001Good evening everybody. Start the meeting and if I could ask you all to rise for the pledge of allegiance please. I pledge of 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. That's okay. Thank you. So, we're going to start with public comment if there's anybody here that would like to speak or signed up. Excellent. Um, we're going to start with the student, the ideal student recognition and I'm going to turn it over to Dr. Parlotta. Thank you. So, we have a very special treat tonight. We have our members of the Sarah Noble Jazz Band and uh they're going to play a few songs for us and then we're going to say their names as
002students who represent our ideals of focus, heart, collaboration, and creativity. Are you ready, Miss Anderson, or not quite yet? Um, realistically, I would love to be, but we realize that the outlet that we have our piano plugged into is so we are going Well, we like to improvise and we're flexible. So, we're we're going to troubleshoot that really quick. I'm so sorry. All right. So, what I'm going to do is I'm going to say the students names so that we can clap and while you're working that out. Fabulous. Thank you so much. Students, you don't have to come up. You can stay right in your place, but I'm going to say your names. You want me to take pictures at the end? We'll take a picture at the end. Right. Raise their hands. Harper Allen,
003raise your hand for us. Henry [Applause] Bates, Ian, yours, Andrew Fedor, Ava Genaldi, Matthew Hernandez, Freya [Applause] Jones, Owen Kennedy, Annabelle Cressel, Anya [Applause] Lazaro, Quinn Lewis, Douglas Muckerman, Penelope Petrant Antonio, Adalie Row, Mate Lavic, Isaac Van Branken, Henry [Applause] Vermillion. So we have our teacher, Miss Anderson. All right, you guys ready? Mhm. [Applause] Ready? One, two, [Music] Heat. [Applause] Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. [Applause] [Music] Heat. [Music] Hey, hey, [Music] hey. Heat. Heat. [Applause] [Music] [Applause] Okay, good. living through the city. Am I on? Cool. All right. Ready? Come on. Almost. Oh. 1 2 3 4 Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] [Applause] Thank you. Thank you to our students. As we know, right, our arts programming in New Milford public schools is truly one of our gems, especially our music program. And
004you can see how well our students start out uh learning their instruments. We saw we're able to see it tonight. So, thank you to our students. Thank you to Miss Anderson. Um and I'll give the certificates to to the students. Um maybe I'll just take a quick picture somehow. Sure. Thank you so much. I'll stand over here and someone can get a picture to caller. Uh everybody ready? Excellent. Thank you. Thank you guys so much. [Applause] when you want me to go. Okay. Next, uh, every year we honor our district retirees at our May board meeting. And so this May is no different. Um, you'll see that we have some slides up here. Um and we will recognize our retirees who this year represent over 350 years of service to the field of education. That's
005a lot of historical knowledge and a lot of excellence that we're losing for sure. Um and we're going to go one at a time. So even if the person is is not here, I still want to uh read a little bit about them um so that we recognize their service. We're going to begin with Ann Marie Barrett. Ann Marie has worked in the district as a member of the food services department for 25 years, showing her dedication to our students and her work. She worked at the high school from 1999 to 2006, Hill and Plane from 2006 to 2014, Scatakope from 2014 to 2022, and here at Sarah from 2022 to 2025. Her positions have included general worker, cashier, baker, and assistant head cook. She offers students a caring word and a smile along with
006their lunch. while at Hill and Plane. Interestingly, she received many marriage proposals from students. Congratulations to Ann Marie for 25 years of excellent service to our [Applause] district. Next, we have Debbie Clark. Debbie Clark has been a loyal special education teacher and leader for the past 38 years. Her entire career has taken place in New Milford public schools. Debbie inspires others with her spirit, energy, and positive outlook on life. Debbie for sure possesses an expert level of knowledge regarding student programming and student needs. She advocates fiercely for the needs of students and staff. She is masterful at calming the fears of parents and explaining the services the children need to grow and progress. Debbie spends long hours after the school day completing all of her tasks. Through her expertise and her efforts, Debbie Clark will
007be nearly impossible to replace. Congratulations to Debbie for 38 years of exemplary service. [Applause] Yes, please do. [Applause] Ellie Gelotti. Ellie has worked 21 years in the district and our food services department. Each day she showed her dedication to her work and to our students. She has worked at the high school for all 21 years and the majority of that time she ran the deli line. She loves her position and prides herself in knowing the students orders by heart. She was mentioned a few years back by a student president in his commencement address how she knew his order every single day. Her attendance has always been exemplary. Thank you, Ellie, for all of your hard work and congratulations to you on your retirement. [Applause] Barbara Hayes. Barbara Hayes has 25 years of service as a
008secretary in New Milford public schools. She has been a positive member of our staff since Sarah Noble's inception in the 2001 to 2002 school year. Previous to that, she worked at the high school. At Sarah Noble, Barbara's friends and colleagues often refer to her as the queen. Given her status as a long-standing staff member and love of tiara's very important Barbara has done a tremendous job at Sarah and has been an integral part of all that we do every day. She'll be very much missed. Thank you Barbara for your 25 years of service to our district and congratulations to you upon your retirement. [Applause] Debbie Canipple. 22 years of service in New Milford public schools for Debbie Caniple, six years at Sarah, and 16 years as a business teacher at the high school. For the
009last 16 years, she's been the DECA advisor uh for that club. She is a a respected and loved colleague and teacher. She has been a great champion of our DECA program where her students have competed at a high level at both the local and national levels. Debbie has done a great job with the school store for over a decade and most recently with the flex period. She has introduced our students to pickle ball which now has a cult-like following. We will miss Debbie with her guidance, leadership, and positive energy for for sure. Thank you, Debbie, for your 22 years of service to our district and congratulations upon your retirement. [Applause] Roxanne Craft. Roxanne Craft is a special education in our special education teacher in our district with 37 years of service to our students and
010to the community. Most recently, Mrs. Craft was a teacher at our Lichfield Hills Transition Center. She is an exceptional teacher who has earned countless accolades over the years. She understands the needs of our students, particularly students who have the most needs. Mrs. Craft was teacher of the year for our whole district in 201617, and she coordinated our teacher of the year program for some years. Mrs. Craft inspires others by her actions, her positivity, her joy, and her unwavering strength. Mrs. Craft is always kind, collaborative, and deeply caring in all that she does. We thank Mrs. craft for her years of service to the district, to our students, and we congratulate her upon her [Applause] retirement. Thank you. [Applause] Heather Morin. Heather Morren has been a special education teacher at Scatakoke for 26 years, dedicating time
011to the community, both in and out of the classroom. She's been dedicated to supporting all students in meeting their individual needs. She works hard to meet students where they are, providing scaffolded instruction to help each and every student grow. Heather is also incredibly supportive of her colleagues. She has served as a team leader and an informal mentor for beginning teachers for many years. Her dedication as a special education teacher has left a lasting impact not only on her students but also on her colleagues who have worked and working alongside her for these years. Heather has always been a fierce advocate for her students, ensuring that their voices were heard and their needs met. Heather possesses a collaborative spirit, thoughtful insights, and commitment to putting students first and have a standard of excellence that will continue
012to inspire us long after her departure. Congratulations to Heather upon her retirement. And thank you for your 26 years of service to New Milford Public Schools. [Applause] Ready. Tracy Neans. Tracy Neans has 29 years of service as a science teacher at Scatico. In 20112, Tracy was the district's teacher of the year. She has taught sixth, seventh, and eighth grade science and she also spent two years teaching math. Tracy gives all gives her all to her students and her colleagues. She teaches science using a phenomenon-based approach and she incorporates many hands-on real world activities within her classroom. She is a mentor to beginning teachers. She's also a team leader at Scatakoke. Thank you, Tracy, for your 29 years of service to New Milford Public Schools, for your positive spirit, your kindness. Um, and thank you and
013congratulations upon your retirement. Congratulations. [Applause] Ready? [Applause] Laura Olsen. Mrs. Olsen has served the district for nearly 30 years as both a special education teacher and as the director of special services and pupil personnel. Mrs. Olsen is a strong and dedicated advocate for students with disabilities. She insists upon the importance of including students with disabilities throughout our grades and classes. Her care for students shines through in her decisions and planning for her department over these years. Mrs. Olsen maintains an expert level of knowledge regarding the many processes and procedures related to special education and she shares her expertise for the ve the betterment of all who work with her. Mrs. Olson serves as a knowledgeable member of the superintendent's cabinet where she shares her ideas and experiences, always with a student- centered mindset and approach
014in any discussion. It could be said that Mrs. Olsen has the hardest yet most rewarding job in the district given the many, many legal aspects of special education and also the true joy of watching students with disabilities grow and succeed. Mrs. Olson is a proud community member and her dedication and investment within our schools is multiplied as a resident whose own children attended our schools. We thank Mrs. Olsen for her many hours of dedicated service, for her knowledge and her expertise, and for her care for the community and its children. Congratulations on your retirement, Laura Olsen. [Applause] Hey, Matthew. Go this way. Right here. Ready, ladies? Gotcha. [Applause] Linda [Applause] Robinson. Linda Robinson has 23 years of service as an English language learners teacher at Hill and Plane. Linda always keeps her students at the
015forefront of her mind, understanding the challenges they have with English being a second language to learn. She is a master at bridging the gap by giving them opportunities for experiential learning. Besides the current program she's assigned to teach, one colleague remembers her teaching a lesson on pumpkin carving. Teaching the students terminology and eventually carving one in the classroom. The memory of hauling in the pumpkins and seeing those children bring them home was amazing. She communicates and encourages the parents of the children she teaches to learn English themselves by sending home literature about our adult ESL program. She's always been kind and respectful, encouraging to students. She's a thoughtful colleague, remembering fellow staff birthdays or a special occasion. She'll be truly missed. We thank her for her 23 years of service to Hill and Plane School,
016and we congratulate Linda upon her retirement. [Applause] All right. Congratulations. Thank you. [Applause] Tina Roio. Tina has been with Sarah for 16 years and has been an exemplary member of the Sarah staff. Year after year, Tina works with our struggling readers, providing quality instruction and intervention to help them improve. She is kind and a supportive colleague as well. She'll be missed by all. We thank Tina for 16 years of teaching reading to our students. We congratulate her upon her [Applause] retirement. Are you ready? [Applause] Annetta Bolinski. Annetta worked in the Scatter Cook kitchen for 49 years, showing her love and dedication to our schools and to our students. She was the assistant head cook from 1975 to 2008 and the head cook from 2008 to the present. Annetta recognized every student who came to the
017calf with a happy greeting, a smile, and encouraging words. She operated under the philosophy that it was her job to make students feel special and welcome and that it might be the only smile or meal they are receiving that day. She attended many student sporting events and always volunteered at the high school senior grad night party. Students have come back years later after they have graduated to and the secretary in the office reports that Annetta was the lunch lady when she was at Scatakome. Her attendance has always been exemplary. 49 years is an amazing accomplishment for an employee of any organization. Um, and especially with the kindness and the loveliness that Anetta has always given to our students and to our schools. We thank Annetta for every minute of those 49 years for the thousands
018upon thousands of meals that she has served to students at Scatakoke and congratulations upon your retirement. [Applause] Woo! Heat! [Applause] So, that at this time concludes our formal remarks about our retirees. And of course, we'll give them another round of applause in just a second. Uh, we have cake for everyone. Um, and so that'll be the next piece of our meeting. Um, and so we'll have a little bit of a break. We'll have some cake for our retirees. We also have some cookies that you can take home. Um, and so that's what we'll do right now. [Applause] That was already planned though. Get the cake to definitely not the cake. All right. I'm sorry. Okay. So, we're going to continue with um Megan. She made it. I did. I made it. All right. Um so,
019as I mentioned last month, um this month, the first week of May, we celebrated teachers for appreciation make along with all the other educators in the building who don't necessarily have the title of a teacher but they're definitely definitely teachers in my heart. Um and we also have other things that we're assisting with this one. Um field days at all the schools right up through high school. Um and we're looking forward to our sendoff celebrations that are fast approaching as well for second, fifth, and eighth graders. For townwide news, our clothing drive is fast coming to its end. It ends May 31st. So, if you have any bags of clothes laying around that you've been meaning to donate um in front of JPCC, um there is the bin and that's for the PTO up until
020May 31st. Um so, we'd love it if you dropping those there. We are looking forward to participating in the scholarship night on the 28th for the high school seniors. Um and love to participate or thank anyone who's participated in our fundraising this year for that. And lastly, we were thrilled to be able to work with the superintendent, the school administrators, teachers, and the new milk regard voters for a super quick turnaround I voted sticker campaign. Um, don't know if anybody was able to get any this morning because they ran out pretty quickly, but our K through eight students were all invited to create um their own original I voted sticker. Um we voted and picked um well we voted in really from each school a couple of winners and then we let the registars pick
021the final choices on those and each of the winners at each school got a sheet worth of their stickers as well. So they each got 12 of their own stickers. But it was a literally a weekend turnaround. They had to have them back in on Monday and they found out about it on Friday. And we had probably 30 at each of the elementary schools in in here. um not so at Sarah at Scatakope, but that one we didn't send home before. So, we are hoping to continue this uh tradition because it was a lot of and I do believe it may have had a little bit of help in boosting those numbers for turnout today. Um last I saw just between Nortonville and Scatakoke, we were at uh 1400 and something and last year's turnout
022was just under 1,800 and that was just too early. So, I think I think it's a good thing. Um, and you know, I'm hoping that that did draw and hey, you know, if it takes stickers to get those adults out to vote, let's do it. So, and that's it for me for today. Thank you. Thank you. And now we're going to move on to the student representative reports. I think Tony, this is your last one. You're a senior. You're going to be graduating. Thank you. Thank you for your service, Tony. Okay. Are you a junior or senior? Junior. So, you'll be back next year, maybe. Okay. Thank you so much. Thank you. We'll see you at graduation. How interesting this is. Um, so at Sarah Noble this month, each class participated in an in-house field
023trip facilitated by the Maritime Aquarium at Norwok's traveling teacher program. On May 9th, they had a mariachi band join them. on the fifth um or the fifth grade walking project is in full swing and they have also hosted several authors that have come in and spoken to students about their craft. Um and then at Hill and Plane classes are in an ABC countdown with themed days around their learning continuing down or counting down uh the last 25 days of school. We congratulate Mrs. Gray as Hill and Plains teacher of the year. This is a well-deserved honor for her dedication, time, energy, and creativity. Uh their second graders harvested lettuce and radishes from Berkeley's backyard garden, and it was served in the cafeteria to go along with last Friday's pizza lunch. Finally, they had field day,
024which was so much fun with games and activities planned by Mrs. Stratman last Friday. And then at Skyope, the SMS musicians have participated in their full slate of spring concerts. It was the first ever evening health and community fair on the evening of the PTO springfest. The PTO brought the Scholastic Brook book fair to SMS. They've begun their spring, their slate of spring field trips, including the sixth grade chorus going to uh nees. The seventh grade chorus went to Chestnut Grove. Band, chorus, and orchestra students traveled to participate in the Great East Music Festival and musical groups toward New School performing for students at HPS, NES, and SNIS. Thank you. Thank you. Have a nice summer, you guys. Thank you. We appreciate you. Okay. See the approval of the minutes for the regular meeting from
025April 22nd, 2005. I need a motion to approve the following board of education minutes regular meeting April 22nd, 2005. So move second. So Dean and Randall, any conversation? Anybody have anything to say? All those everybody. Um, we're going to do the superintendent report. Uh, yeah, I don't have much because I said so much before, but again, congratulations to our retirees for sure. Um, so much experience and knowledge and expertise was present in that group. uh truly amazing. Um I want to say one word of thanks for to people who will reach out to me to ask questions about anything having to do with the schools but also particularly at this time of year about the budget. Uh rather than relying on some things that might be floating in the air or might be bandied back
026and forth on social media. Uh I've heard some this week from some residents uh which was truly refreshing uh to be able to engage in discussion and to provide facts. So that's just a a special word of thanks to people who actually reach out to find out what's going on. Thank you. Thank you. Okay. And I really don't have a a board report. We've been focused on the budget. Um we'll see where tonight leads us. If we have a lot more work ahead of us, I'm sure we have some work. And that's really all I have. And now we'll move on to subcommittee to policy. We didn't have a meeting because of the uh town council meeting and uh we there are no policies on the agenda tonight either. Thank you. And then committee on
027learning Sarah's not here tonight. So there was no meeting anyway. There was no meeting. There was no meeting. So you're right. Okay. Um facilities. So facilities I'm delighted to say for once all of the facilities news is good news. It is. It's good news. Um later in the evening um the current uh projects will be discussed and you can find a list of those projects on page 39 which I believe Randy is not the only person's number has page numbers now. Is that correct? That's correct. All right. So you can have page numbers and I I'm very happy you everybody page numbers they can find it on 39. We'll get to that later. Um I just want to speak to one item that's not on the agenda. Um earlier this evening um it was an
028absolute delight for us on the board uh to watch our board chair um with the big scissors cut the ribbon for the new and improved amazing um planetarium which has been uh which also thanks to Mr. Cunningham and Mr. Turner's work um has been uh upgraded with state-of-the-art um audiovisisual equipment and I mean I thought the little 10-minute presentation we got was really really impressive and I look forward to uh the use that that gets put to and it's also wonderful that we have not only plantation planetarium we have an observatory in this in this town and I I think I heard somebody say tonight that there's only 40 schools in the country elementary schools elementary schools that have this type of facility. So, um it's very exciting and it's it's we'll have a more
029public opening. Uh tonight was sort of the VIP one and so we'd like the community to come and see what we've invested in because it's beautiful work. It sure is. Thank you, Tom, for bringing that up. I meant to bring it up and I completely forgot. So, we're going to move on to operations. Um it was a short meeting and the monthly reports. I'm sure Anthony can review any of the highlights of that as we uh prepare for end of the year roll out. We'll be having more um robust conversations on on where we are and what we're doing. Nothing Nothing. Thank you. We're going to move on to discussion and possible action for the monthly report. We're going to have the budget position dated April 30th, 2025, purchase resolution D-794 and request for budget
030transfers. Secondly in Brian Brian all those in favor of clarification uh we just uh voted on the monthly reports and there is no questions. The um the capital reserve account that that balance that is reflected still has um items going against that that was discussed operations. I wanted to take a look at that. We'll be discussing that in the future as we move on down towards June some action towards that. So we say this to try and get it on the record. When you see that print out the dollar amount there that is not reflective of the true transactions that are posted against that account that are set to be posted against that account. Um it is less significantly. So there's nothing covered. We we have to there's going to be at least $1.8 8
031million in capital projects in the current iteration of the fund of year capital plan that has to draw on that balance as well as uh are we doing ESG out of that as well? That's correct. So we have an ESG payment out of that line item. So between the two line items you're looking at approximately $2.2 million somewhere in there. Y thank you. So when people see that number, they should realize that it's not a true number. But those type of reports, which they have changed over the years, you've done a tremendous job with the reports. I have to say they're always evolving and they're very helpful. That's a snapshot in time that is not truly reflective of all the other actions that take place at operations and the board and the other two um
032bodies in this town that through our budget process, we already have a five-year capital plan. we plan to draw on that to fund that capital. It's not reflected in this. It can't be until the action occurs. We already know that the ESG that goes through this board every now on a regular basis that's going to be pulled out of that as well. So the short answer is that is a number as of now, but it's not reflective of all the actions that's set to go against it. Is that fair to capture? That's correct. on the budget position page four or the bottom left box. What that reflects is everything that's actually been posted within units across. So if somebody pulled that up side or bed side that will show a balance and as followback brought
033up that doesn't include the 5year 5year capital plan or any other obligations to ESG for the energy conservation measures. Okay, thank you. Thanks. Clarification as well. So, when we look at our legal services fees, we have three different bargaining units that we're bargaining with this year. Do you think this year? We're in the middle of nurses, teachers, and administrators. Oh, that's right. Administrators. Nurses, too. Yes. No. Okay. So, do we foresee us going over what we've already paid into our legal fees? And that's an Anthony question. I don't know. Nope. Not at this time. Nope. Okay. Okay. Thank you. You're welcome. Thank you. The motion already passed. So, okay. So, we'll move on to B. The 2526 educator evaluation plan. I need a motion to approve the 2526 educator evaluation plan. So moved. Um and
034Brian, Miss Hollander, a few words if you will. Sure. It um so this is new. It is a growth model. Um it focuses on teacher educator um professional learning. Um the assumption is all students are going to grow, meet or exceed their growth targets. So, it's really focusing on um educators thinking about what they would like to um address for their own personal growth. It also um um articulates that if a teacher is in need of additional learning opportunities, it's a growth stance before it becomes a corrective action. And that's something really important for me to share with you. Where before it was like you're not doing what you need to do, let's you know, let's make sure you know that you need to do it. This one is much more um of a growth
035mindset and it's articulated as such um in the plan and it was um included by the state and approved by our professional learning and evaluation committee as well. Thank you. All those in favor items of information. We're going to start with the employment report. Miss Kava. So, as Dr. PL said, lots of um years of experience um on the uh retirements um and just a couple of um staff appointments to replace some of those who are leaving. Thank you. Enrollment report. Uh enrollment report shows stability. Um, it also shows for grades preK to 8, uh, a real close alignment between the projection and the optional. Thank you. And then we'll go to the e- rate funding notification. Mr. Turner, Turner, we were awarded the rate again money for 2526 at a 60% discount. Uh, one
036thing I'd like to note between two categories is we use capital improvement money for that. So, we literally are doubling our money every time we use that. So, I just wanted to make that. Thank you. And then the idea grant fiscal year 2026. Mrs. Olsen. Um so the IDA grant is a non competitive grant that we receive every year exclusively for students with disabilities. There's two portions of the grant. There is the grant which is 3 to 22 and then there is the 619 grant which is the preschool grant. Um so basically if we have goals that we measure these by and it's going to to provide um students with least restrictive environment uh parent partnership there's money set aside for that. Um there's money set aside for transition age students opportunities at our LHTC
037or even high school settings. Uh we use part of the money for technology supports and instruction. We also provide money for uh Canterbury for child fine evaluations and then also for faith academy for a special education um teacher and then also looking at inequity in terms of disproportionality. There's money set aside for that. Um and then we also set money aside for our preschool programs. So we have staffing for that. I will say the grant is used very I think um well and I will say that over 90% of it is for staffing right now. So we have five full-time certified staff and seven uh para educators out of the idea grant. Um and I also want to thank u Mr. Giovenon because he has a portion of this grant which is really important and
038that's the maintenance effort. So basically we need to maintain our fiscal responsibilities for students with disabilities in the context of the overall school budget. So, um, like I said, it's every year. Um, and it's, um, used very well. Questions? Quick question. Laura, you said we get it every year. Every year. The grant though goes for two years. So, you have two years to use it. So, we have a new grant starting. We'll have two years to use it, but they overlap each other. And we project this in our we project this in our financials to be more. It's not a little bit of money. It's a Yeah, you're given a certain mahamount and then you have to use it um to the best of your ability to meet needs the student disabilities. That's a great
039Can I expand on that question? It's a great question. We discussed some of this at operations I and I forget your answer and I'm curious. Is the grant frontloaded? Are is our our our expenditures frontloaded for year one? Do you know where I'm going, Anthony? Or is it proportionate within both years? meaning do we spend most of it in year one to get Yes. So basically the state is telling us use up to 80% of the grant for the first year the rest of it um we don't always follow that we try our best but the goal is to use all of it by the end of the year right thank you Mr. Ciringham Europe ongoing facility projects. So as you know last month the board awarded uh for the critical gutters and the hill
040canopy. I've met with both those contracts on site contracts. They're expected to start at the completion of the school year here. We have every expectation those two projects will be finished prior to the start of the school year over the summer. So that's good news on those two projects. um Scatakoke underground storage tank. Wes and Samson's the engineering firm we're working with. They've developed a scope for the actual construction phase, the removal placement of that tank. Uh that bid will go out on the street this week. The bid opening for that I believe is this is uh Friday, June 27th. So at that stage then we'll open those bids and see who we're going to award that contract to. So Saranobyl HVAC. Uh so as you know there's been concerns early with the dampness over
041the two classroom wings at Saranoval here. Um the narrative that I inherited when I got here was that they felt that it was maybe compromised or inferior insulation. We changed insulation on numerous occasions. We still that they attributed that there was condensation going on that interstitial space above the ceiling where that warm air was hitting those cool pipes though. Um I went and met with OMG this past fall. lady did the actual work here back in 2000. They had hundreds of pictures of this project, hundreds of pictures of the high school which they also constructed about that same time and in it we noticed that there are things called dialectric unions throughout that area. So a dialectric union is used to stop what's called galvanic reaction. So what's that? So if I have a steel
042pipe and I'm trying to connect it to a copper pipe, those two dissimilar metals will have a negative impact on each other. The stronger the two is the steel. it will actually start to erode the copper pipe over time. It will corrode and it will fail. So you put in what's called a dialectric union between these two and that's going to separate this so you don't see this metal sit here and prematurely atrophy on you. These have a lifespan and over 20 25 years now I think that these are the units that are failing. And you might sit there and say, "Well, Matt, why aren't we seeing these leak then all year long?" Because you run hot water through these in the winter time and you run cold water through the summertime. Well, there's actually
043a rubber gasket inside of these. And so, when we run 160°ree water during the heating months that expands and expands just enough that you're really not going to see these leak too often. There were a couple ones we found that were active leaks. I'll speak to the project we did during the spring break, but for the most part, you're not going to notice those. In the summertime, we're down to 45 degree water running through them. Now, they contract and then you see them leak. And when they leak, that insulation could absorb it and you could be 20t away from where the actual leak is. And because there's turnover, a lot of institution knowledge they use at some point of the seven people that work under me in the maintenance, only two are original to me
044being here. So the good thing is though, he gets a new set of eyes. You try some different approaches. So we planned out and it took a little time on the weekends and after school hours to find where these unions were throughout those two wings. We discovered 66 of these unions. Some of them, as you can see, were weathered. So at some point, these were leaking. As I said, then the leaks would tend to go away in the winter months. um in house over spring break. We attacked and we were able to replace 66 of these units throughout that area. Uh every person involved the maintenance was on it. We actually had little squads and we'll go first remove insulations and they loosen up the pipes and then a ladder come through and they would
045cut out and press in prop press so they no longer using solder. So there was the only hot work involved when we pulled a fire marshall's office was the units you're seeing here are one inch but some of these are up to two inch units and after 20 some years they were frozen. So you sort of kiss it with some heat. It expands. You're able to loosen it up. So a great job was a herculean task to do that in those three days. Then fill up all the water in this system. As you remember, then Friday was Good Friday and we were still in the heating season there in April. So this system was running operational and heat was provided Monday morning. So we're certainly comfortable that this is a huge leap forward on what
046has been a problem in that wing of the building. Um, we know that we won't have the active leaks and we feel confident that that's going to go a long way to dealing with the concerns of dampness in that area. Sir, quick question. Is it strictly in the heat or is it in the domestic water as well? No, no, no, no, no. It is just a heating system. So, down there you see 4in main and anytime you want to trunk off of that, you have a weld and then you transition into copper pipe and then the copper pipes just run to these unit ventilators. There's about 70 units in those two wings and the rest of the building you're being serviced by air handlers, rooftop units. Uh those have DX direct expansion AC. So they're
047not on the chiller. So the only area that has and for instance in Scatakoke, we have four pipes. So we have two pipes are just dedicated to heat and then two pipes are just dedicated to cooling. So you never have to really worry about that transition. Here it's just a two-pipe system. So you either can have heat or you can have cooling. I can't switch from one to the other in midday. If nobody has any questions, I just want to um I just point out this was an issue um of condens we thought of condensation and we were stealing ourselves that we might have to spend tens of thousands of dollars if not more to figure out what was going on and hire somebody from outside to come in and fix all this. And I
048just want to express my appreciation to Mr. Cunningham for doing the detective work to find out exactly, you know, what this was toilectric union. So it was it was a leakage caused by a failed union um and then for your team um to work together inhouse in a short period of time to go through this entire building, take things apart, make the repairs, put everything back together so that when um school reopened after that brief break, I I don't think anybody even knew that this had happened probably. So that I mean that just speaks to you and your team and I really I I really value what you do. I don't want to jinx it, Tom, but let's hope that was the only thing. Well, we don't know. Well, we know by filling up the
049system that if there were active leaks or no, we wouldn't because at that time we filled it up. We don't turn the heat on. So, you have room temperature. So, we're comfortable that those unions have been addressed. You know, um I said this was looking at a lot of different things for the past couple years here about what could be wrong. You know, we did deep cleanings of the coils. We modulated temperatures. We talked to outside contractors about balancing. We talked to Seammens. That's our company EMS. We some of those we did the upgrades as people know to Diggo and we've uh replaced some of those actuators that open and close those valves. So this feels like it may have been missing link to that. Um obviously we still know that some of those rooms
050are subterranean. they're below grade and you know uh days in July if you have a couple inches of rain and then it's 80 degrees out and the due point's in the 70s that actual slab can wick up moisture there. So and we're aware of that. We've replaced flooring down there. We do have dehumidifiers that we have hooked up and running in there. So I think collectively the work we've done and the approach we're taking down there should provide a much better atmosphere for people in the summertime in that area. So Matt, do we have return like do we have returns in there? All the rooms have air handler air returns and can we cycle them quicker? So we have so those unit ventilators work by there is a damper and you can bring in outside
051air. Obviously when we get to July I don't want that hot humid air though coming in there. That's the first thing to hit the corners. So it's not conditioned there. Yeah. No. And we're fighting against this. There are exhaust fans in all those rooms. So we do are able to create negative pressure have exhaust fans and actually draw through. So yes, there is air flow. cuz I was thinking if we turned over the air in those rooms a little bit more often if we had and we do that and we do that like I said between your July and August we all know in Connecticut the point humidity is ridiculous and so at that stage it would be counterproductive we can't do much with that air but during the school year yes we do open
052those dampers and bring outside air it's an asherie standard you really should be bringing a certain amount of air can I just say you know Tom this was at facilities and this has been a discussion for a few years I mean it's been an ongoing you know replacing tiles and and the real concern was could the board and the town earmark some money for a much more perhaps costly situation and the investigation all the work you did was really great not to mention that I believe we did this in-house and within our line item budget to boot yeah know a lot of I have no doubt that based on the trades that would have been involved um the wages you know that they charge uh the scope of the work we probably would have had
053to shut down those wings as we know ESY likes to use those areas during the It's a big deal. So, um I'd be speculating, but to say it would be a tens of thousands of dollars to outsource, I think is a conservative. Yep. That's why I wanted to I mean, we were all pretty excited at facilities. It was a it was a good night listening to some of these projects that we've been listening to for years now starting to close out and getting some closure and not only closure, but positive closure, you know. So, and the great thing, too, is that when you're able to do these things in house, and there was a lot of planning. I can't begin to tell you. We we marked these on maps. We knew the sizes, knew where
054they were located. Um, we knew the teams that we had set up and said, "Oh, confidence. You know, when you take on something like this, you're able to get it done." We knew the time constraints that Monday morning was coming and we invite heat to this building. If you remember, April still kind of breaks. It's actually this week. So, uh, we're up against the clock and, um, when you are able to achieve these, I think then the group as a whole, the maintenance team feels a little more confident and we're able to go on and tackle other projects in the future. Well, thank you, Matt, and your team. You guys are the best and we're really, really lucky to have you. Honestly, we really, really are. Um, field trips. We're going one more thing to
055talk about. Sorry. We're going places. One was the the New Moonford High School kitchen. I know Dr. Paul reached out to me. Want to let them know that we were looking to a culinary program. We've taken a field trip to a local see what their uh program look like, you know, for logistically the space it would take up. Um, and so we're at the very beginning stages of that, but I know that we're looking to explore the how we can modify some space over in New Mil High School and start a culinary program. Julie, can I just interrupt? Did everybody know about this? Because it was news to me last Tuesday night. I think I put out an update, but I'm not I knew and I think it was that day. Okay. I don't It
056was a great surprise to me. I just want to make sure. I don't know if this was a surprise. But it was also reflected in the facility minutes for those who was in a facilities. This portion was kids have to cook for the board event. I like that. No question. Well, the program we saw has been around this high school. They've had it as catering and they are at the level that they do provide catering for outside groups. catering, entrepreneurship. We used to get cookies from the kitchen. Stop. Raspberry. No, the the best part of my job is I get to dream things up, right? And so I dream. No, really. I dream of this culinary program and it's transformational for kids in terms of and it's for any kid. any kid who is going
057into any field or who is interested in hospitality or culinary uh you can build that program so that you have a production class that is truly a catering business for kids. I would love eventually the food truck that I will have as my retirement project and that is it. I would love to be, you know, to help in any way to help get that shape up and running. And I have uh a lot of friends that are that graduated from CIA that live in town, executive chefs, and u I think they would be thrilled to lend their knowledge on a as need basis to help get that going. Road trip to the CIA. Give them my home address anyways. So yeah, that's the that's the thinking that we're doing. And even though it's in its
058infancy, it is tremendously exciting. That's funny. Yep. That's that field trips. We're going places out in the world. Out in the world. Silly question on field trips. It's just a the the um McDonald's for lunch. McDonald's. I think that they I don't know. I'll find out. They're probably Oh, they stopped for lunch. They're probably stopping for lunch. Yeah. You got some against McDonald's? I have nothing against McDonald's. Against Yeah. First, let's not start a McDonald's up. Now, it's the McDonald's. I just wanted to get the whole picture of visiting schools. [Music] Room trip to the big and and we love our field trips. I think it's really important to get our students out and trying different experiences. So, yeah, that'll be the highlight, I'm sure. I'm sure. I'm sure was fundraising. Uh yes, the usual
059uh high school sports and clubs and PTO making money raising money. All right. Motion to adjourn. Oh, wait. Whoa. Whoa. Tom. 74. I'm sorry. He's got to get on a flight. Just going to second it. Second. Oh, Ryan. And it is 7 46. 46. All right, everybody. Oh, all those in favor. Oh yes. And um you know off the road regardless how it come board for all of the emergencies and I know tonight guys I I do want to say guys that for the first time in probably a long time I voted in line with you guys. So I find that really convenient you say that after the mics are off.