001Hey Mike, how are you? Can you test uh your mute just uh your mic? >> Yeah, >> thanks Mike. >> Appreciate it. >> All right, it looks like it's uh 7 o'clock right now. So we uh we do have quorum um you have got myself Deerree Frank Megan Penny and Tim Russell. Um I am not aware of anyone who's not going to be here today. So I think Eric, Tom, um who else will I miss? Eric, Tom, and Kristen, >> Kristen, yes, Eric, Tom, and yeah, Eric, Tom, and Kristen, I believe, will be joining us. But we have quorum, so we will get started. Um, I will call the New Hartford Public Schools Board of Education regular meeting on October 7th at 7 p.m. virtual only uh to order at 7:01 p.m. Uh, Eric Paratt
002just joined uh for the minutes. Uh, first item on the agenda is the pledge of allegiance. If you are able, please join me in 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. >> Okay. Thank you. Thank you for all all for attending tonight. Uh we have a uh a pretty pretty good agenda today. Um I have no changes to the order of business. So, we're going to move on to communications to the board of education. To my knowledge, we have not received any communications to the board of education. Uh, Superintendent Soups, can you confirm? >> Yes, I can confirm. >> Okay. Thank you. Um, next item is public
003comment. Uh, so last meeting we had virtually, we had some questions on how this uh would operate. So for anybody in the public who would like to address the board uh please raise your hand and you'll be upgraded uh from a viewer to a contributor uh for that time period and you'll be able to speak. So if there is anybody uh from the public who would like to address the board please raise your hand. Okay, I'm looking at this list and I see only four community members on the call as viewers and I don't see any hands raised. So, I'm going to have that going once, going twice, going three times. Um, we have no public comment at this time. All right, moving on to the next item on the agenda is item D, superintendent's
004report. I will turn it over to you, Superintendent Suso. >> Thank you so much, Chairman KPS. Much appreciated. Want to start off with a couple pieces. First, a quote of gratitude, and then we'll jump into our official business. But, um, our quote tonight is, "Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow." And that's by Melody Bey. just a opportunity to set our hearts um any time of the year, not just you know in times of season when it's giving or um Thanksgiving time of year or any other holidays. Just really want to maintain an attitude of gratitude. I am extremely thankful um for our law enforcement partners. They very quickly responded to um and they acted when our building uh had a breach um over the weekend.
005So extremely thankful to them. Also extremely thankful to Jamie Herskll, our building custodian, who responded to that. Um, and also Dr. Kelly who Dr. Kelly Carroll who also uh responded, but also was able to communicate effectively with staff members and put in additional security measures to prevent this type of incident again. And we're also very thankful that the issue that occurred was not worse. You know, we had very minimal uh damage um to the building. things were obviously missing food um but again very minimal damage and no one was injured so we're again thankful for that there was no resistance or anything of that matter but the law enforcement responded very very promptly so we're very thankful to all of them um also uh as we do every single year upcoming very shortly we will
006meet as a district-wide safety committee we will review all of our policies and procedures and make uh recommendations or changes as we see fit and that is done with all of our town officials our first responders, our mental health professionals, and our administration. So, we will meet together to talk about this and other things that can be approved upon. Um, again, so that is a quick update there. You'll see on the agenda today, we have a mandatory superintendent report. This is to satisfy the public act 2593 section 32. So I will be sharing my screen to report out on that such piece of information. >> While you're pulling that up, Jeff, again, just for the record, it looks like Tom Buzzy's also joined the meeting. >> Yep. >> All right. Uh, Chairman Kleps, can you
007see my screen that I'm presenting? >> Yes, sir. All right, very good. I appreciate that. This is um if it's too small for the viewers at home, this will also be available as part of our minutes. It's also uh available as part of our agenda. This is a report that I have to present to the board of education and to the public on a yearly basis. This is brand new legislation that I reviewed in August and it has to do with reporting out any community-based organizations that we partner with. And also workforce development programs and lastly, attrition data for certified and non-certified staff. So, as the first part um demonstrates here, we have several community- based organizations that we work with to provide services for our students, and that's listed here. We have the Connecticut
008Junior Republic, and that's outside counseling provided within the school. We're very grateful for that. The Winchester Youth Service Bureau, we have a a memorandum of understanding or agreement with for group counseling and lunch bunch groups as needed. And Ed Advance uh has an afterchool program called Bases. They're on contract with that. and that's an after-school programming offered for our district. So these are all of the community- based organizations and the very specific service that they provide again to fulfill the legislative requirements. For workforce development programs, we have students from preK to six. We do not have workforce development programs within our schools. This is more obviously geared towards the high school kids. And lastly, for attrition data, we have a list here that I'll go over. This is for certified and non-certified staff. So certified
009staff means that they attained a certification in the state of Connecticut to teach or work with children. Non-certified staff can still work with children. They do not have a certification per se. So you'll see the first here in 2526. This past year, just recently before the school year began, a certified speech and language pathologist that worked at Antelini in Bakerville uh moved on to another uh career position. In 2024-25, we had the list of the following individuals or individual positions that I have to report out on. They are non-certified positions. We had one, two, three, four para educators at Anantellini that um had left for various reasons. Uh upon exit interviews, it was to further their educational career to go back to school, move out of state for a better opportunity or move out of
010state for a family opportunity. um our lead nurse at Bakerville, a longtime lead nurse, uh had retired and a longtime executive assistant to the superintendent that has been corrected. Thank you, Penny Miller. Um the executive assistant, Janet Tenzi, uh particular that again many many people knew about uh at central office. That is that position uh for a non-certified central office. And one of our longtime custodians at Bakerville Elementary School uh also retired. So those last three were due to retirements. uh and again this is done to fulfill the public reporting of the public act 2593 section 32. I will pause here if there are any questions regarding this particular report. >> All those positions have been refilled. Jeeoff, >> let's see here. I'll go back to that >> I believe. So let me just review
011speech language. Yes. Pared educators. I believe we are filled or right about to be filled with all four. Lead nurse. Yes. Executive assistant to the superintendent. Yes. And custodian. Yes. Mike, can you just verify with a uh for the four pair of educators? >> Yes. Yeah. We have um two starting in the next week or two and then we'll be fully staffed. >> Outstanding. Thank you, Mike. >> Thank you. >> You got it. Any other questions that I could uh address at this time? All right. Very good. Moving on to the next component of the superintendent report. It is our annual climate presentation. So I will cue that up. This presentation will also be available publicly um attached to the minutes of this meeting after our presentation this evening. All right, just looking for a
012quick confirmation that everyone can see that I see some heads nodding and some thumbs. Thank you so much. Much appreciated. All right, let's get on with our climate presentation. All right, so for tonight's board of education update, we have a uh our yearly climate survey results. We are extremely proud of the results that we have. Once again, year after year, we find that our constituents, our parents, our students are extremely satisfied with what we offer as an educational experience in preK to six. So, our survey results demonstrate the strength of our school district. Parents, staff, and students again have shared their voice, which provides us with a measure of success in areas to improve upon as well. We are very proud of these results. We're going to start with the family climate survey results first.
013So, in the next few slides, you're going to notice highly favorable responses to every question. Of course, we always we do always have work to do and room to grow, but this is a true testament to all of us, to the board, to staff, to our families that we are serving serving our communities very very well. 122 respondents um were uh captured this year in the spring of 2025. It is lower than in previous years. So, we will continue to think about other methods of uh attaining more survey respondents. In previous years in 2024 we had 152 families respond and in 2223 we had 154 families respond. So we will do like I said a better job of communicating and requesting families to take this optional survey. It is absolutely not mandatory but we will
014encourage more participation because we had about 30 um less responses on average. I will turn it over now to Amy. >> Thank you. We are super eager to um share these highlights and results with you today. Um and starting with the parent survey um we've got some really awesome results to share. So um nearly every family um that participated this time reports um as you can see on the slide here that they're feeling their child is safe, supported, and excited to learn. So this really tells us that you know all of our efforts to build those strong relationships with our families are really paying off. our kids are excited about what they're learning. They're talking about that at home. Um, and anecdotally too, we see at school the kids super engaged, especially with our new
015EL curriculum. So, it's so nice to see that alignment between the perception of our families and then what we're seeing in the buildings as well. Um so um and another great highlight here is our parents feel so comfortable talking to their child's teacher um at school which really just shows that mutual respect and that positive hometoschool connection that um our staff have developed and our families have developed together. On this slide here, we see that, let me just take a look here. We have um really great news again. So, um we see that our families feel that the environment is caring and supportive. Um that our school rules and our expectations are um appropriate to our children in our schools and that our practices are meeting the needs of all of our students. So year
016over year we see such consistent um um feedback from our parents here which I really just think is awesome because like you know this culture isn't built in a day. It's something that we do collectively and it's just so nice to see yeartoyear such strong feedback from our families about the practices that we have going on in the schools that support our kiddos. So on this slide we're also seeing some really positive results. So, I want to draw your attention to the fact that 95% of our parents agree that we provide what their child needs to be successful. We're extremely proud of that result. That really reflects our staff's commitment to knowing each of our students as individuals and ensuring that they have not only the academic, but the emotional supports to really thrive at
017school. we see that 88% of our parents told us that they know what's expected for their child's learning. This is a strong result. Um, and although we we're we're currently revising our report cards because we want parents to have an ongoing understanding that's clear and consistent of the learning expectations across all grades. Okay, another slide with great results that we're really proud of. U these results are reflecting that strong trust that our staff has built in our strong systems of communication. We have 93% of families saying that we have effective methods of communication. We're really proud of those relationships that we have built not only with our students but with our families. And we're going to continue to build on that trust and transparency, particularly as we move forward with our work in the new
018legislation around challenging behaviors. So 90% of our parents reported that they know how their child is doing in school before receiving their report card. This is an increase from last year. So we're really proud of that growth. It was something that we were working on. Um, it reflects our ongoing efforts to strengthen our communication between home and school so that families stay informed and engaged throughout the year, not only when it's reporting time. All right. So, I also um I have the pleasure of u presenting you know the other stakeholders is the staff members. Um, so we have a couple first day of school pictures up here. Um, but this is um what the staff felt and reported on the survey. Um, so again, awesome results, very um very similar to last year. You know,
019staff feels they all felt like they were part of the school community. They're safe. Um, students are getting a high quality education and that our policies and procedures are inclusive to all students. also that they're all inclusive to all staff. Um and then the the other the other big piece of this is um staff's view of um the administration. So they um the staff feels that the administration values their feedback. They feel comfortable going to at least one member if there's a problem. Um and they prom and they felt that the administration promoted a positive school environment. So over the past um two years we have been working um very specifically on these four indicators. So the first one of ensuring that all students have access to high-quality instructional materials. So with the implementation of
020our new ELA program, the staff is strongly agreeing that we have those materials in place that they feel ready and supported to deliver uh high quality instruction to all of our students. The technology that is needed on a daily basis to deliver lessons and activities, we have 96% of our staff strongly agreeing with that. And just to note, one of the projects that we have been working on over probably the past 5 years has to um or has been to install Prometheian boards into all classrooms. And so as of uh today, barring one more installation, all of our classrooms from preK to six, including special education and special areas, have access to a Prometheian board. So, we're really um proud that we've been able to uh complete that project and provide that uh instructional tool
021to all of our staff members. And then the other two relate to professional development and teacher evaluation. So, you'll remember last year we implemented a new teacher evaluation um system. And so with that approach, 98% of our staff feels as though that uh new plan supports their professional growth and that professional growth is directly related to how um we can best support our students. So that is really a tremendous um feat for us. And then linked to that is the professional learning. So based on the new teacher evaluation plan, teachers have the opportunity to really fine-tune and personalize their professional learning so they're addressing the needs of all of their students. So again, the work that we've done over the past two years is really reflected here. So we've been responsive to what our staff
022and students need. Okay. So, um to wrap up um the slides around our staff survey, we're super proud of um this particular slide here. So, um we made the most growth in these areas. So, last year, you know, we had looked um specifically at I believe the school effectively addresses behavior issues. And so, um you know, as we were presenting last year, we talked about a lot of the action steps we were already putting into place to support growth in this area. And so um this year we saw like with that particular question um showed the most growth. We went from 66% of um staff feeling that last year to 84%. So really it's quite a direct result of like being very intentional and using this information to guide us in our in our process.
023Um we um implemented a um behavioral flowchart with our teachers. um we had a focus on our behavioral mental health team collaboration, a focus on talking about students during our um multi-tered systems of support meeting. So all of those things um plus we had some PD with a behavioral specialist. So I think all of those steps um really showed um the growth in this particular area um and sort of linked to that too um last year um with the respect between teachers and students that rose from 75% to 89% this um this last time around. So really showing stronger results across um the schools for that. And I think, you know, focusing on our schoolwide rules, our expectations, and kind of just making it part of our culture and that collaborative spirit um is really
024showing um some great growth in these areas. So, we're really proud to be able to share that and also maintaining great growth around our the way our district communicates and um so really just awesome. We're just so proud to to share that with you. So, we also ask our students in grades three through six, so the Antalini kiddos, they also participate in a student climate survey. And we had some really great results with that as well. So, this one, the 98% I feel welcome at my school. That just makes our hearts burst because that's what we're here for. We're here for those kiddos and we want them to come to school feeling loved and feeling welcome. When students feel welcome and valued at school, they're more likely to engage in their learning. They're more likely
025to take risks in their learning, and that really helps them to build their positive relationships with their staff and with their peers, which leads nicely into the 95% of our students who feel that if they experience mean behavior, there's someone at school who they can go to for help. That aligns really nicely with what we saw in our parent survey. We had 98% of our families say that there is a trusted adult at school for their child to go to. So those two questions really mirrored each other and we're super proud of that great result. One of my favorite parts on the student survey, we have an open-ended question. We asked our kiddos um if they wanted to include any additional information to support our work with building a positive school climate. And I have
026the top three student results there. So, they want more assemblies. Not a big surprise there. That's fun. They wanted extra recess equipment. Again, one of their favorite times a day. And then there was an overwhelming response with the message of keep it up. So, the next two slides will show you exactly what we mean by that. So, these are the student testimonials. These are words right from the mouths of our kiddos. Um, these words speak really to the culture of our schools. You can see that they enjoy learning. They feel safe. they feel cared for at school. You guys are doing great. The staff is super helpful. So, those are really amazing words coming right from our kiddos. And then these are just some more of our student testimonials. Um, again, this really the words
027that they're saying really just show us that they feel socially, emotionally safe. They are engaged in their learning. It kind of tells us we're making a big difference with these kids. And again, that's what it's all about. They feel safe at school. The climate's a good one. This school is the best. So, we're thrilled to see kiddos writing about these type of things. >> Outstanding. And a big kudos to the administration, to all of the staff, uh, for fostering and creating such a climate at all of our buildings um, where students can thrive every day and our parents are super proud and everyone is part of the family in New Hartford. So, it's a beautiful, really beautiful thing. This is one of our proudest moments of sharing our climate data and there's a lot of
028really nice highlights either of maintaining or increasing uh our survey results in a favorable manner which is fantastic. Coming up with this year's survey in 2026, there's um as you can see here, our goal will still be the same to provide a safe school environment based on kids or based on school community members feelings of belonging, emotional, intellectual and physical safety. But there is a new climate plan and that's driven by the climate survey. So the process is going to slightly change and we have discussed that before uh relative to our work with Ed advance and we're going to continue to develop and implement um a survey that informs our practices, ensures reliability and that we could use to continue our best practices or work on new ones. So with that I will stop sharing
029this portion of the screen return back to this. All right. Let's pause here and if there are any commentary or points of clarification that we could provide to the board, I'd be more than happy to do so. Now, >> have any of those percentages gone down or are they all going up? >> Uh, a vast majority, I would say 92% of them have maintained or gone up. A very slight portion of them have gone down. And when I say gone down, I mean by a couple percentage points, which are not statistically relative. If they went down two to four points based on the sample size that we have. So nothing else is going down. We're again the biggest parts of growth that we had and we really placed a lot of focus on was the
030uh environment and the perceptions of um student behaviors and being respectful of one another. and the the team really did a fantastic job and our schools and our staff did of embracing it to say this is not just the administration that handles uh behaviors. This is a community thing. We do this together with our families, with our par educators, with our teachers. Everyone's on board. Everyone is holding children accountable for their choices and helping them guide them to make better choices um all along the way. >> Thank you. >> Sure. You're welcome. And we couldn't do this work again without the support of the board of ed, the support of the board of finance, and everyone in our community. This is tremendous. Um, and we should be very, very proud of this work. >> Hey
031Jeff, I had uh staff responses. How did we do with staff responses as a percentage of of of all of our staff? >> Probably close to 100%. I I didn't note that anybody did not respond when we just quickly viewed the uh the response lists. If someone was absent, maybe we missed a person, but I I doubt it because people are very good about providing their feedback. They feel very comfortable about doing so. >> And and same question about student. How many student responses have we got? >> Yeah, all of them. So, everyone three to six. So, I'd say about 220 or so from last year's. It's a lot of responses from the kids. Three to sixth grade. Yeah. I love their testimonials. That is just I keep it up. You're doing a great job.
032The climate is great here. I I love reading those. They just put a huge smile on my face. If you know, while we were presenting that I couldn't help but feel my heart beating out of my chest. Not that I'm the Grinch, but I mean I felt it. Uh it's it's just a beautiful thing to see and to read for our kiddos that they feel that way and they're not even shy of expressing it. So really really nice job by our our schools. So, one one question I have as we went through that is the I guess the the variation between the parent response being in the lower 80s on bullying and mean-spirited behavior versus the student at 95%. Um, any thoughts on that? So there's I I'll start and then I know my team
033will will certainly chime in with some of the changes in the legislative definition of bullying and mean-spirited behavior. So there is um some change there and perceptions of how things are addressed, identified and supported. I mean if a parent sometimes may disagree with something because of confidentiality, we can't share all of the information. With students, they kind of know everything and they go back home and they report everything. So then the parents can find out afterward from students typically. But the kiddos feel supported. They feel like if anyone says anything or does something to them that they could report that out and it's addressed effectively and in a manner in which is respectful and that the kiddos can walk away knowing I have a choice to make, whether I'm going to maintain my friendship with
034this individual, whether there's forgiveness, whether there's some type of restorative practice or something that's going on. Um, so that's kind of what the discrepancy is, but again, I'll let Kelly and Amy speak a little bit more to that if they would like to. >> I think Jeeoff that that's exactly how I see that as well. It's sometimes hard when we're talking to parents because I cannot provide all the information that they may that they might be looking for. >> Yeah. >> Thank you. And then and then I had one one other and then you know the rest of the board asked their questions. But you know these are these are great results clearly. Um you know we always now going to have to look and focus on the ones that start with an eight and
035something below an 85 right and and where we get better. Um and one thing that stuck out to me was was the parent survey um not understanding what the expectations are of their child. Um, yep. >> And I assume that's something that we're going to be focusing on to ensure that from the onset of the year there's a better setting of those expectations. >> Yeah, absolutely. Uh that is a big really big push of one of the board goals. If you remember from our strategic uh engagement plan really taking a t like really methodical time to revisit our report card and change the standards so that they are meaningful over time. Our current report card was best intentioned but things have changed. Instructional practices have changed. Our verbiage has changed. what we expect our students
036to be able to do to be able to um execute and apply those conditions have changed those standards. So the team has been working extremely hard our report card committee to do exactly that to better communicate more clearly what those expectations are in a manner which is understandable to people that are not educators. Right? So if you're not in education and you're reading the report card, you're thinking, okay, I guess this might make sense. And if you have a question, you follow up with the classroom teacher or as you see fit. Uh but the standards are going to be changing over our trimester now. So that and I'll give you a quick example. In the grade of kindergarten, maybe the expectation is to count and identify numbers 0 to 10. Then it changes from 0
037to 50 over time, then 0 to 100. That's very explicit and easily more, you know, understood and comprehendable by a parent or a family member. So we look to see with that alone an increase in that score for example because I know that when we have parent conferences there's a lot of information that's also shared and there are multiple points throughout the course of the year from open house uh to our meet and greet uh there's a lot of other touch points but our teachers are also available all of the time to communicate anything that's not clear whether it's an assessment result um or something that's come home and looking for more clarity but I think the report card alone is going to catapult that significantly. >> So is there a is there a time
038that you think the new report card is going to be implemented? >> It is a huge lift. It is not just revisiting the standards. It is also formatting in the powers school grade book and other applications that we're looking at uh which I won't bore the board the board too much with and get into the weeds of but it is a huge lift. We have one individual, Christine Kurt. God bless her. Um, and Heather Matthysse and the report card committee that are working to revise and update our standards to then input into a report card that it will change over time and Christine Kurt on her own learning this as a new process for her and getting some support from advance as we see fit to then go in and change that. So, this is
039going to be over time. Our goal is by the first marking period. If not, we'll revisit it and certainly for the second marking period and the third, we're doing as much work as we possibly can with what the resources are that we have and with the expectation of perfection because we want to get this right. So, we are certainly taking it slow, but we're also being methodical in the way that we're approaching it, especially because it's new learning for so many people and new implementation on an electronic format because the report card is electronic. uh and have that be done correctly before it's printed out and sent home. >> But those expectations that the new report card as you bring it in and it evolves, right, I think is what I heard. as it evolves,
040the I would think that the parent community would understand the expectations prior to the start of the marking period and not when we have a new report card and and and now they're seeing for the first time that their child's either meeting or not meeting or exceeding those expectations. Right. >> Sure. >> Set those early enough in the in the in the marking period. >> Yeah. My my belief would be that that would be communicated early on through our weekly communications to parents at home. Um and then that'll be revisited again uh in November during our conference time as well. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Of course. >> Does anyone else on the board have any questions regarding the climate presentation? >> I don't have a question. And I have a comment regarding the scores.
041It would it be possible to on those scores that go really way up, you know, say this increased x amount over, you know, last year or it went down from last year and this is why we think this might have happened. >> Yeah. So the one that we shared >> I'm sorry I certainly don't remember what they presented last year. Yep. So, the one that we really highlighted that had significant statistical growth was the one that stated from the staff, I believe the school addresses behavior um issues that jumped from 66 to 84%. And we gave our rationale there in terms of again the action steps that we took. Again, all the other ones either maintained, slightly increased again, but we're believing or slightly decreased, but that's again based on the sample sizing. We didn't
042see anything else statistically that was of a huge alarm that we had it to uh pivot and make other plans for at this particular time. The the data continues to be positive. We're maintaining or exceeding uh expectations across the board 80s 90s across I mean just to maintain that alone year after year is extremely impressive. And I don't want to take away any of that from the work that our our staff is doing and our administration and the kids and our families all together. Everyone has a stake in this and that's very very impressive. >> Okay. Thank you. >> You're welcome. Any other questions or comments? Okay, seeing none or hearing none. Um, thank you very much, Heather, Kelly, and Amy. Uh, and Mike. Mike, >> right? I appreciate everything that uh you're doing and
043I appreciate the uh the presentation today. >> Thank you, Tim. >> Uh Super Dennis, anything else under the superintendent report? >> Oh, yes. I'm just getting warmed up, my friend. Yes, sir. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So, here are the other updates that I'm extremely proud to share. Um so, I'll jump on to the next component here. Just want to close out one window. Up next are some highlights of what's going on in the district right now as we don't have student reps just yet. They are on their way. But in the in in the interim, I will take up that mantle and try to do a good job. Although I'm not as adorable and cute or uh as persuasive as they may be, I'd like to present moments that matter at school and
044on the go. Can everyone see that? Can't see any faces this time. Hold on. Yeah, we have it, Jeff. We're good. >> All right. Very good. So, again, in that attitude of gratitude I was just talking about, the board and the public need to know this. This is tremendous. Uh, I received hundreds and hundreds of cards wishing me well. So, here's some work of art from our amazing students at Antalini, at Bakerville, and New Hartford. the staff and students took some time to just really lift my spirits. I've definitely had some challenging days. I'm a human being like everybody else and I my heart was absolutely filled and I wanted to share this with the community. We have such amazing caring individuals in our community in our midst and we are raising that generation of
045students and children and citizens to do the same for others. I was just completely touched. Uh, as a superintendent, sometimes I feel, you know, like I'm not part of the school community because I don't live in each school every single day. And I'm envious of Dr. Carol and um and Amy Kennedy as well as all the teachers. But this just brought me right back and I I can't say enough. Um, and I had to share this one rendition there. If you see me in my boot, that's uh that I'm I'm game. That looks like me. So, I'm very proud of that and I again very thankful to the the staff and the students in New Hartford Public Schools. very very touched. All right, so life around campus right now. What's going on? You can see
046here in prek, our preschoolers are practicing the letter C, engaging in uh some interactive play there. Could see here at Bakerville and New Hartford kindergarten, students engaged in their learning using different manipulatives and play-based learning as well. Continuing on in kindergarten, we see more engagement. Kidos working together, working with other manipulatives, building, playing together. And we got some focused first graders at Bakerville and New Hartford schools working on their literacy, reading with a friend or looking at letter identification, putting together sounds, and doing some writing as well. In second grade here, second graders putting in a lot of effort in their work. And then of course recess fun. You've got to see all of our kiddos are actively engaged, having fun, playing together, getting physical activity and exercise, uh promoting health of our bodies. And
047of course, another favorite time, Antilini, third grade. We've got Miss Stimson's class enjoying lunch together here with some smiling faces and our friends just being great with one another, respectful of one another, and enjoying their time together as they socialize. And here's Mrs. Dutinger's class building spaghetti structures using teamwork, communication, and some problem solving to determine some points of scientific uh inquiry. And also in fifth grade, here's Miss Casey's class exploring a science-based hands-on learning activity by making sundials and then testing them outside, finding out what worked, what didn't work, is this precisely telling the time, how could we improve upon it, uh, just being really good scientific minded in applying some hypotheses and some theories as well in fifth grade. But wait, that's not it. Pack up your suitcases. Learning's left the building. So
048that's in and around campus, but we've also been outdoors and on some field trips. So here's Clark Farm in Graanby. Got some apple picking and orchard exploration by our Bakerville and New Hartford first graders. They picked wonderful days actually to travel as well. And in sixth grade at Adventure Park all the way up in stores, we had some team building activities and ropes courses. You could see all of our students there. They had an awesome time. And then also sixth grade. Here they are. Here's some more pictures of the ropes courses. All right. So, let's return back. Got everybody here. All right. So, those are that will wrap up our presentation component of the superintendent report. just to give some updates about what's going on in the district. Some other quick pieces of business real
049quickly. Um, currently our negotiations team, our subcommittee, um, our negotiations are progressing very well. A special thanks to uh, the teachers union, their representatives, and also our subcommittee members for their time, their efforts in brainstorming, problem solving. Everyone is being an amazing contributor. So thankful to all of their membership. for a quick department update. I am extremely pleased to report that prek continues to have increased enrollment. So that was an amazingly very prudent move on the board of education supporting that last year looking at uh the bubble of students that are to come in for kindergarten next year. Uh so pre-k continues to increase. Uh some board of education news, please don't forget elections are taking place on November the 4th. So please share with uh individuals and make sure everyone gets out to vote.
050um and revisiting one of our schools. This is of a matter of importance because water quality matters. Um in the month of September um during our monitor sampling, uh we had another poor sample that unfortunately will put us on the Department of Public Health's um watch list and another violation will make us uh no longer have portable water. So, I know we've talked before, we had Ron Black come down and present some information. Uh the water was then chlorinated, but it seems to be that this is uh becoming slightly chronic at Bakerville. And the recommendation that I still have is to install a chlorination system here that they could analyze and it would have alarms if there were any bacteria that were noticed in that water. The board I would recommend very strongly that we
051do not want this publicity nightmare. Um we need to ensure that our water is portable, is drinkable for staff and students. The type of bacteria that was found there was a colifform bacteria. It was not E.coli and or E.coli, forgive me. And the violation would lead to uh a level two which they would require us to install a chlorination system under vi under a violation order. Um and like I said, this is not the direction that we would want to go in. So for the board's um information, that would be my recommendation. And in order to pay for that, the state of Connecticut has shouldered some of the um local municipality burden uh if you will on taxpayers by uh providing a drip grant, which is for small programs and small construction or small projects.
052Certainly not anything like a roof or brand new construction to a building. So this would be uh something that would be uh categorized and fit under that. it would be paid for in full by that grant. It would not uh impact this year's uh budget. We would expend those funds and that would be then reimbursed in full by the state of Connecticut through the DRIP grant. Uh we'll get more information on the the approximate amount that we are due is $47,000. the chlorination system would cost about $14,000 and the drip grant uh more information will be uh available to boards of education and superintendent by the end of October as it goes before the uh bonding commission just as another piece of detail. But my concern is that we've had other um samples that unfortunately
053have shown some bacteria and then it's treated with chlorine anyway. And um this has happened. It's they've in Ron Black's uh company that does all of our water testing and analysis and uh chlorination to fight off bacteria. Um again, we're one of the few, if not only, that he services. U by 2020, he was already looking at moving uh everybody that was having a small well system that had bacteria in it to go to uh installing a chlorination system. So, I wanted to inform the board of that. Um, and the last piece I have is just to wish everybody a great Columbus Day and Indigenous People's uh weekend and have a safe Halloween for anybody that's out there trick-or-treating, but want to open it back up to um any other conversations before I turn it
054over. Kristen, I think you could un Yeah, you should be able to unmute. >> Yeah. No. Uh, sorry. That's fine. When you were just talking about the drip grant, you said I believe you said that there was like $47,000 that we were owed. Is that right? Did I hear that properly? >> That's what's earmarked currently. So, when I reviewed all of the um legislation and the charts of what's owed for each town, they have a formula that they utilize. Uh it has to do with um a lot of the economic status and things of that nature. But yes, it would be $47,000 that we would qualify for. That's what we are owed um by the end of the school year. and I'll have more information by the end of October in terms of the bond
055commission and how they approved that at the state level. Still waiting on that component of it. >> Do we have other potential like if only $14,000 would be used for the coronation system like is the rest of the 33 difference like 33,000 difference? Is that use it or lose it? Like do we have other >> Great question. Yep. Great question Kristen. That would not be use it or lose it. That would be um reserved every single year over and over. would go on our expenditure report and it would be another type of non-lapsing account but only for small capital projects. That's a great question. >> Do we have any other small capital projects that we know need to be addressed? >> Um not under the this purview under our capital improvement plan which are already
056addressed uh from the appropriations of the budget. We're all set there but nothing else that's come up. Um but we might be able to supplant some of those expenditures. Let's say we are doing a small repaving of a walkway. We could expend those funds and then have it reimbursed. So, it's going to help out um by $47,000 worth of money. >> Okay. >> So, I don't have any other small projects right now that I would tack on to that is what I'm saying that have come up. This has come up obviously unplanned for. Surely we have some small pot capital projects that we've been putting off that would probably reason like reasonably easy for us to put a list together and just be prepared to see if we can action on any of it this
057year. >> Yeah, I would I think one of them like I was just mentioning would be a small walkway behind Antinini. Um also looking at our drainage we can revisit that because that's been put off. So those are some other ideas Kristen that I would meet with our administrative team and our custodians to discuss further. >> Yep. Jeeoff, how big of an install project is this? Can this be done in a weekend? Can this does this need to wait for a break till the summer? >> So, from my understanding, this can be done in uh increments after school hours as needed. Um, in terms of uh getting the chlorination system in and testing it. Other components of it can be done during the day. So, when I spoke with Ron, he said no more than
058three days and if they needed extra time, he would let me know. But, he'd be working with the building custodians to uh to do that over at Bakerville. Thank you. >> You're welcome, sir. >> So, we don't have a problem at the other two schools. >> That is correct, Penny. New Hartford Elementary School is on city water and going over to sewage, so sewer. So, that would already be taken care of and would be chlorinated. Um, so we don't have an issue there. and at Antellini, those wells, knock on everything here, um have uh produced positive results, clean and have not had any of these bacteria show up there. Even though it's up in the same region of town, they have not. >> So, let me understand this. The 47,000 we have it for sure.
059It's not >> I'll know more I'll know more. Yeah, I'll know more details by the end of October if the bonding commission changes their mind and there's a different formula applied. But right now, as the legislation is written and the bonding commission is to meet by I said like I said by the end of October, the amount that is due to New Hartford um Newart town of New Hartford for the board of education for small capital projects is $47,000. >> And it just doesn't have to be used for water. It can be used like you said for sidewalk. Yes. >> Um other things, >> small capital projects. Yes. Yeah. >> Like if we had to buy a new lawnmower or >> plow for the snow, >> that would be maintenance. I don't believe that that
060would be covered. I think that some of the examples that they gave were uh leaks in a roof, uh walkway repairs, small driveways, parking lot issues, cracked pavement, um water projects constitute that, um bathroom installations or upgrades, things of that nature that are small in nature, but not maintenance equipment item that was not listed here. It is new legislation. Maybe they'll incorporate it later, but as of right now, it is not there. Could it be used to help the roof at New Hartford Elementary? >> No, that's a much larger scale project at a tune of about 1.4. Yeah, $1.4 million that cannot be this cannot be applied to that. >> I don't know if maybe there was a small portion of that roof that you could just put a membrane over or something. >> Yeah,
061we've tried to patch it up um for the past three years that I've been here. >> Right. Okay. Thank you. >> You're welcome. Okay. Um, last call for any additional questions or comments regarding the superintendent report. All right. Seeing none, thank you, Superintendent Cersa. We will move on to the next item on the agenda, which is item E, Board of Education Chairs Report. Um the only report here is for the task force update. Um for all of you who who know or may not know, we did receive three proposals um came in for the uh the study. Uh those interviews will take place next Tuesday, the 14th. Um and uh there'll be myself um first selectman Jarham uh board of finance chairwoman Carrie Gilfoil and Jeff will will take part in those interviews. All right.
062Um and again same thing as last time you know I have not received any additional um interest in being a part of the task force. We have documented and have the list for everyone who has come forward um to date from the board of education as well as the community. Um so we will uh we will have more information once we bring on a professional. All right, moving on to item F, routine business. Um we have two items underneath routine business. Um, but I'll start with saying that I think because of the way we're running this on virtual, uh, what we'll do to approve the motions is I will accept a motion in a second on these, uh, two in two items as well as as we go through old business for the second reads
063of policies. Um, I'd like to propose that we um approve them through unan unanimous consent. Um, which I'll then pause and allow anyone on the committee who has objection to be able to voice their objection to that. so that we can get a a um an accurate um vote on each one of these motions. So, moving on to item A, approval of minutes, uh September 16, 2025. Can I get a motion to approve? >> I'll make a motion to approve the minutes of September 16, 2025. >> I have a motion by Penny. Can I get a second? >> I'll second it. Dear Dry, >> second by Dear Gree. Thank you. Um any discussion, changes or questions on the minutes as presented? >> I have one change which is that under old business H um item
064A, it said that I uh said that I should clarify there needs to be consideration for minorities and it should be minority party representation. This is not a that's what that should be. So I just like like the record to reflect that clarification. I just want to make sure I have that in the right place. That was item H. You said >> item H, letter A. It's like on the fifth line. Instead of minorities, it should be minority party representation. >> Got it. Any other questions, comments, corrections? All right, Penny, are you okay modifying your motion? >> Yes. >> Corrected? >> Yes. >> Dear, are you okay with your second? >> Yes. >> Thank you. Um, we will uh take this as unanimous consent unless there are objections. Are there any objections? Please signify by
065raising your hand or going ahead and coming off of mute. All right, seeing no objections, uh, the approval of the minutes for September 16th is approved unanimously. Moving on to item B, expenditure report. Can I get a motion to approve? >> I'll make that motion. >> Motion by Penny. Can we get a second? >> I'll second that as well. >> Second by Deer. Thank you. Any discussion, questions, comments on the expenditure report? Okay, seeing none, we will also take this through uni unanimous consent. Um, does anyone have any objections? Please signify by raising your hand or coming off a mute. Okay, seeing none, the expenditure report is also approved through unanimous consent. Moving on to the next item on the agenda is new business. Uh we have a looks like six new policies to review.
066Uh Penny, you'll be taking us through those. >> Yep. >> All right. All yours. >> Okay. Thank you. First, let me say thank you to all of those who reached out to me on the recent passing of my daughter-in-law. Um your sympathy was greatly appreciated. It's been a very trying time. She was only 53. Um, parents are not supposed to have to bury their children or their in-laws when they're that young. Anyways, um, okay. First policy is P0523, mission, goals, objectives, equity, and diversity. I assume you all have looked through it. Um my comments about this one is New Hartford Public School welcomes, respects, and values the diversity of its students, parents, staff, and the broader community. I could add further that um to date our enrollment demographics demonstrate that we have 427 students out
067of the 437 that um are categorized or have identified as white, three Asian, three black, four Hispanic. We also have the following languages that are spoken in New Hartford. We have Albanian, we have French, we have Polish, we have Spanish, um and we have Russian. And we obviously work together every day with our families and students to identify barriers to success such as attendance issues, um, behavior, nutrition, uh, family support, and even learning disabilities and so much more as we work with so many different individuals from different backgrounds um, across the board. So that's just my other comment regarding this policy. Do those children who don't speak English as their first language, do do they have a problem in our schools when they come here or have they been here for a while and it's
068their parents that um >> sometimes it's a mix of both. Uh majority of our kiddos that uh speak those um languages do have the uh have enough English and are more successful than someone that was being immersed from a different country and had no English whatsoever. >> Wow. I didn't realize we had that many different languages. That's ex exceptional. >> Yeah, what's up? >> Tom, >> pardon me. >> It's your turn. You had your hand raised. >> My unmuted. >> Oh, >> I make a motion that we do not accept this policy. >> May I ask why? >> I made a motion we don't accept this policy. >> Okay. We will need to get a second to that motion for further discussion. Okay, seeing we don't have a second to this motion. Um, you know
069what? I'll second the motion for discussion. Does anybody have any discussion on this motion to not accept the policy? Tom, do you have reason that you don't want to accept the policy? >> I have lots of reasons, but I'll just my a couple questions. First, it says it's a recommended policy, Jeff. Who is it recommended by? By whom? >> This these these policies are recommended by CAB Connecticut Association of Boards of Ed Boards of Ed. >> So, it's not a mandatory is a recommended policy. >> That is correct. Not mandatory. So, do we currently measure any success in our schools based on race or color? We have different subcategories, but we don't measure solely on race or anything of that nature. We measure the success of all of our kids. And internally, if students need
070to have changes made to their programming, we do that internally. But it's not based on race or color of skin. Why would it be? Nope. >> Okay. Of course not. Why would it be? It'd be because that's racist. Now, now who's going to set up these? You have time, Jeff, and you and your staff. It says the board, the superintendent, the staff will commit to conducting an equity and diversity impact assessment and on top of all the other stuff you're going to be doing that you run these schools so successfully that we just saw this amazing climate survey where 95.5% of the people are felt inclus. they felt included already. So, we want to have more of this. Do we want to have more work for you? >> I don't think it would be more.
071I think it's what our current practices are right now that's contributed to those successes. So, I don't think it's going to be more. Um, >> it says you have to do a special diversity impactment assessment >> if deemed necessary. At this time, I would not recommend that >> because there's just a report out today that the tag programs in some places are being scrapped because they're they're inherently racist. That there was on the news today. So, is that you let the camels you could let the camel poke his nose in the tent. This is the kind of stuff that happens. So, that's why I'm against this. It's just a slippery slope that we don't need to get go down. We already are doing a fantastic job. I don't see any reason to adopt this policy.
072That's my opinion and I'll leave it at that. Thank you. >> Tim, are you ready for me to do the next policy? >> Well, we do have a motion in the second currently. Sorry. Um, >> so we do have to act upon that. >> Um, Tom, this is a first read of the policy. Um, can I suggest that the board have an opportunity to look at it further based on the discussion that just took place and then address this at our next meeting when we have a second read? >> Well, I had a motion. If you want to not act on the motion, I I'd rather just carry through my motion. If the board wants to carry through, then I'll live with the board's decision. Okay, let's uh you would have to resend. So, let's
073go ahead and and and and put this motion to um to vote for the board. I'm going to have to do this because I can't see everybody, so I can't have you raise hands. So, I'm going to have to do this by individual and I'm going to do it by who's on my screen. Um, so we have a motion by Tom to not accept this policy. >> Um, can we have any more discussion before we vote? >> Oh, absolutely. Y >> Okay. Well, I read this as a teacher, I want to be reflective to make sure I'm reaching all my students. And when I read this, I don't have a problem with it >> as a teacher. Okay, I want to give everybody opportunity to discuss or ask any questions. Anybody else have any comments
074before we take it to vote? All right, seeing none, we have a motion by Tom, a second by myself as chair um to not accept this policy. Um again, I'm going to have to go in order because I can't see everybody at one time. So, I'm going to go in order as I said on my screen. Um please signify if you're in favor or against. Uh we're going to start with Deer. I'm sorry, Dar, you're on mute. >> Sorry. I apologize. I thought So, I'm sorry. I'm confused what we're we're doing here. Are we are we going to take this out to further discussion or we're voting to not move it forward? >> We're voting right now to not move it forward on the first read. >> Okay. But that means we're voting to continue
075looking at it in a second read or is that what we're >> Yeah, it has to go to second read. Yep. >> Okay. vote today. >> So, I'm I'm voting for it to go to a second read and have more discussion about it. >> So, I'm just going to say So, you're voting nay to the to the motion? >> Nay. I want to go forward to look at it in greater detail and have discussion about it. >> Thank you. Uh Eric, >> uh no. Nay. >> Frank. >> Nay. I want to have more discussion. I support it. >> Kristen, >> no. >> Megan. >> Um, I'm going to say yes. >> Thank you. Um, Penny, >> no. >> Tim, >> I'm a no at this time. Um, >> I'm sorry. Yeah. Yes, I have myself
076on mute. Yes, >> that's okay. And uh I'm going to vote no as well at this time. So, that motion fails. Um, looks like 720. Okay. Um, I would say with this particular one, uh, we will have a second read of this at our next meeting. Um, so if anybody has any additional questions again, uh, we could relook at this at that time. Benny, back to you for the next policy, please. >> Okay. The next one is P4118.4, rights, responsibilities, and duties electronic mail. Um, what was I going to say to you? I know in the agenda I think there was some place that it was it was the 4118 was pushed way over to the left but it looks my copy now that I have it looks fine. Anyways, my comments being all district
077electronic mail systems are owned by the district and intended for conducting official district business only. Does anybody have any comments about it or want to talk about it? Is this a revision to a current policy we have? >> Newly adopted policy. >> This is fully new. >> Fully new policy. Okay. >> Yeah. >> Okay. This is the one where the numbers were pushed way over to the left underneath the words Cape Policy Services on the copies that we got because the numbers didn't match up with what was on the agenda. Anyways, um personnel drug and alcohol-f free workplace. It says on the top of the page here, personnel certified, non-certified, alcohol, drugs, and tobacco, drug and alcohol-free workplace. It says on the top, a new sample policy to consider which meets the requirements of the
078drug-free workplace, schools, and community act in order to meet the requirement of the drug free drug-free workplace, schools, and community act. That's why we're discussing this to put into our policy book. Any questions? Okay, moving right along. 418. The next one is policy 5131.601. students/personnel certified and non-certified medical paliotative use of marijuana. This policy prohibits the use of medical marijuana palative paliotative use in the district's schools and on its property. The district has the right and the responsibility to maintain a drug-free workplace protecting the safety of all employees and students. Any questions? Okay, the next one is P5141.213 students administering administering medication opioid overdose prevention emergency administration of an nlloxxazone not pronouncing that correctly but um this policy prohibits yeah I'm sorry wrong wrong read licensed health care professionals LHCPS are allowed to administer the
079lock zone without fear of civil liability criminal criminal prosecution or violating standards of their profession. They also reference Narcan, but I was told that that is also um I believe it's Nlloxxone, but it's just it's a brand name for one of the um things that can be used if they need to. >> Any questions? Yeah, I'll just add on to the board might be thinking, well guys, they, you know, we have pre-K to six year old, you know, sixth grade students in our schools. Is this really a concern? Uh, god forbid it is for any of our children. This is more for a protective safety measure. If in the midst of a meeting that we have or an individual comes to school and has an episode, uh, we have the safe life-saving measures in place
080to administer this to the individual. Thank you. And then the last one is P5141.231. It is a it is mandated to have a policy pertaining to this issue. Psychotropic drug use. Let me see my little cheat sheet here. Prohibits all school personnel from recommending the use of psychotropic drugs for any student enrolled within the school system. Delineates procedures for information sharing between medical personnel and school personnel. Any questions on all of our policies? Uh great thanks to our new uh registered nurse, our RN, Mrs. Zaca um Ransom who provided expert knowledge uh and expertise in uh those four policies in particular relative to uh substances or drugs. >> Thanks. >> Can I jump back really quickly on the um >> Sure. >> 5141.213 about the Narcan. >> Yep. >> Um just on the spot, Jeff,
081I guess this this question might be for you. Is the nurse the only one that will have the qualification to give the Narcan to somebody? >> That's what this current um this current policy states. Yes. So the nurses on staff are either ones uh at any of the schools RNs or um other nurses can do that. Yes. So, what happens if well if the nurse isn't available for some reason or the nurse is the one who's accidentally um subject to the opioid that needs the Narcan? >> Yeah, we'd have to have someone else as a backup. We haven't fully gotten to that point yet because legislatively we're just wanting to make sure that there's an understanding that the nurse can administer that. There's no other backup to that right now because legislatively we're not protected
082>> because just for I mean ju just so you know like when you're going through it, Narcan has no negative effect on anyone. So like I could give it to you right now when you're not under the influence of any narcotic and it would have zero effect on you. So really if you can get a narcan vial that's locked up in every classroom, it would be beneficial. I mean, they're expensive to get, but that that's something where I mean, yes, they need to be locked up because we don't want people to use them, but that's something where more than one person should have the access to it in case it's needed as a quick response instead of calling over, you know, a radio or a loudspeaker for a nurse to come and waiting five minutes.
083We can give that a little bit quicker. >> That would be my suggestion. >> Yeah, I appreciate that. And I know that um you mentioned how expensive it is. we have found um a method of attaining it for free as long as we go through the training and that'll be done by acacia um right next door in Canton. They have a program for that. So, we will not be paying for it, but absolutely they will be locked. Uh and then I will run that idea by Aacia to see what uh some of her feedback might be and then report back out on that. >> Thank you. >> You got it. >> All right. So that's the end of the first reads of the new policies under new business. Can I continue, Tim? >> Yes, please.
084>> Okay. Okay. So, these will all need to have motions on. This is the second read for these policies. The first one is policy 1312.3 commu community relations library material review and reconsideration policy. So we discussed these at our last meeting. >> Yes. So I'd like to take this as unanimous consent again. So we'll accept this as unanimic. I'm sorry. I need a uh I got to start with a motion. Can I get a motion to approve policy 1312.3 community relations? >> I'll make that motion. >> Motion by Penny. Can we get a second? >> I'll second. >> Second by Tim Russell. Thank you. So again, I'll go back to where I was. We'll take this as unanimous consent. Anybody who has any objections, please signify by raising your hand or coming off a mute.
085No, I'm just if you're going to do a unanimous consent, Tim, I'm just if it's a mandatory policy, I'm going to vote no because we have no choice. So, why vote at all? So, I'm voting no just as a standing order. >> Okay. Um, >> Thank you. So, that policy again, does anybody else object to that policy? >> So, this is a mandatory policy by the state that they're making us put this in place. So, I I could answer all of those questions. Yes, this is for library review material. And as I discussed last time, this is really in favor of the parents rights so that if they disagree with material that's on display within the classroom, whatever it is, there is now a process to have that reviewed and or removed. But these three
086are mandatory as I discussed last time. Yes, >> I think the policy is a good policy. It's just that it's mandatory. So, why are we voting? Why are we pretending that we have a say? That's that's my point, Jeeoff. I don't think it's a bad policy. I'm just >> I got you. >> Thank you. Y >> Tom, I would add although it's a mandatory policy, we are given quite a bit of leeway and how to draft it. So, that's a little bit different than a lot. >> No, I I I appreciate that. Thanks, Frank. I do. I just I just feel frustrated that us as a board, we put a lot of time in. We're in we're in hour number two and we really have very little say in much to what happens. That's just
087it's a frustrating part of this job that's all. So it's I understand what what you said. Thank you. >> Okay. As we have uh this up to vote through unanimous consent, we have one objection from Tom. Does anybody else object to the policy? All right. Seeing none, that motion passes 710. I'm sorry 810. Okay. Pending the next policy, please. >> Okay. The next policy is P1312.4, Library Collection Development and Maintenance Policy. We reviewed this the last time. It's a mandated policy. As you can see in red, the only thing that we did add was um New Hartford except on the second page where we added under C consult with certified mental health health staff to evaluate. Oh, evaluate spelled wrong. It's there's two E's. I'm sure it's just a typo. Do you see it, Jeff?
088>> Got it. Thanks. >> Yes, I And we get a motion to approve, please, policy 1312.4, community relations, >> library collections development and maintenance policy. >> I'll make a motion to approve. >> And I'll second it. >> Motion by Tim Russell, second by Penny. Any discussion? Seeing none, we will take this by unanimous consent. Knowing that Tom again has voiced his objection to this as a mandated policy, um is there anyone else who would object to this policy? Okay. Hearing and seeing none, this policy passes 810. Benny. >> Okay. The last one in this group is library display and program policy. It's a mandated policy. The only thing we did add is new Hartford before board of education. It's only one page. >> Okay. I get a motion to approve policy number 1312.5, community relations,
089library display and program policy. >> I'll make that motion. >> Motion by Penny. Can I get a second, please? >> Second by Tim Russell. Thank you. Any discussion? All right, seeing none, we will take this by unanimous consent identifying Tom has objected to this policy as a mandated policy. Anybody else would like to object to the policy? All right, seeing no hands raised or anybody coming off of mute, this policy is approved. 810 Benny. >> Okay. The next one is policy 5118.2 students educational opportunities for military children. This is a new mandated policy. Further supports military children who are enrolled and attending our schools to have to then have a family member be deployed. We discussed this the last meeting. I'm sorry. Can we confirm that this is a Wait a minute. Hold on. Something
090stuck together. There we go. All right. This is a mandated policy. I just want a confirmation. >> Yes. >> Uh, can we get a motion to approve, please? >> So moved. >> Motion by Penny. Can I do a second? >> Seconded. >> I'm sorry. That was seconded by Kristen. >> Yeah. >> Thank you. Right. Any discussion on policy 5118.2 to students um educational opportunities for military children. Is there any discussion? Okay, seeing none and identifying that Tom is objected to this policy as a mandated policy. Um is there anyone else who would like to object to it or take it under unanimous consent? Okay. See, seeing or hearing none, this motion is uh passes 810. >> Back to you. >> Okay. The last one is a revision of a policy policy and regulation 5125, students
091confidentiality and access to student records. This, I believe, gives us a little more time to um provide those records that other districts are asking for instead of the short period window, the window that we had before, which was really short, now it's longer. Jeff, anything else? >> Yeah, this again provides flexibility for our team. Uh, you know, especially when a request comes in over the summertime and not everybody's there. everyone is enjoying some part of their summer vacation or break. And with the 3-day turnaround, it's an impossibility. This gives us the flexibility and it's recommended by our legal council as well. >> Okay. Can I get a motion to approve policy and regulation 5125, students confidentiality and access to student records? >> So moved. >> Motion by Penny. Can I get a second, please? >>
092Second. Second by Tim Russell. Thank you. Any discussion? All right. Seeing none, we're going to take this by unanimous consent. Uh this is not a mandated policy. So if anyone has any objection, uh please signify by raising your hand or coming off a mute. All right. Seeing or hearing none, this motion passes 90. >> That's the end of all my policies for this meeting. >> Okay. Thank you, Penny. >> You're welcome. >> All right. Moving on to the next item on our agenda is item I, public comment for agenda items only. Uh, similar to the public comment at the beginning of our agenda, um, anybody in the public who's listed under a viewer, it looks like we have four currently. Um, if anyone would like to address the board for agenda items only, please raise
093your hand and we will promote you to a contributor in the meeting. Okay. I do not see any hands. Going once, going twice, going three times. No public comment for agenda items only. Moving on to item number J on our agenda at advance. Dear dream at advance update report. >> Um I'm going to say I mean I I I can report out just on one thing. We have a board meeting on Thursday. So if you guys are okay with it, I'd rather we can skip um or and just report out at the next board meeting. There's not too too much going on. Um there was just one program spotlight, the basis. Um we're actually on the waiting list for that. Um but most of their 11 program sites are currently operating at near capacity, which
094is a good thing. They also got um a grant um a $2,000 mini uh grant from the Capital Region Education Council to to continue more enrichment opportunities. in the Torington Middle School. As I said, uh New Hartford is still uh along with New Fairfield and New Town are programs that are on the wait list because of such high demand. Um other than that, there's really not too too much going on. Um as I said, we have a meeting on Thursday. Um so I'll have more to report out. And for those who may have known uh Julene Flanigan, she was with their early childhood team. She has passed away. Um she passed away in in uh September. So there's a link on the document that I sent to the board um if anybody knew her uh
095you can read her obituary and that's about it. >> Right. Thank you dear Gene. And everyone's packet was the edit the the the ed advance the advance news from ed advance. So, this is in your packet. Has some program spotlights and then um looks like there's some dates in here for a fall fest farmers market as well as a flu shot clinic. So, there's some information that's in your packet if anybody's interested. >> Yeah. Yeah. The Fall Fest Farmers Market vendor fair is October 17th, 12 to2 Lfield campus. it. Um, and then there's a a flu shot and COVID vaccine uh October 14th uh 12:30 to 4:30 Lfield campus community room. >> Does anyone have any questions for Dear Dree on the advance report? >> All right, seeing none, that brings us to item K
096on our agenda. Can I get a motion to adjourn at 8:26 p.m. >> So >> I make that motion. >> Motion by Tim Russell. I think I heard first. Penny, you okay seconding that at 8:26? >> All those in favor? Thank you all. Have a great night. >> Thank you. Bye.