronger than expected in a number of areas and primarily that's going to be as we all know in our special ed excess cost grant that we went for the interim for it actually should be a little bit over the value we went for the interim Force somewhere between 1.3 and 1.5 million thanks to the efforts of Dr H summer school revenue is expected uh one one pressure that we see for fiscal year 24 is that summer school revenue is likely to be significantly less than prior years due
090to some you know program design changes um through through fewer um students taking uh the academic enrichment programs in summer because they're getting those Services during the school year so that'll impact the revenue of that program the expenditure report uh you can see we are running um our current projection is showing less than a one percent variance from budget so we're threading a what that means is that we're basically threading uh a very thin uh you know treading some Thin water right now um or you know it's going to be tight but I think we're going to be okay based on where we're at and the good team effort that we've had the the one thing I want to be very clear about is that we we would be in very uh very tight Financial
091condition um if it wasn't for the transportation savings on the contract um Ann and Elmer did an excellent job in in tracking penalties in the beginning of the year and assessing those against the company which were significant savings over almost one million dollars and also they both work together to assess the line uh the Transit routes and had implemented some operational efficiencies which which brought in almost two to three hundred thousand dollars in savings that is largely carrying the district at one percent variance is basically about 1.3 million so that that's carrying the district as well as getting that interim that was essential Capital um dance team is doing a great time great job right now they're preparing um for the summer uh capital uh push so they're working with our purchasing department to execute
092a significant number of contracts um grants we're working with all of our grant managers you will see Joe I know you're watching this very closely as we are and ask me about it every month which is a great question will we get the money spent and I know Mark's on this call you know Mark's here Ann's here Dr H is here uh Tony we've been all working together and have a good execution plan you can see just a month-to-month decrease of uh of three hundred twelve thousand dollars and uh we also have a number of salaries that are executed on those grants so that that funding is essential and it will get spent the school lunch program has a healthy fund balance as a result of both the continued Universal lunch program and the cash
093in lieu of Commodities the clock Grant is a federal program that we're benefiting from the high levels of participation it's based on levels of participation originally we anticipated a hundred and fifty thousand dollars and we will likely end up over half a million even somewhere near 700 000 and so that's essential to help carry that uh school lunch fund which remember in fiscal year 24 which is already basically time to start talking about it unfortunately um but in fiscal year 25 we're actually working on developing the budget but in uh fiscal year 24 remember there's no contribution coming from the general fund um to the school lunch fund so this this extra cash uh is important for the school lunch fund also Capital was moved by the town for the school lunch fund from the
094general fund to the school lunch fund so that's just something to note and we're working very closely with scss monitoring our exposure for special education and and that that interim of 1.1 million was essential to coverage required expenses that's an overview of our financial condition I'll take any questions I'll start with uh a question how much of the grant money will we be giving back I can't answer the exact dollar amount yet but the goal is uh to get to have those grants um all over uh all well over 90 execution rates questions Aaron Lou please I don't think this is necessarily for you it's probably more for Tony but um I know I had um sent an email asking because there were some projects that we were using our sr3 and ARP funds for
095and they're they're noted in here most of which we we get in updates as to how that's being used across uh other topics that come here but there are a few things such as up for instance the uh money we were using for the redesign of the ghs Student Center that we just haven't heard about in a while so um I'd love to even if it's not tonight because I know uh Mr Mayo is not here principal Mayo but I'd love to be able to put that on at some point to talk about uh since we're getting towards the end of the year and we want to make sure we leave uh not a penny at left on the table we want to use all that and would love to hear how that's being used
096to benefit our students so if that's possible there's a couple of other ones in here that we don't hear much about so it would be helpful yeah we're happy to update you on those um everything is on order the biggest issue with um with that one is it's mainly a lot of furniture and it's getting the shipping and so we're literally waiting um but it's all on order um the other big project that is has a bigger dollar amount is a work we're doing at Community Connections in that building um they've been doing all the architect is is with us they've done the designs they're working on that to be able to go forward the summer for all the enhancements that will happen in that building those are the two big ones but certainly I'm
097happy to um prepare some information for the next meeting that would be fantastic I think it would be really beneficial for everybody to see how those uh are how that money is being used to benefit our students goes right back to them anybody else plays one more question you talk about the spending freeze uh when I gave you that check for six hundred dollars for the bathroom at the stadium the use for the Youth Football uh did that help with the freeze you know it got us that much farther Jeff you it hopefully it gave you confidence that you know that your Finance team is on it so yes I was very happy and impressed that I got a bill thank you foreign okay anybody else nothing to nothing more on this thank you blaze
098uh let's go to uh Dr Jones with the school calendar first read so this calendar is um basically looking a lot like next year's calendar where we do have uh the conferences that are built in it still says K8 on here because it'll be like next year uh if K-8 goes really well we're going to be working on the high school solution um so that we're just we'll be coming to you again or those of you that don't run again will be coming to somebody um so um but again this calendar mirror is very similar we are out obviously on that fifth for November 5th that's going to be a big election day and we don't want to be in school or be doing professional development so one question a couple of you have asked
099are why are there all these little footnotes down at the bottom and that's not normally down there and that was really trying to be responsive to a conversation that chair and I had about some of our holidays uh this this year where there was some miscommunication in that we've traditionally in Greenwich for going back as far as we I can find documents there's a letter that goes out to all the administrators at the beginning of the year that talks about the religious holidays and lets people know what the dates are reminds them that we should not be having like athletic um we shouldn't have a musical that night we shouldn't have an actual um athletic event they still do some practices and things of that nature that happen right after school this is just kind
100of calling those out again the other thing that's on here is reminding people about the Thanksgiving holiday winter break February break that we don't assign okay over winter break we want you to complete XYZ and that's in our policy and regulations those were added on here just for clarity because it did get confusing this year and we again we have a lot of you know new administrators as people retire and move on and um especially like an Athletics Gus was here for a very long time and probably knew you know the back of his hand he didn't have to look at the the document so thank you Karen yeah I just know I just to point out I I had been emailing with Dr Jones because I saw that footnote um and um we were
101reviewing and looking over some of the regulations and and I know uh some of the wording will be I think I think we were discussing revising that because um just to point out for those who do have students at the Advanced levels out uh sometimes uh AP definitely the students do time tend to get work uh that they must complete uh over certain school breaks um and I know we were talking about not just for athletics but other academic uh competitions or Arts comp you know programming and events as well uh not to be scheduled on those holidays so just want to make sure that that wording is uh matches what's in our regulation so if anybody reaches out because I know I'd had some questions uh that that is being discussed and and uh
102clarified uh Christina hi um I want to talk about the conference um I know like for next year we kind of not to go out retrofitting but we were sort of figuring out how to make sense for the second Elementary conference and for the middle school conference right so we put it in March but just query whether having the Middle School conferences in March feels a little late I I just I think it's Food For Thought um before we vote on this next month and maybe the principles will give feedback I don't know it seems to me that waiting till March for the secondary conferences it feels very late in the year so that's just a comment that maybe we might want to rethink about that it it is tricky because of when we have
103our breaks here because when we went out and started looking at other um schools Middle School conferences are done in most districts we just haven't done them here um but they usually they don't fall as early as our elementary because you don't really know the kids um and so we're trying to make it work um in March where it's at least disruptive but the other thing which you won't know until we really go through it the first year but from the K-5 parents they loved March because the teachers really knew their kids and they found it very very helpful in being able to think about the next year and the following year and it gave them an opportunity so that in middle school I could see especially for advanced courses students who are in intervention
104and you really want to talk about it it might actually really work for middle school today I think it's just the kind of thing that maybe after going through it once and seeing what makes sense because and maybe Middle School is different maybe the high school shouldn't be that late in the year because if you're an APS or anything's like it's kind of so far and they've already picked courses by March at the high school like maybe midterm you know January might be a better time of high school it just it just kind of just food for thought okay oh sorry Wayne just real fast because this is so fascinating to me so can you just give me a sense of what the Middle School conferences are going to be like since we've never had
105such a thing there are many different models that are utilized and that's part of the discussion we'll be having with especially having two out of three brand new principals and I'm sure some of them have experience where they like Stanford does them for instance um but there's districts all over the place sometimes it is literally a sign up and the parents decide which teachers and that they really want to go and see they're still short like they are in elementary there are places where they'll have like content teams in a very large area if you want to go see the English teachers you literally go and they're at you know a big long table and enough space where you don't hear one another um but there's a zillion different ways to do them and we're
106discussing what is the best way for Greenwich Michael just because my son is in kindergarten the um I can tell you that um I I just assumed there was Middle School conferences I've never been not yet I'm not not having uh in all honesty you know because I have young kids and worked in other districts I've never been in the district that didn't have Middle School conferences in fact I've never been in the district that didn't have high school conferences of course we have high school conferences oh my gosh we got to bring that so that is something that that's something let's let's get this on the road but yeah the um it is it is something that um is standard in much of the country foreign well I will note just on on that
107topic I I understand it's different here not it's not different here because of this but it makes it harder at the middle of the high school because they students move from class class they have so many different teachers and I will say as a parent who has had two students go through middle and uh one fully through high school and one almost there I guess um anytime we've ever reached out and I guess oftentimes we hadn't thought about doing uh conferences here because our teachers are so responsive anytime I've ever reached out with a question or asked if I could speak with a teacher uh they've always been responsive and offered to sit down or speak and by the time the kids get to high school oftentimes they're supposed to be learning to advocate for
108themselves but oftentimes they still would want to talk to a parent and they've always been really responsive so I can just say that uh on behalf of our as to why we haven't done them maybe in the past it's not it's not a bad idea just but I just want to give a shout out to our teachers who are really responsive when it comes to these things okay looks like it's time to move on and now for the moment you've all been waiting for the action items okay uh preschool curriculum recommendations Karen Hirsch is going to take over this discussion oh just to get the item on the table uh before we we have our presenters come up um I'd like to make a motion that the board accept the curriculum committee's recommendation to adopt
109the creative curriculum as the curriculum to be used across the GPS preschool program do I have a second okay uh uh oh well we're not we're not approving it yet we're just putting it on the table and then I'm going to turn this over to our fantastic presenters Dr hagenthaler and Mr Beans welcome um to uh to DPS well Dr heigenthaler's been here but I mean yesterday presentation as last time um going over the benefits to different programs that we have looked at um the process and why we had chosen we didn't bring the books with us this time so I'm sorry we don't have the we don't have the show and tell we don't have the visuals um but we're here to answer any additional questions that's not anybody might have about the program
110yep then I'll call on Christina so since uh Dr or Canton Anthony is so kind to point out she was first you know it's like a game show especially it's like in the school person thanks um Dr States just one question um and I I did look at it at all last month and didn't watch the video again just how are we gonna um integrate this for our pan like parent education on what tools they'll have to be able to access it like do we have a plan about how we're going to manage because it's like a change in you know people have said oh my kids went to the pre you know did the preschool they don't really know and understand what we're going to be changing to if you could just kind of
111elaborate on that yes sure so we'll um so part of this is rolling out is as we have parents who come in next year will be sorry oh yeah I'm like okay can you hear okay so we'll start with the um informing the parents next year and letting them know about the curriculum um part of what we've looked at is the professional development and really understanding that parent piece because there's a huge engagement piece that I'm going to let Joe talk a little bit about but that's going to be huge in rolling it out to parents because it's not just what we're doing in the classroom it's how it connects with the students at home you want to talk a little bit about that yep and this this was a major part of the vetting
112process for the for the curriculum we really wanted to make sure that the parent engagement was not only wealthy wealthy and there was a lot of it but it was realistic to be able to to reach the parents um so you know not only is there an e-book library with digital books but there's also um activities games to print out at home you know opportunities for exploration at home um in tentatively we know that you know as part of our tentative training if this was approved we do the company is going to work with us to how how we can engage family in the in the engagement and assess what they need individual families need so that's something that they're going to work with us as well in the training Dr mccanty Anthony so thanks
113so there was um we talked to we with a couple emails back and forth this week to talk about the um the e-book side of things which um so at the end of the very end of the presentation there's a there's a third video um where the the presenter talks about the the e-books and things and and I mentioned on email and hoping we could talk a little bit about was concern there around screen time the um and I'm really worried about sending um the wrong messages or um hurting parents ability to limit screen time especially when we're talking about three and four-year-olds they um where you know the Pediatric recommendations are no more than an hour and a day and and all that stuff so so I guess I wonder if we could talk
114I'll talk a little bit about that very um and if that's even if that's a necessary component of the program yeah that's that's definitely a valid concern and that's why we were so thrilled with the parent engagement options because there are so many of them so the e-books are only one component of those and actually about 90 to 95 percent of them are printable um to be able to bring home so you know screen time is not is definitely not the only option for parent engagement are we um is that something that we we have the ability or or we can think about as far as as writing because I guess the um telling telling a family that we can print out print out the book that they can print out the book and but
115here's the link um and and putting that in in certain families hands particularly given the the challenges many of the you know for time and everything else I mean it's not easy um uh you know with with Pre-K parents particularly with the special ed population so I don't know what we could do here yeah well I think that sorry I think that goes back to what we were talking about looking at how do we individualize and really do targeted parent engagement so it's not a one-size-fits all there's multiple things and I think that's looking at what are the appropriate materials for a particular student to be using at home I think for some families you know you're going on a a trip right being able to look at the book on on the screen in
116the car might be a good idea um instead of a paper that can get but they're on someplace but for a lot of the other things it's it's the engagement it's the connection between the parent and the student so it's not just so it's not just about having access to those books it's really promoting parent and child engagement in the learning and I think that's really where we're focused on this is you know just another tool that's available I think it's you have a valid point and we're not promoting more screen time but it's there if you know parents do choose to use it what we're focused on is how are we marketing that parent child engagement and how are they working together and exploring that environment for our three and four-year-olds and the the
117e-books are not you know it's not limited to that each unit starts with a family letter that goes home that that provides here's what we're going to be studying and here's ideas and activities that you could do at home to enhance the learning in school in that home so there's also other options as well yep so I just had a preschooler who's now in kindergarten so my my question is very sort of base level um other than for distance learning the kids never brought home an iPad in pre-k Are We Now sending home iPads every day with the kids so how does this e the e-books and the connection with families how are they accessing this with if they're not on an iPad that the school provides yeah I think that's where it's important to
118individualize what we're doing so making sure you know tentatively like I said we're going to be working with the company to be able to assess what families need and how we can provide you know learning for all at home that's definitely going to be a major component and um important to assess with each family and it's also it's also going to come from the teacher so part of the the parent engagement piece is attached to the units so when information about the units goes home that's the teacher putting together saying here are a bunch of options that you can be doing at home so again we're not promoting like here's a here's a digital book we want your child to read there's no requirement that they have to do this these are all just things
119that that you can do with your child at home um and so you know being able to send home some of the print the printed materials and so it's really that teacher who's putting together those packets and sending it home it's not parent here's a link go find you know go find this information it's really that and that's part of the professional development that we're looking at with our teachers so it's not just learning how to use the program it's how to use that parent engagement piece and put together those materials for those parents yeah well just as an aside I know having done a little research shocking I know um there are not a lot of preschool uh programs out there to to even look through or to look at and the fact that
120you know we we haven't had a unified program across our preschools here as of yet so this is a first step I think it's actually you know our curriculum committee did an incredible job uh vetting all the programs and coming up with this and looking into the things that they felt were really important it would be the most supportive to our Educators um and how and supportive to the families at home um I think is um you know doctor I don't okay so somebody said I mispronounced it so I'm just going to go with Dr H so anyway um you know I I lost my train of thought but anyway the point is we're not sending home homework these are ways one of the biggest parts of our strategic plan I think is is face
121family and Community engagement and this is what we're talking about is making sure the parents feel involved um we often hear from parents how how can I bring this learning home what can I do at home to support what you're doing in schools and I think that this program will it may not be perfect um is is a great start and it's a great way for us to to lead and and figure out how to best work with it it ties into our kindergarten program as well so the students will be kindergarten ready by the time they leave our preschool program and um yes I screen time is always an issue at that age but a lot of this is uh for parents uh to share you know one-on-one conversations with I think their students
122you know their kids at home play opportunity to use play for education and engagement and as well as reading and so forth Mr Kelly thank you if my child not say I had one that age I don't but if I had one that age and that child that went to say Candyland uh pre-K school didn't go to our school system and saw this or see this as an opportunity to get uh educated on what our kids in our school system or uh are are studying would a somebody who goes to Candyland Pre-K be able to access this information somehow well this this curriculum so they can even though they're not within our system uh they can say hey look at there the other kids in in the Greenwich Public School pre-k are doing what we're
123talking about now is there a way that kids outside that can access this no not really so I mean this would be what our teachers are teaching in the classroom what I do want to share is that our the like family centers our School Readiness this is also the program that they use so it is so while Candyland might not but right next door Shoots and Ladders does use it and so you know the students are coming with that same skill set and that same knowledge base which I think is really nice as we're feeding them to kindergarten thank you doctor it's really hard to call on people while I'm taking minutes I'm so sorry Anthony yeah so so that's fine so I I mean don't get me wrong the um I mean I think
124um the the program's great and I'm so glad that I mean and I think it's great that where we have a um aligned pre-k program the um that's that's I think terrific particularly since this is a growing population as we know um for us as a district I guess the um two just two cautions uh or concerns I have when I think about implementation one is you know just to the screen time thing I'll find the um it's a tool for parents uh I'd love if we send parents we send home books you know hard you know copy you know consumable books with kids instead and all honesty they um and I think that's something we just need to continue to think about the book baggies you know a lot of districts do that it's
125great um the um and inexpensive um and that could be something hey that's a lot easier for a parent to to to grab and use um than going online um but second of all the other thing to think about uh we know this is a play-based curriculum obviously that has a that has a a wonderful and appropriate role in uh Pre-K specifically I just uh caution Us in implementation um obviously in pre-k we have a um the reason for the program is the the the the students that are mandated for pre-k that obviously have explicit instruction needs on their IEPs and things and we just need to make sure that in the implementation of the play-based curriculum we don't lose sight of the the important explicit instruction obviously that that needs to be at the
126heart of the the program yeah and the nice thing about this program is that it does provide some explicit instruction for the teacher to be able to provide the benefit was that when you have a new teacher it's more explicit but you have a more experienced teacher can kind of Veer off from that but then to build on that that's why we also have the Pre-K foundations in the you know in the priest K and at ham Ave the Hagerty as well so that we're addressing that yes we we want Pre-K to be Pre-K we're not trying to create kindergarten but we are trying to create kindergarten writing students and finding that balance I would like to call the question okay well since uh we've had it seconded uh all in favor okay I thought
127that's I don't have to ask anything else because 7-0 thank you guys thanks Joe thank you Karen well done well organized taking notes and running the uh conversation well done and now if we can go back in time a little bit and then have Kathleen take over this discussion how exciting this will be old time's sake go for it sure I was given this um because I think I can speak as quickly as Angie hurtophilus turns out I think we're from the same area which is probably why we can do it it's how we roll in New York so um here we go so um required vote for participation healthy food option um this vote is required for I'm going to be the motion in a second required for all Board of EDS that participate
128in the national service lunch program each Board of Ed must vote Yes or No to participate in a healthy food option of CGS section 10-215f and follow the Connecticut nutrition standards so we're going to do two votes here's the first motion I'd like to make a motion pursuant to CGS section 10-215f the Greenwich Board of Education certifies that all food items offered for sale to students in the schools under its jurisdiction and not Exempted from the Connecticut nutrition standards published by the Connecticut State Department of Education will comply with the Connecticut nutrition standards During the period of July 1 2023 through June 30 2024 this certification shall include all food offered for sale to students separately from reimbursable meals at all times and from all sources including but not limited to school stores vending machines
129School cafeterias culinary programs and any fundraising activities on school premises sponsored by the school or non-school organizations and groups can I have a second okay all in favor oh sorry discussion okay anyone want to talk about this okay great all in favor yes yes just yeah we did it last year go ahead you want to that's fine okay all in favor okay that's one two three seven and six okay all opposed one what no one vote doesn't matter what okay fine that's ridiculous I'd like to change my vote okay okay all in favor okay that passes seven zero okay we're gonna do this thank you for letting me know that okay next require language for option to combine food let's let's hold on for a second I want to helpful and that uh can you
130please explain that Anne well complying is a passing of emotion yeah it's a majority I'd love to see that language all right my dad defined as Mr Kittle but I I'm a little concerned about I'm kind of with you on this one Cody but let's just stick with it for this why that that's exactly why I would vote no I know I know I know I feel like we should do this don't give free money back I know that's the only reason but okay let's go to vote too this is required language for option to combine food and beverage exemptions board events the vote Yes to participate in the healthy food option may choose to combine the two separate food and beverage exemptions into one motion by using an exact motion language below so that's
131we're gonna do okay ready the second motion is um the Greenwich Board of Education will allow the sales to students of food items that do not meet the Connecticut nutrition standards and beverages not listed in section 10-221q of the Connecticut General statutes provided the following conditions are met one the sale is in connection with an event occurring after the end of the regular school day or on the weekend too the sales at the location of the event and three the food and beverage items are not sold from a vending machine or school store and event is An Occurrence that involves more than just a regularly scheduled practice meeting and extracurricular or extracurricular activity for example soccer games school plays interest Scholastic debates are events but soccer practices play rehearsals and debate teams meetings are not
132the regular school day is the period from Midnight before to 30 minutes after the end of the official school day location means where the event is being held and must be the same place as the food and beverage sales can I have a second okay discussion please now can we abstain from this no Just Go With It oh Lord why do you give them options okay all in favor okay oh seriously all right all opposed all abstaining that this is thick zero one thank you so much back to you Joe thank you Kathleen that was very nice uh now for the final action item uh is the uh Boe meeting agenda plan uh well I would like to make a motion to approve the 2023-2024 Board of Education meeting agenda plan as presented do I
133have a seconder Karen will be seconding it discussion Christina it's not really a discussion it's a question um Tony just I had I I meant to mention this before and I apologize there's um we have your goals as a first read second read but we have our goals with the first read but no second yeah like it's kind of no but the board there's like I just thought they got a little convoluted because we have the first read for board and super goals in September and then we have super goals just a second read on information which just says info doesn't even say action yeah that was my question yeah and but then the board goal vote to wait a month so I just kind of that was the one thing any thought yeah it
134may have just been one of those things but yeah September 21st should be action on superintendent goals for sure um when I went back through my notes it was kind of confusing because the board did debate are we going to do them or not do them because of the election um so certainly I can move those right back with the superintendents on September 21st um if if we want to reaffirm the board goals the same night but while you're Karen while you're doing that I was just going to say thank you for adding the uh added board retreat for professional development in December I think that's exceptionally important it's part of it was part of the board goals that we've now seen like multiple times so thank you I might just add one question um
135that I was asked us why is it on a Wednesday and I was just we don't have as many school events on a Wednesday night and I just don't not knowing who's going to be elected if they happen to have children or in athletics or any of that it's just harder when we always pick Tuesday or Thursday so yeah well it's early enough I I think no one assumptions worst case scenario for casual revised no no well we can we can you know do a special meeting if we have to change the date okay I'll call the question uh all in favor uh please raise your hand that looks like we're unanimous except zero as well do we have to modify them for those little changes or as discussed oh we've just passed it as
136is if you want to we can unpass it if you like do you want to withdraw the motion I know we voted we can withdraw and then just rephrase it well I'm going to call you the expert and say let's do that and have uh Christina or I'll make a motion to Amendment a motion to amend the 23 24 Board of agenda meeting agenda plan to have both superintendent goals and the board goals be in action items on September 21st 2023. I will second that and all in favor please raise your hand that's unanimous seven zero zero okay that is the end of the action item so I'm glad you guys enjoyed the action tonight and now we're going to go to the agenda plan discussion Karen um I had a request and I will
137put that forward uh from siac they're listed for Wednesday June 14th as it uh on the business section um just to hand in their written report uh their annual report and they have requested if they could speak uh be be added a you know to speak it could just be his info well there's nothing for us to vote or approve but they've done a lot of work these are the incredible incredible amounts of moving things forward and I'd love to be able to give them the opportunity to share some of that with us and that what is what happened the last two years the traditionally they've presented so you want that to be added to the uh June 14th well it's on there as written um I'm asking if we could move that uh to
138info and see if they can uh just short presentation Michael that said the um unless Tony you know you're thinking something I'm not I'm not clear that we need the action item for the Strategic plan on June 14th because I'm not sure what that would be I'm not sure either I think it just didn't get taken off okay anybody else Christina you look interesting and we also talked about a potential action item for June 1st um after the superintendent's evaluation for a contract extension as an action item not an informational foreign then I will ask to see if Laura possibly has a motion to make motion to adjourn I'll second that all in favor raise your hand all right unanimous we're out of here thank you everyone for coming