Avon Board of Education Meeting - 11/18/25

001Good evening everyone. I'd like to call to order the monthly meeting of the Avon Board of Education at 7 o'clock PM on Tuesday, November 18th, 2025. I'll start our meeting by introducing who's sitting up here at the table for anybody who's new to us so that you are aware of who's speaking and I will start with board members. I am Deborah Chute. I'm the chair. We have Dr. Thage Singer, vice chair. >> President Deb, thank you. >> Jeffrey Flechman, our secretary. >> Present. Thank you. >> Lynn Katz is online with us tonight. Sarah Heath is also online with us tonight. Nicole Russo, >> present. Thank you. >> Susan Zakaris, >> present. Thank you. >> Chris Campbell, >> here. Thank you. >> And Romesh Kenipelli, >> present. Thank you. >> Thank you. And as for administrators,

002we have Dr. Carnola, our superintendent. >> Good evening. Thanks. >> Mr. Janini, our assistant superintendent, >> here. Thank you. >> Mr. Medic, our assistant superintendent, >> here. Thank you. >> Miss Russo, our business manager, >> present. Thank you. >> And Miss Ardinskus cannot join us this evening. She's our executive assistant to the superintendent and board clerk. But we do have Ms. Ferry with us sitting and helping out with all things technical. So, thank you very much. If you would all stand with me for the pledge of allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> All right. So, I always start off our meetings by reading the mission statement just to

003remind us all of why we come together to do this work. Our mission is to in inspire in each student a joy and passion for learning and a commitment to excellence, personal integrity, and social responsibility. It's also the perfect segue into our recognition piece. So, I'm very excited to be recognizing Miss Ferry this evening. So, I am inviting Miss Antelli up. >> Yes, I think we have I think we have a number of our media specialists back there who came to recognize our Elizabeth tonight. >> Please come on up. The microphone would be great. Yes. >> Hey everybody. Hello. Hello. Good evening. Nice to see you all. My name is Angela Antinelli. I'm a library media specialist at Pinerove School. And I'm also here tonight as a board member of Castle, the Connecticut Association of

004School Librarians to present the 2025 Castle Administrator Award to Elizabeth Barry. This award recognizes an administrator who has shown exceptional leadership and unwavering support for school library programs. In addition, the recipient has taken actions that directly strengthen teaching, learning, and student engagement across the district. Elizabeth was nominated by the library management team or not library management, library media team rather, me, Lauren Begoyan, Julia Cohen's Will, Amanda Ksky, Rebecca Carrian, and Jesser Taco. I'm proud to share why Elizabeth is so deserving of this recognition. Here are some highlights from the nomination form. In addition to her role as director of educational technology for Avon public schools in 2023, Elizabeth Elizabeth became the direct district supervisor and evaluator for all library media specialists. From the onset, Elizabeth demonstrated a deep understanding of what strong student centered student

005centered, excuse me, libraries need to thrive. She provided dedicated time for essential library management tasks, collaboration, curriculum writing, and relevant and meaningful professional development. She always advocates for district-wide support of Avon public school libraries. and through her vision and collaboration, she's created a culture of respect, relevance, and responsiveness, elevating both our work and our students experiences. So, on behalf of the Castle Board and the Avon Library Media Team, it's my great honor to present the 2025 Castle Administrator Award to Elizabeth Barry. Before you sit down, you know how this works. So, first and foremost, I want to say how much we appreciate you. It's been wonderful working alongside you while being in this role because you are so connected to the students as well as the staff. And you're so easy to work with in

006terms of breaking it down so it makes sense to all of us because you're up here and we're like figuring out down here. But you do such a nice job and I know even when my um kids were in the schools, everybody knew who you were and you knew who they were and I think that matters because you're going above and beyond the role by connecting to the community and you're part of our community. So we are absolutely thrilled that you're being recognized in this way because you definitely have earned it and you know we have a certificate and you know we want to shake your hand and we want to take pictures with you. So I don't know do you want to say anything? >> No, I just want to again congratulate you Elizabeth.

007I want to thank all of our library media specialists who came out to do that and also again thank you but publicly for doing the nomination for Elizabeth because we know you are so deserving of it and so excited that you've earned it for us in Avon and this is for the entire state. So thank you Angela for serving on the board and for helping present this to Elizabeth and being here tonight. I Elizabeth is the kind of person that when you call, no matter what it is you need, she does it. >> And sometimes we have to tell her to stop that. Um, but because everyone can only do so much, but Elizabeth is an is a great example of no task is too big or small, and I certainly really appreciate that, and

008I know that our entire team does. So, thank you. >> Yes. Another round of applause. Please, >> can we ask our library media specialists to come up too before we >> Yep. And as they're coming up, I just really want to I I want to just say something really quickly about them because the support that they may say I provide to them is only a mirror of the support that they give to me and to our schools. We are very fortunate to have the library media specialists that we have in our school district. I know this because I I know some from other school districts and they do a great job, but ours go above and beyond, not just in our own community, but also as as a representation of Angela's role in the board,

009but also other uh statewide programs and uh playing roles in all different types of library media associations. And we are extremely fortunate. And if you've never had an opportunity to see them in action in the library, it's phenomenal. And some of the things that they do blow my mind every single time I go in there. and the excitement that the kids have. And the big piece too for them is making sure that our kids are still having that love for reading and that passion for reading. And I see it every single time I go into their library spaces. So, thank you. >> Thank you. >> You come join us over here. >> Congratulations. Yes, please come join us. We'll make take a picture over here. Just line up over on this side. Thank you very

010much. We love that. And if our library media specialists would like to excuse themselves, we will not be offended. We appreciate you coming out and celebrating, Elizabeth, with us. Thank you so much. >> School starts early. >> Yes. Yes, it does. >> All right, moving on to our approval of the minutes from last month's monthly meeting. I know that Nicole, did you want to make an amendment? So, do you want to make the motion and or speak to what the amendment is? >> Okay. Um, I would just like it added the conversation that we had regarding um supplemental materials and assignments added to the minutes. Otherwise, >> Okay. So, do you mind making the motion then? >> Um, just you can just say to approve the minutes with your addition. >> Um, sorry. I make

011a motion to approve the minutes of the October 21st, 2025 meeting. um with the addition of the conversation regarding supplemental materials and assignments. >> Thank you. Do I have a second? >> Thank you, Suzanne. All in favor? I. And do I see your hands online? Yes. Thank you. I have a unanimous with nine. Thank you. Next is our communication from the public. Do we have the signup sheet somewhere? See if there's anybody signed up. Yes. Okay. Let me read the instructions for this section of our meeting. This is the section of our meeting where Avon residents have the floor to share their thoughts and our concerns with the board. It's not an opportunity for conversation. Rather, it's the board's chance to listen to feedback from the community. Please add your name to the list and

012we will then call you in um forward in order. You must state your name and address for the record. Each speaker will have up to three minutes to speak. In an effort to hear as many of you as we can, we must adhere to this time limit. You can certainly state that you agree or disagree with the previous comment if you'd prefer to be brief. Brevity will allow more attendees to be heard. After 15 minutes are up, the board may choose to extend public comment or not. No speaker will include charges or complaints of a personal nature against any individual Avon Board of Education member or individual employee of the Avon Board of Education, whether the speaker names the individual or not. Please refrain from clapping or cheering. Tonight, Jeff Flechman, our secretary, will be

013our timekeeper. If you should reach two and a half minutes, he will alert you with a 30 second warning. At the 3minut mark, you'll be alerted again to signal that your time is up. We welcome your engagement and participation. So, who is our first person? >> Ariana. >> All right, please come forward. >> Good evening, everyone. My name is Ariana Khan. I'm from 14 Weatherstone. First off, thank you for letting the MSA and the FMC use the school gym for ETH prayers and for supporting our fundraisers. That kind of partnership matters. It shows that Avon is willing to open its doors. But inclusion doesn't stop at the door. It requires a place on the calendar. I've spoken here before and I'm here again because this is important not just for me, but for the other

014Muslim students here in Avon who are still navigating a system that doesn't account for one of the most important days in our year. Right now our district recognizes Christmas, Good Friday, Yonkapur, Roshashana and Dvali, which is amazing and it reflects the variety of faiths in our town. But either one of the two biggest Muslim holidays in the world is still missing. For Muslim students, Eid often feels like a choice. Do we celebrate with our families or do we take the test? Do we pray or do we show up for school? Either way, someone loses and it shouldn't be our fate. By high school, this balancing act becomes almost routine. Sitting in class while your family's at the mosque, watching the celebrations unfold from afar, laughing at the jokes you're missing, but still feeling a little

015out of place. Funny, maybe. Normal, never. And over time, it teaches a lesson that no student should have to learn so young. That tradition can be seen as an afterthought. Now, one of the reasons we've heard for not recognizing Eve as a school holiday is that it doesn't have a fixed date. That's fair, but let's be honest, snow days don't have fixed dates either. And yet we still find a way to account for those. Local mosques like the FMC right here in Avon recognized the expected date months in advance. Other districts in Connecticut, Stanford, Norwok, Trumbull, Bridgeport, and Waterberry have figured it out. If they can make it work, so can we. Because diversity isn't just a paragraph in the district handbook. It's a promise. And a promise means more when you can point to

016it on a school calendar. It's proof that the district's values actually show up in real life, not as an act of generosity, but as a reflection of the community we already are. So tonight, on behalf of the students, families, and teachers who've said this is important, and because I've been part of this conversation before, I'm asking you to do something truly meaningful. Make you fit there a recognized school holiday. Make it real. Make it official. Make it ours. Thank you. >> Thank you, Miss Khan. We have another >> how many do we have on there? >> Nine. >> Okay. And is the board comfortable with us just doing our three minutes for all nine? Okay. Let's just do that then. >> Thank you. Thank you very much uh for letting me speak here today. My

017name is Sadi Navidiv. U I wrote something and then I brought uh forgot my reading glasses and I didn't have my evening chai. So uh my brain and eyes are not working. So my name is Sadi Navidid. I'm a child and adolescent psychiatrist and probably one of very few who have completed a fellowship in infant and early childhood mental health. Me and my family moved to Avon about 5 years ago and one of the very few reasons we moved to Avon was the Avon school district. Uh because I have a son and so I really want to appreciate you the work you do every day. Um today um I bring your attention to an important matter and we'll appreciate your advocacy and support on recognizing Eid as an official holiday on school calendar as many

018of you know and Ariana also pointed out that many other religious and cultural holidays are already recognized by Avan school district including Christmas um and Diwali and Yum Kapoor And also in the state of Connecticut, many other towns h have recognized Eid as an official school holiday. Formally recognizing Eid as a holiday is just not a simply adding a day on on the calendar. It isn't cultural affirmation. It tells kids, Muslim youth that your religion, your faith, your traditions and your value matters to us. And we are also part of the community. um which is Avan uh school district. In Avan there are about 250 uh Muslim families and roughly about more than 100 kids who are enrolled in Ivan school district. So by recognizing this we give them a sense of belonging. We appreciate

019their religious identity and I know being a psychiatrist this in terms help with their sense of self-efficacy, self-esteem and it also protects against many mental health illnesses and psychiatric illnesses. So I will leave with this uh Dan Seagull one of the prominent uh developmental psychiatrist said this that a child or youth's innate desire is to be seen be heard be soothed and felt secure. So let's make this part of the school calendar so our Muslim youth can be feel heard supported and most importantly seen. Thank you. >> Thank you Mr. Okay, you're next. Sabrina, >> please come on forward. >> Hi, my name is Sabria Ahmed. Um, I'm from Two Cam Way. First of all, I just want to say thank you for allowing me to be here today. Um, I've lived in Avon for

02015 years my entire life and it's truly become my home all 15 years. Um, both my brothers went through the Avon public school district and I'm doing so currently. So, um, I'm really thankful to have Avon as a part of my life and, you know, it's it's I'm really grateful for it. So, um, growing up as a first generation Muslim American, I've always been proud of my identity and the hope that one day I could carry on my family's traditions and customs. I remember the early mornings when my mother would wake me up and our house would be filled with a hectic yet exciting atmosphere. It was Eid, a day that gave me a feeling like no other. Half asleep, I would get dressed in my best clothes, head to the mosque to pray alongside

021my community, and afterward eat sweets and laugh with my friends. Visiting family friends houses was one of the highlights of the day. I would carefully plan what I ate so I could try a little bit of food at each home. Eid was and still is a day when I could let go of my worries and simply spend time with loved ones. Small gestures like when my uncles and aunts would slip me money for my Eid gift and tell me to buy myself ice cream, that meant the world to me. Um, at school I always appreciated how holidays were celebrated in the classroom. Zinderb houses, pumpkin painting, and festive decorations never failed to lift my spirits. Yet, while my classmates um went home for breaks to celebrate their holidays with family, I went home as if

022it were any other weekday. I was happy to have no school, but I wish the same recognition applied to my holiday, the one that Muslim boys and girls like me cherished. As I grew older, missing school for Eid became an even greater frustration. The joy of celebrating came at the cost of losing valuable academic time. Eid is a holiday that millions around the world look forward to. A day of community, joy and faith to not have it recognized in the school is to strip Muslims in the Avon community and allow um not allowing them to um express their religion. When addressing this issue, I want you all to imagine your children or perhaps your nieces and nephews and how they would feel if they lost the holidays at Christmas, Yam Kapoor, Rashashana, and many more

023to a full day of school. Because that very feeling of loss is what I am afraid has become routine to Muslim youth like me and is why recognition of Eid is not simply a matter of convenience but of fairness, dignity and ultimately belonging. Thank you so much. >> Thank you Miss Ahmed. Next. >> Hi uh my name is Fariel Ma. I'm a physician, a professor of medicine and an endocrinologist at Yukon Health. My husband and I and our family have been residents of Avon for the last 22 years. We came here when I youngest one was only two years old and they have all gone through the Avon school system and a tribute to the excellent school system that this town has to offer. Um we uh you know you have heard a lot about

024Eid here and what I'd like to say is that um you know Eid is equivalent to Christmas for the Muslims. It involves early morning prayers, family gatherings and community events and all of these are very difficult to participate in fully when uh people have or children have the stress of managing the school attendance as well. We as a rule did make sure that our kids took the day off but that meant that I had to write absent letters for them. they had to still try to complete the work before and if there was a significant test you know they had to we had to I had to rather reach out to the teachers to make arrangements for them to miss out on those um without a formal holiday the children did feel the pressure of

025it missing out on all that work and and at times feeling excluded u when they felt that their traditions were not recognized. So as parents, my husband and I uh struggled to support the observance of this important day with our children while uh helping them try to stay strong academically. And I feel that a public holiday would relieve these pressures of their children, allowing families to celebrate together without stress or penalty. Uh it would foster a more inclusive school environment, promote student well-being, and affirm that all cultural and religious practices in our towns are valued and respected. I really thank the board for positively considering this respect and my son actually is next on the list but he's on his way here. He's a fourth year med student in Awan High School and oh he's

026here so uh if he's here then I'd like to talk to him. Thank you so much for your consideration. >> Thank you Miss Merca. Okay. So next. Yeah. >> Hi. Good evening. Apologize for being late, but thank you for allowing me to speak. My name is Mosen Merza. I uh am currently a medical student at Yukon. I moved to Avon with my parents in 2003. Lived here ever since. One second. Um, I wanted to share a bit of a different perspective than what I think you guys have been hearing for the last um, at least tonight and the last couple weeks as well. Um, I'm sure people have talked about, you know, you've heard from students, from their parents about their experiences and the sacrifices, the accommodations they've had to make um, to celebrate their

027holidays while not having school off. Um, but what I wanted to talk to you about tonight, the main message I wanted to convey is that the Muslim community in Avon and the Avon community are one and the same. I think there are two phrases that are synonyms of each other. And to illustrate this, I wanted to share the perspectives of people who couldn't be here tonight. And that is people that I went to high school with, Muslims that are my age who graduated from AHS in 2018, you know, before that as well. Um, and when I think about this, I think about some of my friends um, from that time. Um, I'm not sure if any of their families are here tonight, but I think of Ismile Resa. Uh, his family moved to Avon before

028mine did. So that's before 2003. And he graduated in 2012, one year after my sister, and he went to Yukon for undergrad. He studied chemistry and engineering and he chose to move back to Avon and he still lives and works here today. I think about some of my other friends. Um my good friend Danielle Aar his family has four sons. All four of them went to Avon High School for their you know for their education. Danielle himself he went to Yukon afterwards. He graduated and he came back to Avon where he worked as a medical assistant in a dermatology practice here caring for our friends and our neighbors. He's also a medical student at Yukon now. And interestingly, I was talking with him this weekend about career planning. How do you pick a medical field

029which is not an easy task? And he said something which is relevant and that it seems like all roads lead back to Avon. you know, you plan to finish medical school, go to residency, and after that, the plan still is come back to Avon and live and work in this community. I think about Mr. Drei, our beloved community member, who's a teacher here at this very school. Over the last many years, he's taught generations of Avon community members. >> 30 seconds left. >> Sure. Um, the point that I'm trying to make though is that Muslims are core members of the Avon community. They teach in our schools. They work in our hospitals. And I grew up in this community that taught me that we need to care for others. We need to respect others. And

030when I was growing up, it was different. The community wasn't as big. It wasn't as strong. But I hope that we're reaching a point in time where the community can extend the same benefits like school holidays to the Muslim students that we extend to our neighbors. Thank you. >> Time. >> Thank you, Mr. MRSA. Okay. Um there's a little bit so you >> okay >> uh good evening. I'm ask for Adam, a sophomore at a AHS. I'm here to ask that we add e add Eid as an official school holiday for Muslim students and families in our community. Eid is one of the most important days of the year. No student should have to choose between their education and their religion. Though right now, students often have to miss school to celebrate it, which means

031they can fall behind on classwork, tests, or important information. Many other school districts have already added Eid to their calendars, and it has helped their students feel more included and supported. This simple change would show that Avon values fairness, respect, and inclusion for all families. Adding Eid would make a meaningful difference to the students who celebrate it, and it would help our schools better reflect the diverse community we have today. Thank you. >> Thank you very much, Mr. Adam. Sorry, the mic height has been a little challenging this morning. >> I'm vertically challenged. >> Me, too. Good evening. I'm Rana Rafé. I live at Five James Court and I have, sorry, three children in the Avon school district. I have one here who's a sophomore. Did I mess it up? Good catch. >> Yes. Thank

032you. Thanks so much. >> That's perfect. Thank you. And I have another who is a sixth grader at Thompson Brook and my youngest is a second grader at PGS. So I'm a physician here practicing in Wallingford. My husband is an endodontist who practices in West Hartford. I currently serve as the room parent for my second grader and over the years I have led Relay for Life teams and I have taught their classes about banking, government, and local community function through the junior achievement program. My husband has been a youth hockey coach for the past 10 years and he has taught for the Avon program when our children were younger. I share this to illustrate that we are deeply engaged members of this community. I grew up in New Jersey in the 1980s and 90s in

033a town similar to Avon and I considered us very lucky that we celebrated not only Christian holidays but also Jewish holidays. At the time I accepted that Hindu, Muslim and other religious holidays were not observed because those groups were seen as small minorities. Looking back however we were a significant minority just as my children are today. My family and many other in many others in Avon are part of the fabric of this community. We contribute, we participate, and we care deeply about our schools and our town. Our most important religious holidays deserve to be recognized, respected, and understood by our teachers, friends, neighbors, and community members. Our church children should not have to choose between celebrating an important holiday and hockey games, school exams or other school events. We are lucky that we live in

034a town that celebrates Yonkapor, Rashashana, Dvali and others and we hope that Eid can be added to this list. We love Avon and we are proud to live in a town that values diversity, inclusion and kindness. Adding Eid to the school calendar would be a meaningful expression of those values and an important step toward ensuring that all students feel seen, respected, and included. And I won't belabor the point by listing the towns, but I have at least 10 towns in Connecticut that have already added E to their school calendars. I respectfully ask that the board consider our request seconds. >> Thank you for your time and consideration. Thank you very much. >> We have one more. Yes. Okay. I can do this, right? >> Yes. >> Uh, good evening. I live in Avon Arch Road

035next to the horses. I'm a retired political science professor, which means I haven't worked in 69 years. I would appeal to uh the ladies and gentlemen of this council to seriously consider the arguments that were put forward by these very beautiful, wonderful young folks uh who made a very passionate statement concerning their sense of loss and exclusion. Some of you, sure it's not the majority, but perhaps you think uh Muslims are outsiders with no real roots in this country. But I can remind you that 20% by conservative estimate of the slaves whose blood, sweat, and tears and free labor helped to build this country were Muslims. A quick example of that, I'm sure some of you, if not all of you, are familiar with roots. When Alex Haley traced his roots and it was chronicled

036on national television, he ended up in a Muslim village in uh in present day Gambia, Jufare village. Islam has been here. Islam and Muslims have contributed to making this country what it is. Perhaps some of you, one or two, think that maybe uh if we accommodate the Muslims, then we're giving in to DEI. But the pill that you've heard tonight is not based on equity. It's based on equality. And if you bark at equality, you bark at the very document that helped to give birth to this nation. We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal. And that that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights. That amongst these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. The happiness of our community as Muslims, as is the case

037for our wider community, is the securing the uh attainment of our equality with all of those communities whose holidays have been repeatedly mentioned tonight. Thank you for adding me to the docket. So, peace. >> Thank you. That's everyone. Thank you very much. We have appreciated all of your comments over the past few meetings and we do listen very closely. Um we will be discussing a little bit of it tonight but the decision won't actually be made until we decide on the calendar around January I believe. Right. So thank you for giving us your input. We do appreciate that. Moving on. Um our student reps we have Cyra with us tonight. If you want to speak to what's going on in the schools. >> Sure. Um so Madison can't couldn't be here tonight. Um, so I'm

038just going to do her section for the high school and for the middle school. So some things that are going on is um at the high school um on Friday, December 12th, we're going to have um pajama day for the kids kind of supporting child cancer awareness and um they'll be um accepting donations. As for what's going on with sports on December 1st and 2nd, the girls basketball triyouts will be held. um boys basketball triyouts will be held shortly after. Um something that's coming up soon is on November 20th, the cheerleading team is hosting a fundraiser and taking donations for a food drive. Um we are also hosting um a turkey trot and it's the final week to register. Um conferences will be held next Monday and Tuesday. So there will be half days those

039days for the high school. Um, and we also held a Veterans Day assembly which I believe was held throughout all the schools. Um, and now for the middle school, the band concert is next week or sorry, December 3rd. Um, and break starts next Wednesday for both schools again. Um, what's going on at Thompson Brook um, and the update it kind of shared about kind of electronic expectations and guides for parents. Um the winding trips the winding trails field trip was rescheduled due to rain I believe and I mentioned last time um about the events of unity week and that kind of took place and there was just again a focus on like uniqueness and inclusion. Um something else that was held for the uh fifth graders was um a conference at Etna in Hartford um

040where the Connecticut State Treasurer kind of um talked about business and banking and kind of just we had 45 fifth graders attend and kind of just growing interest in finance and business. Um something that was shared with parents is kind of more information about a new system called safe arrival. Um it's like the absence reporting system for parents making it easier and my power hub for any power school information. Another thing um u that the PTO completed was or that will be completed is a like parent child book club night um on the 21st of November. Um and you can sign up I believe on Constella was is the information they gave. Um and the social emotional learning curriculum is still kind of going on um at the school. Um so the next unit or

041the I believe the unit they just completed is about kind of bullying and the next unit will be about goal setting and a growth mindset when it comes to school. Um and you know there's just more resources for parents and screen time and yeah the Veterans Day assembly also went smoothly here. Um, as for Roaring Brook School, the Halloween parade was held for the kindergarteners. They came to the high school. Um, and there was a fourth grade field trip to, I believe, the River Ridge Senior Center. And they plan on going twice more this year. Um, there was a kindergarten field trip to the Avon Free Public Library. And I believe there is something um there's like a show that the second graders are putting on, the apple pie show. Um and on K the

042kindergarten is also having a feast this Friday to kind of celebrate the holiday that is Thanksgiving and the musical is also taking place at Roaring Brook and the auditions have begun. I think the musical is going um set to take place in March and as for Pinerove um there was a portrait of the graduate activity that they went through. Um it was kind of collaborative challenge for the kids to work through and it was very successful. So that's kind of like the demonstration of collaboration with their peers. It was like a secret mission of sorts. So it was very like it was met with um lots of success. Um and something else that will be taking place that the PTO is um organizing is the scholastic book fair and that will take place I believe

043on the conference dates for Pine Grove. Thank you. >> Thank you. Excellent job. A lot going on. All right. Next we'll move on to our financial report with Miss Russo. Good evening. The finance committee did not meet this month, so there are no financials on the consent agenda tonight. >> Thank you. Now, our committee and liaison reports, curriculum and professional practices. Lynn, do you have anything >> now? Just our next meeting, which is January 27th. >> Excellent. Everybody heard January 27th is the next meeting. Thank you, Lynn. And finance, that would be me. As was stated by Miss Russo, we did not meet this month, but our next meeting is December 9th. Um, negotiations Suzanne. >> Thank you. Policy, Sage. >> Yes, De. Next meeting will be on December 2nd. >> Thank you. And Capital

044Region Education Council, Chris. >> Yes, our first meeting will be tomorrow in Harford. I'll be there. >> Thank you very much. Next, for the board chair update, I do want to comment on how beautifully Veterans Day went again this year. It was just so well done. It's lovely. The veterans enjoy it so much. I got to start with them at the middle school where they had a a little breakfast and then the students did a phenomenal job of playing them into the um the auditorium and watching just how the kids pay such close attention. They really seem to get something out of it and I know that the veterans really appreciate giving back as well. I was able to travel to Pinerove and witness that not only do we have our veterans that come but

045we have parents who are currently serving or have served and they come for the day and they get to wave to their children in the audience and it's very exciting for the children to wave back. Um so we move through all five buildings. I know that Jeff was able to attend at the high school as well and we end up at Thompson Brook and at Roaring Brook to finish out. So, it's a beautiful job and I'm very proud of the fact that we keep our schools open for that so that the students appreciate what the day means versus just sleeping in. So, it's really nice. So, thank you. You did a beautiful job. Again, um I was able to attend with Dr. Carnamola the 80th um anniversary of the VFW here in town. Um they

046had a gala last Friday evening and they had Dr. Carnola speak, so I'm sure she'll probably say something to it. But of course she performed beautifully and um the topic that was requested of her was to speak to the beautiful relationship that we have working with them. They're proud of that dynamic and they wanted her to recognize it too. And of course I was proud to be there um and celebrate her at the same time. Other than that, Thanksgiving is next week. Please everybody eat to your heart's content. Make the most of it. Sleep in. Get as much rest as you can. We're getting there. We're getting through the year. So nice job. And I will stop there and throw it to Dr. Dr. Carnola. >> Thank you, Mr. Medic, for the hiring report. >>

047Good evening. Uh, this month brings a lighter report with just a few staffing updates to share. We have one certified new hire that we'd like to welcome to our district, Miss Lynn Hollesman, who's joined Avon Middle School as a long-term substitute special education teacher. We also have two rec uh resignations to report. First, Charles Macau, a custodian who uh worked for us for a short time but had a very positive impact on our students and staff. And secondly, Jessini, assistant superintendent, has submitted his resignation as he prepares to step into a superintendent position. I know we'll speak more about Jess and his contributions at our December meeting, but I do want to offer our early congratulations on his next chapter. >> You're welcome. >> Yeah. Yes, we're not doing that tonight. Thank you. >> A

048long meeting December. >> We'll we'll be quick. We'll be quick, Jess, but it'll be heartfelt. >> We are take we are taking >> Anyways, I'm still not done. Uh at this time, we are working to fill several remaining openings that we have across the district. At Avon High School, we're seeking a nutrition service worker and three PAR educators. We're also hiring several seasonal coaches, including freshman baseball and assistant boys lacrosse. At Pinerove, we're seeking a school nurse. We are also looking to fill a long-term substitute occupational therapist that provides service to students across several buildings. And as I say, each month we continue to add to our substitute pool for substitute custodians and substitute nurses. Thank you. >> Thank you. And as we discussed in the previous meeting, I believe you, one of our uh

049AHS nurses retired and so our Pinerove nurse had asked for a transfer to the high school. So that's why we now are backfilling at Pinerove. If you know anyone who wants to be a great school nurse, please reach out to them. It's one of the positions that's not always that easy to find. Um, also, no, Jess, we're we're going to say very little and we're going to do it at the last possible moment of the of the last meeting. Um, Roberto asked me earlier today, are we recognizing Jess tonight when his resignation was on? I was like, no, no, we're just going to keep moving it forward. Right now, I'm pretending like it's not happening until we have to acknowledge it. Um, a couple of things. Um, but I want to start with the state

050assessment uh data and really we're talk I'm sorry enrollment report. We are we are pretty steady. We picked up a few more students last month. Um, one of the things that we've had a few residency issues that we've resolved. We've lost a handful of students for those reasons. Um, we've had some folks move out of state. I think you can see the you know the numbers are are dipping at some of the schools in particular. Um we were just talking about this uh at a superintendent meeting I was at today actually that I think we are all seeing a very similar trend in the state at least which is the waves of students that are leaving and coming in. Um, I think as we look to the younger students, we're seeing more those grade levels

051are getting filled more quickly than some of uh where we would call the middle right now. And so every year that we are um registering, we're seeing um first 2 grade pick up and kindergarten kindergarten has been up and down because I think in part of the legislation change between four 5 years old uh September 1st and so forth, but um even though if as you look through the the total number has dipped just below 3,000 at this point, when you look at who's coming up through the grade levels, you see it start to equalize. lies out and I think we're seeing that across the state. Can't fully predict that yet, but based on the birth rates and the housing sales and so on, that's what we are expecting to see is still growth in

052the younger grade levels. Um, we have a strategic plan update tonight. As we discussed at the beginning of the school year, um, we did not have the, um, test results released from the state yet at that point. They were still embargoed. and then we wanted to take the time to go through them to start discussing them um in district before we were bringing them to you. Um as you can see we have our uh principles and assistant principles for the most part and some other central office administrators with us here tonight to to um assist us in talking these through. And that said though, I think we'd like to start just with some general overview because we want to talk about where we are as a district as a whole in regards to the strategic

053plan and then go down the path related to the data. Um I promise we won't be here all night doing that. It sounds like we will based on what I just said, but um this is the most important part of the work as you know and so we just want to make sure that we are having a conversation answering questions and also for you as a board preparing for um a future retreat which I think we will once again wait to have until we have our two newer board members with us. Sorry Romesh and Jeff but um as you know we're we're saying goodbye to you soon. Um that's another thing we'll do at the December meeting, but think it was important um that we pause on planning again for the next years to come

054until we have the board that will be with us again for at least another um couple of years. That said though, um hooray, you get to see the last strategic plan update tonight, Romesh and Jeff. And in advance, I want to thank uh the two of you for what you've done alongside of the board to bring us to where we are tonight. Jess. Sure. So, uh good evening everyone. Uh the the update for tonight really focuses on ELA, mathematics, and science because that's um the three major tested areas that we're going to be sharing some results with you this evening. So, just know that this is a piece of the puzzle of the large amount of work um that our staff and um our administrators are leading uh every day in our buildings throughout the

055year. Uh the first three slides speak to kind of a recap of last year. It's a trip down memory lane, if you will. Uh beginning with ELA and uh there's definitely some repetition in here, some things you're familiar with. Um but just for context both for um review this evening but for anyone who may be tuning in from home. Um beginning with ELA our district researched um and selected a new K4 uh literacy program uh that was taking place last year. heavy lift on behalf of the team. Uh we provided job embedded professional learning to staff um and partnered with an outside consultant to design a year-long implementation plan. Uh across grade levels, curriculum specialists and department coordinators led collaborative learning sessions all focused on like data driven decision- making. So what's the data telling

056us and what's the next uh steps for our teachers to take for their students in the classroom? Next slide. Taking us on to mathematics. Um you may remember we launched a new K5 mathematics program. Think uh K uh in grades one through five and developing roots in kindergarten. Um our fifth through 8th grade uh mathematics teachers completed a year-long professional learning plan uh and also revised our mathematics pathways in grades seven and eight. So, we brought back seventh and eighth grade mathematics and continued to offer pre-alggebra and algebra for our middle school students. Um, and finally, we selected a um high school level professional learning series called Math Studio. Uh, we launched that in September. Um, and actually this week is the second in that series of professional learning series uh for our ma uh

057high school mathematics teachers. And finally, moving on to science. Uh there was a lot of stage two and stage three work that took place in um uh by our science team that was led in part by uh Mark Suma, our AMS assistant principal, and John Solernney, our uh science department chair at the high school. Um they revised numerous stage two and stage three experiences in the area of engineering, chemistry, and earth and life sciences. So now as we um that was the work that took place as we start to move into what our uh assessment results told us. We like to begin with an internal measure uh and and some of you on the board have seen this before which is our universal screening tool on the Ames web plus assessment which is administered to

058all students in grades kindergarten through 8. Uh and that's that first set of data. Uh you'll see it um speaks to math and reading. There isn't a science version of this. Uh and it's administered three times a year in the fall, the winter, and the spring. Uh what we always highlight is that last column you see there in yellow which is a combination of students who scored at the average level meaning they met the expectations above average and then the well above average because it really gives us a culmination of all the students who are meeting the benchmark for these assessments. And again this year you'll see that our students both in reading and mathematics uh we continued to see upwards of 80 90% of our students uh meeting those expectations on the Ames web

059assessment. Continuing on to the state assessment results the the SBA or the smarter balanced assessment. Uh you'll first see um some scores. This assessment is administered each spring to all students in ELA and mathematics. Um the first slide here illustrates how our students in Avon did compared to state averages. So that column in the middle is if you take all students in the state of Connecticut, took their progress, averaged it out. uh you'll see that column in the middle and then highlighted again in yellow is how our Avon students uh did compared to the state average. And the next slide uh this is an interesting uh the next two slides are interesting. They show cohort data. So we know that when we look at data it's a snapshot of a moment in time and any

060one year a certain group of students will perform in a certain way and we certain we certainly analyze and look at that data but what you see here the shaded um kind of diagonal and then the light shaded diagonal shows you across years. So, if we start up in 2022 with our third graders in ELA, we see that first score and then if we continue to follow that diagonally across, we'll see how they're performing over time. This data uh can be even more meaningful to us because it shows how our students are progressing as they move through the grades. Uh when they take that first assessment in third grade, uh we have a sense of how they might do. uh but it also informs the work that needs to take place in the coming years

061with that cohort of students. Generally speaking, uh you know, we've been saying a lighthouse moment this year uh as we're looking for those small uh small wins day in and day out is that cohort data over time shows us that our students either continue to do well in that group or make progress over a multiple uh years of experience with us. And what you'll also see if you if you keep an eye out by the time our students reach middle school they continue to reach a much higher level of the total number of students meeting the state benchmark uh for the SBA the NGSS and then eventually the SAT assessment. So this first slide is ELA and then the next slide will also show that cohort data in the area of mathematics. These next two

062slides, uh, every year we're asked how, uh, Avon is doing, uh, as we look across the Farmington Valley. So, you see our closest neighbors there in Canton, Farmington, Graanby, and Simsbury. Uh, and then again, you'll see the state average and you'll see the Avon average uh, across the valley. And this first slide is for ELA. It's kind of a lot to all fit onto one slide. So, we sparse that out uh for English language arts first and then you'll see the next slide for mathematics. Uh moving on to the NGSS. So, this is the science assessment. This is given to students in grades 5, 8, and 11. So unlike the SBA which is given every year in ELA and mathematics, NGSS is given at certain touch points across their experience with us. Uh and that

063first slide in the series will again show you how Avon students did compared to the state average. And the next slide uh will show you how Avon did in comparison to our closest neighbors in the Farmington Valley. Um, just want to make note the cohort data is a little uh trickier uh with the NGSS because you're not necessarily looking at it yeartoyear. There's some gaps in there when they move from, you know, fifth grade to middle school to high school. So, it's not as clean. Um, which is why we didn't include it. Um but we still see our students again if we're following that trend as they move up um you know from elementary school to middle school and high school a higher percentage of students continue to meet those state level benchmarks. And moving

064on and finally the Connecticut school day SAT a little different for many of us who may have taken the SAT on a Saturday and some far off place. I know. I think I had to drive to Willamantic to take the SATs when I was in high school. Um, now most students take it during the school day. Uh, they do that in grade 11. And the first slide will show you how Avon students compared to uh the state average. And then the next slide will show you our scores um as they compare to the Farmington Valley. And again, just another um illustration of how as time goes on and our students progress through the grades, the a higher and higher percentage of the students tend to make the mark. Moving right along. Um so one of

065the things our our team uses data in many different ways and and of course this is one piece of the puzzle. Um but once we ex step back and really examine how our students are doing uh we we try to formulate a few takeaways right or some big questions that are going to drive the work. Um and and while these always lead us down a certain path um some big questions for us uh as we looked at our data this year is which of our local assessments are really the best indicators of our students success on state assessments. Um so we know we look at the Ames web as one piece but we also want to look internally on those curriculum assessments that our teachers are giving on a regular basis and which of those

066are really informing you know future success for our students on these assessments. And then the last piece really a question we have um and we revised this a little bit this year. Uh we've talked more about how we've kind of acknowledged the fact that Avon hasn't been test score obsessed, I guess you could say. Um you know, we we believe we have a strong curriculum. Our students do, you know, incredible things here in our district and I know often we're recognizing them here at the board for their accomplishments. Um but we haven't really done a great deal of specific test prep. Um and actually when the SBA was designed and came out, that was uh really one of the reasons why we shifted from the traditional CMT approach where we used to get really granular

067data back about how our students were performing to the SBA which really gives us this broad view of how students are doing in larger areas. Um, and so sticking with that theme, at least initially, we we've kind of embraced it, but as time has gone on, we've gotten more and more curious about looking for ways to make sure that when our students are taking those assessments, it's really mirroring the incredible work we know they're doing in our classrooms every day and on our internal assessments. And so what you see there is, you know, we were careful to say we want to embed test prep as part of the experience and not make it feel like it's drill and kill. Um, and for uh, you know, the administrators in the audience or our colleagues who have

068students in other districts who have like nightly SBA homework and are rolling their eyes and groaning every night when they're doing that, where we want to do just the right amount of that, but not also make it feel like our students like that's the only thing that's driving us. So it's really a question for us is how to find the right fit with those experience u experiences each day in our classroom. Um so I'm pause there for a moment. I know in just uh just a minute we're going to move on to our administrators but just in case there's any questions. >> I have a question. >> Is your mic on Suzan? >> Um going back to the slide you had there. I guess I'm just wondering what percentage level three or higher. I'm not

069sure everyone would know what that meant. And specifically, when I look at SAT scores, those numbers don't match what I know to be SAT scores. So, what what do they mean? >> So, let's go back to the SAT slide if we could, Elizabeth. >> And I Jody, maybe you could help us out with a a better explanation of the SAT scores. >> They're not actually the scores. They're the number the percent of students who were at or above the state level proficiency. So that's a percent. >> Okay. >> So um basically when when the state takes SAT scores which are are run from like a 600 something like 800. >> Yeah. >> 450 to 800 for each section. they take that scale and they break it into the four achievement levels as they as they

070report out for um Smarter Bounds and NGSS. And so um that's what's being reported there. So when you look at those scores where the cuto off is for a level three and above 85% of our students in ELA and 62% in math are at a level three or above. >> Okay. >> But that's not the actual score, >> right? Okay. Thanks. Go ahead, Nicole. Um, will we get this whole slideshow? Oh, was the whole thing in it? I Oh, I I only saw the first couple of slides. I guess it didn't open on mine. Um, as I was looking at this, it seems like the students are doing really well on Ames Webb, which is great, but there's a disconnect with the ESBACK. And from what I was looking at, the majority of the grades,

071maybe with the exception of eighth grade science and other levels, we seem to be doing lower than neighboring towns. Um, I am not advocating for, you know, drill and kill. I don't think that that's the way to do education, >> but there seems to be a disconnect that is is concerning. >> Yeah. So, you you brought up science, which is an excellent example. Um, if you look specifically at our scores in that area, the science team really served as a great model for the work we're trying to copy, if you will, um, in ELA and mathematics. um when they dug into some of their stage two and stage three work this past year, they were finding ways to embed that prep, if you will, by revising some of the projects and assignments and the way

072we ask students questions so that it didn't feel like test prep, but throughout the year we were doing um a better job, if you will, of getting them ready. Um a lot of it is how um a question might be posed. um the way you enter data into an online, you know, testing platform. And so we're trying to emulate that um in reading and mathematics because you're right, the Ames web doesn't always give us a perfect indicator of how our students um we want to tighten up our curriculum assessments to be a better indicator in that regard. Kaylin. >> Hi. Um, I'm wondering about interventions and are there interventions in use or could there be interventions in use for the kids who are just missing? Lynn worried that we might be missing. >> Hi, Lynn.

073Can you hear me? It's Bridget. >> Does that make sense? >> Yes. Can Can you hear me, Lynn? Can you Elizabeth? Can you tell her that when we we pivot to the rest of it, we'll be addressing that question. >> Thank you. But I but I would also say to Lynn's question that interestingly enough what the ASWB um data helps us to pinpoint is are there students who are struggling with certain concepts um that may require uh intervention and so but that doesn't necessarily give us the greatest indicator of how they'll perform on the SBA. So it's a good indicator of a need for remediation and intervention. Um, but that's that missing piece at times of like now we needed to equate to SBA and NGSS scores. >> We pivot. But um as I said

074previously, we you hear a lot from from us about the work that we're doing throughout the district and even sometimes in the individual schools, but um wanted to make sure that our folks that are leading the work on the ground in the buildings were able to speak to what they're doing in the buildings also. Um which is why we have them here tonight. I should say upfront you might see and hear some repetitive information as as they share what they're doing. But that's actually a good thing because that is indicative of the fact that we have been working hard together as a district to ensure some coherence in how we're moving forward. to the strategies that we're using, the data that we're looking at, um the curriculum, the assessments, all of that comes into play

075when we start talking about what we're doing across the district. You'll hear some of that more than once out here. But on the flip side, there's also unique um strategies and instructional moves that people take and so forth in every single building. So, I think it's important to have them speak to that. I'll tell you upfront also that both of our Pineroveve administrators had uh family commitments tonight and could not be here to do Pinerove. So, we are going to take care of that. But, um I think we're ready. >> Yeah, we're going to uh begin with Roaring Brook. And you're you're um right, Dr. Carnival. And you'll you'll notice that um we we decided to have Nome go first for Roaring Brook because there is a lot of similarities. Our K4 schools work very

076closely together. So once he's finished, I'll speak to Pinerove, but again, there's a lot of overlap. >> So good evening. Thank you. And I think the theme really is that idea of uh alignment across the buildings. And so you will hear uh a set of recurring themes. And I think that uh this is really a good news story. I've stood up here for for a lot of years actually talking to you guys about this and uh very proud of where Avon Public Schools are and where Roy Brook School is. And so in terms of what we were thinking about and reflecting on about how do we move teaching and learning forward, that's our core function. The first thing is like how are we elevating instruction for all students? And so over the last two school

077years, we have in effect changed about 70% of our school day because we have a whole new ELA program and a whole new math program. And we're really pleased with those things because what we're doing is we're ensuring rigorous instruction for all of our kids. A guaranteed foundational learning experience for all of our learners that all of our teachers can access and that means therefore that all of our kids can access and our kids are involved in some experiences that are so much more conceptual. They're deeper. They're richer. And when we think about uh to Nicole's question, the difference between Ames Webb, which is this baseline foundational skills versus deeper learning, which is what SBA is uh pushing us towards, the new curriculum that we have in math and ELA, is absolutely pushing us in

078that direction. We're really pleased with what we see across our building uh at the K4 level. And then you'll hear from my colleagues talking uh along the same lines, which is really exciting. So that that's the first part of the equation. The next part is that idea of embracing data and making sure that we have everybody comfortable with it. So, we started at RBS this year looking at last year's spring data. We reviewed everything to set goals including some really tangible numerical targets across the grade level. Uh and then this fall, now that we have the fall universal assessments, we're at a place where we've had a schoolwide data team. We went through uh these uh pieces of information with our grade level teams and then our individual teachers. And that is affording us that

079opportunity to plan for kids as needed. Uh it is giving uh I think it was Lynn's question to look at students who are really right on that cusp of being able to move into the next kind of zone of performance. And it's allowing us to make informed decisions about how to support them. So you see the next part of that is inclusive interventions. And so that is answering that question of how do we give our students a little bit of extra boost if it's needed and appropriate to do so. So at RBS this year, we worked together with our teams at the start of the school year for a pretty intensive collaborative review and redesign of our intervention block. That time that we have built into our schedule every day for all of our students,

080uh where there's not new instruction going on, but it's instead an opportunity to either enrich or provide remediation and supports for our kids. So our teams are involved in things like rotating students through stations in a way that is either independent for students ready for it or it's giving time space and place for our teachers to provide more small group small group work or individual group work. Uh all of our buildings have awesome intervention teams and the intervention teams are supporting students in classrooms as appropriate in tier one or in pull out supports based upon data based upon observations based upon teacher recommendation based upon principal recommendations. uh and we're doing a really nice job in terms of providing those supports. We also have access in the third and fourth grade classrooms to IES, which

081is the interim assessments that look a lot like the SBA assessments. And that is in a very planful and intentional way, giving us uh a chance and opportunity to have our kids have exposure to both the format of the test because especially if you think about our third graders, they've never seen anything like this before. And so this giving them that chance uh to familiarize themselves with what the format is, testing conditions, uh and then of course the content. Uh and then this is uh all hands- on deck. And so that's why I write all in the family. So we're using our curriculum specialists. We are integrating even individuals like a pupil services team to provide social emotional supports to help our kids better access their learning. Are they available for the new learning that's

082going on? So we're utilizing them in planful ways. Uh we even are spending some time with our unified arts teachers to give them tools uh inclusive of things like language, formatting of questions, um looking at how do we have our kids listen to directions, right? A basic skill like that. But it's those kinds of things that collectively we do believe are going to benefit all of our students. >> Any questions? >> Yeah. >> The IABS, is that something that's new? >> It's not new. It's something we've had access to for the past several years, but we did find that our teachers who were really utilizing it as a planned kind of a way to provide supports for kids um were doing really well in terms of the standardized assessments. So, what we've done is we've

083worked together with our curriculum specialists to have uh an actual way of saying that in December we're going through these kinds of uh assessments in January, etc. So, in a planful way, so that's a universal experience for all of our students. >> Okay. Thanks, Anybody? Sarah Erlin? No. >> Okay. Thank you. No. >> Well, I'm going to speak to Pinerove, but we'll have Mel start making her way up because I'll try to keep the Pinerove update brief because as mentioned, a lot of the work. Um, Gnome and and Liz and and Amy and Jess work really closely together and so many of the pieces that Gnome spoke to are are similar for Pinerove School. Um, they're certainly implementing the new reading and math program uh which as Mr. Stern mentioned has been a heavy lift

084for our elementary teachers. Uh, they're working to implement a test taking unit. So, kind of that idea uh, you know, of embedding prep without making it feel like prep. the interesting idea of test taking as a genre, right? We we read different genres and literature, but you also have to be uh you have to develop that skill to be a good test taker uh as time goes on and how can we prepare them for that and realize that sometimes it's a little different than when you sit down and do reading for enjoyment. Um they've got their school and grade level data teams monitoring student progress. uh and I think uh Nome spoke and and Lynn had asked about really making sure that students who are requiring additional supports are being provided those services. Um and

085again lastly but not least and I I don't think we can stress this enough um the collective staff in in our buildings are really owning this work. Um, you know, we mentioned, you know, all hands on deck, I think it was, but that even, you know, our unified arts teachers looking at ways that they can own some of those grade level standards within their art and their music and their wellness curriculum. Um, collectively interested in really just pushing the envelope and getting our students kind of over that threshold. Uh, and again, as many students as possible meeting those grade level expectations on the assessment. >> Thank you. Hi everyone. Melissa Morgan Hostetler, principal at Thompson Brook, proud principal at Thompson Brook School. Um, so yeah, so some ways that Thompson Brook is looking to um

086to push student growth to fill gaps. Um, and I've sort of uh separated my slides into what we're doing and then how we're going about doing that. So uh just really briefly and it is it is a bit repetitive but we too are looking to um target skill remediation through highfrequency progress monitoring using tools like uh Ames web for example to ensure that we're not waiting until the unit assessment is over but we're using those progress monitoring tools to catch needs in the moment so that we can react quickly and support those students who need it. Uh we have a new math intervention program called Bridges which uh much more closely aligns with our new math program that we're in year two with in fifth grade and one class is piloting in sixth grade. And

087that really emphasizes the conceptual understanding of math versus like the wrote memorization or execution of algorithms. Um we also are doing our instructional rounds with teachers and we're really focusing on how teachers can differentiate for students uh both in their classrooms but also during our TI block our targeted instruction block so that we are addressing student need again with immediacy and it's timely. We have um we too are focusing on a crosscurricular connection so that our science teachers are using more math and literacy in their units and lessons and our unified arts teachers are also embedding um literacy skills more so in those various content areas and they just engaged in some really strong professional development around that. Um all of our teachers, our special ed teachers and our regular ed teachers just underwent IEP

088quality training to um build their capacity for writing ambitious IEP goals. And some of the ways that we're doing all of this is through our new model. I had spoken to you um I guess a couple of months ago now about how Thompson Brook uh looks a little bit more like a natural sort of step up progression where our fifth grade students are changing classes. So, we have uh our students see one teacher for math, science, and social studies and the other teacher for their ELA block. And we um are using this as a way to really improve our students executive functioning so that they're getting their toes wet a bit in fifth grade. The new model also allows for our fifth grade teachers to become a bit more specialized in their content area with

089that departmentalization. Uh we're using a consistent system for all of our students in the school for organization again with the hope to really boost their executive functioning. Uh it's called our base binder building academic skills every day and every teacher and every student uses this system. Um our new schedule allows for a lot of high impact collaboration. So our teachers are meeting weekly. They're meeting with the teachers with whom they share students. And then again during the week they're meeting with teachers with whom they share content. So we're getting a lot of bang for our buck so that they can co-plan and support students. We've held professional development focused on that progress monitoring and making instructional adjustments based on data. Um we are conducting building level data reviews as are all the buildings after each

090marking term. Expanding our use of those interim assessment blocks as well. uh a focused increased rigor on uh and grade level consistency in both science and social studies. Uh revamping some of those units, of course, our new math program that I alluded to before. And then really working to boost family engagement with a partnership um inviting parents in. For example, we have a math night coming up on December 3rd that we're really excited about to just teach um all about what this new math thinking is all about. Some people feel like it's a little bit weird. It's not how they were raised, not how they learned math. So, we really want to shed some light on how families can best support children as they learn uh mathematical concepts. Thank you. Any questions? Okay. >> Thank

091you very much, Mo. >> Good evening. Hi. So I am um here to speak with you about Avon Middle School and the work that we are doing um in regards to student achievement and outcomes knowing that teaching and learning is um in addition to safety the most the highest level of responsibility that we have um to you and your children each and every day. Um so some of the work you know to echo some of my colleagues which again is a testament to the work that we've been doing to calibrate across levels to make sure that we are working together rowing in the same direction if you will to prepare our students. um analyzing opening of the year data review through both our interdisciplinary teams. We have a team model at the middle school um

092and our departments so that the teachers are welcoming kids in and they have a clear picture of their achievement levels where they're coming in where their strengths are where there are some areas to kind of push them a little bit further. Um from there using our fall universal screening data as web plus um through both the interdisciplinary teams you'll see CLTs up there that's we know you know we love our acronyms and education collaborative learning teams our affectionate term for data teams um and so we do the full building analysis with different stakeholders around the table as a building CLT we call it our counseling plus meeting credit mark with uh the being the brainchild of of that and the structures that we use to bring in a lot of different perspectives and look at

093um student achievement in a lot of different ways and and look for trends and patterns at a higher level and then more at a granular level student by student um you leveraging our SAT student assistance team and SRBI scientific researchbased interventions processes um to either intervene at the tier 1 2 or three level based on those universal screening data and the data that kids are coming in with at the start of the year. um continuing to strengthen this is an ever evolving continuous improvement effort in education. Um strengthening and identifying our tier one instructional and intervention practices across different disciplines. Um, and then I speak to, you know, we have up there the the work that our science team has done departmentally, um, as a vertical group to identify some areas of growth within our

094curriculum. Um, and also within student performance, as Jess spoke to, that three-year test window between fifth and eighth grade um, and looking at where some of those gaps might be and spiraling in rettaught or previously taught skills, if you will, um, because they all interconnect in the end. Uh moving on to smarter balance, the you heard my colleagues speak about interim assessment blocks, crosscurricular connections and and that whole building buyin. Um at our opening faculty meeting of the year this this year, um I posed the question to our staff, what percentage of our students should be demonstrating proficiency on state assessments? The answer is 100%. Right? That's the goal. You shoot for the moon and that is the ultimate goal. 100% of students growing and achieving each year. Um, and that was kind of the

095framework that we used for that full faculty buyin, continued buyin, if you will, around we all support literacy, we all support numeracy, we all support crosscutting concepts and engineering principles regardless of the classroom that a child is entering. Um, so with that, our our faculty was very excited. They took a practice SBA test under the same testing conditions that students would. Um, we did let them use their laptops. We didn't have them use Chromebooks. Um, but it was a pretty our teachers have done them before, but to do it as a collective experience and it really put yourself in the shoes of the students to the best of your ability in that moment during an afterchool faculty meeting um really opened not opened but refreshed the eyes on what we are asking students to do

096in the platform in which they're doing it, right? And so there's this push and pull with um screen time and ultimately the measure that we have students assessed on in terms of state level proficiency. We're asking them to read and make sense of information on a digital screen. And I'm sure if I pulled the audience, most of us in the crowd when we really need to make sense of something, we probably print it and read it through. And so how do we make and identify some small moves with our students in our classes day by day to grow their capacity to be able to comprehend from a digital device as opposed to a more traditional textbook or or pleasure reading book if you will. Um in addition to that um again similar to my colleagues

097our students um our world language team is really embracing the listening strand. Um it's one of the ELA strands that has been an area of growth for us. So they're looking to embed some of that intentional work in world language and they will administer the listening IAB to help students to make those crosscurricular connections around literacy and numeracy. Um and finally an an intentional culture of reflection and continuous improvement. Um, for those of us um, throughout the education world, we know there's a lot of competing interests and efforts that our work or my our work as leaders is to help help our folks bring all of those pieces together and ultimately make sure that students stay at the forefront of what we're doing. So being intentional about our focus of instructional rounds, high quality task

098design, which gets at the curricular connection, um facilitator moves, how we the art and the science of teaching, um and making sure that everything that we do is connected back to hitting that 100% of our students are going to make growth and achieve each and every year. Questions for me? >> Excellent job. Late time appropriate. Okay, >> thank you. >> Last but certainly not least, Dr. Lockheart. >> Good evening, everyone. I'm going to try to be quick because I know we have some new business to get to tonight. We have to get the answer to the question all the seniors are asking me every single day. When's graduation? Yeah, I want to be able to give them an answer tomorrow. So, I'm going to move really fast through this because a lot of what I'm

099talking about has already been said um tonight. So, we are fortunate to be kind of in year two of some of the work that we're doing. Um, which started with us getting prepared for our NIAK visit, which went well. Thank you to those of you that came for that. So, um, we've just been continuing really aligning all of the work that we're doing to, of course, our portrait of a graduate, but also ensuring that all of our students are really having access to rigorous coursework at a high level every single day. So, we've been focusing a lot on tier one practices. And for those of you that have students in our school right now, they'll tell you that every day they're up and moving around in vertical whiteboards and in random groupings, right? Yeah. You

100love it, don't you? All the time. Yeah. So, focusing on some of those tier one practices and of course strengthening our tier 2 supports as you as you've heard from all the other schools. So, um really the goal of that is for us to just continue to improve in our NGSS scores and our SAT scores. Um because we want to be the best. We want to every time we come here be blowing other schools out of the water. So, um, what we're asking our students to our teachers to do this year, we've asked them to do last year as well, is to continue to provide collaborative opportunities for students every single day across every single unit. Sometimes that can be a little bit challenging, but we want them to just continue to work on that.

101Um, we want them to spend time in their CLTs, really planning those lessons together, analyzing student work, taking a look at some areas that they can strengthen um, some of their instructional practices. We want them to be innovative, we want them to be creative, to try new things. We want to be at the cutting edge, and we want to continue to engage students in classes every single day. Um, and of course, we have been asking teachers to participate in peer observations along with our formal instructional rounds so we can see is it working? are we doing what we need to do? And um from last year to this year, we can say that we have seen some growth. It is working. So, we're going to continue to do it. Um because of the work that

102was done with our science teachers, we saw significant gains in our NGSS scores as well as some increases in our SAT scores. So, we're going to continue to do that. We also have been polling the students along the way to see how they're liking the collaborative work and our focus on critical thinking. Um, and we really have seen and heard from them that they do feel more comfortable in the classrooms taking those academic risks. They are more comfortable learning from each other. Um, they're doing new and innovative things that just keep them more engaged and energized in the classroom. And it's really improving the skills that they need to be able to do well on our assessment. So, I hope that was quick enough. Um, any questions? >> Nicely done. Anybody? >> I said one.

103>> Go ahead. Um I know it was set at um not for you but uh it was set at uh Thank you Dr. Thompson Brook um for the math night for the parents. Is that scheduled at any other um schools? >> Not at this time, but I know several schools have thought about uh offering something. Uh we have the uh last year we're going to do it again. Uh make our teaching and learning team available on the night of parent teacher conferences just to be out answering questions about the new reading program but also following up with families about um year two of the math. >> Thank you. >> Go ahead, Nicole. Um I know um we've heard um discussions about you interventions and you the goal is to get everyone at 100%. Which I

104totally agree. Um what about the students who already are at or above grade level? What are we doing to make sure that they're also growing? >> Sure. Great question. um you know that we speak often about that's part of our experience here in Avon that our teachers are responsible every day for differentiating instruction in the classroom really working and that becomes a case-byase basis with each student that um they're going through those same assessments teachers are looking at that same data and really looking at ways that they can push the curriculum further for those students um I mean we can go down a laundry list of specific examples but that's the general theme that our teachers are responsible for and speak to our parents about when they're achieving at a high level. I do can

105I add one more thought in here and I just want to because we're talking a lot about scores and and one of um the pieces that our our admin team has looked really closely at is how like how close are our students who are just missing the mark. Um because that can make a big difference, right? Um and just to give you a sense and and I won't go through every um number but we pulled this information prior to this evening. So if we look at our students in math let's say and so if about 20 students ballpark is 10% of students uh and we looked at students who were scoring at a two right so they're they're not meeting the the expectation. Uh and if we look third through eighth grade, the number of

106students who we're considering statistically close to missing the mark. So they're in that top quartortile and they're missing, you know, what we we don't have an exact number, but we're guessing a few questions here or there and and they're at a level three and and we're we're thinking of this a lot differently. So just to give you some numbers um that running from 3rd to 8th 24 students 40 students 35 students 33 students 34 students and 23 students um and we can share this information with you but that's pretty significant. That's just in the area of mathematics percentage-wise of the group of total number two students. Um that's ranging from 70% at the low mark to 80% at the high mark. So we have a lot of students who are falling in that too and

107are just missing that mark. Um and so why we continue to explore like the little shifts we can make in our curriculum, the the extra IAB we can give, the the little bit of test prep without it feeling like overkill is because we know the data in our district um in particular is telling us that we have numerous students who are really close to to just turning that corner and our data looking a lot different. Any other questions? We appreciate the heart and the effort and the intention behind all of this work. It shows and I know our kids enjoy going to school, so that matters, too. They look forward to learning. So, thank you for being so committed to it. >> Okay, Lynn, >> I'm not sure it's a question. I I love that

108schools are asking teachers and staff to take the test. I think on our retreat I don't know if it's a good idea or not. >> No, this is going >> I think it's a great idea. Do it as a treat. >> Romesh thinks it's a great idea. Richmond. Great idea. I think >> Thanks, Lynn. >> Enjoy. >> Um, thank you and thank you to all of you for coming out and working with us tonight. We appreciate it. Um, just a point of clarification on the uh SATs. I think what you were asking was the range of of scores in each section. and it's 200 to 800 for English and math. Um, and it's hard to pinpoint and I was just looking at it again tonight trying to see if they had done anything differently um,

109when they put the data out this year because obviously we've looked at it quite a bit before we're here tonight, but they continue to put information on Connecticut Ed site as they uh, at the state level continue to disagregate data. Short version of the story is it's very difficult to get a range from the state of what constitutes proficiency. So a level three or a level four because there are other aspects wrapped up in it besides just the SAT scores. It's a college and career readiness score and basically they don't publish exactly what the score is. There's a range that we h we know to have in mind and part of that is based on national average number one and number two by other states who utilize SAT scores uh um for 11th grade like

110an SAT day like Connecticut does um to decide what constitutes proficiency at the high school level on standardized uh tests like SAT. So an example, Colorado is another state that does that. I think Illinois may be another state. I can't remember all of them off the top of my head, but um there's there's a range and it's a it's a big range and it depends on yeartoear. Generally speaking, I think when you look at um ELA, the the it's actually the ERW part of the test is what it's called um specifically, but um you would see a range of say 540 to 630 being proficient. Those aren't low SAT scores on on the that section. In math, you'd be looking over 500, maybe 540 to 660. And it and it varies yeartoear. So you're talking

111about if you are generally speaking because it's not a onetoone conversion you are talking about students being considered proficient in English and um math if they are somewhere above 400 on each section. That's not you that that if you only were 400 in English and math you you'd be at an 800. And we're obviously the goal is generally speaking for colleges when they're still taking SAT scores, they at least want to see students over a thousand. That is a good place for us to look when we think about proficiency. And you see the majority of our kids are getting there. This year, um there's no ranking yet on just SAT scores for the entire state. um we can do it, but you have to do it district by district for for 169 towns, some with

112more than one high school and so forth. So, it's it's not that easy to do. Um, as you know, last year, you might remember for 2023 when all was said and done, Avon High School was ranked fifth in the state for SAT scores. It was the only high school outside of Fairfield County that was in the top five. Um the the other four were Darianne Newkan um Wilton I believe and someone else I can't maybe Westport. So Stephanie I know that is a is a is a long way around to talk about the same thing that you were but I think it's important to note that it's while we have different cut offs when we're looking at smarter balanced SAT is just harder to >> to explain in the same way because they don't give

113us the data in that way. Okay. >> Okay. So, moving on. Thank you. And did we have anyone? Yes. Okay. We have a couple of people that remained that want to hear us talk a little bit about Eid and when when that might be on the calendar. So, thank you for for sticking around. I know it's a long night. Um, I just wanted to start a conversation because we have heard from um, many from the Muslim community here in Avon about the addition of uh, the Eid holidays and as we talked about previously and you've heard from uh, numerous individuals who have stood up to speak the there really are two holidays that um would be considered the Eid holidays. One is Eid aleter and the other is uh alada. And I think I told

114you this last time, it's not necessarily a differentiation between one being more important or um holy than the other. They're both uh two of the most important and holy observances in Islam. Um that said, when you look at other school calendars, many times you only see Eid al fetir. And the reason for that is twofold. The main the main one is because as um more and more groups lobbyed for it, that was in some cases just the the only one that was given and the first one that was given. But there's actually a more practical reason why that is. And it's because for many years since they've started being integrated into um Connecticut district calendars, um one or the other has very often not fallen during the school year because of the way they change

115from year to year. I believe uh Idel Ada has less frequently in the past say five years falling during the school year. Um so that said, the Farmington Valley Area Muslim Center um had uh sent us they've sent it numerous times in the past couple of years what those holidays look like out um even 10 years from now. So you know it's not an issue of not knowing when they are. We we do know when they are. They're already well known in advance. Um, some years they have more if if you if the calendar is changed to include them, some years they will have more of a a quote impact. What do I mean by impact? If you add two more days off into the school year, what happens? You're you're there two more days

116in June. Basically, similar to snow days. If it snows, we have to make that day up. So, we're doing 180 days minimum by state law no matter what. And that's the for students. that's what we have in our calendar. If we didn't, like some of the private schools, every time it snowed, we just go hooray and it was, you know, one last day of school and they still had graduation on the same day. Luckily, when we get to graduation tonight, that's actually what we are now able to do also is at least schedule graduation by state statute. that changed um maybe 5 years ago as you know which has been extremely helpful for school districts to be able to schedule it on the hunt if what is well I'll get there when I get there

117but anyway you would you would push the date forward if both dates fall within the school calendar and not on a weekend for example so when you look ahead to the 26 27 calendar um I didn't want to hand this out because they're not I know how a calendar goes once it's out in public, >> right? And because once it's on, meaning people won't necessarily know that a change got made and they'll do a web search and something will come up from tonight and 6 months from now people will think that was the calendar and we'll have a different problem. We don't like to publicize it until it has been through the board and approved by the board and it is final and is up online and then even then as you know we have

118to keep going back in making the changes with snow dates and people it can still cause confusion. So it's the reason it's not up there on the screen and so forth. I'm looking at a draft of it in front of me. Um we would in the 26 27 year if you were to put Eid al Eid into the calendar only Eid al feter would fall during the school year and it would be March 9th. Um and the last day of school presum pretending there's no snow days would be June 9th. still pretty much in line with with where we fall. One of the other things to remember is every year is going to look different even with the other holidays, right? So, um for example, Yam Kapor might not fall on a school day. It

119might fall on a weekend or otherwise a day that we were off. Um Dvali may not fall on a school day. So, they're going to fluctuate every year. There of course will be years where every single one of the holidays will fall during the school year. Um, I can't tell you exactly right now when that will be. We didn't draw it out that far. Um, but I can tell you that in the next, if you were to do that, in the next couple of years, they kind of even out by what's not in the calendar by versus what is still, does that mean it's a day or possibly too later in June? Yes, it does. Um, but I just thought you might want to know what they would look like as we were moving forward

120um, from year to year. I don't know if you have any questions about that. >> Jeff does. >> Jeff, go ahead. >> I just got a simple one and I'm always cautious >> talking about a faith that I don't follow. So, as a non-practitioner, I just my question is and maybe we need to speak to the community. My understanding is, and I think one of the comments tonight referenced it, the date of Eid is not set until much closer because it involves, I believe, the lunar cycle. >> It does. >> And I know being in a district that does observe Eid, we have take the district I work in, which is not Avon, has declared those days on days when it actually didn't fall on the holiday. And so my question is is when we

121vote on a calendar so far out, how do we then accommodate when it actually doesn't land on the day that the holiday is actually observed? >> We we do know what day it will be observed. Um as I said, they're they're in front of me through 32 33. Um, and yes, they are based on the on the lunar cycles, but moving that far out, you still can project it, but that said, you're only going to vote on a calendar one year in advance. And the dates that they will be celebrated are most certainly known then. I I can tell like as I just said, in the 26 27 year, Eid alier is Tuesday, March 9th, and Eidal Ada is Sunday, May 16th, which is why it doesn't impact the school year calendar. in 2728. Um,

122Eid aleter is Saturday. It won't impact the school calendar and Eid alaha is Friday, May 5th. >> Thank you. I appreciate I just was questioning the logistics of my understanding. >> Thank you. >> And I know Jeeoff, I'm glad you asked that question because I I think I had heard there was another question too related to contract obligations. Um and this would not work differently than the other holidays or days off from school that we already observe when the entire district is not shut down. So for example um for some of the days off the district is closed which means the schools and the you no one is at work unless there's an emergency. Um Christmas day is an example of that. Thanksgiving day is an example of that. Um but other than that, Yankapor

123as as an example, the schools are closed. It's being observed in the school year calendar, but the district itself is not closed. So if you are um a 12 month employee who um observes the Jewish holidays, for example, you are utilizing a personal day or a vacation day or or or in at work and depends on how people want to do that. This would function in the same way. Thank you. >> All right. Go ahead, Promesh. >> I'm just curious actually uh is there a floating holidays in the school year anytime before or I've not seen anything uh for the last two years. I'm just curious like >> do we have any floating holidays? >> Yeah. >> No. Okay. >> Um by contract there are um certain units that have floating holidays. Um, namely the

124the main and the main reason for that is years ago when it was determined that we would stay open on Veterans Day, for example. >> Okay. >> Um, that as you know is considered a state and a federal holiday. So that was a a give, if you will, contractually because our staff neither 10 nor 12 month have veterans day off. And so they most union contracts um gave a floating holiday. Again, this was before my time, but I know that's why it was done. a floating holiday to be used whenever. >> Right. So my next question is like so there are lot of holidays which we don't know the exact dates right so now is there an opportunity to give one or two floating days every year so that the students and staff can pick

125it up those holidays based on the need rather than prescribing as a fixed holiday for them. So I think the the problem with the staff having a floating holiday is we don't want it to be utilized during the school year when students are in session because then it would be it'd be hard to control how many folks were coming to work to keep the schools open. So let's you know pretend the entire um teach faculty group for example you know the um 288 maybe we're at about right now something >> some so we'll go we'll go with that right now I haven't done the uh budget projections again which is when we can look more closely at the exact numbers if a hundred of them decided that you know the Friday before Memorial Day weekend

126was the floating holiday we'd have to close school >> right >> so Um that's why the flo the floating holidays and and hoay we might be happy about that. Um the the floating we all know that by May we might be very happy about that. Um by March we'd be happy about that. So the um the 12 month employees that are utilizing floating holidays those are the ones that have it um because they are here all year. Um, our teachers, for example, don't have a floating holiday in the contract for Veterans Day because it goes back to the same idea. They are working a standard number of days per year because they are in school with students 180 days and they have professional learning so another six. So, it's standardized in that way. Does that

127make sense why we may not do that? >> Yep. Thank you. But in place we have like personal days or days that can be taken for religious holidays that are not >> and that's why we can get more down this rabbit hole when we're talking about it again. I just wanted to put some information out there. Um it is part of the reason that the decision historically to add in days off from school or observances of religious or cultural holidays is has most often been dependent on the staff celebrating it. So do we have a huge number of um Muslim staff that would be um that if No, the answer is no. We don't we don't have a large population of Muslim staff. And therefore, if every one of them currently takes off these holidays

128whenever they fall on a workday by utilizing a personal day, it doesn't really impact the operations of of the school district. On the flip side, um if we said this is it, we're going to have school on Thanksgiving, there'd be a whole lot of people not here and utilizing personal days because the majority of people observe Thanksgiving just as a they're not exactly the same. One we're talking about a religious holiday and the other we're talking about an American cultural holiday, but it gives you an example. Um so the reason you would consider it is not related to staffing. It's more related to what um has been talked about. It's more about a recognition of the growing nature of the population of um people of Muslim faith in Avon and to be inclusive of that

129fact. Um >> but at the same time if we have a a larger population of students who start taking that day off that would impact the operations of the school as well though >> students >> you know what I'm saying like we if >> it would have to be a lot but yes >> but we have seen the demographic increase in the last several years >> right that's what I'm saying it is a growing it has been a growing population yes and that was when we talked about Dvali it was the same idea that we were considering at that All right. So, we'll definitely take action in January. >> Yes. >> That's when we set the calendar for the next year, but it's a good conversation and we appreciate the time that you've put into

130providing us with information. >> And the reason, just so that you know, you you've made it here this long. You might as well know this um that we don't set the calendar until later in the year is because there are other days that we have to make determinations about which days are we going to have off for professional learning. for example. We have ideas of that right now, but we like to get further along to know how things worked in one year to be able to assess how has this gone and what changes might we make in the following year. And right now, it's still early for us to do that. That's the reason we don't set the calendar. >> Thank you. >> Um won't be labor anything else. So, you'll have to hear from

131me on the um next piece. Anyway, quickly, um I I will just say again though, I want to thank everyone for the Veterans Day celebrations in the district. As everyone knows, I was not able to be here with you this year because I was uh managing some uh family issues related to a death of a close family member. Um however, as Deb said, uh Friday night I it was just a fantastic event being with the veterans at their 80th uh anniversary gala. uh the Gildo T Consolini VFW post here in Avon celebrated 80 years and um their keynote spoke speaker who um I was fortunate enough to speak just before um in the in the program and I say fortunate enough because I'm I'm um honored that they thought to ask me to do that

132um was General George Casey. So that it was pretty neat to be able to sit at a table with General George Casey and um hear about um his time in the Middle East, his time um interacting with people from the White House and so forth. It it was just a really nice night and I think our veterans were properly honored. So just happy that I was able to be a part of it. Thank you. >> Thank you. All right, moving on to consent calendar. We do have one item and it's always quite impressive when crew comes forward with a donation. Um we are incredibly grateful to their efforts for doing so. It puts less of a burden on us. We support the program so we appreciate that they are able to um fund raise in

133this way. Do I have a motion to approve the consent calendar as it stands? So move. >> Thank you, Fage. Do I have a second? Thank you. I've got Nicole. All in favor? I. Passes unanimously. Yep. Thank you. Moving on to new business. Oh, no, old business. I apologize. Possible approval of the primary instructional material. Um, this was discussed at last meeting. We were in the 30-day window. Now, the 30 days are up and so we're taking action on moving the book to add it to our curriculum. Anything you wanted to say? >> Nope. Just that the window is now closed. Um, and this would be added as a primary instructional material for our Latin AP course. >> All right. Any questions? Lynn, do you want to make the motion? Sorry. >> Make a motion

134to primary instructional material as stated for the last course. >> Thank you. Do I have a second? Thank you, Romesh. All in favor? I passes unanimously. All right. Thank you very much. Now we move on to new business. Possible action to set the graduation date for 2026. I think we're looking at June 11th. Is that correct? >> This is one of the easiest decisions you'll ever make as the board of education. So um yes, we are looking at Wednesday, June 11th. Um as I've started to say earlier, uh a change in Connecticut state statute uh maybe five or six years ago. For all I know at this point, it's 10 and I've just lost track of time. But at some point, they uh made a change to the law and we can now schedule um

135graduations in advance as long as when we are scheduling them. They are on the 181st day or later. So, in other words, if it's a month from now and there have been five snow days in between, you can no longer schedule it on the same day, which is one of the reasons we do this this early. um because we are allowed to by law right now. Um we know when the 180th day is and we have contacted the Bushnull where we have been um going the last few years as you know. We know they have this date available. If there are snow days what happens it doesn't matter if if there are 10 more snow days. Our seniors are still graduating on June 11th. Um there are pluses and minuses to that of course because

136if there were that many >> snow days it it will uh mess mess with our >> Yes. Just um just to confirm it's Thursday, June 11th. >> Sorry. I'm ahead of myself. Thank you. Sorry. >> Um she panic. >> Thank you. No, don't panic. It's still June 11th. I just got the wrong day of the week. Um I'm thinking about the last day of school also. Um sorry. So, back to what I was saying. the if if we did have a number of snow days, what it does mean for us is that we have to work to change the exam schedule for um as an example at the high school. But um we have done that before and what's better is to have it before school ends rather than after >> because no one is

137happy if you are scheduling graduation after what would be the last day of school and folks have to return for it. So, every year we have tried to schedule it obviously after the 180th day, but still within a few days because we've been lucky enough. It sounds like we won't be this year allegedly, but we've been lucky enough that with the number of snow days, we've been averaging around three. It's the most we've had in the last few years. So, it has worked well. You know, this year we'll do it. And like I said, who knows what'll happen, but we are set to go if the board approves it tonight. And people will be very happy to make plans out there. Yes. >> All right. Someone like to make the motion to approve the graduation

138date for June 11th, 2026. >> Thank you, Suzanne. Do I have a second? >> I'll second. >> Second by Chris. All in favor? >> Got two, nine in total. Thank you. All right. Next, um possible action to approve consolidated title one, two, and three grants and the chef settlement open choice academic and social support grant. So, including in your packet this evening is the annual memo, which is an overview that highlights the way our district plans to allocate grant funding uh for the major title and chef grants for the school year. Uh as been the case for several years, the bulk of the funding is used to fund non-certified instructional tutors. So, we had several questions this evening about intervention services and those um those tutors provide a lot of tier 2 and tier three

139support for our students. Uh a small amount does go also for staffing uh from the title three grant for one of our uh to offset slightly the salary of one of our certified ESOL teachers. Um you'll also see some private schools within our district receiving a portion of the grants. Um, that's because the grants are designated to support all students within the district's boundaries who qualify under the specific title grant regardless of the school they attend. So, they apply for some funding. Um, you'll see those amounts are are um kind of nice even numbers at this point and that's because we're still in the process of receiving some of those. uh they they have a right to uh get back to us and say they're not taking the funds and then what happens is it

140slightly impacts the amount another school who claims the funds will receive. So it's very very close to those amounts within a few dollars but it does shift once we get those final approvals um from those schools. >> Any questions? >> So you're looking for us to approve the grants and how you want to spend the funds. Is that >> correct? >> Right. So, I will make the motion to approve the um consolidated title one, two, and three grants and the chef settlement open choice academic and social support grant. Do I have a second? >> I'll second. >> Thank you, Chris. Do I have um all in favor? >> Thank you. Got two. Okay, passes unanimously. Perfect. Um any further >> um I I know there was a question. I just want why we were talking

141about grants if I could just to give an update. There's been some um questions about the seed funding that's in the news uh for special education. Um the district did is receiving an allocation of seed money that's for special um education. I don't know the complete acronym but it's to promote um programs within districts in district. Um we've received the amount of $3,197. >> Um we have a really big deal of this on TV, but some of us are getting $3,000. $3,000 um of which we've received a small a small amount so far. Um they've frontloaded that for I guess cash poor districts. They may need it to start their programs. Um but Dr. Fox and I have yet to receive the application for the grant. So even though it's out there that's we still

142don't have the parameters on how we can spend it. Um but we do have some ideas and we've been talking about using the new Fiser property. Um we have a suite on the bottom floor that um until we receive funding way way way in the future probably um to out fat that outfit that into a community room for the town usage um we have a suite that we could convert perhaps into a classroom for home b homebound tutoring or other um in district things testing and so forth. So, uh, what we're thinking about is using that $3,000 to outfit the conference room space in there to a classroom and using some of those, um, funds to do that and make it, you know, uh, technology wise, a Ben Qboard maybe. I still have to talk

143to Tom Klein about that and some of the other pieces we need. Uh, but we do need the parameters of the grant to make sure these ideas we have uh, work within the parameters of it. It is the special education and expansion development grant which is part of why we are hoping that this would meet that definition because we are expanding some of our services by utilizing the money. But again, as Susan said, you have to get the very specific requirements of the grant before you can decide what to do with it. >> I I do know one specific requirement that we cannot do is use it for third-party services. So, we couldn't expand our SLP that we contract or RBTs or any of those services that we currently have. >> The language specifically precluded

144that. So, we'll we'll we'll update you once we hear more. So, this is something, again, we'll talk about this in the future, but since it came out here, this is something we've talked about doing for a while, being being able to um have a place for some additional work with our um special education students that are out of school for on homebound instruction. Uh that could be non-special ed students also. Um testing so forth. Um and as it stood um for the past year uh with the air quality being what it was at um >> at um 34 Simsbury Road, we we're um not allowed to have students in that building any longer. And so, um, the the good the good news is with with this move is that one, whether or not we do

145this, we can have students come again when we need to do testing or, um, some of the other things that we actually do at the district offices that involve students. And this would take that one step further because um, the space the space is needed to continue working with our special population of students. You can see our uh, pupil services folks nodding their heads out there. So, we're hoping that this is at least the start of that, even though it's a small bit of money. >> Thank you, Chris. Was that helpful? I know for your meeting tomorrow, you're going to put your minds together and share what different districts are doing. So, >> you're going to hear they're going to be like, "We're getting $1 billion." >> You're going to be like, "Well, we have

1463,300." And >> yeah, it's 3,100. Yeah. All right. Communication from the public. Anybody else sign up? All right. Communication from Avon Board of Education members. Anyone? Go ahead, Jeeoff. Just again, I just want to say I it was an honor to be able to attend the Veterans Day celebration at Avon High School. I thought you did a phenomenal job. I was glad I was there. Was glad I got to sit with my son. It was kind of cool. Um but I just want to kudos to the band in particular, the orchestra, they did a phenomen. The choir, they did a phenomenal job. I thought it was very, very well done. >> Thank you. Anyone else? >> All right, Chris. >> Motion to adjurnn. >> All right. Do I have a second? Thank you, Suzanne. All

147in favor? I passes unanimously at 858. >> Thank you, everyone.