Berlin Board of Education Meeting - 6/9/25

001All right. Good evening everyone. Welcome to the Berlin Board of Education meeting on June 9th. Uh we are going to call this meeting to order at 707 and we'll begin with 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 we are going to begin our meeting with a special presentations. Uh we have announcement for teacher empower educator of the year um Berlin high school recognition for valid Victorian and saludiatorum uh cave leadership awards and thank you to our student board rep. So I'm going to turn it over to the superintendent to start out with the teacher of the year and para educator of the year. Thank

002you. Please join me in congratulating Michelle Wade, teacher of grade five at Mary E. Griswell School as Berlin's teacher of the year. Michelle has earned a bachelor of arts in English from Eastern Connecticut State University in 2003 and her master's degree in reading literacy from Walden University in 2010. She's been teaching 21 years and the last seven have been in Berlin. Michelle says that creating a welcoming and communive classroom is central to her teaching. She prioritizes fostering a safe space where students feel valued, respected, and empowered to express themselves. This environment reinforces understanding that mistakes are not failures, but essential steps in learning process. A tangible example of this is our spot my own mistake poster where students celebrate, identify, and learning from their errors, creating a culture of mutual support. Her colleagues note that

003Michelle consistently demonstrates an inevitable ability to aspire enthusiasm and motivation of learning in her students. Through a genuine passion for teaching and her creativity, student centered approach, she cultivates a classroom environment where curiosity thrives. Learning feels exciting. One parent stated she entered the teaching profession for all the right reasons. Consistently going above and beyond to ensure her students feel loved, encouraged, and challenged. In addition to her work that she accomplishes in the classroom, Michelle is also a leader of the student advisory committee. This committee empowers students, equipping them with the valuable life skills in communication and community engagement. Students develop leadership skills by organizing events that positively impact the Berlin community. For instance, during a random act of kindness week, they partner with a local business like switches and stop and shop to decorate bags

004and distribute kindness stickers, extending their positive beyond the school walls. As our 2026 teacher of the year, Mrs. Wade will experience a unique opportunity. She will have a chance to share her passion for teaching, love for children, and the role that she plays in child's life on a day-to-day basis. She will be speaker of Berlin's convocation in August and will be honored at the annual board of education meeting in November. Please congratulate Michelle Wade. Next, I'd like to ask Michelle Joyce, supervisor of our special education, to come forward and share about our PAR professional of the year. Please join me in congratulating Jennifer Matney from Emma Hart Willard School as Berlin's PAR educator of the year for 2026. Jen is someone who can work with a variety of environments and at any grade level. Wherever

005she is, she works hard to build great relationships with students. She easily meets students where they're at, both academically and social emotionally. Jen's flexibility is one of her greatest qualities. She was an asset while working in the STEP program. When working at the elementary level, she easily served students in a variety of classrooms. She quickly learned e the expectations and the styles of each teacher she worked with and easily worked with students with a variety of needs at different grade levels. Jen's caring, dedicated, and compassionate demeanor proved to be just the right combination to have when working with the students. She sets high expectations for all students and knows exactly when to push them so that they would be able to meet with success and independence and when to be there just to for support

006and guidance. The students trust her and know that she truly cares about them and their well-being. Jen is not only a support to her students, but to her co-workers as well. She is always a team player and willing to go the extra mile to help out both within and outside of the classroom. Jen's teamwork, dedication, patience, and empathies empathy are qualities that truly make her such a remarkable person and parah educator. Jen will be honored for her dedication and excellence at the November Board of Education meeting. Congratulations to Jen Manny. Next, I'd like to ask Berlin High School principal Katie Amena to come forward to introduce the valictorian saludiatoran. Hello, good evening everybody. Congratulations to everyone who's being recognized this evening. Tonight I am going to start by calling up our class of 2025 saludiatoran

007Victoria voice Java. Victoria come on up please. [Applause] Victoria has been described as industrious, remarkable, intelligent, and dedicated to both academics and extracurricular pursuits. Victoria has always had a love for numbers and problem solving, making math and STEM courses some of her favorite subjects. She was surprised to find that she very much enjoyed Mr. Jones's Southern Connecticut State University business law course, which prompted her to join the mock trial team and sparked an interest in the legal aspects of business. Through her work with the BHS mock trial team, Victoria helped lead the team to the elite 8, demonstrating a profound understanding of law. Victoria is a three sport varsity athlete is a member of the cross country, indoor track, and outdoor track teams, serving serving as team captain. In addition, Victoria earned all academic scholar

008athlete in all conference nominations, qualifying for states multiple times. Victoria is an active member of the BHS DECA chapter where she served as secretary and currently as president. She placed in the top six in the indiv individual finance series and fourth in the individual human resources series. Victoria has been inducted into the National Honor Society in Roappa National Social Studies Honor Societies and demonstrates profound commitment to her academic responsibilities. Outside of the classroom, Victoria is a competitive rhythmic gymnast. Victoria earned the title of state champion three times and was a junior Olympics national qualifier. Following an injury, Victoria's path changed and she became a dedicated coach, which speaks volumes about her ability to transform challenges into opportunities. After graduation, Victoria will attend Penn State University, where she will study accounting with the intent of pursuing

009a master's degree in accounting to ultimately become a CPA. Please join me in congratulating Victoria Boy Shva, our saludiatoran. [Applause] Next, I'm going to call up Nicholas Ibrahim, class of 2025, valictorian. Nicholas Ibrahim is an exceptional student challenging himself with rigorous coursework over his four years at Berlin High School. Nikki has received numerous academic recognitions over his BHS career with the ultimate academic accolade of earning the title of class of 2025 validictorian. His athletic accomplishments are equally impressive. Nikki is a three sport varsity athlete, a member of the BHS football team, wrestling team, and track and field team. Nikki is a CIC state open wrestling champion as well as the captain of both the wrestling and track teams. It should also be mentioned that he holds a BHS record and placed eighth in in the

010state of Connecticut. In addition, Nikki was named the 2024 2025 CIAC scholar athlete. Nikki has carefully considered his extracurricular activities to help him achieve his future career goals. He is part of multiple Burlin High School independent study teams, including one in particular that works closely with the University of Connecticut in researching antimmalarial drugs. In addition to his antimmalarial studies, Nikki also works with a permaculture and biology team that addresses the aesthetic design of outdoor student life areas to improve health, wellness, and sustainability for humans in the environment. Nikki is a member of several BHS curricular activities including Mocktrial Team, HOSAU chapter, National Honor Society, Roappa National Social Studies Honor Society, Upbeat, DECA, the Wilderness Club, and was elected the vice president of the senior class. In addition, Nikki has logged over 200 hours of community

011service with Berlin youth sports teams. Nikki embodies the true spirit of leadership, inspiring and influence others through his actions and serving as an outstanding role model throughout our school community. He plans to attend Trinity College where he will be a member of the wrestling team and will double major in neuroscience and biology before attending medical school with the intention of becoming a neurosurgeon. I was going to say, Nick, I hope you have some time to sleep after all of those extracurriculars, but I don't believe neurosurgeons sleep. So, congratulations to you. Very welld deserved. Please join me in congratulating our 2025 validictorian, Nikki [Applause] Ibrahimi. Next, I have the privilege of uh honoring our Cave Student Leadership Awards. The Cave Student Leadership Award honors Connecticut High School and Middle School students who exhibit exemplary leadership skills.

012Two students from each member school are nominated. So we have two from the high school, which we'll do first, and two from the middle school. First from the high school, I'd like to introduce Max Max Ding. Max here. Max is a natural-born leader who consistently demonstrates his commitment to academics, athletics, and extracurricular excellence. He has earned the Connecticut seal of biiteracy in Mandarin and Spanish. And he has been inducted into the National Honor Society and the Roapp and National Honor Social Studies Honor Society. Max is intellectually curious as he demonstrated participation in a month-long fellowship at Yukon's Institute of Material Science, analyzing kinetics and synthesizing polymers using a dio diiochloromethane setting and analyzing the properties of of the films created. Max has the knack of balancing rigorous academic schedule with an array of extracurricular activities

013including medical club, hosa, weightlifting club, the magical singers. He is a member of the BHS math team, senior house leadership of upbeat Willard's house. Earlier this spring, he was on stage performing a role in the Wizard of Oz. The year before production of Wizards of Odds musical, Wizard of Oz musical. He volunteers as a classroom assistant at Willer Elementary School and at the Peek Memorial Library and at the Chinese language school of Greater Harford. Athletically, Max has played baseball for the past 12 years, currently serving as a pitcher and outfielder on the BHS varsity team, which plays tomorrow. Correct. As long as it doesn't ring, it get rained out, right? He is also a four-year varsity indoor track member and has qualified for the state championship in shotput and the 4x200 meter relay multiple times.

014Max plans to study either bioengineering or biomedical engineering, biochemistry or molecular biology at Brown University with plans to be an orthopedic surgeon or biomedical engineer in the future. Max's combination of intelligence, leadership, and kindness along with his unwavering commitment to excellence make him a deserving recipient of the Cab Student Leadership Award. Congratulations, Max. Congratulations. Next, I'd like to introduce Not that she needs an introduction because Anushia Hassim. [Applause] I'd like to say you're getting this award for being a board of ed rep, but you did a lot more than that. So, thank you. I will miss you next year. So, thank you. Anushia is an outstanding student leader whose unwavering dedication to academics, extracurricular involvement, and community service distinguished her among her peers. Academically, she has consistently pursued an ambitious and rigorous course load, demonstrating

015intellectual curiosity, and a passion for learning. Her commitment to scientific inquiry led her to conduct five weeks of research at Yukon Health where she explored the roles of various genes may play in ostearoma and tumor I'm going to I'm not going to tumor hygienous tumoris tumorogenesis sorry through very I might need a little help but I know it's chemistry what's it go ahead read her own speech. Yeah. Immuninohistochemistry. In recognition of her academic excellence, she has earned the Connecticut Seal of Literacy in Spanish, Erdo, and holds a membership in both the National Honor Society and the Ro Society. And Anushia's leadership extends beyond the classroom where she made a profound impact on both the school and the broader community. For the past two years, she has served the board of education student representative amplifying student

016voice and bringing bridging the gap between student body and the district leadership. Amongst many clubs, she is an active member of Ron High School's model UN club and leads the school's HASSA chapter as president, fostering a passion for global affairs, healthc care among her peers. Additionally, as a writing center tutor, Anushia provides valuable guidance to fellow students, helping them strengthen their communication skills. Her dedication to serve is equally remarkable. Anushia has been an active member of the mosque community throughout her life. Currently serving as a president of the Muslim Youth Association of Connecticut. Throughout the four years, she has held a role as she organized fundraisers, coordinated volunteer efforts, and spearhead initiatives to uplift the community as promote social responsibility. Anushia will attend the University of Connecticut this fall to pursue a degree in allied

017health services with a focus on a physician assistant and dental studies. Her exceptional combination of intelligence, compassion, and leadership make her a deserving recipient of the Cape Student Leadership Award. Congratulations. Next from McGee Middle School, Audrey Jerich. [Applause] Teammatea is proud to name Audrey Zerick as the CABE student leader award recipient for 2005. Audrey far exceeds the criteria for this honor, showing empathy, leadership, dedication, diplomacy, and a willingness to take on a challenge. As a member of the McGee Student Council, Audrey plays a huge role in making decisions for McGee School, as well as communicating with her peers and staff members and executing plans made by the council. Audrey is also involved in theater with the Newington Children's Theater. Her experience in drama have helped her develop her motivation, self-confidence, and collaboration skills while working

018with others. All of these assets translate into the classroom where Audrey demonstrates academic proudness, willingness to take academic risk, and a positive attitude towards learning. She is insightful, inquisitive, and all of her subjects and her peers often look to her for leadership and guidance. Overall, Audrey's ambition and involvement make her an excellent choice for the Cave Leaders Leadership Award. Congratulations, Audrey. Congratulations. Next, I'd like to introduce Elena Paws. It is with great pride that we recognize Elena for this year's team 8B recipient of the Cave Leadership Award. Her selection for this honor reflects her exceptional leadership qualities demonstrated through her remarkable achievements both in and out of the classroom. From earning conse consecutive empathy awards and placing third regionally in the Patriots pen essay competition on democracy to her athletic accomplishments including state championships in

019hockey, all-star recognition in golf and state level success in track. Elena hasly shown what it means to lead by example. Her involvement in school activities through the Spartan spotlight in the McGee TV combined with her artistic achievements and dedication to the community service at the Friendship Center in New Britain exemplify a well-rounded leadership that the Cave Award celebrates within the classroom. Elena is a leader among her peers and sets an example for others to follow. Her classmates can depend on her to engage them in meaningful discussions and deepen their understanding of content. Elena's diligence, drive, and compassion make her a role model student as ideal recipient of the Cave Award. Congratulations, Elena. Congratulations. Congratulations. All right. So, thank you um to the superintendent for reading those last minute. I I I looked at the papers

020and I was like, "Oh, it's been a long day." There's there's some big words like in Max's and Anushia. I was like, you can read that. So, so thank you for taking one for the team. Um, but congratulations to the students. Um, it's really great hearing about all of you. Um, and congrats to our uh, valid Victorian and saludiatoran. Um, right now I'm going to welcome Grace and Anushia down to get your little thank you gift. Um on behalf of the board of education, I would like to thank the both of you for all your hard work um this year. I'll wait till you get down. Sorry. So Grace and Anushia prepare our reports for every board meeting and it's one of the highlights of our meeting. We love learning and hearing about all the

021great things that the students are doing and that's happening at BHS. Um, but one thing I love the most is their dedication off. Like anytime they say, you know, we have something. Do you mind if we go after our report? I'm like, you go whenever you want. Thank you so much for even asking. Like you guys, you know, you don't your your other stuff comes first. and they're just so dedicated and passionate to staying at our meetings the entire time even though I've given them multiple opportunities to opt out anytime they'd like, but they're just very serious about it and I respect that a lot. Um, they, you know, chime in when they, you know, think that we should hear something that they have to say and they're really professional, respectful, and it's been really

022great having the both of you this year. So, Anushia, we're going to miss you. Um, but Grace will still be here so you can, you know, show the next person in the ropes. But thank you so much and good luck and thank you guys so much. [Applause] Okay. So now we are going to move on to reports and correspondence to the board. So, report of board members. Do any board members have anything that they would like to report from the last meeting through now? Anything that you've attended or been involved in or anything like that? So, I had to make a list because there's quite a bit that has happened since the last meeting. Um, so I was fortunate enough to attend the Willard fifth grade outing, the fifth grade field trip to the um,

023Florence Grisswald Museum, the volunteer breakfast, which was incredibly emotional as I have a fifth grader who was singing in um, the concert, and then, you know, all the fifth graders were waving goodbye at the end. So, that was super emotional. Um, I was able to attend the spring uh chorus concert, band concert, and dear graduation, um, the Willard Field Day, and tie-dye for third grade, which was super special because I never seemed to get to do anything with my third grader. This year, it's been mostly with my fifth grader as this is her last year at elementary school. So, I'm trying to make sure that I'm able to do everything for her. But, tie-dye was really fun. She was super excited. jumped in my husband's arms and spilled his coffee all over the hallway. So,

024we thank Mr. DJ for coming quickly to clean that up. Um, but yeah, so I've been honored to be able to attend all of these lovely things with Willard. Um, and thank you for allowing me and for all the lovely things that you guys do for them. Thank you, Jess. Any anyone else? after this meeting, the capstone projects at the high school I stopped by to see and it's just, you know, that's always just a really amazing array of of student talent and interests and love seeing the students really focus on some of their real passions um and and pull together this amazing um project. And it's it's just a great program. And um you haven't seen it next year, I encourage you all to go. Um, I also went to the Halo Awards for

025the theater department. Um, about a three-hour long program and we were able to walk away with three Halo awards for our theater um students and and always a great thing to see them recognized for their great work. Um, and then finally, last Friday, Jazz with Pizzazz. Um, and I'll let Brian say a few words about that because he was there as well. But, um, you know, that's just a great ending to the school year with the music productions. Um, to see the band there, some of our top musicians um, and and also just some of the community. there was a great uh alumni group that was there and to see some of the the people who have not only grown up in town with the music but they've also um some of them are now

026teaching in our in our programs um in Berlin. Thank you. You know, Mr. Mr. Dresco and Mr. every year just do amazing things with the arts and culture of the music and and that night is a lot of fun and it was a wide array of different types of music the other night for sure. Um and it was it was really a blast. But I think two things that hit me is a how much parental support and the parent volunteers that go into that is um you know I've been on that committee, my wife's been on that committee. It's a lot of work and the and the folks that do it behind the scenes certainly just uh deserve some recognition. And then additionally like Jen was talking about the alumni allstar band. I mean, you

027know, how they come back and really care about the the community here in Berlin, I think is is super powerful. It was really really nice to see. Um, and the other thing I just want to give a shout out for, if anyone on Thursday is looking for something to do, I I think this sounds interesting. The library is doing a history of the schools, not so much how they were built, but but like the names behind them. So, if you're wondering why Willard is Willard or Hubard is Hubard, um, the historical society is going to do an hourlong presentation on that. I'm gonna attend virtually, but um I'm just putting that out there. It sounded pretty interesting. Well, I would like to share that I attended the Upbeat picnic on May 29th. Um and you

028guys did a phenomenal job. Upbeat, Jamie Miller, um anyone else who, you know, was involved in putting it together. I know there's a lot of people involved. And maybe I say this every year, but I feel like it was the best picnic yet. It was I just felt like there were so many people there. It was so wellrun. Um my my two-year-old ate like three hot dogs. I don't know how, but it was just a really great night. Um they love the bounce houses and all the different things that there were to offer. I know Jamie did a great job with the raffle. Um so well done. I I think it was a really positive, happy, fun night uh despite the rain the the week before. So Great job. Okay, moving on to report of

029student representatives. So, we'll turn it over to Anish and Grace. But we're going to start off with Fly Day. So, on May 23rd, BHS was happy to host the incoming freshman class for McGee Fly Day. Student volunteers and staff were all happy to welcome a fresh new class of students onto the high school. See you guys next year. And then the culinary arts 2 course at BHS participated in a cooking competition showcasing foods from all over the world much like culture day. It was an incredible opportunity for students and faculty alike to have a little taste of the world right here at BHS. And along with that, Miss Portal's senior speech class presented their inspirational words of wisdom to BHS students and staff on May 29th. With life lessons, both unique and personal, anyone listening

030was able to walk out of the auditorium with some memorable piece of advice from the graduating class. Great job, everyone. And then, a group of dedicated students have completed their CNA course, meaning they are now eligible to take the state exam and work in nursing homes with their license. Congratulations to all of our healthcare workers of tomorrow. On June 5th, the Special Olympics torch burned bright at Berlin High. Students and staff cheered on local law enforcement and runners as they carried the flame of hope through town in support of the Special Olympics Connecticut. And then Berlin High's student athletes officially turned into college athletes during BHS's signing day. They are taking their commitment to their sports to the next level and we wish them all the best in this new next new and exciting chapter.

031Kind of staying on the sports path. Many spring sports seasons have come to an end, but two teams continue to represent the Red Coat Pride by advancing in their respective state division tournament. Berlin boys baseball is advancing in the semi-finals against Guilford on Tuesday, June 10th. Also on Tuesday, June 10th, Berlin girls golf hopes to defend a fourth state title during the Division 2 state championships at TSA Nolles. Last week, the Lady Red Coats won their fifth straight CCC tournament at their home course in Timberland with the top four scorers all being medalists. Good luck to both teams and go Red Coats. Hosted at Berlin High School on May 28th, the Women and Leadership Conference was an inspiring and empowering day filled with powerful stories, meaningful connections, and unstoppable spirit. Students and educators alike came

032together to celebrate women and leadership, leaving them motivated with confidence and purpose. And we'd like to give a little love to the BHS teacher of the year. And for the 2024 2025 school year, Brown High School gym teacher Mr. Arnold has been awarded the BHS teacher of the year. For 26 years, Mr. Arnold has been has dedicated himself to the betterment of the students at BHS. He has inspired students to learn and grow, and his passion is evident to every student who has had him as an educator. Congratulations to Mr. Arnold. Thank you for all you do at Berlin High. Finally, as the years have flown by, it is finally time to say goodbye to the departing senior class of 2025. With last week being senior outing along with upcoming awaited events such as all

033night grad, the senior class will be saying goodbye to Berlin High. They will walk the stage at Sage Park on Friday, June 13th. Class president Marina Borscelli, saludiatoran Victoria Bovya, and valadictorian Nikki Ibrahimi present their advice to the class and many damned spectators as well as we all wish them the best of luck in their upcoming endeavors. That's all we have for girl and I this month. Thank you. Any questions for Grace or Anushia? Well, thank you for your report. Um, and moving on to committee reports. Uh, Peter, would you like to report out on the FNO committee? FNO committee met on June 4th, uh, Wednesday. Uh, we, uh, made some tweaks to the budget recommendations. Um ultimately we kept the previous recommendations in place but then elected to uh remove one of the dean

034students from McGee uh in exchange for uh bringing on another uh teacher at the kindergarten level at uh at Grisswald in order to uh prepare for anticipated increase in enrollment and to keep class sizes at a reasonable uh amount. Um, and we, you know, we'll elaborate a bit more on the rationale on that later in our budget discussion. Thank you. Um, Brian, would you like to share the, uh, curriculum committee report? Sure. The curriculum committee met on Wednesday, June 4th, promptly at 4:30. Um, and the, uh, agenda that day was to go over a couple of preschool books um, to round out that curriculum now that it's a full day pre-K. and those were uh creative curriculum for preschool and developing roots. Um no issues. The curriculum committee approved those for consideration will be discussed

035later. And then there was also a com a conversation regarding an agenda item later in the agenda about uh personal devices. Now that we've moved uh forward with the phone um lockup, uh we are looking to expand that to where kids are are not going to be able to use their personal devices. and we had a good conversation and I'm sure we'll we'll hear some of that tonight. But I can tell you that the curriculum committee largely supported this endeavor. I'll say that now just so that when we hear that later, you know that that we do want to move in this direction. We just think it's in the best interest of the students as well as as the professionals in the building. Thank you. Um and Peter, do you want to share about the

036ad hoc committee meeting this morning? Were you there? Wait, was it this morning? Ad hoc. Uh we're gonna first reading policy. We're going to discuss later anyway. I have nothing to report. Perfect. Thank you. Um and then I'll share on the community engagement committee. We met on May 28th at 4:30. Uh we had two agenda items, social media use and communication to the public. Um it was a very productive meeting and we you know we weren't we were able to have some really good strong discussions and take some uh good action steps and next steps and we scheduled our next meeting for June 18th at 11:00 a.m. Um, but we talked about the social media use and rather than having a board of education page and this is something that we've been talking about for

037some time and kind of going back and forth on instead having a Berlin public schools page. Um and I think you know I have said for a while now like I think that's more appropriate than you know a a board of volunteers where we have annual turnover having someone manage that um can be really h have a number of challenges um but throughout our committee meetings over the past you know from no December through now we've continued the discussion and to build on what our vision for that is um so Brian had worked with his team to get that account up. Um we've discussed three posts per week with the comments off. Um so it's this has been an ongoing discussion with our committee and you know I think this was an ongoing discussion with

038the board previously um probably over the past year. So, took some time, but I think this is a great time to launch it over the summer and build the followers. Um, we also discussed communication to the public and that's, you know, a topic that has been ongoing and as we've continued to meet as a committee, we've been building off of, you know, that um to see you start in areas where we can really try and start focusing on um and doing well at rather than trying to hit them all. and you know ways to engage the community with QR codes and where could we place them to get followers to you know get emails to sign up for our emails so on and so forth. Um so we've really brainstormed a lot around that. We

039talked about how can we bring seniors into the schools and again this has been an ongoing discussion. Um and we talked about partnering with the senior center to give them x amount of free tickets and you know to games and events um and just seeing how we can bring more in um how can we work with the library so on and so forth. So that's why we while we were in that meeting we scheduled our next meeting to just continue to build on these conversations. Um, something we used to have in the past that I absolutely loved was the district calendar. And so you used to be able to go on and see like for this, you know, for the month every every event happening on June 9th and then it was colorcoded by school.

040So you could see like, oh, McGee has this sporting event, BHS has these sporting events, or there's a concert or a musical or whatever's going on. And you know, when I was new on the board, it helped me as a new board member see what was going on and ways I could get involved outside of the board meetings, which then gave me more to report on during um the report of board members. So, we talked about ways to bring that back. So, we initially got rid of that because of the cost. So, Brian and his team are looking into how could we bring something back um that's more cost effective. It's been a number of years, so I'm sure it's, you know, there might be ways now. So, on June 18th, he's going to report

041back about the district calendar and what we can do with that. And then we um brought back the topic of board liaisons. And so we've revisited this a handful of times of board members being assigned to certain schools um to be the liaison because we were kind of talking about well can board members go to PTO meetings and then you know yeah they can but really like it's more appropriate if they're the liaison and that was like kind of what the conversation centered around. So I think with the district calendar um and the social media and it's all being streamlined together, it's going to be a more effective way to implement the board liaison and then have board members be successful carrying that out. So more is to come June 18th, but the you know

042these conversations have have been going on. we've been building on them and we just want to make sure we do them well rather than try and just throw things together to see what works. So, um June 18th is our next meeting. So, that's the update. Uh correspondence to the board. Yes, we have one correspondence to the board. It's from Tana Donna and Tom Franco. Thank you so much for the beautiful flowers for Tom's mom and my dad for all the contribute support and of course your thoughts and prayers. Finally, the Franalino family. Moving on to audience of citizens. Berlin community members are encouraged to share their thoughts with the board of education. However, uh if you need to come up, please state your name and address and you have three minutes to speak. It won't

043be a back and forth. We may have to follow up separate. Would anyone like to approach the board? Good. Good evening. My name is Amy Pager. I live at 153 Dale Drive. Um I just wanted to start off by saying it's wonderful to hear all the positive things that the board of ed is doing today. I'm here to fight for one of those positive things that the board of ed has. Um thank you to the board of ed members for the opportunity to speak today. I'm here as a parent and more importantly as an advocate for my son and the pathways program that is currently at McGee Middle School. a program that has become a critical support in my son's education and his personal growth. We just recently learned that the program would be dissolving

044and that my son would be transferred over to another individual's case load and absorbed into another program. While I am confident that this program meets the needs of its current participants, I'm also confident that it will not meet the needs or have the same positive effect on my son as his current program does. The Pathways program was created for kids like my Jack and the other program was created for students who have different needs and require a different set of supports. Pathways is not just another special education service. It is a thoughtfully designed program that specifically supports students with executive functioning challenges. Students who may struggle with organization, self-regulation, focus, and planning. These are individual these are invisible difficulties that can deeply affect both academic success and everyday interactions. What sets pathways aparts is apart

045is its dual f focus. It helps students to understand and cope with their exceptionalities while also teaching them how to build meaningful appropriate relationships with peers and adults. My son is learning not just how to stay on task but how to advocate for himself, how to manage frustration, and how to navigate a social world that he often feels like he doesn't fit in. Much of his success in this program is due to the consistency and compassion and expertise of Mr. Pari Paresi and his team. So, not only is my son losing the program that is tailored to his specific needs, but he's also losing his person and the team of teachers that he comes to rely on and connect to. Mr. Prey and Miss Fanka do not just deliver support. They connect, mentor, and guide

046each student with an individualized approach that makes them feel seen and understood. The relationships built within this program are just as important as the academic and social supports it provides. I came to this meeting tonight to advocate that we find a way to keep this program. I'm a team player. I'll do whatever it takes. If you need me to go doortodoor or find a grant or something, I'll do it. I left my son tonight extremely upset. So much so that he doesn't want to come to school next year if Mr. Paresi is not going to be there. I know, Mr. Benigny that you um my son had the pleasure of reading his writing to you the other the other board of ed meeting. While a portion of that success is due to his amazing language

047arts teacher, Mr. Apprentice, his ability to go up to you and speak to you and shake your hand in a socially appropriate manner um is because of Mr. Paresi and his team. People don't understand how hard it is to be the parent of a child with special needs. We don't have the opportunities like parents of typical children. Other children and adults don't understand kids like my son, so socializing them in sports is not an option. and no one is banging on our door to hang out or have playdates. Unfortunately, Pathways gave us the promise that my son would have the social opportunities like his typical peers. I cannot stress enough how vital it is to maintain both Pathways Pro the Pathways program and the staff that run it. To remove or dilute either would be

048a profound step backward, a step backwards, not only for my child, but for every student who depends on this kind of specialized instruction and guidance. Programs like Pathways give our students a fighting chance to succeed both in school and in life. I ask you to continue investing in what works and Pathways works. Thank you for your time and consideration. Thank you. Um the superintendent will follow up with you after the meeting. He'll email you. Thank you for coming out this evening. Um, moving on to our next agenda item, we have an administrative resignation, the Dina students at Griswald. This is a sad one, but do we have a motion for consideration? Cara Quinn effective June 30, 2025, and to thank her for the seven years of service she has provided to the youth of Berlin

049and wish her well in her new position. Do we have a second? So motion by car, second by Jamie. Okay, any discussion. I just want to say will Miss Cara and wish her luck on her next position. Okay, we can move on to a vote. All those in favor? I opposed. Okay, vote carries 90. Um, moving on to the consent agenda that is included in your board packet. Do we have a motion for consideration? Consent agenda as presented. Do we have a second? Motion by Peter, second by Dina. Any discussion on the consent agenda? Okay, we can move to a vote. All those in favor? I opposed. All right, vote carries. 90. Moving on to new business. Um, the Berlin VNA service agreement, the visiting nurse association service agreement with the board of education for

050July 1, 2025 through June 30th, 2026. This is an annual agreement. Um, we need a motion for consideration and then we can go into discussion. Do we have a motion for consideration? I move that the board approve the agreement between the Berlin Board of Education and the Berlin Visiting Nurse Association for the fiscal year 2025 2026. Motion by Melissa. Do we have a second? Second by Jen. Any discussion? Um the agreement is posted in schooly if anyone hasn't seen it. But anything anyone would like to I just I mean I just want to I mean, I know there's been some changes um and I can only speak um because I had the personal connection with Willard, but it's been a phenomenal positive change um with the new leadership there. So, um that's all I can

051really say. And I love our school nurse. You want to speak? Thank you to speak. Um, as I noted in the update numerous times, there's been a change in the nursing supervision at the VNA and a change in nursing assignments. The Willer nurse is new. Um, and she is doing a fantastic job. Um, but just the overall demeanor and the the the positiveness of the nursing department has lifted greatly since uh the new leadership across the district. So, I'm I'm glad it's going all the way back to parents and that they're seeing it also. So, thank you. Any other discussion? Okay, we can move to a vote. All those in favor? I opposed carries 90. Uh, moving on to personal devices. So, I will have the superintendent discuss a little bit about this and then

052we'll move to a uh motion then we can open it up to discussion. Oh, okay. So, I'm going to ask uh Lori Chirpin, one of our curriculum directors, to come forward. she's been working with our tech integration and and our IT department on this and uh they presented to the subcommittee um the curriculum committee. So as so we um as a tech team talked a lot about our um personal devices and the use of them this year and we started really talking about it in the fall and and have come up with a recommendation as we move forward. So, I'll have um at this time Jen Nero, who's our tech integration specialist at the high school, come up and talk. And then we also have Craig Zamansky, who's our IT director for the entire district.

053And then if you have any questions, Katie Mena is also here. Um this is a district policy, but most of the personal devices are used at the high school, but it is not something that's just specific to Garland High School. Just I just want to clarify to the board real quick. We're going to have them present. Just hold your questions to the motion and then during the discussion we'll ask questions. Good evening everyone. Um as Lori just said, my name is Jen Nero. I'm the tech integration specialist here at the high school. Um this year we started talking about personal devices because I have been um a tech integration specialist here at the high school for the whole time that we've been um onetoone devices within our district. And in the beginning when we started

054onetoone we didn't have enough devices for to fully be onetoone. So we allowed personal devices but the climate of devices the capabilities of devices have changed and we haven't really had the conversation and uh when the conversation kind of started we were looking at AI changes and different things but then we started looking into different areas as well and really kind of see what was being done with the personal devices. So there's kind of three things that I would like to talk about. Uh security and safety is the number one. So that's something um that we realized what the students were doing with the devices does not really fit what um should be going on in a classroom setting. The second thing I'd like to talk about is the distraction it is causing our students

055because of some of these things that they are capable only because they have a personal device. And then the third I kind of already mentioned the fact that well we now have a device onetoone. We have a device for every student. So we are now in a situation where we can go fully onetoone and not have to allow uh the personal devices. So the safety and security and um Craig will talk after me and he's IT director so he has kind of the more technical background of some of this but in talking with students and teachers and just seeing because I go into classrooms every day and seeing things that are happening these students um have capabilities on a personal device to bypass pretty much all or most of our securities. So, they are bypassing

056our firewall. Um, they are adding applications they're not supposed to have in school. They are able to use AI tools. They're uh we've taken the phones and locked them up, but they're having texting um capabilities because they have it on their laptops. So, as much as we are thinking they are being used for educational purposes, they are being used for a lot more. I also run a group of students um independent stud study students who are called tech experts at the high school and they run a high school help desk and do projects for the school and the district um kind of where needed and where things come on. So, I've had a lot of conversations with these students, mainly the seniors that are about to graduate, kind of saying, "Can you give me a

057reason why? Can you tell me why a personal device is truly needed versus a Chromebook?" And not one of them could give me a reason. And when I said, "Is there any student use it using this device fully for kind of the correct reasons?" They said, "There is not one student using it solely for correct reasons." So, in having these conversations, I actually talked to two more students today, but they're running VPNs, um, they're getting on kind of anything that they would like to, even if it is completely school inappropriate, and we have very little oversight to that. So, that's kind of where the conversation came. And then the distraction to it, the teacher in the classroom trying to manage not knowing what's on personal devices. We have software called securely that are supposed to

058help with assessments and help with some of this. It doesn't work on personal devices and things like that. And then even so much as final exams today, students who use personal devices can't take their exams on the personal device some of them or parts of the exam. Same with SATs. Same with AP testing. So they have to very last minute say I don't have my Chromebook. can I have a device? And there's quite a few of them sometimes in certain situations. So, there's that kind of that goes on too. So, I'll pass it off to Craig to kind of give you some of the more technical piece, but that's kind of the educational classroom piece that I have to share. Thanks, Jen. Um, this um Craig Sansky, director of IT, and it's, you know, like

059I think Jen basically said it all. you know, we're they are the devices. You know, we we have a legal obligation to keep our connection at the school's uh SIPA compliant federal law, ch children's internet privacy act. Um, excuse me. And when they're using anomousizing VPNs and bypassing the security that we have in place, it's it leads to a threat to our rate funding, which covers half of our reimbursement for paying for the connection and the equipment and the Wi-Fi and everything. So, um you know, we've we're kind of putting that at jeopardy as well as not upholding the the laws when they when they do buy that. So with the if every student has you know a school assigned managed device there's oversight there's you know an ability to have a safer less distracted

060classroom as Jen said and um as far as tech technical you know there's probably at least 150 laptops throughout the year that of more more seniors and you know upper classmen but it's just they come into the classroom with a device that can just run AI without a connection. We can install it on their own machines. The multimedia or software that's on those devices, I have no idea what it may be, but it's not all the time something that should be in the classroom. So that's really, you know, I can't think of anything else to say other than, you know, as far as keeping things compliant with federal laws, local laws, and you know, the safety in cyber security of just having all managed devices in the classroom will give the teachers a little less

061distracted things going on. That's all. Any questions? I guess I'm gonna entertain a motion first and then I'll open it up. That the board transition to allowing only schoolisssued devices in our schools affected with the 2526 school year and revise board policy accordingly. Motion by Peter, second by Brian. Now we can open it up for discussion. This impacts us the most. So I feel like our advice is probably the most valuable here. And I mean looking at it from the teachers point of view like those are logical arguments but I think what's not taken into consideration is the fact that like this is student life as well. Like students graduating this year are going on with their personal devices into college. Like it's no longer just take away. It's okay now you have access to

062everything. So I think this the phones are already away and this is an opportunity for both classrooms, teachers, students all alike to learn that self-control. If there's the ability or a teacher suspects that kind of distraction, then um it's an opportunity to learn how to put the device away rather than just ripping it away and saying, "Oh, no, you can't have it anymore." Like, that's not real life. And I think it doesn't teach students how to handle access to ulterior um things. I mean, AI is a growing part of schools, and it's um unfortunate that students would use it to cheat and not for the correct reasons. But I think it's really hard to assume that every single student I mean I have a personal device. I haven't used it all the time because of

063things like the testing barriers, but um I had an iPad that I would use for note-taking and it allowed me to have um all of my notes handwritten and available at all times to me, but it didn't mean that I had to be on my phone. Plus, the VPN and the barriers were working for me. Like I wasn't able to access ulterior things. So I think from the student perspective, it's really hard to just rip it away and say no, you can't have it when that's not real life. Thank you. And you should do you want to share anything while we're down at that end? Yeah, I would just like to say I think going off of what Grace was saying, I mean I also have a personal device and I've personally I think for

064me the reason why I got the device was purely for like how easy it was. I found the Chromebooks to just be sometimes they just wouldn't load. They would be too slow or at night they would refresh when I was in the middle of an assignment and stuff like that. I just found that annoying. I had my personal device. It worked really well for me. Um, I think from the senior's point of view, it did work really well just in terms of like kind of like balancing like I mean, yeah, you have your class assignments and all of that, but then for example, if I needed to access something to submit to a college and stuff, I could use that on my personal device. As far as the um AI and stuff like that, I

065know this year, I'm not sure actually, but a lot of AI like systems like chat GPT, which is the most popular, has been blocked by the Wi-Fi. And then without access to phones, people aren't able to access like extra AI. Um I think like going off what Grace was saying, this is like an opportunity to practice self-control. Um, I think taking it away entirely right away might be a bit I don't know. I think it would be a really big adjustment for all of the students to make. Um, but if it's like a gradual change, I think that would be a better option. I think a gradual change, but also the fact like you guys do have securities in place like you obviously want the best for students and that's apparent. I mean, there's reasons

066why you can't open certain things when you're on certain devices. And as far as my teachers and stuff, like through testing and stuff, I took the seal of my literacy today and there were multiple people on personal devices, yet my teacher is still able to access their screens through securely. So, I think there are certain precautions in place. I'm not sure the like logistics of that, but um I think too the adjustment portion of it, like it's the ability to kind of trust students and say, "Okay, we already took your phones. You're not using your phone in class. Your backpacks are in a locker, but this is your device and you can access ulterior things. Like your life isn't just school. It goes beyond that. And this is kind of that opportunity. Thank you. Anyone

067else? And if you guys want to respond to anything, you can. Anyone. It's open to discuss. Um, so Anushia and Grace um are correct in some ways. Um, they are definitely probably using it for some solid reasons, but there are ways around everything they're saying they're doing. There are things many other students are doing and my tech experts included because they're techsavvy and they teach their friends that allow them to bypass it all. So there is a certain knowledge base and it has there has to be a want to do it and I don't think necessarily every student wants to find a workaround. I would definitely agree with them on that. But I think we have a pretty significant population that is finding a workaround and um I've talked to quite a few of the

068students as well that are finding the workaround. Um so there's like there's that side at all and it's it we just can't manage the personal devices. We don't have the oversight. So, if you're looking at the safety and security and the um knowing what's going on in a classroom and the distraction level, there's no way around it. Especially that the number does seem to go up a little bit every year of how many personal devices. And something we didn't mention earlier that might play a little bit of a part is we did do our research on how many school districts are allowing personal devices. And um we looked at something like maybe 30 schools um local schools close by schools that we would seemingly be pretty similar to and um almost all of them do

069not allow personal devices. We are one of the very few. There are a couple that do and are pulling back from it and then there was maybe one or two that haven't started pulling back and I don't know if they will pull back from it but overall we are one of the very few school districts that do allow personal devices as well and I didn't say that earlier. It's really hard to assume that. I mean, as much as you say that every like students the growing population of students misusing the trust that like with a personal device, but it's really hard to just rip it away. I mean, like I was able I didn't start using my personal device until later in the year and when I actually had it, it was a very useful

070tool for me beyond a Chromebook. And I think it's really hard to just say, okay, the solution to this is rip it away. like I think the pulling back portion or some other kind of inthe-middle solution may be what the schools need rather than just completely taking away and saying you can't have it much like they did with the phones. And I think that that's a fair statement you make Grace. Um I there's an analogy that Craig um I'd like you to share if you don't mind. You know the analogy I'm speaking to um and that I think that's what both of you are bringing up when you have your personal device the difference between that and a Chromebook. Um yeah, just a comment on how distracting it is when you have a you know

071I I kind of compare when you have a classroom full of Chromebooks and if you have a few um MacBooks or nice new PCs arrive, it's similar to, you know, a student driving a Lamborghini into the parking lot and everyone else has a Honda Civic or, you know, Corolla. It's very distracting and it's not um I don't I don't think it's a good look when when you're trying as a teacher to manage that, you know, because there's a device that has so much horsepower compared to what we're able to provide them. It also address the horsepower is one piece of it, but there is the I know AI is one piece we talked about, but it's not just AI. It's on that personal device. They could have any tool, a tool that a teacher doesn't

072know that they have versus on a Chromebook that is managed. The teacher's expecting them to have those tools and have that access and can't manage or even touch the personal device in a sense. There's just a significant difference between those two scenarios of what's going on in the classroom. So, kids have their personal Do they not have access to tools that the teachers are using? We use a tool a digital um kind of sign in called class link. So when they log in on their to their Google account for the district, they get access to something called class link which all tools are um kind of a member of and then they can access those tools because the tools we use because of Chromebooks are digital tools. Um, so they have access to those, but

073they can't log into any other account. So if it's a tool that we don't allow in our school because we have the student data privacy act, we get licenses with every software we use and we know our teachers know what tools we have. When you log into your school Google Chrome account, you have access to the subset that is allowed. When you open an other Chrome profile and it's your personal profile, if it's a digital tool, we're talking so over the internet, you have access to anything that that personal account has ever become a member of, whether it's AI, whether it's Netflix, whether it's whatever, uh, their YouTube account, anything, social media, stuff like that, if they're running through a VPN. Now, our firewall does work if they're not trying to bypass it, but there

074are ways to bypass it. And there are ways that we at this time cannot block. So, I know, you know, if I bring my personal device to my job at a school and I because I have other work to do because I'm staying late or whatever, I don't hook it up to the school Wi-Fi. I put it on my my hotspot and that that's just the simplest, easiest way to bypass it. Um, but you know, I think for me I I feel like this conversation kind of came up timely based on some things I've been thinking about. So, we all received the book The Anxious Generation. Um, I'm not a huge reader, but I actually started reading it two weeks ago and I haven't been able to put it down and it, you know, it

075it really started getting me to reflect on a number of things that are going on with students now. things that even though I'm in front of high schoolers every day, I haven't considered. And you know, I I am in a class where I have computers, like I'm in a computer lab. So, um, this year I feel like though it's not Berlin, I've seen just such an increase in cheating even with kids I wouldn't expect to cheat. I've seen off task behavior incomplete work, um, all these different things. And so the anxious generation you know reading that book and I'm grateful that you know we were provided a copy of it really had me start thinking so you know the book opens talking about like you know the whole analogy with going to Mars and if

076you know we knew then if we knew now what we knew then you know we do things really different um we wouldn't send our kids to Mars so on and so forth and things that are happening and we are allowing the kids to do right now. We are setting them up in ways that we would say, I can't believe we were actually handing the kids these c certain things x, y, or z, you know, and I've been reflecting on it as a parent, as a teacher, and then someone looking to the future. So, you know, it, you know, I think though they talk about like the school by itself a bit, I think it also transfers into the technology component and what technology is looking like in the classroom, how it is used and how

077it is the teacher's job to kind of scale it back in certain ways. Like, I've gone to paper assessments this semester instead of Google Forms. Um, you know, I've I pay $5 a month for a Chrome extension to see if kids are using AI and cheating because kids I would least suspect to do it are doing it. And so though some students do really exhibit high levels of self-control and they wouldn't do it. like it's just been a big challenge that I've been reflecting on, you know, as an educator, board member, parent that I really think that we have a collective and shared responsibility to come together and say, what are we going to do that's right and best for all kids, um, even though my four-year-old is doesn't have a personal device yet. So,

078I think there are a lot of challenges and I think that book really helped get me reflecting on what some of these challenges are and start framing my thinking so I could begin to shift my thinking because I'd say a month ago this wasn't even on my radar as a potential concern. Um, and then you know Brian had mentioned that this was coming up and I said, "Wow, this couldn't have been a better time." I never thought I would be saying I fully support this, but I fully do because I've always been for full student autonomy. But I think with the whole technology thing and the the addiction and the brain science and the rewiring of the brain, we have a responsibility. Um, so if you for the board members, if you haven't started reading

079the book, it's actually really great. I haven't been able to put it down and I'm not someone who reads for pleasure. So, it's really started shifting my perspective. Um, this one's hard for me because I have a soon to be senior. Um, Grace, I really appreciate what you said because it made me think um, actually I actually I agree with you and at the beginning of this I I did not I thought I was full on for this but I changed my mind. Um, and this is why is it possible, and this is really just a question, Jen, and for you guys, if we just have, and again, this is hard for me because I have a going to have a senior and I'm trying to look at the whole picture and not him because

080he has a personal device and I don't really agree with him having it. Um, but if you have seniors and Grace and Anushia that have access to college, whatever, is there things that seniors or maybe upper classmen, juniors and seniors have access to by using their personal device they do not have access to using the Chromebook? Is it beneficial? Is it beneficial to have a personal device as upper classmen as opposed to younger? And I I honestly don't know it. So I'm trying to to try to make a educated decision here. Or a senior privilege. Yeah. Almost like Yes. Like is it prepare them for the transition? Does it benefit them if it's a senior or again even a junior I don't know to have the access that the Chromebook does not provide. So for

081seniors, we open up email um so that they can email from their school accounts um anyone that it's a senior kind of privilege that they can receive email and um send email to anybody. So if they um like they do it with capstone for interviews and things like that like that's kind of part of the learning process that's controlled but then they might do it otherwise. So common office is through Naviance. Naviance is completely open through school. Um I'm trying I mean do you want to if I can just add we had a we had a meeting the same thing that you're bringing up and that Grace said as I said I agree Grace too. We talked about I'm gonna ask Katie to come up to and speak on this because we had a big

082discussion about my suggestion was just grandfathering the seniors in and then the following year saying it's no one at the school and the group thought that that would not be a great way to go just because seniors may have already had access they already have their Chromebook say you know seniors for this first year implementation can use their own devices and then the following year it's goes you know you know 9 through 12 no personal devices I I just think and I Craig and Jen correct me if I'm wrong here. If we could afford, and I know this is definitely something that we can, if we could give everyone a MacBook Air and then control it, that'd be great. Everyone everyone would have the Ferrari or the sorry Lamborghini, but that's not that's not the

083case. And so because of that, that's where the inequity comes in about what can be used. But if you want Katie, I want I know we spoke and you could definitely ask more perspective here. Uh, so I have a lot of different angles that I want to, you know, respond to. So I'm going to try to channel this a bit. So uh again likewise to to what Mrs. Miller said in hearing you Grace and Anusha who are outstanding you know uh only student citizens here everyone high school you lead with integrity right and so by no means is this any pointing of fingers to you or classmates alike because it's not the bigger uh concern the global concern is that we are moving at a high pace digital world so fast that even our experts

084can't keep up right and so with that being said as a building leader in particular, my concern always goes to safety. And when we're thinking about safety and when I'm reflecting on this school year, because I'm going to be really honest and transparent, when the team brought this to me, I was not fully on board. I'm like, really? Of all the things we just did that, you know, building the culture with cell phones, this just seems like a lot all at once. And then living throughout this school year and thinking about that shift, I I'd like to share we've had so much positive feedback feedback from students, parents, and uh staff members, teachers about the culture change of removing those devices during instructional time. They're not banned. They're not lock locked up 247. They're removed

085during instructional time. So, in some ways, this is defining. It's a bit ironic that we would have personal devices such as a MacBook with full access while we're it's going against the culture that we're trying to build with removing some of the distractions. Another example that something is on the rise. Uh it's going to be a sad, you know, it's it's not new, but it's going to be a sad reality, I think, as with each passing year is we're seeing online gambling. Just as an example, I have a team that, you know, wants to attend a a conference on that. And it's, you know, it's no secret that we're walking around the cafeteria and poking in and seeing what students are doing on their phones and games like that. You know, that's going on, too.

086And that's just one of many examples. But in my experience this year, uh, we had a handful of situations that certainly posed a high safety concern, and several of them were through the ability to have access to a personal device. and by chance we intercepted that. So there's a great level of safety concern with it too that's not really you know made mention of um because it's delicate and we can't share all of that information but it's a true concern that we have and so while we want to value and and respect the uh students who have led you know with integrity and use their devices I you know I've switched to a scribe a notebook scribe too so I get it's really convenient I'm a student at Yukon so I use it every so

087I understand that convenience but unfortunately ely we're just in a digital age where we can't keep up and um to think about allowing some students right or upper classmen or seniors um sort of grandfathered into keeping the device but not allow students in grade 9 through 11. That's really messy for teachers. That's really difficult to manage in the classroom and it's really difficult for us to manage you know from a tech side. And when we think about equity, if we have mixed classes of students who are sophomores, juniors, and seniors all in the ECE class, and we have some students who have seniors, right, that perhaps have a personal device, but then we're telling students in grade nine, 10, and 11 or 10, 11 in the same class, you cannot, that's an equity issue. So,

088it gets messy and that's not really an easy solve for us. Is it something that if seniors were could they use it during study hall or something their own personal device during study hall if that it's not during instructional time. So while that that would make sense at face value that then goes it still is a concern with the concerns I have as a building leader when it comes to safety. Right. And so there's a reason why all of these districts have removed personal devices. It wasn't just, you know, a quick decision. They did the time. They did the research. Um, they dug in. And so, if you saw the list of school districts that surround us that do not allow Farmington, Avon, Simsbury, uh, Cromwell, Rocky Hill, Newington, all of these districts do not

089in the board policy do not allow personal devices. And that's with reason. So, um, in some ways, when this was presented, you know, to me, like I said in the beginning of the year, I said, "This is not a Berlin High School thing. It's a district thing," right? because it felt like we had so much change so fast. But again, with this quickly evolving digital world, um it's it's hard for us to combat. How many issues do you have with um and you probably don't know this answer and Craig, Jen, maybe you guys do, and I I know I'm keep going back to the seniors, but I'm I'm trying to take what Grace said and and and really think about, you know, where you're at and and NA what they said. How many issues have

090you had with just seniors? Do you find that they have a more more maturity? I'm sure that there is a handful that don't. I totally get that. I think it's hard to I think it's hard to respond to that because it's so subjective, right? I I walk into a classroom and you know the stu the teacher has the lesson scaffolded and some students are done and some students are not and you know I'm walking always around and chatting and you know I know this is just recently and I noticed two students were you know gaming and they had personal devices and so of course I I'm like you know even though the teacher said nope we should be on to the next task right and so the teachers were it's really hard to gauge who

091and who you know who doesn't and it's it's also so tempting right so So I go back to is there Grace Anushia? Do you guys have websites or things for college prep or testing or whatever that you utilize that Chrome doesn't have or you don't have access to? I think I'll start my response is I have yet to start the college application process, but through what counselors have told me already, there's some schools I know that I want to apply to that are not on Common App, like their application requires me to go through a different website, their personal which on Chrome on Google Chrome on the Chromebooks is not an access. I cannot sign in typically through my own um like username and password if it's not like a Google my Google school account.

092I I just just to comment back to that and I'm again for the sake of dialogue back and forth. I've had zero we've had zero instances of any you heard tonight just a few of the schools that our students are applying to outside of Common App. Um we've not heard of any students not being able to access applications. Just just to share. Is that because they're doing it through their personal don't know. Okay. But it has not been a persistent or even brought up. tool where they could request access to like a specific college site if it's not something they can access and then you guys could maybe go through and verify if it's acceptable or not and maybe approve it so they can legitimate resources somehow filtered and we correct that if we told

093them and now also Grace and Anushia mentioned um handwriting notes I'm super technologically illiterate so please I don't I don't know if this is even like a thing, but are you able to get um some sort of that tool on the Chromebooks so they can still do that? We do not have uh we just have regular laptop programs. They're not the interactive writing ones. Okay. What about um Anushia was saying that sometimes freezing and having to update or reload during assignments. Is there some way to correct that? Yeah. You know, we have on site. We have support in and um you know there's resolutions. If Chromebook's not acting correctly, we we fix it. So Chromebooks go through my office and um there's a loner. Anytime a student comes with an issue, they immediately get a

094loaner. So they immediately have a Chromebook to use. It's just a simple swap. We get theirs fixed and get their Chromebook back to them. So, we have that all in place because we have many students with Chromebooks. So, that's been in place for years and works very well. I can understand the inconvenience of like she's saying if she's in the middle of an assignment and something's not loading. I don't know if maybe too many people are something at the same time. It's typically not um on all of a sudden issue. It's that they've been having an issue and maybe haven't come to see me at a more correct time and now they're in a critical moment. So there might be a little bit of learning curve of, hey, I was doing my homework last night

095at home, which they can still use their personal devices at home. It's within school that we're talking about. Um, but then they would come see me in the morning before class and we would get it remedied and fix it. Thank you. Repeat yourself. I didn't hear you. Oh, sorry. I said, "Do the Chromebooks uh have USB ports?" They said yes. Um, so isn't there hardware that that a student could use um like a writing pad? I've seen it before with other computers. You know, would a student be allowed to bring in that kind of pad as a hardware attachment to the Chromebook? Yes, they they could if they wanted to. If you guys What is the percentage of extra? I know that you have lots of kids that use their personal devices, but if everyone

096has a Chromebook, what is your percentage or how many do you have extra? So that if you know several might break down or whatnot, will you be able to So every classroom has two lenders. Um so that's like an immediate if a student, we don't typically give a lender out for I forgot it at home, not at the high school level because then they all conveniently forget them at home daily. Um, so there's two letters in a classroom that the teach the teachers asked for this years and years ago because we used to run the I forgot it home from the library. And the teacher said, can we control um, can we say you've forgotten it the last five days, you're going to do it this way instead because you need to bring your Chromebook.

097So the teachers wanted control. So we put two lenders in every single classroom for those situations. And then right now the lenders I have in my um office I have about 24 and that would be a lot of Chromebooks not working in the same moment for us. Our IT team is pretty phenomenal at fixing things. Um so it's usually a bigger um a quicker turnaround for that kind of stuff. So right now I have 24. I could have more if I needed to if we saw a big uptick. Um, but I don't they get a new Chromebook as a as a freshman coming in or is it just kind of recycled? They get a brand new Chromebook. Brand new one. So they have that's for and every freshman coming in gets a new Yes. Chromebook.

098I have to be honest. I'm struggling with this one. My my thing is if what they can do in the classroom, why can't they do it at home? So, I if they're in class and they're they're doing their work that they're supposed to be, great. But if they're not like, and I know that it it hurts the the kids that are on the right path, but it if they should be if they're doing essays for college, they should be doing that at home anyway. They shouldn't be doing that in a class when they're supposed to be learning something else. So, it it to me, it's an easy answer. At senior level, they have several stud They're not nearly maybe as full case case course load as they would other times. I'm just thinking if you

099have a kid who is a senior going to be a senior who has two study halls, one study hall per [Music] quarter, why couldn't they why why couldn't they have access to their personal device to be doing what they need? I I get the instructional time. I'm 100%, like I said, I have a kid who's going to be a senior and I don't think he needs to be having that during class time. I'm just thinking looking at all these kids that have all the, you know, these study time, like again, maybe they're not using it effectively, but for those that are, I I just like I said, I'm struggling with that because why wouldn't they be able to use that 90 minutes then to really get some work or do you know? Yeah, I do.

100Most seniors have study halls at the beginning or end of the day which means they have senior prim. So it's very rare for have to have seniors in the middle of the day in the library or in you know with the study hall. Their their schedules are strategically placed Yeah. in in the middle of the day. So it's very rare to have seniors um with study time in the middle. Melissa has a question. Yeah. Just a clarification question because with the change with the cell phones um during instructional time they're put in those cases. So is study hall considered an instructional time is sort of personal vices currently so so to Grace's point earlier you know to kind of to meet students in the middle we were we were strong with the we were strong

101about building a culture right versus compliance that was the tagline throughout the entire year culture versus compliance it was not intended you know for us although it that was the feel to lock up the cell phones we were adamant that this is during instru instructional time to remove them. So during study hall time where you know to Grace's point to have that sort of release of responsibility for studentu students this is your time and you choose to do your academics or to take a break or to read or to socialize maybe a little bit with friends. So it's during those times that students are allowed to have their cell phones. It's important to note that because other districts that do the pouches of things where you come in, you drop off your cell phone, you

102can't get it back in the day. They met with huge resistance by students, huge resistance by parents. Our our teaching students responsibility during instructional time has been you know supported by parents supported by students and supported by staff. So I think our model with the cell phones has has been very well. The other piece is if you're going to say to with the personal devices you know if the issue is during instructional time using it then we didn't talk about this and I'm just throwing it out there is it say well during classroom time you have to have the Chromebook that's all I want to see in class. I don't want to see the personal device. If you want to bring your personal device for study hall and other times during the day where it's

103your time or before school you're sitting in the lobby or after school then it's fine to see because you know the middle school's model with cell phones is different. It's been in place for years where it's not to be seen or heard and it's been that way for years and I believe that's the same model that's going still going on. And so I think of if we can't come to agreement that personal devices shouldn't be there as proposed. Is it better to say they're not used in class or not to be seen in classrooms? if they're used on your own time, then that's used on your own time. And I don't know if that's, you know, a better model or a or some hybrid in the middle. Would a separate Wi-Fi have to be set

104up or would they then just be responsible for using their hotspot if they like say we we said during their study hall, before school, after school, they can use their personal devices, but in class, like would that even be possible with the school Wi-Fi? because I know it's a security issue that we're also talking about. Um, right. Over the last two weeks, I say like I look at statistics of what might have been blocked as far as proxy category and VPN. Um, you know, maybe 2.8 million hits. And for those 2.8, there's another, you know, at least 50% more of that that have been allowed because it finds its way around. And I, you know, I would say no, they shouldn't be on the Wi-Fi. they would have to use their own hotspot because it's,

105you know, basically that violate violating -ate cipa compliance requirement. So if they use their own hotspot during a study hall with their own personal device, would that be something that I guess it's a matter of the content that's being displayed on the device while other people whether they're minors or not, are in the room. I guess the question for Grace down there that hybrid of saying bring your personal device, use it during study halls, use a hot spot. Does that become too cumbersome where people would say it's not worth it? See, I think it all comes back to like it's hard to really pick and choose what you need and want to do. So, if you only have an assignment that you want to type up on your Chromebook, sure. But there's some people who

106might actually like I know for me if I had notes to take I would 100% prefer to take my iPad to class, write whatever I need to write and study hall whatever than try and have to just work around that. Oh, okay. I'll wait till I get home and then be end up with loads of homework at the end of the night. Like that's not what I want to do for myself. Like I do have a study hall in the middle of the day and I'm I probably will next year considering the fact that I have courses with lab days and such. So having that ability to actually use my downtime in school to continue with my work because at the end of the day I still have things going on outside of school and

107it's really hard to kind of just say okay well now you can wait till you're at home to use that personal device just because um it's not okay in the classroom and I think it's a really hard it's a very big like blanket solution almost it covers everything and takes everything away and if there's any kind of leeway or something kind of like the proposed study hall solution I think that's better than just saying you absolutely absolutely cannot have it. I can understand from efficiency having the device you like to use and for efficiency a matter of time that makes sense. Is the mic on? Just make sure you're talking into the mic. Okay. Um I think as far as study halls are concerned, especially with the hotspots and like bypassing and all of that,

108um if you have access to your phone during study hall, you already have access to all those other things. If anything, you might have more access just because it's a cell phone. So, I'm I don't know. At least the way I'm looking at it is if you already have access to all that on your phone than not allowing a device to like not allowing a device during study hall so that you can't access those things even though you can still access them on your phone, which you're allowed. I don't know. I just don't think I think it's just like it like counters itself. But I think um I think like the biggest concern might be just like Grace said like specifically like I don't know um I know like the idea of like a writing

109pad did come up but I know a lot of students that prefer taking notes on an iPad or some sort of electronic device simply because um they're able to compile their notes together. They have messy handwriting. It's easier to write on there. They're lefties. They don't smudge their paper. It's just a lot of that is I think where students would prefer a personal device. Um and then I'm I don't know. I just feel like taking them away completely altogether might make the students feel I don't know. I don't want to say too restricted, but since they're not allowed their like they suddenly aren't allowed their backpacks, their phones, and their personal devices. I don't know. I just feel like it might be too much of a change to like put out all at once. And

110I think too going back like you have access to your phone and that's a big part of the culture that you've like been talking about and it's a very big and positive change at Berlin High but culture also means having your phone in those downtimes and your personal device typically has less access than your phone to those things. So if the concern is safety, then phones already are going to pose the same risk as any personal device. During instructional periods, the distraction is a different story. And I think that's what can be countered. Maybe Chromebooks only in classrooms, but phones typically when used in recreation will pose the same risk on the same Wi-Fi with the same VPNs as any personal device. So, just listening to, you know, I love the insight from the student

111reps and going back to what Julia said before. Um, and I brought this up in our last technology meeting. technology has a lot of great aspects to it, especially, you know, with whatever coursework and we talk about this personal downtime and not saying I would want it shut down completely, but I also it would be nice for people to interact with each other and not have that device as their as I will fully admit it it's an addicting thing. So, whatever you're using, what purpose you're using it for, obviously that's different. Um, but I mean, great insight from um the student reps. I just think I mean with school, it's the work that's your job when you get there. Yes, you have your social in between op like absolutely. um you know but to bring

112it back to their point I mean they do have the access to the personal device say because we're talking about you know the study halls so if we're talking about that I mean you already have a risk of safety even in the windows whether the windows be the hallway time of using access or you know the study hall so it's not completely shut off safe and secure unless there was literally no access. Yeah. And I think we're we're trying to strike the balance, right? And I will share it's been proposed to me countless times to remove cell phones from study halls. And it's something again being transparent that I said well pump the brakes. You know, we're we're to this point. Um the purpose again was building the culture, not a compliance and removing it

113completely. So uh we're trying to strike a balance here. This is months upon months of research that this team has done and uh with that being said, you know, the findings of the research and again just be in being transparent um my position from where the research started or from where the conversation started to where the research led me as a building leader in in making a decision um changed and shifted and uh so you know um there's a lot of accessibilities and a lot of privileges that come with you know those personal devices which are fantastic. Um, but our Chromebooks are fully equipped and you are able to to take notes in Google Docs and then open your personal device at home um and have your notes right there ready. So, it's not as

114though you're not able to access your schoolwork during the day um leaving you with, you know, only to work at home by any means. And this team um here is always accessible and willing to work with students to to find those workarounds. So, um, I hear and appreciate, you know, both of the feedback. Um, that's why our reps are here and we'll continue the conversation and and be happy to answer any more questions. Um, I do, so I want um, Brian to clarify the agenda, the order of agenda items because we have the vote here, but then we have the policy below. Um, so do you want to just clarify the purpose of the first reading? This discussion took place as Katie said earlier this year. And to be honest with you, I was not

115in support of it either. And you know, I was a huge proponent of bring your own device years ago. We didn't have device for every student. And when the safety issues arose and I met with Jen and Craig, um I I did change and say, you know, it is a safety concern and I am concerned about it. With that being said, um we because of time that we're in the June board of ed meeting and we need to roll things out. It's not fair to notify students and parents that devices aren't going to be allowed if they're buying devices and so on moving forward. The thought was based on the subcommittee and we had a meeting um with the U meeting last week that we had the policy reddrafted as if though we would say

116that you know personal devices are not allowed which is what you have a sample of here and we have first reading on the agenda. So the thought was if there was support, but I see that we're at a injuncture here where there may not be support by the board to move this forward. So we may not we may have to remove an item from the agenda and not move forward with the policy. If the board was on if the board voted and was on board with the policy, then we'd move forward to the first reading later in the meeting which then allow us to have our next meeting do a second reading of the policy adoption and then we get messaging out to the parents in an expeditious fashion. That that's why it's the board

117agenda is laid out this way. Does that make sense to everybody? Okay. So, that that's the the where we're at. Um it it defin as you can see amongst us there was definitely discussion along the way and movement as we went and I know for some of you it's this is the first time you're hearing about it the discussion and so on. Um and some of the points that are being raised are points that we had in our discussions also. So I don't know I think I think we you know there's a few more people at the table who we haven't heard from. So, I want to make sure that everyone's voice is heard. However, I think if we vote on it and that the vote fails that we can put a um get additional

118information and continue the discussion. But just know everyone can vote how they want to vote based on the information you have. But if it does fail, we could get more information and continue this um and put it on our next agenda. So, you know, I want everyone to feel empowered to vote in what they believe in. Um, as we have this motion, but uh, Gina and Brian, I'm not sure if I hear from you. And I think everyone at Yeah. Did you? No. Peter, you want to go? Sure. Uh, I think, um, Grayson and Nisha bring up good points. Um they're definitely sound arguments, but I I I think for the board's sake, the the the real question is a risk versus benefit analysis, right? Is the benefit of the students having access to personal

119devices for the added convenience that have that has been discussed? Does that outweigh the risks we are discussing such as v uh potentially getting funding cut because we're not compliant? Security breaches, the compromise of academic integrity if students are using their personal devices with tools that are being uploaded on them without being noticed. do all of our do all of the risks that we're weighing against that benefit, you know, does do the risk, you know, it's again risk versus benefit. I I think we just uh I'm fine with supporting this and moving along with it because I think the risks are too great and the benefit of the personal device does not outweigh the risks the revenue. So, Brian, do you have anything? Yeah, just real quick. still support it. Um, a from what I

120heard in the committee meeting is this will allow the teachers to be the best versions of themselves and that really matters a lot to me. Um, in terms of, you know, trying to make sure they're not worried about these distractions. I mean, you know, I supervise in my day job and and I can tell you it is hard when you don't have sort of a blanket policy to kind of, you know, worry about those this and thens and nuances. And I can imagine a school of you know several hundred um it's probably even more challenging. And the only other thing to kind of on Melissa's point this is not at all what you artic anybody was articulating for but as a society we've gone pretty far. We you know you guys are the generation that's

121kind of the pendulum starting to swing back a little bit but we are hiring people into the workforce now that lack social skills. And I think that's something that is going to come back and really hurt us as a society. Um, and I do think at some point we have to start to try to push that pendulum back the other way. Um, you know, the distractions, you can't keep them focused. They don't really know how to how to articulate um, and build relationships. And this is real. I mean, I'm not talking that they're, you know, inept, but they it's just not what I think we need in society in terms of like just being focused on technology all the time. So, anything that can kind of really send that message, I support. Tina Jen I

122hear you guys growing up with computers it's it's part of your DNA so to speak um but I just you know when it comes to the school and the district and the policies and the safety of all of you um and as as Katie said it's it's not you guys personally it's just you know there's just kids that are always going to push that envelope and um I just think most of all for safety that would be my biggest concern. Um, but to Brian's point about the uh interpersonal relationships that people are not able to have because they they have to have their screen in front of them is really becoming an issue and I think it's in the best interest of of everyone, teachers, administrators and students to um definitely not have the personal

123devices. Thanks Jen. institution. Yeah. I mean, as someone who works in higher ed, I mean, it's tough. This is tough for me because in one, two, three years, a lot of these kids will be in college and have full access to their devices and learning now is important. Um, but I do, you know, as Peter said, the risk versus benefits is is a huge thing to think about. Um, and and safety and security. Um, but you know, when I'm hearing about notetaking, I mean, this is a skill that is going to be with them for a long time through all of their higher ed. And if note takingaking on their personal device is what helps them do well in their class, then that concerns me if we're taking that away from them. Um, but again,

124you know, going back to the safety piece, it is priority. Is there a way to get that that um enhancement on the Chromebook. No, no. I think I believe what Greece was speaking to was actual the pen. Correct. You know, MacBooks come and and scribes come with with a pen. Um, you know, and so it's and thinking about especially I'm sure down this line, you know, and through the crowd of our generation, we took notes in all different sorts of ways. And so it's, you know, meeting our students and and respecting, you know, their learning styles. Um but I I will say in in Jen to your point um what we find when we discuss too about higher ed versus high school in higher ed students are consumers right and so there's a different buy

125in and unfortunately social emotionally we're not there yet all of us in high school some are some are not and so some of those temptations are are just too great. Thank you. So, I do want to thank uh Lori, Jen, Katie, and Craig for coming up and presenting to us and everyone at the table, especially Anushia and Grace for sharing. Um, we are going to move to a vote. Oh, Jamie has one more question, but after her question, if anyone else has questions, by all means, but then we'll move to a vote. next year for study halls. Are they not going to be allowed to have their cell phones either or are we taking So right here I'm saying it publicly. Um we amongst the administration team it's it's been proposed to us but we

126are not moving in that direction. We still want students to be able to access their cell phones during that downtime. Um, and again that's sort of that release of responsibility that even Grace was speaking to where in in you know to Jen's point too have hired just you know some of these students in one or two years or as soon as they leave at 210 they're you know they're not with us. It's truly intended to remove a distraction um during instructional time. Gotcha. So I just want to just for me thank you so much. That's I think for me I'm again I don't know why I'm struggling with this so much. I think because you have a like that's I'm trying to not Yeah. I'm trying to like I think it's more because again I

127don't want him I don't want in instructional for me. No, but I what Grace said does not get out of my head. I think that for seniors I feel like there should be a maturity and there's not in all of them and there should be but I get that there's not and it's just so much more work for you guys especially when you have senior and again in instructional time. No, but I'm thinking if for some reason they're have study hall in the middle of the day or what for me it's just not so black and white. It it's there's like these components to it and the kids that are getting ready to be seniors are completely different than the social media aspect of ones that are going into middle school. I mean I get

128it. I mean I the director of social services I I know that the anxious generation. I mean we did that book. So, I totally understand that and I 100% think that we need to get rid of that aspect within the classrooms. The senior component though with with kids and, you know, having access and and knowing how to self-regulate and making good decisions and I just I can't get that out of my head. So, I'm really for me I just can't and I'm only thinking seniors for some reason. And I don't think it's just because of Josh. I mean, like I said, I it might be I'm trying not to, but I again, what Grace said and what Anushia said, I'm just I just feel like I don't know. Sorry. I'm also struggling immensely. I can't

129stand technology. I was just talking to Mr. Campbell about this not long ago. Um, I personally can't stand technology. However, if there I to me, maybe there's something that I'm not connecting with. I'm not getting it. Uh, I feel like if they're still going to have their cell phones to meet, it's truly like what is the difference? I I I agree 100% with instructional time, I don't think there should be the distraction. Um, kids are not learning, they're not retaining, and it's a huge issue for the teacher. I completely agree with that. But I feel like if they still have their cell phones, I'm again, maybe I'm missing something. I don't understand what the difference is. So, I'm I'm having a really difficult time with this one. during educational periods like I witness it myself

130in my classes watching kids do what they're not supposed to do but what risk are like alterior devices or personal devices posing that cell phones don't already I mean like at where's the line going to be drawn at what's a safety risk and what's not I mean phones are posing I mean at least in my eyes right now I don't know what information or who can answer that question but I feel as though phones pose the same if not more risk than a cellular or a personal device of any other sort. If I if I think it's the internet the like the firewall and the cyber security component because with your cell phones you're on your own plan um not necessarily hooked up to the Wi-Fi unless you don't have service in certain areas. I

131think that could be a bigger risk. I think the separation is cell phone is not available to students during instructional time. So to me I agree with what's being Being said, if you have a personal device that's only available during non-instructional time, it is no different than having the cell phone. Craig, you can I mean, I'm not the most technology, but it really isn't because as Grace said, everything you can do on the cell phone, you can do on the device. So, that's why I'm asking if the hybrid of this is more palatable and would students even want to bring a device if they only could use it during non-instructional time. Is it worth carrying two devices just to do that? That would be interesting. And that would be that would be very interesting. has

132one device. No, but the question is you can't have the device out. It can't be brought into class. It can't be used. It's like it goes back to the middle school model, the cell phone, it can't be out. I'm not saying it's as easy as saying they're just not allowed. I'm just saying if there needs to be a hybrid, is that is that a palatable hybrid? What makes this like shift so I think challenging for the students is the fact that our work now is very techheavy. Um, as a senior who's graduating, this doesn't even affect me. But I think looking back, um, if this rule was put into place, I would just appreciate maybe if my work was more like for example, this year I took, um, Spanish 5 and in that classroom to

133limit screen time, to limit tech access, just to like overall like take a break from tech. A lot of our homework was or classwork was based was paper. It was pen and paper. I feel I learned best that way. Note takingaking was pen and paper. If kids had an iPad to take notes on, that worked, but we would receive worksheets. I feel like it might be kind of walking backwards or pedaling backwards. But if I think the best solution to and this isn't even related to like this discussion about whether or not we should allow personal devices, but I think just like maybe a suggestion to teachers or to admin maybe focusing our coursework to be much more like to have sorry we rely so much on tech already. I think switching our coursework to

134be more pen and paper based would benefit all students. Um I believe that I would have learned a lot better in um certain classes but if that really like I think that's what my biggest concern is is so much of our work that doesn't even need to be on computers. Obviously we have sim like certain things where we have simulations and stuff that we need the Chromebooks for. There's a lot of assignments that we do that on the Chromebooks that students could easily do on pen and paper. So maybe just like as a suggestion, maybe like kind of put more emphasis on that. I agree. I think that kind of comes back too to the convenience portion of it. Like technology is convenient. It's easy. Personal devices are easier for students the same way. Technological

135assignments are easier for teachers. You can put in a grade a lot quicker, especially if it grades multiple choice questions for you. But if there's such a concern on the safety aspect and what students are doing that they aren't supposed to be doing, then is there any other solution rather than just taking it away from students because that's again it's not real life. I think back to how finals were added. My freshman year I didn't take finals but students were leaving high school without that ability. So by adding it back even though it caused obviously some backlash, students were able to learn how to manage that just like they would in the real world. And I think pen and paper assignments too, as inconvenient as they can be for both teachers and students, begin the

136shift away from heavy technology and all the concerns about safety, AI, and things such as those along those lines and begin to focus more on education and how teachers can truly thrive in the classroom and teach students. This is weird that I'm in the crowd with a microphone. Um, so to that point, it's an excellent point and I will say that is current discussions right now. We went so heavy during COVID with making everything accessible through schooly, right, and online platforms. And we just, you know, even four years out are chipping away sort of a backwards design at not being so tech heavy and reliant. Um and those are ongoing conversations right now even as recent as today in the leadership team meeting that we had regarding backwards design with the vision of the grad

137power school uh power skills right not everything is tech centered. So you're on you're both on par with that. Thank you. All right let's go ahead and move to a vote. Um and again please by all means vote however however you would like. Um, so all those in favor I can I I just do like a roll call for it. So Vanessa, anyone else down there? I I Peter, Vanessa, Peter, Melissa, uh, Brian, [Music] Gina, myself, Jen, are you and I or not? Yep. Jen. Okay. Uh, [Music] nay. Okay. So, Jess and Jamie and any obstensions? One, two, three, four, five, six, seven. So, seven vote yes, two vote no. Um, all right. So, the motion passes. Thank you everyone for the discussion. Thank you for voting how you'd like. Um, and thank you Grayson

138Anushia for all your input. All right, moving on to our uh second reading and adoption for policy 5132, student dress. I'm going to turn over to superintendent to just give us a little bit of insight and then we can move have a motion and discussion. This policy being revised to note the backpacks and book bags are not permitted to be carried at between classes at Berlin High School. Okay. So, we could move to a motion for consideration and then once we have that seconded, we can open that up to discussion. Do we have a motion for consideration? move that the board adopt the recommended revision to board policy number 5132 student dress as presented. We have a second. So the motion by Peter, second by Jen. Any discussion on this? Sorry. Um, when you say

139like can't be carried at all between classes, does that mean like I know like at Berlin High School you're not allowed I mean you're allowed to um grab your backpacks before last period and then go to your last period class. Is that changing? Can you just talk into the microphone Katie? Just hang on to that. So, as we live this year with the policy uh shifting, we allowed students last block to access their backpacks and bring them to the last period. What we found with that gray area is that kind of to the last point that we had, right? It it became gray and um it became messy and we've had an extreme number of tardies that we did not have in years past. And so next year, in line with this policy, the way

140it reads, students will not have the ability to have their backpacks in the classrooms from 7:25 to 210. So that last block rule that we have this year, we're simply removing. We're keeping it clean and there's no backpacks in the classroom between 7:25 and 210. So they should be in lockers at all time. So my question to that is, will you be adjusting the bus schedule based off of that? Just because I know my bus like leaves at 213. So Anushia, your siblings are on my principal's team and they had that same question. So maybe you guys chatted about this. So um so with that being said, great question. So students asked and said, "Are you going to allow us to get out early?" And I said, "No, school's over at 2:10. What we will

141do is work with Berlin Transportation to let them know that students might be delayed an extra 2 minutes getting out from school at 2:10 to the bus. So there will be a a slight delay. Um, but it's really on students to get to the locker, plan ahead, plan accordingly, and make that make that routine shift." Um, there will be a few nuances. if you have, you know, a classroom in one corner and you have to get to the other corner to get to your locker um on, you know, every other day. But, um, we're hoping that, you know, and we we figure that out in the first week or so of school, but we are not ending school early to get to lockers. What will be the policy for like dismissals? I know I'm a

142part of the girls golf team and that requires us to be out the door at 2 o'clock. I mean there's not like a lot of times I'm leaving early even like 1:30 and if I had to go like I have my backpack on me. We'll work with students and those in those situ that's out of your control. Those are different situations and we'll work with students you know we'll let the athletic department know that you need a five minute earlier dismissal to access your your belongings. I also noticed a lot of smaller bags in addition to backpack book bag. Is that also not allowed? Hello, Miss Jurgen. We had an array of different types of bags that came in, mail bags, briefcases. It started with the request of Chromebook uh carriers, and then we saw

143bags of all different sizes. And so, what we're going to do this summer is we're going to put out in our communications to families what would be an appropriate um size bag for students to use. And really, it should, you know, really only be tight around a Chromebook case. Um, anything outside of that, um, outside of a lunch, you know, lunch bag, um, is a backpack or a carry-on bag and that needs to go in the locker. Any other questions? Okay, thank you. Um, we can move to a vote since we no other discussion. All those in favor? I opposed. Were there any abstensions? Did everyone vote? Okay, the vote carries 90. Okay, moving on to the first reading of policy 5141, the wellness. We do not have to take any action this evening, but

144I'll let Brian briefly discuss it. This is really just an update to be in compliance with the federal policy. Minor changes were made to the first paragraph. Uh the following items have been added under the goals and guidelines. Um, district shall regulate food and beverage offerings at events and school party celebrations in elementary schools. District shall take steps to protect privacy of students who qualify for free and reduced lunch meals. So, and training and certification of food preparation of food service staff shall meet requirements of USDA professional standards for child nutrition professionals. So, it's it's just an update so we we align with the federal policy. Any questions or comments on that? Okay, moving on to our next policy. The first reading 5131.81, the use of private technology devices by students. So, this policy is

145being revised to no longer allow personal technology devices that we just voted on. Now, we're going to have the reading of the policy. Um, Brian, would you like to discuss this? You can see that there's a redlinined um copy here and it's really just states that it's a switch from allowing personal devices to not allowing privately owned devices in school. Um and it if you read through it, that's really what we went over for the last hour or so. Um for the and you you know it's it's minor changes just flipping from allowing to not allowing. And it just says, "Except in these limited circumstances, any privately owned technology device brought to school must be turned on or silenced and must be kept out of sight of all times during the school day." And that

146gets back to what I said about the cell phone policy on McGee. Any questions or comments on this? Okay. So, at our next meeting, we will have our second reading. Um, moving on to discussing discussing and setting of the 2025 2026 board of education budget. So, we had the second referendum on May 27th and the council approved the level of funding for the board of education's operating budget to be $54,567,98 and we need to take action. So, before we discuss anything, do we have a motion for consideration? An operating budget for 2526 in the amount of $54,567,98 is set by the town council. A second. So motion by Peter, second by Jen. Any discussion? Sure. Um, so to bring everybody up to speed, um, there's a lot to discuss. So when the last referendum passed

147or well I guess it's a loose term it was discovered that uh excuse me yeah just on the screen what the cuts were y so um our original discussion centered around after that $50,000 cut came um centered around you know the pay for uh pay for parking at the high school to generate a little bit of revenue approximately 20 uh $20,000 And then additionally um we were taking a little bit of a buffer uh from from outplacement funds you know kind of expecting that there might be some fluctuation there. Uh at our June 4th meeting of the finance committee uh Mr. Benigny had expressed concern about um kindergarten grade sizes or class sizes at Griswald and secondarily Willard. the Willard situation is not uh not as not as uh uh drastic as as the Grisswald

148potentiality at the moment. Um typically you want to see uh kindergarten class sizes below 20. Um all the research shows that having a class size below 20 is ideal and that you know having it at an earlier grade level such as kindergarten, first grade and second grade is far more impactful to the student in the long run than doing that later on. you know, it's a diminishing returns essentially. Um, so with that, um, we had a discussion. Um, I know that, uh, in the past and this has brought been brought up to the board as well, that, you know, the town council and the mayor has said to us that we can go to them at any time if they, if we feel that there's a um, you know, dire need of the board and

149the district. Um, it's my personal opinion, and I think some of the finance committee as well, that having a kindergarten, uh, class size potentially swell up to 22 or 23 is far less than ideal and not the, um, setting we want to set as a precedent for our school district for many reasons. Uh, Mr. Benigny had discussed with us and he had a discussion with the mayor and had raised that concern about the class sizes being 22 to 23. The mayor did not seem concerned about that at all. Uh so that does not give me personally confidence that we could then go to the council and ask for that if the mayor doesn't seem to care about that issue. Uh so we elected to uh remove the dean of students from McGee uh because uh

150Mr. Benney had illustrated that uh you know typically a school of that size would have two deans of students versus three. We had previously previously discussed this in the past as well. Um I think we kind of took pause due to the administration change there and to allow uh the new administration to kind of take hold uh before doing that. It wasn't an ideal situation to remove that third dean of students, but given the choice between that versus potentially having uh Grisswald swell up to 22 or 23 uh students per classroom in in the kindergarten grade. we elected to make that recommendation. Um, and lastly, did I cover everything there, Brian? Am I missing something? Okay. Uh, and lastly, I just wanted to touch on on the technicality of the referendum because I think it's

151good for everyone to understand. Uh, in the second referendum, uh, a citizen, I believe his name was Mr. Richards came to the board of finance came to the council and had pointed out that the no votes were great the no votes were less than the total votes of the two low and too high. So the way our ballot is designed is that if you you can vote yes or you can vote no and then vote too high or too low. Okay. The intent is that only the person voting no then voices why they voted no. Um I don't have the exact numbers in front of me but as an example there were 300 no votes and the total of two high and too low was 325 meaning that people were voting yes and then going

152on to vote for the advisory questions. The margin between the two high and too low was extremely tight. I think it was like eight or 10 and the number and the number was 25 greater. So the whole election and ballot was essentially a push because you could not make any determination because you had people voting erroneously. Um and the tabulators cannot are not programmed to uh to account for that. That's a secretary of state level thing, not even local. Just FYI. Thanks. I think I think it's important to note and um the thought is based on the FNO committee that now that the referendum sent settled that we have a number that I can't have correspondence to parents or things. I think it's important to note that you know there's 6.3 positions being reduced that

153does not show the dean position of English. There are 7.3 positions being reduced in this budget for over, you know, $600,000 as well as a million dollars being reduced from tuition, transportation, and so on. And that's what's bringing us down to, you know, the budget cuts to to balance the budget at this time. So there definitely are reductions that are happening within this budget, and you can see them listed there. So that was something that I know that based on the FNO committee wanted wanted to share here to the entire board. Anyone else want to share, ask questions, comment? I just want to mention taking that dean of students out of McGee. We did not take that lightly when we talked about that. Um, three years or so ago, I was on the other side

154of this table at a microphone making sure that we didn't cut that and doing my best to give my opinions on that. Um, and I still hold true to those. I just think um it was really difficult. Um we know what that position brings to McGee and it's important um but at the same time um increasing the size of kindergarten classes is just not something we should be doing. Um and that just came to the top of the discussion. Thanks John. I think also with the transportation, you know, a few meetings ago, we really kind of spun our wheels talking about the transportation component and how underutilized it is and how much money we're spending and what what steps we can take to try and I don't know, either get people to use the buses

155or answer the survey, you know, correctly. And so though this isn't necessarily a perfect solution, the transportation is also something that we've been talking about for years going back and forth of pay to park, yes or no. So you know, I think at this point we need to make sure that we are looking at the whole picture and take, you know, not all taking from the same spot. That's, you know, anything else before Move to a vote. Okay, we can move to a vote. All those in favor? I opposed. The vote carries 90. Um, now we will turn it over to Lori Sharp and um Cara Watson to present on the textbook recommendations for adoption. So, we have um now that we're moving to a full day prek, we have um two new textbooks that

156we'd like to propose. The first is creative curriculum for preschool. That's something that's brand new to us. And the second one is developing roots for prek. And that's something that we did a pilot on this year. So when we take a look at the creative curriculum, we reached out to our colleagues in other districts and we said, you know, what's what are you all using for prek? And they all said that they were using this. And when we talked to our kindergarten teachers, we ask them, "What do you want when kids come to you in kindergarten?" And they talk about things like, "We want them to be able to problem solve." So that means we need to give them a lot of play in preschool so that when they get to kindergarten they can problem

157solve through social social situations. Um we want kids that can um develop fine motor scissors cutting all of that. Not necessarily coloring but but not necessarily being able to write all their letters. Right? The one thing that the kindergarten teachers say is we'll teach them how to read. will teach them how to write, but we want them to come with those baseline skills to be able to do that. And that's what the creative curriculum um really does. So Michelle Zoyner, she's going to um talk about these pieces. That was just kind of an overview and I can pass out. So the creative curriculum comes in different various units um that will be able to be embedded through um throughout different play centers throughout different learning centers throughout just different activities throughout the classroom. um they

158include a variety of books of activities and what um we had looked at this program several years ago and decided not to go with it because it didn't have the depth of um instructional differentiation and levels for our special needs students. and it has been revamped and it does hit various um learning levels um and helps the teachers um guide the curriculum that way. So um that was part of our reasoning you know on top of what Lori had mentioned um to look at this. The teachers have looked at this and um gone through it and are excited about the opportunity to use that. Um, as far as the the math program, um, we piloted it this year and as you know, it's a half-day program this year. So, they got their feet wet with

159it. There's a lot more digging to do with it. Um, but again, it helps develop centers. We're hoping to dig more into play and having the play centers and learning centers that work with embed both the math and the creative curriculum. I don't know if you have any questions. So, we will enter a motion for consideration and then once it's second and we'll open it up to discussion. Do we have a motion? Move to adopt the textbooks creative curriculum for preschool published by teaching strategies and developing roots prek by Sarah Schaefer and Ney Boyd and published by methodology. So we have the motion by Peter, the second by Brian. Any discussion, comments, questions? Right, we can move to a vote. All those in favor? I Okay, opposed. Did everyone vote? Okay, so the vote carries

16090. All right. Thank you so much. Thank you for presenting those. You guys can keep passing them down and looking at them as we wrap things up. Um Ashley Dorsy, director of finance and operations, do you have an update for us? All right. So, a lot of the same projects and a lot of the same status, but still a little bit to update. So, the bid packages for the construction management and construction firms for the HVAC projects over at Grizzled and Hubard Elementary School are closed and currently under review. Packages will be reviewed at the public building commission at their next meeting, which is scheduled for this Thursday. Uh for BHS flooring update, WJE Associates will be identifying the contaminated floor tiles to be replaced this summer at Berlin High School. Two contractors have been

161identified to remove and replace contaminated tiles throughout the summer. The work will likely begin in the hallways by the second week of July. However, no specific schedules have been established to this date. and the public building commission will be discussing the architectural and design services requested um in the planning of the permanent fix for the um floor tile situation over at Brown High School. Uh that is also on their agenda for Thursday's meeting. The BHS preK site work. The town council approved our request to use the on call vendor list at the at their meeting on May 20th. site work at Berlin High School for the full day prek program at um will begin in the next few weeks again and no specific schedule has been established. They're looking to possibly start a couple weeks

162after the kids get out. McGee Science Labs um still no status there. Bids for the architectural design services were closed on March 27th. Uh three bids came in and they are in review at the public building commission. It was tabled at their last meeting and it is supposed to be on the agenda for their meeting on Thursday. The Willard bathroom renovation. So mobilization and initial and the initial setup for the Willard bathroom renovation will begin next week with an anticipated construction date of actually starting during the week of June 23rd. This project is expected to last the entire summer. The Willard playground is also expected to begin soon after kids are dismissed for the summer break. specific schedule not yet established. There's a lot of lot of waiting in my office when it comes to

163construction projects. And then um some good news here. The CCTA renovations interviews for architectural firms were conducted this afternoon for the renovations over at the CCTA. Four firms were interviewed. The committee is looking to make a final uh decision on on our A&E firm in the next couple weeks. These renovations will be funded through the community challenge grant. That's all I got. Any questions for Ashley? Thank you. Okay, so the next agenda item is board of education retreat in August. So, um we will be sending some something out in an email with potential dates like within the next week. So, just be on the lookout for that. Um as of now, it looks like um we're not going to necessarily need a July meeting. Um, so we are hoping that since tonight was a long

164meeting, we covered a lot of things, uh, we won't have to meet in July, but there's always the possibility of something changing where we have to, um, do so. So since, you know, we are planning on having a retreat in August and we're hoping that we can skip our July meeting. So just be on the lookout for your board of ed email for that. Um, and before we wrap things up, you know, I do want to thank Grace and Anushia for spending the whole night here with us. This is a long meeting and I know you guys when you got up earlier, I said you guys don't always have to stay and you guys do. You're committed. So, thank you. Um, thank you for again for serving this year and Anisha, best of luck to

165you next year at Yukon. Um, I know that you're going to do great. So, thank you. Um we are going to move into executive session uh for unaffiliated administrative administrator benefits evaluation of superintendent and superintendent's contract. Um and we will be inviting Denise Parsons and the superintendent. Do we have a motion for consideration to move into executive session? Peter administrative contracts, superintendent contract. Um while inviting Denise Parsons, did you invite him to? Did you invite him to and Brian? Thank you. So motion by Peter, second by Brian. All those in favor? I opposed. Okay. 90. So, we are going to enter into executive session at 9:24. We'll head across the hall to the upbeat room and then we will adjourn from there. Uh we'll open the door and go ahead and