10-16-24 Groton Board of Education Policy Committee Meeting

001like to call the October 26 2024 policy committee meeting to order and first of all I'd like to thank all the admin team members and any viewing public for your engagement to provide context and insights for the committee these deliberations um if any of the public wants to share opinions ideas uh help us along uh please direct your comments to any one of the committee members that would be Beverly Washington Ian Thomas or myself Matt shman and we'll all share amongst ourselves you only need to send one and we'll send we'll share with Susan as well of course uh finally we have a very heavy agenda tonight so I want everybody to have a chance to speak as much as they want but to the extent that we can be really well focused and not

002duplicative that will move us right along uh our first order of business is review of the minutes for Tuesday September 24th 2024 is there anybody who'd like to make a motion I'll move that we uh uh approve the minutes of September 24th Mr Thomas thank you I'm not sure I know I'm not sure if Bev is online yet okay well then I'll second the motion Shan seconds the motion is there any discussion on any errors Corrections additions then I'll call for a vote all those in favor of accepting the minutes of Tuesday September 24th please indicate by saying I I I I welcome Bev that motion passes three in favor no extensions no opposed we're now moving to new business the discussion of policy 51455 through 411 18-112 prohibition of sex discrimination uh this policy

003is necessitated by a change in federal Title 9 regulations affecting potential complaints of sex discrimination and or sexual sex oriented harassment Susan would you consider Beginning by describing the salian changes in the Federal Regulations as well as the cave and legal resources your staff has drawn upon in preparing the proposed policy yes I have Denise here who's our Title Nine um what do you call coordinator yep she wears many hats as you know um and so if you can Orient them I know you've done a lot of research with this and Floyd's um firm also um has a lawyer that works with special education as well I don't know I see Ian's hand just a a point of privilege Jud could we project the document um just to so we can kind of read along

004um do you happen to have yours handy or I can go look for mine if you want do you have it did Joyce give that to you by no chance I I can pull it up I just wanted to confirm the number uh we're on 51 45.5 that's correct okay uh yeah go ahead and and start and I'll just pop it up when I get it handy okay thank you very much thank you um so first of all um to the committee uh good evening uh these this model policy and regulations are part of a title 9 toolkit that was provided to the district by our law firm burum and Moses um and the first change that I want to bring to your attention well actually uh the new regulations went into effect on August

0051st 2024 and the first change is actually um a change in terminology um so um the definition from you know the Federal Regulations as Matthew just stated changed from sexual harassment to sex based harassment um and you'll see in the policy that um the policy also um includes um gender identity so if these are the that these this is the transgender one that we've already voted on Clint but thank you anyway for trying yeah yeah um so the the policy uh prohibits sex discrimination based on sex stereotypes sex characteristics pregnancy and related conditions sexual orientation and gender identity that gender identity is new to the definition with these regulations um we do have in the policy um just a name and a phone number uh so that if the director of special education or pupil

006Personnel Services changes you don't have to come back to policy to make that change so uh we recommend that you just keep the title and the office phone number in there um and then there's information about how to report a complaint um however all of the forms are included in the title 9 toolkit that we have tonight um and then the last paragraph just really refers to the fact that this is the procedure that will be in place for any complaints as of August 1st 2024 and moving forward Denise can I just stop you for a minute this is 51455 and also related to 4118 0.112 was this it's all in green is this the new one or the old one this is this is the new one y okay yep uh because we're going

007with Burch and Moses's policy and regulations you'll see everything is in green okay so everything is proposed new I mean there are in we used Floyd's Organization for this one correct and there are you work with Michelle lobin I believe who's from his firm uh actually Carolyn Dugas and Rebecca um Goldberg are the two attorneys in The Firm that specialize in sex-based discrimination um there are some similarities to the previous policy and regulations which I can point out as we go um but I just wanted to highlight those General changes in the policy that you see in front of you right now and that's it for the policy any questions now were the regulations that went with it because I see the policy is short and concise it's just one page yes the regulations are

008quite lengthy they are they are 10 pages wow um Matthew do you want me to go on to the policy or the regulations well let let's check let's see if there's any conversation about the policy first and maybe we'll we can be fluid so but does anybody anybody have any comments on the policy at this point uh no comments just wanted to confirm that this is the correct one that's up on the screen yes it is because we did get one that was all blocked in and it said document at the top okay and it was dated 10:18 and it was many more pages but I don't know where it came from so then is our current policy oh that's the current one right oh okay that was the current policy that's posted on our

009website under the Boe policies okay got it and there's lots of pages on that one yes so I was just matching um for consistency purposes for the entire agenda I was making sure that for each of the a through K if we had it available that people could see the existing board policy and regulations um because we only had originally pulled B through J so for consistency purposes I just want to make sure everybody had the same information thank you Irene thank and then the major changes in here just remind us again that they've added the um sure they've changed the terminology so instead of sexual harassment we're now using the term sex-based harassment or sex discrimination um the um the um the definition now includes um uh gender uh gender identity and sexual or

010I think sexual orientation was always there gender identity is new um and then have they always had pregnancy and related conditions on there I believe they've always had pregnancy I believe I'd have to check but pregnancy definitely is a little bit more defined um in terms of the regulations that you'll see when we get into the regulations in terms of um accommodations for specifically for lactation for special rooms for students for lactation and to provide students who are pregnant with alternate courses if they're available for other students do we ever have um um pregnant students in our district we do what do you do now generally um they uh receive homebound tutoring um um if they're not you know if they don't want to attend school during their pregnancy and especially during um their maternity

011you know after they deliver and they're at home uh with the baby so generally the services are provided through our online learning program Apex uh with a homebound tutor do any of the um females come back to school after they deliver their babies yes some it depends on Child Care um some have had a lot of support from parents to to watch the baby so they can come back to school do you have a plan how you going to give them a place uh for lactation um I think that could easily be worked out with you know the high school administration we do have um a Zen room at the high school in the guidance office and there's also an extra spot in the guidance office where we have some students that are doing some

012remote um instruction for dyslexia so there is a spot in the guidance office I'd have to really um you know have more information in terms of whether they would need you know running water so maybe it could be in the nurse's office I don't think we have a designated spot now but I think if we had to create one we certainly could and I think every school has had to Beverly because we've got a lot of young teachers who've had babies recently so every school has had this situation even at central office we've had it so we've always made sure um that little kind of closet room in back of where the um superintendent used to be I'm across the hall now the superintendent's in there so we've used that with a shade and that's

013been a space at central office when we've needed it so we can certainly do the same thing with our students okay is this uh all state law Denise or I believe it's Federal yep federal law federal law okay yes right yep all right thank you Denise sure so I just have to add this one little um vignette at Norwich Free Academy years ago my good friend's mom Janet Barnett who just recently passed at 90 years old created a a program for early childhood and for pregnant moms and um the program was to educate the mothers but also for them to be able to bring the babies to school and learn you know all the things from infancy to early childhood and the program was renowned and she was known for it and at her funeral

014just last weekend um lots of those people lots of those young girls came and said how Mrs Barnett changed their life but it was really quite the program you know I feel like we don't we that is a missing ingredient in our schools that whole um you know early childhood and parenting and some of those courses that used to be really um helpful for our young people kind of life skills yeah I had heard about that program years ago um I think years ago Susan New London used to have a a program for um pregnant teenagers too yeah yeah so just I just want to follow up on uh what Bev brought up as far as this being federal law um and Denise as well uh the so as federal law this pretty much supersedes

015anything that we could write anyway right correct so we basically just have to dot a couple eyes cross a couple T's get the right information in there that's specific to our district as required and then this thing just goes right in right and of course Floyd Dugas his firm his wife actually is the one who's very instrumental so we know that for certain that they've verified to make sure that it has all the Main Ingredients this is already prev vetted by the attorney yes yes yeah and there there are some areas in in terms of the timelines when we get into the investigation that we had a little bit of leeway on and what we did is we went with the recommendation from our our attorney's firm to give the district a little bit more

016flexibility okay well uh all that being the case I would make a i' make a motion that we uh pass this as a pass this on to the board for a first read that' be great now the only other thing I wanted to say in regulations is there are forms Denise and I unfortunately in the past 10 years have had to deal with this kind of thing with her Title Nine hat um especially with the adults and um so I just know that there are forms to be filled out if there is a complaint from either a student or another colleague about somebody um and you know and she goes through the whole process with investigating and she's been trained as an investigator and so have our administrators so um I think those forms are

017in regulations right were they the same forms or they different no they're different there's I mean they basically have the same information but they're formatted on our new letter head and they are um just new versions to be updated you know with the new regulations but there is a new form a complaint of sex discrimination sex-based harassment and you'll see the only difference here is we used to have a full formal complaint and an informal Complaint Form oh um the new regulations uh remove any distinction between formal and informal there's just one Complaint Form but we can follow up in terms of um investigating either with a full formal investigation or we can talk to the complaintant and see if they'd feel more comfortable doing an informal resolution like a restorative justice meeting or something

018similar to that based on you know the the preference of the complaintant and then there is a notice there's a letter to the complaintant and the respondent the respondent is the person that's being alleged to have conducted the sex or you know done the sex discrimination committed the SE do you have a timeline that you have to respond to these complaints yes yep yep in the in the regulations I I can get to that in one moment um okay there's also a letter um a notice of dismissal so if the complaint does not meet the requirements of sex-based discrimination um you as the coordinator I can dismiss the complaint um so it does indicate why the complaints being dismissed um there's a number of different reasons so if the um if the person submitting the

019complaint cannot identify a respondent or a person that they feel was responsible for discrimination obviously we wouldn't be able to investigate that that would be um a reason to dismiss the complaint um if the respondant doesn't participate in any way in a school sponsored activity um if they weren't you know um an observer at a sporting event um or obviously a staff or student we would just uh withdraw or dismiss the complaint um if the person voluntarily withdrew the allegation we could uh dismiss it it or if we determined um that they're just um there there wasn't enough um evidence information in terms of the allegations provided to to determine if the complaint met the legal definition and if we could prove um discrimination we can dismiss the complaint and then there's the right to

020appeal and you need to know that in a serious situation with we're you know um needing some support we do talk to Floyd's group too yes to talk about the case study and to get guidance from them because these are people's lives and you know we take it really seriously um so and then the last letter is a non-disclosure agreement that's commonly known as a confidentiality agreement and we have used that um in cases where either party the respondent or the complaintant was um concerned about their confidentiality or their privacy um so having the official form I think goes a long way to help both sides feel as if um you know this is going to be kept confidential and all these forms are new Denise or we already no we've had these before we

021we have them right now we've we've been using them they're formatted on our new letter head and some of the wording is slightly different but not significantly different okay there is a new form though actually to dismiss the complaint in the past I've written a letter indicating why the complaint is being dismissed and now we have a form so that actually is new and then in in terms of the timeline that be had asked uh just a moment ago um in the regulations you'll see the the first part of the regulations uh really have uh contain a lot of definitions um the the heart or kind of the the the middle of the um regulation on page seven really delves into the investigation and there are quite a few timelines um in the investigation um

022so on page if you're looking at them on page eight um so the dist uh another change in the new regulations is with the old process both sides the complaintant and the respondent were allowed to have a copy of any of the evidence that the other party brought forward um and then each party had a certain amount of time that they could review that evidence it was 10 10 calendar days and then they could submit any additional evidence that they would like you know the district to consider um that has now changed in terms of each party has access to information evidence that either party brings forward but they don't receive a copy they don't actually get a copy of the actual evidence but they can I can summarize it and send it to them

023or they can come in and meet with me and the principle and review it so that's a slightly different change a slight a slight change um so in terms of uh the investigation um we have that each party will have equal opportunity to access the evidence um and uh we provide a reasonable opportunity for them to respond um and then we take reasonable steps um to allow each party you know to view or to have access to the responses um Witnesses uh can be questioned and um there's a certain I don't know why I'm not seeing it in here there are a certain number of days oh okay I think let's see I'm not finding the days oh oh here we go if you look on page four of 10 it has uh within 10

024business days after receiving a report of possible discrimination meaning a complaint the Title Nine coordinator or the designate it could be a principal will communicate with the complaintant and discuss supportive measures so supportive measures are not new and what supportive measures are or they are steps that we take to help the complaintant and the respondent uh feel comfortable attending school while this process is um is being implemented sometimes it's a schedule change uh sometimes it's access to a school social worker uh sometimes it's uh um assigned seats on the bus or changein bus or in the cafeteria but it usually involves um some measures to help those students have some space and and feel as if that harassment is going to stop during the investigation this is also similar to sometimes when a parent would

025fill out a bullying form or student especially in student to student issues um and we're really careful about how you know if if the other student is bullying then we might have to take more stringent manner you know measures but if if it's something that one child just feels that way and we can't find the evidence we still want to protect them and make sure that they're feeling comfortable that that's a great um example So within 10 business days we would reach out to the complaintant give them give the complaintant the option of filing a complaint a formal complaint and then offer supportive measures um we usually do that much sooner um the next timeline is within 10 business days after communicating with the complaintant um we will assess whether or not um if the

026complaintant doesn't file a complaint oftentimes the district has the burden to file a complaint on behalf of the complaintant and that is so that the district is not deliberately indifferent so if we're made aware sort of just like Susan said about a sex a possible sex-based discrimination or a bullying we're required um to you know to file a complaint and to take steps that are needed to make that behavior stop so that's the next 10 days um and then within five days after receiving a complaint or if I initiate a complaint um I have to evaluate whether or not we're going to conduct an investigation so sometimes we have to file a complaint uh even though we don't have all the information but once we get the information then we'll decide if we are moving

027forward or not and then um within 60 calendar days after the assignment this is if the complaint is is taken for a formal investigation we provide the parties access to the evidence or a description of the evidence and then within 30 calendar days after the assign assignment of the complaint to the decision maker a written determination shall be issued and then if an appeal is filed uh the parties have 10 business days after um after the appeal the decision is made to file their appeal so there are um some timelines established we try to get these investigations conducted in more of a timely manner because they are um you know sometimes it's very sensitive in terms of making sure that um the children you know the students feel comfortable in school um so that that

028is basically the timelines the rest of the policy talks about um the notice there is a letter that is sent once a complaint is accepted for a formal investigation there's a notice that's sent to the complaintant and there's a notice that's sent to the respondent um and it does talk about confidentiality and retaliation being prohibited um and it talks about their opportunity to meet with us and share you know any information that they would like there's information in the complaint or in the polic the regulations about dismissal that we just talked a little bit about um they do spell out the investigation and how the investigation is conducted um generally uh when we meet with the students the parents have the option of being present um or we usually have a trusted adult like a

029guidance counselor present with us uh let's see Denise can I ask you a quick question yes yeah how many complaints of this nature do you usually get a year I'm gonna say for formal investigation like five or less a lot this right now we have the option to do an informal complaint an informal process and we still have that with the new regulations but we do have to have a complaint completed um so oftentimes we will go an informal route in terms of having a resolution meeting sometimes the students don't want to be in the same room and that's fine we'll you know meet with each party separately and come up with a resolution and sometimes you know students are and parents are happy with that other times if it's I find if the um

030harassment has been going on a long time and the respondent has not um changed their behavior despite the complaintant you know telling them to stop I find often that's when they really want to go through with a formal you know complaint because they feel like that's the only thing that's going to get the respondent to stop this is also the 4000s for personnel too right Denise we didn't bring that's another change I'm glad you brought that up Susan this is really um yes it's 5145 for students and 411 18.12 for staff so with the old policy we had separate policies and regulations for students and staff this is now the same so it it really streamlines the process compared to what we had before it's any really two individuals student staff yeah St we also

031had we also had in the regulations with the old um the old procedures that there had to be an investigator and then a decision maker and they couldn't be the same people with the new regulations the investigator and the decision maker can be the same individual so that does streamline it as well are you happy with all the new changes Denise are you are you happy with all this I I am I'm happy with just having one policy one regulation for students and staff one Complaint Form um and then eliminating all the different you know people were involved in terms of the investigator and then the decision maker had to be someone different so I think it does streamline the process a little bit and and make it a little bit more um efficient Denise

032actually councils them to like there was a situation that we were dealing with and um the parent didn't really want it to press any you know issues and it was a student to student but Denise really said said it's kind of like a bullying form you want to you know if this is really bothering your child you need to you know then your child has the right to fill in this form so she helps them along the way and then if if they don't then she really is if she's feeling like it needs to be investigated then she is the Title Nine once she's gotten that information she can go forward and put together the complaint can't you Denise isn't that one of the things that you just recently had to do yeah and then

033one other thing I wanted to bring to your attention the the definition of hostile environment has changed um with the old regulations um we had this is the bar for hostile environment we had to demonstrate that um the behavior in question or the conduct in question was subjectively and objectively offensive and is so severe and persuasive that it limits or denies the person's ability to participate in or benefit from the educational program or activity with the new regulations they've removed the and and it's or yeah so the new definition is that a hostile environment is created when um the unwelcome sex-based conduct in question is subjectively and objectively offensive and is so severe or per pervasive so it does open it a little bit more um it is a lower standard um so it could

034be severe or pervasive and it limits or denies the person's ability to participate in their program so let me ask a let me ask a question let me ask a question if I may uh Ian had made a motion and we kind of took a long discursion on that but there is a a motion on the floor is there a second to that I'll second that okay so we can go back and have any further discussion now if we want to but we have a motion that's been made and seconded yeah no um I'm I'm satisfied with the discussion that's already happened uh I believe it's a comprehensive approach and all the updates are um all you know legitimate and backed by federal law so I think uh I'm comfortable moving forward to a vote

035BV any any further comment no not unless Denise has something to add anything else we should know about this Denise um I don't want to rush it through no no I'm looking through my notes um I'm no I think that's it okay Susan anything to add before we vote no I think it's ready for the board and I think um Denise does a great job explaining um it's really necessary to have this kind of process and thank you oh the only the only other thing I will add Matthew is that we are updating our training um there is required training this is actually very important for all employees um in terms of the new regulation and we have an attorney Rebecca Goldberg from The Firm coming on November I think it's the 21st to our

036admin Council we're going to do a meeting from um 4 to 6 um with uh with Rebecca with our entire administrative Council she's going to walk them through uh the changes and we'll talk about a lot about the investigation process the definitions the timelines the forms uh so that they're familiar and they're comfortable moving forward and then we have a new training for the staff that's on our safe schools platform it's about 46 minutes long and we are gonna work with Ann Marie manini to designate one of the tli days just you know an hour or 45 minutes in a tli day for the staff to take the new title 9 training terrific that's online y yeah okay is there is there a test with that training Denise or did they just listen usually question

037y there are quizzes embedded for the staff training on safe schools and we'll have everyone take that probably the administrators as well because we'll set aside time for everyone in the district to take it during a tli day terrif thank you Denise okay having I guess I ran Chris no okay having discussed it uh all those who are in favor please indicate by saying I I so I I understand correctly we have three in favor none opposed no abstain the motion is carried and we will send this to the Board of Education regular meeting for first reading this thank you thank you really appreciate it have a good glad you got home for the REM Denise okay thank you everyone bye bye bye bye great job as always Denise thank you Beverly she's very thorough

038good night she sure is and she needs to be a job like that right okay so we're gonna move on um our second agenda item are the uh referrals from the ad hoc committee um these are policies that are related to recommendations referred to this committee by the ad hoc budget procedure committee designed to improve the functionality and transparency of the district's budget formulation process and board oversight of such process and operations they include uh quite a few policies we have six of the nine that are on the list on the agenda we will be dealing with though not all today however two of the items policies 3310 and 3320 based on advice that we got from Irene these transfer of funds and procedure and purchasing guidelines and purchasing procedures will be pulled for now

039and will be coming back to us as part of a comprehensive procurement policy U and I guess Irene will let us know as she moves towards that point so we're going to table I don't know table them or drop them not quite sure how to handle it procedurally but we're going to go in the others first one I think we're going to handle them later at a later date but we're going to we're going to prioritize these yes for the budget process Matthew if you table them that just means that you can bring them up at a future meeting okay then can I have a motion to table from somebody make a motion go ahead sorry um I'll make a motion to tap um hold on it's 3310 and 3320 yeah I'll make a motion

040to table uh discussion on policy p33 one0 3 and 3320 and 3160 and 32 sounds like you got them all iene did he get them all that would be these yeah yeah yeah yeah okay so that leaves us with five to discuss uh I would suggest starting with the 3110 budget planning but if somebody has strong feelings that they want to do something else first please speak up I think the numerical order made sense I think Ian mentioned that at the other meeting because it kind of flows better with the process I'm good with that so uh um what we didn't have earlier were the C model right policies and nor did we have when this was first sent out the benefit of yesterday's discussion right so I made a pass today on several of

041these to try to restate the policy as written by Ian's committee incorporating elements from the cab sample policy while trying as very best I can to remain faithful to the structure intent of the ad hoc committee any personal comments I have would later uh Ian if you would prefer to go with what you submitted initially that's okay with me too uh we had chatted earlier Ian and I but I can put up PO the revised p3110 if you prefer or Ian what's your pleasure um well now I've had a little bit time to reflect on it since we talked on the phone and uh to be honest i' I'd rather just kind of go straight at the ones that were you know submitted as part of the report and we can incorporate the changes from

042cab um as we go I that's a better way to go just for As You Wish continuity um so let me just do this and then do this all right so um can everyone see uh policy P 3110 as a word is there any way to blow that up to help the old fol I actually have mine on paper so I can see it quite [Music] well let me know how much larger you need how's that that's fine that's fine all right um so yeah no I haven't had a chance to review the cab uh corresponding K policy on this so uh I'm fine we'll just kind of handleing it as we go um so if someone else has versed themselves in the cave then uh just you know feel free to Cave cave had

043an opening paragraph an introductory paragraph that I felt would be useful at the top of what we have but I will trust your judgment as to whether you want to hear that now or later well it kind of correlates with the top portion of the old policy in black as a preliminary part of the development of the budget yada yada yada in ours and in the C Revis that really correlates with the latest re legislation it says the Board of Ed shall prepare an annual operating budget for the school district consistent with provisions of State statutes and board of Finance requirements governing preparation timelines and available appeal processes of reduction so it's just got um more of a legal um stance and certainly um a framework that kind of introduces the process only thing I

044was wondering about Susan was that board of Finance because we don't have a board of Finance yeah we'd have to change it we'd have to tweet it like um yeah other otherwise I'm not opposed to um putting that as a beginning paragraph and then I liked it because then it moved from the general opening statement to an establishing budget priorities which we we are talking about in this one but it's just more cohesive and it doesn't have some of the green language is more regulations that we can look at in regulations but they really keep separate the policy from the regulations which we've been trying to do more of so um you know so it talks about the board assessing what the priorities are like we're doing when we go to the schools to say

045what are your needs you know when we do zero base budgeting um and then there's a section on supplemental Appropriations and since one of the laws 10222 is Appropriations and budget financial information systems I think it's pretty important to have a section on supplemental Appropriations but Irene's really the the expert on this so I'm just reading it and reading it aloud and seeing how it Compares so I don't know if Irene wants to say anything about that sure I agree with Susan it's um about the middle of the paragraph when it starts getting into the procedure that is more under Susan's Direction as a superintendent um that the procedure is how we're going to work through this internally and we can um come forward and make a recommendation with a regulation for consideration but I

046I do believe the the C recommendation gets to what the board looking to do with the budget planning so I me you and Susan prefer the cave policy as opposed to the ad hoc committee's policy in certain circumstances yes because we're adding in the procedure which is a regulation so it's it's well it's not something the board can can dictate and put in a policy saying this is the procedure you're going to follow because we may learn of a new best practice that will change the procedure and if we have procedures mixed with policy then every time we change an internal procedure we're going to need to come back and revise policies right well is there anything is there anything in the ad hoc committee policy that you can put into the Kay policy or

047no that I think it's just different language like as a preliminary part of the development that's what we had used before in the old and this one comes out with the Board of Education shall prepare an annual operating budget because it really does put the responsibility you know on the board that we have to get this done okay I think that's stronger language actually for the board well so if I GNA respond there just uh quickly um the way I'm reading this uh the um procedure that's that's mentioned the second C here you know that's a general broad-based thing that is just talking about developed in conjunction with the superintendent schools and notice most of that um you know is Black Ink that's that's pre-existing policy uh for one two um you know again you

048know policy leads to procedure and then that leads to regulation so um I it would have been great to get the cave uh you know that's that's typically that's typically How We Do It Ian is we look at the old policy we look at C where we get legal advice in preparing it and so anytime you need that Erica's great at pulling that and it's actually online too so you can go on to C's website but I just like the way that they broke it into the three parts they gave you a general area and then establishing those priorities which I think is important we you talk about that in your document you know there was a question I had Susan uh in my notes I wrote why isn't the part of establishing budget priorities

049taken out of this one and put into 3313 which is the uh it's called preparation of budget doc preparation of budget document it would seem to me that establishing the budget priorities it would fit more neatly there well I think it could go both places actually when you're talking about the budget planning you need to have those priorities when you're planning so it can go both places in the document or in the planning I mean you need it kind of both places well part of what I heard over the last eight or nine months was a desire and please I'm invite anybody to ch chime in was a desire of the board to be more actively involved earlier on and rather than coming at the point where a budget is presented to us and we're

050then questioning this item and that item and how it got there and whether it's the priority or not and we eat up an awful lot of time doing something that we could do a lot earlier by getting involved earlier well I think that's what the k policy is doing it's really putting it in the driver's seat of the but of the board with of course the superintendent and staff but um we had the timeline too yeah that that too is that too appears in policy 3133 which does not mean it can't appear elsewhere I mean I can see that the procedure a procedure is like a regulation that could go in um a regulation and we could work through that but I think we got to get the policy first and then you do the

051regs and I would just recommend that we create one budget policy document that has the subsections that include the budget planning that moves all the way through so we're collapsing probably seven budget related policies into one overall Boe budget policy that would follow the c um recommendation and then tweak for our public school system in our district have you seen that done before Irene it was very common in Massachusetts and Rhode Island and as well as Michigan I would have to see if there's something in Connecticut that doesn't allow that to happen but basically when you adopt that overall structure you include the planning process you include not the process itself but here's the budget planning we agree we're going to deliver a timeline and adopt a timeline by X supplemental Appropriations use of um

052one-time Revenue sources or non-lps you can collapse that into one and that way if there's changes to law anything that we have we would have as an appendix when it starts getting into specific numbers um so that that way if the Law changes you're not necessarily changing your entire policy you're changing an appendix but do you see that the the policies that have been brought forth they all could be cohesive you know and the way they're organized they do kind of go in order right so at this point we can look at that and then find out um through casbo if there's a way that it's done sure my my question is uh and I see Irene the the logic of what you're suggesting and yet the the history is in front of us that

053that's not been the way it's been done that at least through through C's way of policies they have a bunch of separate policies I'm not quite sure I understand the rationale for it but I don't think that was a halfhazard decision somebody must have considered having a single policy and decided that it was just too complicated and cumbersome to do and that they needed to have separate policies that I'm making as a hypothesis is it's not a statement of fact I'll follow up with casbo to see if there's other communities that are doing one budget policy instead of separate policies it could be specific to Connecticut that I'm not aware of yet but I think that these separate policies are definitely the Main Ingredients right even had one so I think working through this is

054important either way like the subsections if these develop as independent policies or as subsections to a broader umbrella policy that that is you know um that that's not we still have to deal with these component parts um right and you know it has existed as as they are so you know I think we should proceed with as far as getting the language that we want in these documents and um it it sounds to me that uh you know there there is uh some merging that could that could occur here with the cave documents um I we put up could we put up the other one that I've done and take a look at that see sure can you share your screen I'll stop sharing this I can I can do that do you have independent

055documents are they separate I I have separate documents I'm just going to put up 3110 okay take that down and I'll go [Music] 3110 share okay what is missing on this is the paragraph on supplemental Appropriations which would need to be on the bottom again this is my attempt to try to remain faithful to the committee and tighten up the language and integrate the uh Cave sample policy so the first paragraph is virtually from cave the only change is I took out the business of board of Finance and put it in in its place the town's Charter thank you that's good work okay and the fourth paragraph which does not show there would be the C paragraph on supplemental Appropriations so really what we're talking about is the utility or lack of utility of Revis

056of considering these middle two paragraphs as fairly representing what Ian's committee did did then we can talk about if if if that fairly represents what he he wanted to accomplish then we can talk about how we might want to tweak it that seemed to me be a logical approach what do you all think you know now re reading this uh I'm okay with what you have with your interpretation here but I would also want to invite uh Jen to comment absolutely I have her present and be of course Bev as part of the committee do you want to put anything about the priorities because that's always essential do you have that in there and I'm just not see that's later that's 31 what do you mean later yeah in the budget document no no 3113

057p3113 is the priorities I believe okay it's got its own yes yes okay so Matthew I would just recommend that in the first paragraph when we say it's consistent with provision of State statutes that before State we put Federal comma State absolutely absolutely because we don't need to lose any federal funding absolutely those grants that we do exactly right way no nobody C that caught that I said State statutes and we'll put in the T and turn them into statutes oh that would [Music] help are you doing this Ian on your your side uh well um I don't have your document so I am just making okay I I'll I'll I'll refine it later no no problem yeah but honestly if you if you email me a copy of of your word doc um I

058can I can build from there with the uh with the notes here I can't do that while that's on the screen I have to send it to you no no so did we capture everything from the cave document that you want in here except for the supplemental Appropriations yeah and what I'm talking about would would include the supplemental Appropriations okay because one of the laws that referred to is that's in the cave sample document uh Bev and yeah I had that where is that in your document not I didn't type it in I thought to put it somewhere else but I've been been shown the ER okay so I'm not opposed to um Matthew's document if Susan and iina fine with it and adding in the supplemental Appropriations I just would say that that last

059sentence in the middle paragraph the board actually works with the superintendent and the superintendent works with the staff and if we want to get into um you know family engagement and others that becomes a regulation so I think that we have to be very careful with that last piece of language because you might not do survey every year and I don't want to be bound to it by law and that's would Circle back to the committee's draft um where we did say um in conjunction with the superintendent uh as the main point of contact I was wondering how you felt about that Susan yeah I mean it's I mean they come to the table but we've worked behind the scenes ex there's a lot of work behind the scenes right so it should be we

060work with you and then you work with the staff and everybody else that's and we work with the community through through the public heiring process when the community comes and talks to us we are engaging it with the community well we all do that public session where people come to the table and we hear from them so there's ways that we're doing it um so I don't want to bind ourselves in a particular way but um but it's definitely as part of the planning you know so so you would take out that sentence there this says border ed will work in consult in consultation with certified uncertified staff yeah I would say that the Board of Ed Works um with the super superintendent right because we don't really work with the staff that's not our

061job that's your job no they come and present and share with you but um right which which circles back to the the ad hoc budget procedures committee's draft where we had a sentence that uh with the superintendent in conjunction with the superintendent yeah so we might have to word Smith that a little bit Yeah so and then the way we do it you know even Irene discussed a way that could be really um I think really exciting where you have representatives from the board and the council you have the mayor and the chair you have you know the town manager and the superintendent and you start earlier to that's not that's not our policy that's a different discussion Susan that's not about the policy uh I did have I tried to present what I understood

062Ian to have said but I have a couple of questions that I would like to ask but the answers to which might be helpful to us so how did the ad hoc committee Envision the process of student staff parent Guardian participation it's one question I'll read the the questions and then cover what we want there was talking about assessment metrics what assessment metrics was the ad hoc committee referring to who's to evaluate and Define them how do we avoid staff overload third one what types of outcomes did the ad hoc committee have in mind go down there mat and just handle them one by one I'm sorry want me to okay I'll just go to the first you're right thank you so in in your in your original these are my questions towards the original

063Tex next right how did the ad hoc committee Envision the process of student staff parent parent Guardian participation uh we didn't go into great detail about that it that was mostly reflective of the conversation across the broader board where a lot of the board members have already made inquiries to see more raw responses and more detailed data um so basically it was just in spirit of like anticipating that we would get that kind of information to the board as a general um you know practice uh moving forward uh that that stuff would be available for us to use as reference points well what about the line the board will work in consultation with certified non-certified and administrative staff students and you had caregivers and I think we meant parents Guardians um so there's there am

064I understanding you to say that there was no intention or that there was or wasn't any intention of engaging with all these stakeholders well the certified non-certified staff that's blacking um and yeah I mean that that could be refined to just go through the uh you know the existing data I mean I don't think we need to create a special thing and also public hearing um okay I think we should take that tell you can I tell you the timeline of our work is that every year annually we get that those assessment data and we are bringing it forth the months prior to the budget so you really have all of that I don't think we need to go over it again during a budget process there's way too much to do so you have

065that information already was that we would be coming to the table with that already in hand yeah have it sort of like integrated into our mindset yeah you will and I think our timeline is really um conducive to that the way we've laid it out over the years that I've been here so um I do believe that that's a you know important so then I'm the business about uh having surveys of student staff and Guardians uh I was I love the idea of surveys but God knows they take a lot of time and staff they do a lot of them right but we do have that too we do have those surveys so we already have the surveys yeah we've had them so right and that's and that's was the intent of that sentence was

066you know collection and review so we have we already do the collecting we just need to refine the review process you know to some extent to satisfy the current board it almost is using the data the current data we're able to prioritize similar to what happened last year when we knew we had to shift to the science of reading and it was the board that came up with I think it was Adrien who said we need funds if we're going to have a new program we don't have funds in the budget but he knew that because he had been on that curriculum committee and he was very invested in it so that's kind of an example of how we take the data and the legislation and all that and then we might have to add

067to the budget because of it so I have two more questions questions and this is this is primarily to U Jen and Ian in the period between your formulation of your draft and now have you any additional thoughts or guidance that administration of the policy committee should consider um hold on one second um could you say that question again sure in the period between I I don't know when you finished the document before I I saw it but in the period between when you all met the last time and now have either of you and I'll ask Mike when I see him too have any additional thoughts or guidance that would that would help the policy committee and the administration in our joint reflection I can't say particularly off the top of my head I

068mean um that's kind of a really wide openen question it is you know basically I I would just you know uh you know we do need Administration uh interaction and um and and uh you know suggestions to work collaboratively and I think because of the process Matthew that's going to be kind of innate and inherent because when we're putting this and crafting this together after even this conversation we can look at it again or we can bring it to the board and have the whole board look at it again and then be able some of that might come out if there's other things that we haven't considered or if there's things in it that they you know want to talk about I can't see Jen on my screen are you still with us Jen I'm

069here Matthew would you care to to to jump in as well I'd really love to hear what you had to say as well well um there were a couple suggestions I wanted to make on the revised policy um I know I made it when um Ian and Mike and I work together um and so like in that second paragraph right prior to the budget development the Board of Ed shall study the school operations and relations to past present and future needs um I wanted to remove past present and future um and just in in relation to needs of students because I'm assuming that we're as you're considering something like you don't need to specifically say all that um also um but that is part of the process Jen that when we're studying Irene's doing a

070fabulous job really looking at the numbers that are actual versus what has been predicted and if we've actually put enough money in the budget so that's part of the process anyway in the beginning and it is important but I like the fact that you're talking about related to the needs of students because that can change it can be based on data like what's happening with those special ed children do we need more resources that kind of thing okay so that was just like I thought it was too wordy myself um but if you want to leave it I was indifferent as you could see um like in our draft we had left it in there and when we when Irene and I work with the team um and try to do a regulation we'll make

071sure we capture that essence of looking at historical operating M you know and actuals so that we can really fine-tune to make sure that we're ad adequately funding the budget okay and then I I should have mentioned this one first it was in the first paragraph um last sentence or I guess that's the only sentence um governing preparation timeliness and available appeal procedure of any reductions we're assuming a negative available appeal procedure like maybe remove of any reductions uh procedure by I don't know by Town Council um doesn't make sense if we remove of any reductions so looking for policy um committee to um just don't assume that it's a reduction in the negative why there's an appeal because we could appeal a lot of other stuff during the budget appeal to make it more

072like what we tried to do last year right could do it either way the way you achieve is just to say any adjustments yeah I would say that instead of reductions or right yeah adjustments any adjustments that's good thank you where do you see that Susan it's in that first paragraph it was actually through the C policy the one that's being presented on screen Beverly it's I believe it's Matthew's version okay it's in the first okay I see it I see it okay I'm cuz I got three things going on here I got T Ian and M I know it's hard to keep track of yeah no I would have gotten that to you sooner had I pulled that that's okay that's okay so I have an idea and you all can say it's wonderful

073or shoot it down if I were to uh correct my spelling errors and as statutes instead of stat statues adjustments add the supplemental appropri creation add the federal and send that over to Ian Ian has got his original text he has the budget he is the benefit of all of our conversation and uh have him have another whack at it and I think we'd probably be ready to go and pass it I I'd be open to that um I'd like to chance to to take all the notes from this meeting uh since we weren't able to do it like you know live editing uh due to the you know two different documents and also the the the cave document not being at hand um but yeah I would like to an opportunity to try to

074re-edit all this stuff together plus with the verbal uh conversation we've had and Ian if you want to take those procedural things and just say procedural things to consider put that down so that we can look at it um when we try to form those regulations and then bring it back for you guys to look at can you send that to everybody and not just Matthew because um happy do that I will be happy to do that I would caution is in the third paragraph um just because these are public documents people can see where we indicate that they'll that we'll provide the collection review of assessment data yeah we don't want to put that we well we need to if we're going to do that we still need to make sure that we redact

075out the specific student information as um Lauren was presenting last night that's not something that we can provide so but see I don't think the procedure should provide that I think that that the process is that the board is privy to all that data prior to the budget process and can consider the data that's been that's available right um in in prioritizing the needs District I agree Susan um I just want to make sure that we make it very would you would you be content would you be content Irene if after the word data we put in in a parenthetical phrase redacted to redacted of all no you don't need to get into all of that math listen like I I know this has come up a number of times and I I think it

076should just be assumed and understood that we're never going to release private or identifying information the whole idea of this this this data collection is is to um anonymize it uh first and foremost we just want the stats this not not you get the stats prior so you're using the information that you've received in determining priorities for the budget right and and I can I mean that's what's really happen so that that it it says that more clearly that we'll be using whatever the current data is that we have right and or I like that that sounds better why don't we put it that way I really just want to put a big disclaimer across all these conversations that the board is well you know I w't speak for the board but I believe that

077we've all discussed it in a number of ways that that we do understand that all privacy concerns must be taken into account anytime that we res review survey results exactly any student data right and that that was something my point is I have in my prior life had situations where people have looked at a policy and made an assumption because it didn't indicate that it would would not include the information they assumed that the you know information was being provided so that's why I just wanted to make sure that you know anything like that that is protected information that it stays protected and somehow we include that here right yeah right I agree with you Irene that we should make sure that it's protected and included in this policy iene what would you think after

078Ian has another whack at it uh before we bring it back to us you take a look at it and see if that item meet passes mustard with you no I I agree but I also want to see if it passes mustard with Floyd everything we do is GNA go to Floyd extra set just because I've seen good I've seen good intentions taken out of context before so that's why I'd like to ensure that the board's good intention is put right in the policy so that if anybody body looks at it online they understand that you know they're I think and that's well understood and duly noted and I will take that in account and that's why I'm saying like I'd like to take this back and revise it again okay considering all these notes

079that sounds great it's just more work for you Ian and I think it should come back to policy first before we move it forward to the entire board to make sure that it's okay well and the other thing we could do is could also just have like a blanket policy that that that you know we create a new one that just says like anytime any data is discussed you know it is going to be properly anonymized and redacted to respect all privacy concerns you know like have something just like understood like that is right standard language right like that that it should be a broad umbrella understanding that that we all got that right and don't need to like you know put it into every little policy just to have it as a policy that

080you know like policy z00 Z you know this is what we do and and we're not going to try to betray anyone's confidence so where do we stand on policy 3110 are we using Matthews are you using Matthews Ian and tweaking Matthews I'm I'm gonna I'm gonna use Matthews and the Committees draft and fuse them together based and also incorporate all the notes in this meeting I'll refer to this recording and go through it and and like and take out like every what everyone's saying and and try to accommodate for it um okay and come back come back to us at our next it'll come back to us at our next me yeah okay and don't forget to add the supplemental Appropriations no no I promise to do that I promise to do that okay

081it would help if you also send it back to Erica so that she has it as well because she's good at just making sure everything's in place the way it needs to be so Erica Mike Jen and this committee and Susan and iene oh sorry mat you were saying like I should send it all to them like to everyone that you just listed well I will send you my stuff and after you've you've uh done it uh you want to just give me a call and we can talk on the phone and and I'll give you my heure and you can send it to everybody yeah yeah that's fine so the time now is 7:21 shall we send out for Chinese or do you want to go [Laughter] home do you want to continue I'm

082willing to but I don't want to presume anything what's your pleasure I'm willing to continue up until 8:00 and that's it for me because last night we were there to after 10: I think I don't know yeah and that was too much so Beverly I always say this I need my beauty sleep yeah yeah yeah yeah there's so much sitting I can do you don't hear that I'm walking around if I don't say I second in that motion I'm not at my iPad I'm walking around all right but I'm willing to do it to eight o'clock and that's my time limit Susan can you tolerate anymore I can Irene are you okay yes I'm okay so it looks like we've got 3113 next right I was gonna ask um I just I'll Flo this out

083there as as as a consideration um you know looking at the the the number of C policies I mean 3113 is not duplicated by cab is that correct Matthew uh I did not see a c uh piece if there is one I'm not aware of it is is one from C on 313 yes there is 3313 yeah no 3113 oh no no no I don't see any for nooy look at it for us then if we wanted so um Matthew could you take your document down I'm going to share 311 sure sure and then um so I would propose that we look at 31 113 because that's the one thing that's not duplicated by c um and then maybe at that point what we could do is um I could take all the cave documents

084and uh take all the drafts from the committee and and do some more work on those and then bring them back before the policy there there is a c 3113 that was sent out this afternoon that's why I didn't get it that was in the packet that um I believe Joyce sent out I'm not I didn't I got a package yesterday I had nothing in that packet for that oh it was something that was provided to Jake because we're just following the the chain of communication so there is a 3113 K policy so there's basically a I was it sent by email was it sent by email yeah it was in our packet that I email to you okay I didn't get to be viw that today I'm sorry it's not big it just I'll

085just read it to you it says before adopting the budget the Board of Education shall study the school program in relation to present and future needs of the students and community and establish budget priorities for the fiscal year to make the budget a comprehensive reflection of the financial needs of the school program steps shall be taken to involve the certified non-certified and administrative staff in development and that's really what we do because we do zero budget planning and they they start out the process they're doing it the paperwork goes out Friday and they're going to start so that's really and then I think there was something that talked about prioritizing in that last um budget thank you Wayne all right so establishing budget priorities well you know I think that there's a lot of a

086flurry of last minute um things being sent out here I mean out over a week or so two weeks ago um so half hour you know I I I would like to just have some more time with the cave documents um I kind of got the the gist of of um the uh the administration's input there as far as looking to like adhere more towards just policy and and fear away from um regulation speak and um you know and simple not so complicated you know simple to me is better because that everybody understands it if you make it too wordy then you start losing people it becomes more complicated right but there's also something that we do need to understand because in some of the previous policies that it was not worthy enough in the

087sense that it didn't talk about establishing a timeline that was in conjunction with the Board of Ed but see I think that's a good thing to put in regulations though right exactly we want to make sure we so you could almost shift some of the things you're saying in here in the green to a regulation to take a look at an R 3113 yeah okay just not that the board is really having to do that but that at least will give us a head start right well we we've edited our documents in this policy committee before yeah yeah we've looked at absolutely I always like your input thank you um so yeah you know I just think you know the intent is is clear I believe and and also you know based on on the

088number of meetings that we've had that we've discussed the timeline um you know the will of the board seems to be the consensus seems to be that we do want input on that timeline and and negotiated thing between the administration and the board so that's all I was trying to capture with this anguage here it makes more sense to put the procedure type more procedural aspects into an R document that goes alongside yeah the P document that makes sense I could do that um know I I would like to uh to have the opportunity to do that if that's if that's the goal and and that's a major fundamental shift and I I I understand that and I appreciate it and I think it is I agree that you know you know regulation should be

089separated from policy um but I also think does have a place in guiding that regulation right agreed right Susan Susan can you write a regulation for this policy too and let's see how your regulation and Ian come together I probably just start with what Ian has and just talk about what other things if there's other things or any suggestions like I know that sometimes on the timeline like we talk about the last summer months that's the close out the audit the everything so we really can't start on next year's budget certainly there'll be things that can inform next year's budget in that audit process and in that review of finalizing a budget and starting the new one and then we're thinking of a third one so in those last summer months I've just seen this

090district for 10 years and they are on speed dial as far as getting things accomplished so I just know what they can do and what they can't do so I I would just say that it's got to start in the fall not in the summer but other than that I think we were pretty neck and neck with most of the the dates um and we actually Irene and I actually looked at the calendar to make sure that the vacation times weren't on there and then to try to think about what you all had said to try to get a day or two days in January and a couple days each week in February so we've kind of laid that out um but we want to review it with you um once we've like looked at

091Ian Ian was gonna also try to capture some of the notes from last night so we wanted to and and actually I did this afternoon let B go let B go it's B turn B's turn still oh yeah and in the in the regulation we can actually indicate something similar to what they have in Charter as far as that language that you know the the budget timeline would be presented to Boe beginning the first week of September and be adopted by September 30th I mean the budget timeline kicks off everything right Susan do you need a I'm sorry iene go ahead that's okay I'm just saying that is something that we could put in the regulation and that way if we find that it's not working or do we need to move it to August

092so we adopt it sooner that becomes that flexibility that we can adjust when it comes into reg regulation itself the how to I have a substantive uh different perspective than Ian on some of this uh and I say this with great respect because I recognize what he's contributed to this with regard the concept of an ad hoc budget priorities and procedures committee I I personally find that problematic I I like the idea of the board being more engaged than it has been perhaps in the past to get involved in budget priorities and procedures comma but I first I would substitute the word may for shall that's in the second paragraph first line uh in in my uh it says uh in your language this committee shall draft a report of recommendations I would say may

093draft recommendation because we cannot presume this board will be different in 15 months there will be new faces on this board the tenor of the board may be more activist or less activist we just certainly can't say I do not want to bind the board by saying may we clearly communicate our desire but we don't legally bind them to a course of action that they might not want to follow the second thing is I I'm concerned about having an ad hoc Committee of three I know it's not the committee's intent to be non-democratic I understand that clearly but a nine-person board is small enough and I think nine people bring more perspective than three I think it's wiser to encourage this proposed subcommittee's function to be assigned to the full board and make this a

094mandatory cow Topic at a particular time let us let us cement the process of uh budget priorities and procedures into our cycle but let's make it a full board process and can I add to that Matthew because in the past the finance and Facilities committee has taken on that kind of role as far as overseeing budget all things budget throughout the year um the one we're on the one we were on one we're going to be on so I think that that's been a practice of the board and I just want to add that I did like Irene's idea of getting the council together with board subgroup to just have those conversations and Beverly you might want to speak to this because I know you um well if I just want to turn I'm in

095favor of that I'm in favor of not even been having an ad hoc budget committee and um like Matthew said the full board and I'm I like Irene suggestion about getting together beforehand with the Town Council a couple of people from the Town Council the mayor the superintendent and let's work together beforehand I'm in favor of that I'm not in favor of the at hoc budget committee well um I just want to say this that uh you know one we've had a finance facility committee for quite some time and you know we've gotten where we've gotten um so I put this in here just as a way to try to formalize it and um you know the the budget is is I mean this this policy existed before our committee and I just added to

096um the whole idea was that the this the subcommittee would create a report that then would go to the whole board to consider um now if that needs to be clarified then it shall um I like the idea of including other people from other bodies um that could easily be uh integrated into this as well um the whole idea is is to have a formalized process that kind of closes out one budget um you know in in the spring and then opens up another budget in the fall and you know it would be specific to the budget procedure and process financing facilities tends to handle a lot of other things uh as well so you know I didn't want to bog them down I could appreciate Matthew's uh comments about having as an full board

097operation um that could also be adjusted in the language uh as opposed to forming like a a subcommittee um but you know we do end up with a lot of um outstanding agenda items so you know the idea of a subcommittee that can kind of like process a lot of the raw information and then try to present it to the PO in a streamline fashion similar to what we're doing now where we're going to be more targeted that was the intent um well I can I can certainly appreciate the perspective I think that the difference here is that if we're giving priorities that is Central to the board's function as a board and for that reason the board should be involved there's just a richness of conversation that your committee had that I wasn't a

098party to and I'm there's no criticism in that whatsoever but having a committee do it deprives the other board members of participating in their Rich conversation and may I add Matthew that the board's main function is policy and budget and that's why I agree with Matthew that the whole board should be involved in that and if it's a priority of the board make sure it's on the agenda we have to make sure the chair puts it on the agenda that we're talking about budget so that those are all good suggestions for an edit here and and I'll make note of that and I think that you know that's a good direction to go just historically it has not happened we have to change that now exctly it may not happen so let's change it but

099let's change it with the whole board that's fine that's a good note to take and I will take that into consideration and and work one oh can I go ahead please um I like that idea of like the whole board and making it like one meeting that's dedicated to setting the priorities for the future I think I think that's good um I'm not sure I'm on the finance committee I'm not sure maybe we failed somewhere along the process here um so um if uh yeah so I'm okay with like the entire board and us making it part of the committee um like a committee of the whole meeting um I know um everyone's excited about collaboration with um Town Council RTM and Board of Ed and that is a great idea but I don't want

100to make it into policy right now right now as like Matthew mentioned you know like the composition of the board is going to change in time composition of administration is going to change we don't want to be in a situation like we're a pretty strong board you know we're very um we speak our mind we're very um forthright and we have conviction and I feel like everyone who's on the board wants to do what's right for the kids we we are not sure what um each individual agenda item is of future boards or the composition of Town Council and RTM in the future or even Administration last thing I want is for a policy to say yep we will meet with Town Council RTM collaboration and it is our duty as the board um to

101set the budget I don't want these meetings to be like hey superintendent you need to come in at zero right and these meetings and then sort of like getting our hands tied so yes let's meet um let's do it but don't make it like an official item on this policy that we're going to be meeting with all of these bodies um that's just my opinion can I that's a good point that's a good Point Jen good point Jen thank I'd like to build on that too this is my opinion Susan nobody else is I know I personally believe that we need to give direction to Administration rather than simply guidance at the same time we need to be humble enough to recognize that in large me measure it's the superintendent experience that guides us not

102just this superintendent but the superintendent who's going to come in three years or two years or five years or 10 years I'm not going to make it to 10 okay finding finding the balance I'm just teasing but I hope I make it finding the balance finding the balance between directing the superintendent regarding educational priorities and then letting him or her bring the professional plan back to us for discussion and hopefully approval is the board's challenge with Susan point in her career that her her retirement and our need to do succession planning in the next few years means that we must be mindful of creating a board superintendent climate that will attract the very best candidates right we want to go more direction we do not want to tie her hands that's my opinion from 10,000

103feet you reading that Matthew I I spent an hour on that part wow and it's very much like I jump back in and and I just want to respond a little bit here I mean we do need to keep everything in context and and I mean the whole reason why this all came to pass is because you know it wasn't just this last budget cycle uh although it was the new board that experienced it and and took the initiative to make this you know committee and and and seek to change things I mean for a number of years now the community has not been uh happy with the way the budget has been um handled by the board of as far as just like deliberating and and coming up with it and and you know

104the critical analysis applied to it so I have to say I disagree with that I never heard anybody in the community saying anything like that so maybe you did well okay well I ran for a reason anyway yeah you ran for a reason with the people that you're speaking to but I never heard that and all my years I never heard that at the end of the day I mean there's a lot of people that you know the RTM wasn't happy this time around the town Council wasn't happy this time around uh you know and they were you know very open with that and and um but you know what the town council's hardly ever happy sometimes so okay thank you um you know I I just want to you know try to pull it

105back on track here as far as like looking at you know suggested edits and um ways that we can move forward with uh these reformations um I appreciate Jen's comments and uh I think that is definitely something that should be taken to Heart should not be enshrined in policy and in fact you know if we look at the budget timeline or just like you know call back to that you know the joint sessions that we have with the Board of Ed I mean sorry with the Town Council and the RTM those are also opportunities that could turn into a work session now historically they have not really been um too much conversation between the bodies but there there that's already a thing that's in practice in the town it's just how we choose to utilize

106that time when we're in those meetings like last time around we only had the public hearing and the meeting was adjourned before the bodies had a chance to interact with each other so um you know we have ways we can address you know getting input from the RTM and the Town Council that doesn't involve you know building a policy around it um I think it is a significant concern that we know we are the Board of Ed it is our responsibility to handle the budget I appreciate be's comments that you know we we handle policy and we handle budget you know but policy is a driver of procedure which is then a driver of regulation of that procedure so you know there is there is a bit of a pyramid structure there and and we

107need to keep that in mind um I also want to be mindful of the time and again like you know I think this this this conversation has been incredibly instructive and um you know I would I would uh suggest that perhaps you know I could I could we could table all these until the next policy committee meeting and I could take Dave documents and all the comments and you know have another go with these um and you could take some of this language though that you want to see as process and just call it regulation and then we can kind of find now that right here you know P's and R I'm not minding p's and q's I'm minding P's and R so uh you know and and you know I've been steep in this

108in this in this in these documents I know you've really worked hard on this the whole committee obvious work I think we've got our we've got our marching orders the marching orders are is I've got a responsibility to get something to Ian Ian's going to put it together so we're ready to go on the first policy if you folks want we could see if we could pick a second date in November it all depends what you all want to do I'm willing to meet a second time in November if you want our next meeting is the 12th uh we would like to get um I'm actually at Department of Defense Education activity um for my annual meeting that I always go to that's why I keep getting these grants so I'm not going to be

109in town on the 12 but maybe we can work around my schedule and find another date if that's possible uh maybe we can talk and see if would you guys be interested meeting twice in November if Susan's schedule allowed it yes um I didn't hear what would the dates what would the dates be because November is Thanksgiving yeah and usually I go away so um I I have to speak with Susan we have to speak with Susan tomorrow are you gonna be in tomorrow talk Susan we don't have to commit to a firm date right now we just confirm con you know we confirm interest and willingness to try okay every good good attention we try to come up with a couple of dates and see if anybody bites right okay so if in the

110little bit of time we have left Bev had asked a couple weeks ago I'm segueing away from from the budget Bev had asked a couple weeks ago if we could look at homeschooling uh we're not going to look at it tonight because there is no text but what I thought what I hoped we could do and Bev if I'm going the wrong way just straighten me out I thought what we could do is look at where we are and see if there's anything that we think we ought to revisit there have been some requests that I don't think we can meet and some that we can potentially meet um so Bev would you like to add anything to just what you'd like to talk about when we get it on the agenda uh no this

111wasn't my referral this was your referral Matthew it was my referral you wanted to get it off move it yeah yeah yeah that's all this that I Erica did look for us so she's got some Cade policy our policy and E slime and a couple others so we could look at a few of them and they're all in that packet that I sent you electronically okay so with regard uh cell phones I think we've reached consensus that we have the uh handbooks have been amended the adjustments are in force they do not handshake with the policy no but they're they're a regulation so they're really in practice the only thing that the policy says that the regulation is stricter on is it says that it can be dependent on teacher yes what it really is

112is student needs because there might be an El student that actually needs a device for communication so I'm more interested in the kids need than the teachers need but but that I think that's going to come down the pipe because we're going to get legislation but I I do feel pretty good we're not going to get legislation for another year to two years according to both Christine and Heather I mean I just I your point was well taken I needed to look into it they both said they're waiting for Yukon Ser research to be done it won't be done for at least 14 to 18 months so uh I think we should make I do feel comfortable with the regulations and it's really made a difference keeping tight with that well with a handb the

113what is the object what is the objection to making them handshake because I could see some somebody complaining that that's not what your policy says that's in your it's not what your policy says what you're doing is in violation of your policy well I think we need to go back to it but let's get through the budget stuff first don't you think because we got the regulations working you think when do when do you think would be comfortable for you to have it ready an up an updated policy after we get through the budget this budget stuff I think these are a priority for us because we're getting ready to enter into that season right I'm in favor of of of prioritizing the budget stuff and you know cell phone stuff we are waiting for

114further information from the state we had a conversation about this last month where we had like a one two three action plan of one you know following through as a superintendent indicated like just enforcing the policies that we do have consistently across all schools in the district and then two making sure that the having Erica like draft up an adjustment to the policy so it matches what's in the handbooks that's that's precisely what I was asking is when when we might have er do right is that is that that hard to do Susan that you can't do that it's not that hard it's just that you know um if I'm working with Erica and getting some of these documents um it's just a lot and we she also reports to anarie so I was just

115GNA try to do one thing at a time not to confuse it okay I get to it as soon as we get through this um but all right well I'm in I'm in favor waiting I don't want to I'm not saying we're going have to wait that long but let's get through November with this and then we can tackle it there all right in December we'll put it on our on the agenda for we could do that yep that's a good thing terrific so I'm looking at go I'm sorry Susan go ahead I'm just looking at um November let me get my calendar [Music] m um the week of November 4th is kind of busy but we do have a board of ed special meeting um right under seven what about November 14th can you

116do that Susan no that's that same week that I'm at DOA I me out there for three days oh okay yeah all right so um what about November 19th I could do um I'm just looking at we've got a couple special meetings in the week of the 4th do you know why we have a Thursday the seventh special meeting yeah that's the health insurance oh okay is that a board meeting or committee meeting so there's two board meetings board meting four um I don't know the 19 looks pretty good um I don't know if we're going to have two CWS in November the 11th and the 18th and then the regular meetings the 25th but 19th we 19th we could do okay if that works for you all it's on my calendar that works for

117me yeah should good with that terrific and Ian I Erica can help you if you just help me Orient her on um you know what you want to highlight that goes to regulation and what you want to keep sure I'll send um I'm gonna go through she can get the cave too and outline it to help so you don't have that much work to do right appreciate it yeah I'll do that okay thank you very good work thank you guys you're welcome thank you Susan thank you Irene thank you Irene thank you Irene thank you Jen for coming and spending another lovely night with us of course thank you Jen thank you all for all your work to do we have toj oh yeah I think you gotta adjourn okay so de has made a

118motion I'll seconded all those in favor by saying I hi the meeting is adjourned at 7:53 p.m. on the 16th good job