NPS BOE Meeting - (1/14/2026)

001Good evening. I'd like to call our Newington Board of Education meeting to order for Wednesday, January 14th, 2026. The time is 7:01 p.m. Please rise for the Pledge of Allegiance. Dad, >> would you please call the role? >> Here >> karate >> here. >> Sam Sharma >> here. >> Brian >> here. >> Dr. Yeah, >> here >> thank you. Our first item is our everyday hero. Turn it over to Dr. BMT. >> Thank you very much. Let me just get the page muted up here. >> All right. I am pleased to announce that our everyday hero today or for this board meeting is Mr. Tom Frael who's joined us right over here. And um this is a special and unique um honor um but uh Mr. Frail was comfortable with us honoring him in this

002way. This was submitted by both Ann Marie Sun Sun Sunderland and Christina Redmond who um wanted to honor Tom for the work he's done to support our uh program that Christina Redmond runs about mental health awareness, drug awareness. So, let me describe what Miss Redmond has to say about Mr. Frail. Tom and I first connected through the unfortunate but deeply meaningful bond of addiction and the ways it has impacted our lives, particularly after my brother passed away in 2019. That shared understanding became the foundation of something truly transformative for our students. Two and a half years ago, when I began the mental health seminar course, my goal was to move beyond textbooks and statistics and give students access to real stories from real people. I knew that authentic lived experience would create understanding in a

003way that no lesson plan could. When I asked Tom if he would be willing to speak to students, he agreed without hesitation. Since the first visit, Tom has spoken to every section of the mental health seminar course for the past two and a half years. We host several guest speakers throughout the course, but without exception, Tom is the speaker students reference as the most impactful. He speaks to them with honesty, humility, and courage, sharing his story of substance use and addiction that began as early as seventh grade, as well as the generational impact addiction had within his family. He shares a story with vulnerability, truth, and compassion, never minimizing the pain, yet always emphasizing hope and recovery. His word his words leave a lasting impression on every student through connection and understanding. Students regularly reflect

004that Tom's story helped them understand that addiction can affect anyone and begin at any age. Many say they will always remember his message and that it changed the way they view others, reminding them that you never truly know what someone has experienced. Most importantly, Tom gives students hope. Hope that recovery is possible, that asking for help is a strength, and that speaking about personal struggles can be life-changing. Students have shared reflections such as, "Mr. Frabel was the most impactful speaker. I learned how addiction can start so young and take away so many people and things that you love." Hearing someone's story in person made it real. It wasn't just a video. It was someone right in front of me. Listening to someone who survived addiction made me realize I shouldn't be afraid to talk about

005my own hardships. Hearing Miss Mr. Frail's story broke my heart, but also inspired me. Now I know recovery is possible. Tom does far more than tell a story. He saves lives. I cannot thank Tom enough for his courage, honesty, and selflessness. He has made a profound difference within our school community and has lived experience and his lived experience has been a source of education, compassion, and hope for all of us. He truly embodies what it means to be an everyday hero. Thank you. >> Congratulations. >> Picture time. Okay, thank you. >> Thank you. >> Congratulations. I'll open up for board comments. >> Speechress. >> Mr. Gabriel, I just can't um really find the words to tell you how impactful that statement was. We are so um fortunate that at all of our board meetings, we

006have the the pleasure of recognizing special people who do the best things possible for our students and for our staff. But I'm trying to reach back and I can't remember hearing a a nomination statement as powerful as the one that I just heard. I'm struck by your courage, your resilience, your honesty, and the lessons and the openness that you are showing our students will last them for a lifetime. They're going to impact our our our kids and our community in ways that we can't even begin to think of. So, thank you so much for all that you do. And good luck in in every way that you are making our our kids and our our community so special. Thank you, >> Mr. Hollerin. Thank you so much, Tom. Uh, I apologize I can't be there

007in person. I'm a little under the weather today. But as someone who grow grew up uh with addiction uh in their family, one of the stigmas is that you're going through it alone and it's embarrassing. And I think by erasing that stigma and realizing that we can help each other out, that's where recovery and healing really begins. So the work you do is uncalculable in the way it can change somebody's life. Thank you very very much, >> Maverick say thank you so much. Uh I do recall at during my time at NHS seeing your friendly face around the the gym and the calf. Um, but I think, uh, as Miss Beatrice said, this kind of this award started out, I think, as a way to highlight teachers, nominating teachers and staff members and really showing

008um, what maybe folks don't see out in the community, um, all of what our staff does. Um, you know, the the true behind-the-scenes grind. Um, as of late, it has really been saving literal lives, um, including yours. And I think, um, yeah, we've really elevated hero uh, status here. And um it's been an absolute pleasure to have Miss Redmond here before talking about um the impact in having students come here at the board to talk um as well as at youth adult council um that I sit on um to hear the the true impact that you have um with your story. So, thank you for your vulnerability. Thank you for um honestly the bravery to to be able um to to talk about um your story and to be able to help um this next

009generation. you know, um, we had when Mr. Redmond came, I think there were a lot of statistics that were shared just from the classes and how many Newington students are impacted by addiction, whether themselves or in their families or um, in their community. And I think um, it's something that was illuminating to students, but also I think maybe to those of us who had that presentation at the board table um, that you know, you just never know. And I think um all of this awareness uh we've seen I think it's one of the hottest classes on our on our books for a reason. Um so just thank you for what you've done. I think um it's going to be one that generations of kids talk about when they come back here every so often um

010to say that that was the class that made it and that was the story. So uh I can't thank you enough, but also I know that I'll say thank you on behalf of the students that um I know are already grateful. So congratulations >> Dr. Stanley, >> I just wanted to also say thank you so much. Um, everybody has said so many nice things about you and I totally agree as a person who cares and sees this struggle firsthand. Um, there's a lot of avoidance and and disbelief um, from people and their families. And to see somebody who is so candid and so open and that is very impactful um, for these students and you make such a difference for this community. You walk the walk and you talk the talk and thank you so

011much for doing that, >> Mr. Chararma. >> Hey Tom. So, thank you so much. I'm just going to, you know, echo what everyone else said. So, thank you for everything you do and thank you for going above and beyond. >> Thanks. >> And I'll just add everyone. Oh, Mr. Newton, did you >> go ahead? Um, I come from a background in law enforcement and I can say that the ch the kids, everybody's a child to me, but they reflect and they see what's around them and when they see real life experiences and what the results and what the end paths can be or cannot be, I think it makes our youth look in the mirror and say, "Is this for me?" And I think that's important. They have to have that option to know that

012they're not alone, one, and two, there are methods to solve it. So, thank you. >> And I'll just add, I think when um Miss Redmond first came to us, it was with Stop Sigma Club um before her um this program had a grant funding and we hope to continue it in the future. Um but you know, I think the most important thing and it was in the in the write up and what you do every day is just like like stop the stigma and and talk about and be open. And so I thank you for your your courage and and you know you walk around the halls all the time. You're seeing all these students and um knowing that you're making a difference and and they can, you know, know something personal about you and

013it's really it's really brave to to share that and and still come to work every day. And so I just want to thank you for sharing your story and and being a hero and everything you've been through and sharing that with everyone else. So thank you so much and welldeserved award. Thank you. All right, I will open up to um for public participation. So any member of the public in person or online can either come to the end of the table or raise your hand to be recognized. Um we have you have four minutes to speak on any matter related to board business, board responsibilities. I am not seeing anyone online who wishes to speak. No one here. >> Moving on. Um, we have our student representatives from the high school, Abby and Danny. Take

014it away. >> Hi everyone. So, for our presentation this week, we have a couple of new things, but just to get started, we want to talk about what's going on at the high school right now. So, right now we have our midterms be coming up next week. So, students have been working to study and get their study guides done in class. And something new this year that Miss TGNo was able to organize is that on Friday the 23rd from 12 to 1:30 in the gym, we're going to be having four baby goats and a baby lamb from Ozakita Acres Farm in Manchester come to help with stress relief and just kind of add a fun aspect to midterms after all the stress. So, that'll be really cool. We're really excited for that. And then we

015have course selection coming up for freshman, sophomores, and juniors. So, they've been working to talk about AP classes, honors classes, and just the options that they have for next school year. And then we have the local scholarship booklet just opened up for seniors. So, we have a few months to work on that and submit any applications to be considered for local scholarships. So, I've started working on that. I know a lot of my friends have, too. And then we have our voices of change program in March. So Miss Tigno just put out the form to student leaders and students in the building who might be interested in facilitating it. And it's a program that we have every year. It's changed names, but it still has the same general message. And it's for sophomores to be

016able to talk about bullying and the importance of just having an open and welcoming community at our school. So once the PE the facilitators are selected, we're going to be doing trainings in February and then the event's going to be in March. And then we had Tinsel Tigno come back right before break. So it was really fun to see her come back and uh she came in the first day on a firet truck. So that was super cool. And yeah, >> more with the midterms. Um, Link Crew is hosting a midterm review for any underclassmen who are feeling stressed about studying and it's called doughut stress where they'll be handing out donuts and helping underclassmen study for their midterms. Also, FBA is preparing their winter dance with which they'll be having in February or March.

017And DECA had their MCK competition tonight. and a lot of different clubs are preparing for their state conventions that are going to be happening around this time, including HOSA, DECA, and FBLA. >> So, for our middle school update for this month, we reached out to their leadership and just wanted to get some updates to share with you guys. So, for Kellogg, for their musical, they're going to be doing Legally Blonde and that's coming up on February 26th through the 28th. So, we just wanted to shout that out so everyone can go support. And then they'll they're continuing with sports like floor floor hockey and basketball and students have been really loving that. So, they've been able to continue. And then their holiday drive was a success just like Wallace's. They've been doing a lot of

018drive. So, it's been really cool to see. And then they'll be starting a boys choir which will be really cool to get all the boys into music and just introduce them to choir before going to the high school level. at Wallace. There's been similar activities. Um, but one of the notable events is on the 16th there'll be 12 eighth grade students who are going to be attending a workshop at uh SCSU to collaborate on leadership development. And some of their um achievements that they've had the past month is they raised $577 for um for CCMC on PJ day. They donated over a thousand items to the Newington Human Services when they hosted their Thanksgiving food drive, which we had pictures of at our last meeting. And they also have started a ski club and their

019first outing was on January 9th and they'll be continuing every Friday until the end of February. And then we've also heard that students in the seventh and eighth grade have reported loving the new learning environment with their classrooms as well as their lockers. And then for our special shoutouts for this month, we have Josiah Sims who's a senior and he scored his thousandth career point which was a really big deal. So we celebrated him. And then Annayiah Ross, Ari Stakis, Brooklyn Crawford, and Olivia Canyon Perry broke an indoor track record at the school. So that was really exciting. And then girls basketball honored the Martins family for their pinkout night just to show support for the family. And this is on topic with our everyday hero, Mr. Frail, but um I know we've been having

020requests about wondering about mental health at the high school. So, we made a short little report for you guys for um to listen on, but some of the data that we've got from Miss Tigno and especially Miss Redmond who runs the mental health seminar class. Um, some general comments from a survey that was sent out that had about 500 responses was that there's about 95% of the students that feel somewhat comfortable or completely comfortable sharing thoughts and ideas with adults at NHS and close to 100% feel uh students feel that they matter in the building. And some of the academic issues that people have reported having includes anxiety, low energy, exhaustion, and fear of failure. And other key mental health issues that people have talked about and reported out include eating disorders, body image, social

021media issues, depression, anxiety, and substance abuse. And Miss Redmond also commented on there's a lot of students who are wondering about undiagnosed conditions that they may have and they've been finding different connections and different people they can talk to to help get the help they need. >> So something Miss Rodman was also able to share with us was the different resources that students have at the high school for these issues and these concerns that they may have. So, we have counselors, social workers, school psychologists, and admin that are all really open to talking about mental health and different support systems for students. And then Miss Redmond's mental health class is a huge thing and a huge resource we have at the high school. So, this fall she has three classes. And because of the flexible

022curriculum, she's kind of able to talk about what students find important. So, this semester, they've been talking a lot about eating disorders, body images, body image, depression, and anxiety. and through the class they're able to learn a lot about social awareness and empathy. And one thing that she said to us that a lot of students mentioned is just that you never know what others are going through. So even if a student isn't necessarily experiencing one of these issues themselves, they're able to understand others perspectives and how others might be going through it. And then they were able to apply it to the real world. So they have a lot of speakers come in which is really cool. They've had people from Interval House, Monteneito, the Connecticut Council on Gambling, CC AR, and they've had QPR

023training and certification, which has been really cool, and we thought that was really interesting to hear. So, they have a lot of applications into the real world. And then, Miss Redmond just in her role in as a figure at the high school is really important as well. So she works a lot with substance use and drug and alcohol. So in the past, students who were caught with substances were expelled from the high school and then they were just left at home and they didn't really have a lot of resources to be able to help themselves. With Miss Redmond in her position, they able to be kept in school and talk with her and get some of those resources. So she's able to make outside referrals to help those students. and her grant is up, but

024with her position, she's able to help a lot of students and in since last May, she was able to make 18 outside referrals. So that's 18 students that were able to stay in school and get the help they needed. So her position is just showing a direct impact to student needs and the way that we can help students at this high school. And then aside from Miss Redmond's class and her position, we have the Voices of Change program, which we mentioned. So everyone at the high school goes through that. Everyone knows what it is and it always has a really big impact just how we can help others and the impact that we have on others. And then we also have mental health week in assemblies and panels throughout the year. So in March we

025have our addiction seminar with Stefan Hill. In the past we've had Chris Harren and we always get really positive feedback from it cuz it's just a way for students to see those firsthand experiences and see that there's a way out and that there's something on the other side. there's hope for them. So, it always has a really big impact on the students. And that's all we have for you guys today, but if you have any questions or comments about what we shared, we'd love to answer anything. >> Thank you so much. Are there any comments or questions from the board, Miss Weaver? I just always have to say thank you guys so much. This was even more comprehensive than the last. You keep upping it, guys. I mean, come on. Um, I just want to

026say thank you for for that followup. I think it's really important um that we continue to kind of mesh that out and and see and flush that out and see um what our students are feeling, but that's very powerful statistics. So, thank you for for doing all of that. Um and also um just want to say thank you for highlighting all the middle school things because I think that's really exciting stuff. Um and as always, everyone can watch this back so everyone can see those presentations too in the community um to see all the great work that you guys are doing. And I hope you guys make it through midterms week just fine. [laughter] You probably don't have to take materials. >> I know. >> No, you said finals if you get above a 90

027in the class, right? Final. Okay, fine. But maybe of electives. I don't know. I don't know. Okay. Anyone else? >> Um I'll just say I really loved the the um Oh, Mr. Holl, you go after me. Um, I loved the update on the mental health um, in the high school and I think it's great that you had you sent us or had the results of the survey. Um, definitely helps us when we enter budget season to really understand that mental health is such a big um, issue. You know, we have to make sure that everyone is able to learn in order for them to learn and and mental health is a huge part of that. So, um, thank you for highlighting that for us and we will probably be using some of those results when

028we, um, look to fund positions in the future. Um, I did attend Chris Harren's, um, presentation, I think it was last year, and actually got hours from my internship because I was like, "Hey, I want to go see this." And so like it it it was a really great um presentation and we're very lucky to have him here and and all the things that Miss Redmond has been able to do. I think bring um people into the not just her classes but for the whole school too. Um and and you also brought up the the substance use and expulsion versus coming in school and having that support. I think that's also just another important really important thing to highlight for us. So Dr. Bremer, I hope you're taking notes. Um, [laughter] and thank you for

029being here. Um, Mr. Hollerin, you can go ahead. >> Thank you. Uh, Amy, I think you said just about everything I was going to. Thank you for the update on mental health. Um, the survey is very valuable to us. Um, appreciate you guys putting in the time um, to do this for the board meetings. It is you who we work for, so thank you for volunteering to do this and good luck with midterms. >> Thank you. Thank you. So, oh, oh, also I was at the the DECA mock um competition. Dr. Bett stepped in for a minute, too. I was um asked to be a judge and I was like, I've never done this before. I have no idea what I'm doing. But, um it was really fun. And Abby, I didn't get to see

030your presentation, but some of your peers I saw and it was very impressive to see like how hard you guys work. you get so like I didn't realize this but for your competitions you get like the scenario like 10 minutes before you go and then you have to like present this whole thing for 10 minutes and um have you know just all these you just did it's just really impressive how much um how much you have to prepare for but you don't know what you're walking into. So I thought that it was really great and Miss Miller did a excellent job organizing it went very smoothly. Um, but good luck in your competition coming up and and everything else you guys are doing. So, >> thank you everybody, especially everyone on the board and everyone

031here. We appreciate all your time. >> Yeah, thank you guys so much. >> Thank you. >> Okay, so we have not had finance or facility meetings. Miss Viva, did you want to give a brief um update on >> Yeah, literally one sentence. I know we're on a tight schedule here. Um so we met on Monday uh our first policy meeting of the year um and we we got over uh some of our bylaws. Um so what we'll do and we'll figure out and coordinate um with with the chair and with the superintendent on presenting our next policies um and then looking at that probably within our budget season, but noting that February is a little jam-packed. We'll have our next meeting on March 2nd at 6:30 p.m. Uh so to come. Okay. Thank you. Um,

032and then just another a brief update on our curricular curriculum committee meeting which was on December 11th. We're actually meeting again um next Tuesday at 6:30 in this room, Helen Nelson room for anyone interested. Um, but our meeting on the 11th was very focused on 7th grade math and kind of step taking a step back, revisiting the research and the reasons the why um the decision was made. Um we it was a really fun meeting. It was very um it was very interactive. Um we were able to we got a whole bunch of materials and we're able to like pick out the the key points that really resonated with us. Um taking into consideration some of the things that we've heard along the way from um some parents and um staff going back since I

033think when was it May, May, June um in our meeting in July. So, we um we had a really good conversation about basically the the why um why for the the modernization of the math pathway. Um our next meeting will be to review what came out of that meeting. Um kind of a condensed um document that is going to explain the details, the evolution and and the path moving forward. So that will be next Tuesday. questions. >> All right. Um, showtime. All right. We have some special guests here from Anna Reynolds, Mr. Smith, Dr. Roman. >> Yes. I'd like to welcome Mr. Smith to the podium and and Miss uh Figero to talk through what we are going to be learning today from our visitors from Anna Reynolds. But I would like to commend our

034students and their families here. I know you had to wait about a half hour to go on and Rory would be very proud of your behavior. I Rory could have come tonight, but he must be resting, I think. >> Regardless, in all sincerity, ladies and gentlemen, you did a lovely job waiting and it's very much appreciated and we look forward to hearing from you tonight. Mr. Smith, take it away. So, I'm going to be I'm going to be very brief. I'm going to turn over to Mrs. Figerito and the students and kind of have you get you to work. But for those of you that were on the board last year, if you recall when Anna Reynolds came, we brought um we were talking about play-based learning since it was a very new initiative and

035uh policy and had kindergarten friends with us. And today really thinking about was the evolution of now this past summer we in our instructional guidelines in the elementary level shifted slightly to include time for extended enrichment play-based learning in all of the grade levels. And so when I was developing the schedule in the summer, I was very mindful about how could I find that time and maximize um our math interventionist, Mrs. Figuredo and create this block of time that she could be working with students to really extend some of the learning. And so when I did the schedule and I sent it out, I hadn't even told Mrs. Figerito about it, but I just kind of said like it's it's my way of seeing like play-based learning meets building thinking classrooms, which you kind of

036learned about I think some of you in the past from the middle school and in the learning pit. And that was all I kind of put on the schedule. And I get five five minutes after the schedule went out. And the first time she saw it, I get a message from her. She's already has this slew of ideas. And she just took what I thought would be something small and exciting for kids and created this unbelievable, amazing, exciting learning opportunity that you're going to kind of be able to hear about that really combines those three features, creates this challenging time for students that starts the morning off. And there's times I walk down that hallway, they are there waiting at 8:40 right when they come in and she's still on on bus duty kind of

037getting there. So this is just opportunity for you to see how that playbased learning really evolves through the years and what does that look like. So I'm going to turn it over to Mrs. Figerito and then she's going to have the students come up and and do some things with you. >> Hey, thank you Mr. Smith. Um I want to first say thank you to the board for having us. Um, thank you to everybody who's here with your support, but a special shout out to all of the grown-ups who provided transportation tonight. So, thank you very much for that. Um, so before I, um, dig into this, why don't I introduce some of my fellow um, participants here. Um, we have Asher over there. You can just kind of wave and then I'll have you

038guys come up later. Okay, there's Asher over there. We have Andre. Andre, there he is. We have Eloise in the back. Right. over over here we have Hamsika Manisweeni Talia Nester and Summer. These will be my fellow facilitators for the evening. Okay. Um but I want to just give Mr. Smith kind of gave a really great background. I'm going to go a little bit into um some more detail here just about um the the basis for our work here at Ann Reynolds. So um our building thinking classrooms is really a big part of this foundation. So, um, one of my jobs is really to provide a thinking task. And with a thinking task, it's really, um, meant to have the kids think deeply. And it's not really just kind of a quick answer. It's really

039think deeply, collaborate. Um, and you'll see kind of what I mean in a minute with these thinking tasks. Also, visibly random groupings. This allows the students to have to sometimes work with somebody they might not be that familiar with. U, maybe not their best friend, but have to get together and collaborate in a meaningful way. When I'm popping around from group to group, um I never provide any answers. I'm always kind of responding with that's great. Keep thinking, keep thinking. Um and this helps the students see where they are going and where they currently are. So that's kind of I kind of think about Wendy for Wendy Wendy Krauss and her chair. This is or her stool. I kind of think about it like this. So that's one leg of the stool. The other one

040is the play-based learning. Of course, all of this foundation is really um in the play-based learning. So it promotes a true love of learning. Like Mr. Smith said, "Sometimes these kids are here before I am ready to go." Um, and at times I will see some some kids in the hallway and say, "Are we going to meet today? When are we meeting? What are we doing? What?" And they really want to know the schedule. They really are ready to dig into it. Um, this is a true cooperative play, which is the most advanced stage of play. Um, it is truly studentdirected, processoriented, and it fosters creativity and imagination. I can't tell you how many times the students have amazed me with their imagination and I've caught myself saying so many times I never would have

041thought about that. That's an amazing idea. I never would have thought about that. Um and then it also promotes language development, social emotional skills and the fine motor skills. Um a lot of the social emotional skills and language development comes from the amount of collaboration that has to occur. Um so that's my second uh leg or the piece of the puzzle here. And then the last part is the learning challenge and that's really focused in on um the learning pit and that sometimes you have to go through productive struggle and you might fall into that pit and it might be difficult and it might be challenging but you have to persevere to get through. So these this is really the kind of the foundation of our work. So now I'd like to call up some

042of my friends all of my fellow facilitators to come on up and help. And instead of having me stand up here and talk to you guys, we thought that you could participate in one of these learning and thinking tasks. Okay. So, before we get into groups come on up, everybody. Let's see if we can squeeze up here. So, I'm going to have two of my fellow facilitators help me with something. It's actually Mr. Smith. Can you grab me those dominoes right there? Thank you. All right. So, one of the ways that we are putting students into random groupings is we pass out dominoes. And I'm going to have some of my fellow participants um facilitators help me with this. So, I have Eloise, you're going to do the passing and then Hamika, did you want

043to explain to everybody how the do >> um you get a domino and then when you when you find a partner, that's basically when you found someone with the same number as you on a domino. >> Exactly. So, where everybody's going to take a domino and then you're going to get up, move around, and find your partner that has the same number or value on their domino. Okay? So, that's going to be step one. So, you might not be in the same seats that you're in now. So, we're going to have to be comfortable kind of moving around a little bit. Okay? So, Eloise, go ahead. You can pass out dominoes to everyone. Actually, can we keep it there? Dr. >> B. Yep, that's perfect. Thank you, Eloise. >> Sure. >> Okay. Thank you very

044much. Thank you. >> Okay, perfect. So, the next step is you're going to have to get up and find your partner. Okay. And actually, based on the number of dominoes we still have, some of you might not have a partner. In that case, you can join whatever group you like. Okay? So, get up and see if you can find your partner. Okay. So, it looks like we're almost settled. Here is your job. You are going to explore, design, create, play, think, communicate, problem solve, and of course have fun. Okay, Dr. >> Thank you. >> Hey, Andre. There's a village on top of mountain without easy access to fresh water. Far below there is a lake full of fresh water. the task. Design and build a machine that can deliver water from the lake below to

045the people on top of the mountain. >> In a minute, we will pass out materials. Normally, our kids would have several weeks to work on this project. Clearly, we don't have that, so we'll go with about 10 minutes. Okay? So, let's see what you can accomplish in 10 minutes. All of my fellow facilitators here are going to help me pass out materials. You have access to anything that you like. You can combine things from different containers any way you want to do it. Okay. All right. Let's go pass some things out. >> Okay. >> That's okay. We'll get it. >> You can take whatever you want. So, typically you can you can take what you want and then get up and move somewhere and get something else. It's really up to you. Whatever tools and

046materials you want to use, you can combine them. You can stick with one container. Totally up to you. >> Great job. >> How do you think it's going? >> That's okay. Do you want to go find that? Now, the next step is what? Now you have your cards. Go hop around to the groups and see what they're doing. Okay? So, go hop around to the groups and see what they're doing. You have your card. Go hop around and ask the questions. Okay. You ready, buddy? >> Okay. >> You got this. the other. >> I like this. >> The best part is that at the end when they're all exploring, they we all talk about it and they never have time to do that, but they really like it. Do the kids have to get in

047there and help them? >> So, the kids are being out. They're asking the purposeful questions and going around from >> I'll go take pictures. >> Yeah. Oh, >> just hop. You can just hop right in. So, if you see a group working, you see a group >> [laughter] >> How's it going? Did you get through a couple groups? Okay, keep going. See if you can get to all the different groups and ask questions. >> All right. Is it okay? >> I just got one. >> Is it okay? Great. >> This is serious competition. >> It is. Yes. It's very fun, isn't it? have an idea. >> Oh, what is it? >> All right. >> How you doing? Did you find a lot of groups to go to go ask questions to? >> Right. You can

048just hop right in and say, right, you can ask your first question. Tell me about your design. Right. Because grown-ups are kind of loud. You want to stand in there with like a nice big voice. [laughter] >> Look what I know. Water goes in here. Ash, did you find some groups? >> Yeah, I found one more. >> One more. >> Try and get one. >> Yeah, try and get one more. Remember, >> no water into this. >> [laughter] >> I see a group can go to see that group. >> You can go in there and you can ask those questions. Go ahead. You got it. >> Why not? >> So my parents How's it going? >> Good. Awesome. some like I have an idea. >> She does. She had She really does. She's got >>

049She's very out of the box, right? But her vocabulary, too. Maybe I was thinking about microgravity. I know. >> Like what's that weird This is your >> We're gonna give you about two minute warning while they have this twominut warning. >> I know you have a lot of business to get to today too. So >> this is for the online people here. So Oh, gotcha. really a lot of cool ideas. Oh, thank you. Um, so I'm wondering at this point, is there anybody who'd like to share their idea? >> Great. Tell us all about it. Yeah, tell us all about it. >> Yes, >> perfect. >> But I'll let my colleague here explain. Oh, thanks. >> So, well, it's not very good that since we didn't have only have 10 minutes. So, these are buckets,

050which would of course be harder. That's Play-Doh right now. And then the pulley the gears would pull the plate pull the buckets up and they'll go dump the water into here over the filteration into the into the bucket and collect the water and then go back down and up >> and continue. And this is the water >> and that's the water. >> Great. Thank you for sharing. Does any other team have any comments or questions to the team that just shared? >> Great. Thank you so much for sharing. Is there any other team who'd like to share? >> One more brave team. Awesome. Great. Okay. Awesome. >> Um, so what we got over here is some type of a >> Oh, this is actually pretty >> I'm used to yelling. >> Um, so what we

051have here is a like a pumping station. This is representing the house up on the hill. And uh down here is the pumping station which pumps water up into these little uh bowls here and it brings it up to the house. So that's what we designed it. >> Thank you so much for sharing. Again, does any other team have any comments or questions for the team that just shared? >> I'm just I'm like scrambling here like >> Well, thank you so much for sharing and for participating in this part. Normally when we we do our groups, we every single team will share and it's really fantastic to hear the conversation that's had between the teams. So there are really purposeful meaningful questions about one team asking another team, well how does that part work and

052why did you choose to do this and how does that accomplish the task? So there's really really great questioning that goes on with that. Um >> great. So thank you for that. >> So if you could Dr. in the next actually you're busy over there Mr. Thanks. So at the end of our sharing I will always share an actual solution. So the solution that so actually this was a true real real problem. Um Arimedes a famous mathematician scientist engineer did have this problem in his life and he designed the corkcrew. So, I'm not going to share any of these videos with you, but um to give background knowledge to the students, I would share these videos that would show a little bit about who Archimedes was, when he lived, what it was like during his

053life, why he had to design the corkcrew, um how he designed the corkcrew, and then it's actually still in use today in a lot of different places. So, the next step after the students understand that is we actually build a corkcrew. So, we have one over here. Thank you. And I have two friends who are going to demonstrate it. Okay, Ashley, remember your part. [clears throat] >> I'm actually gonna have you guys move over. >> Of course, we do not have real water in here. So, instead of water, we have pom poms. Okay. So, you can go see Mr. Smith. Now, if our corkcrew works, you should see as Nester is twisting the corkcrew that eventually pompoms will go from the bottom of the bucket out and fall out the top. And it does take

054a few twists. Nester, just remember, it has to be in there. There you go, bud. Thanks, Mr. Smith. Pom poms are a much better choice than actual water. They coming out. There they come. >> Keep going, Esther. There you go. >> He did. Yes. Yes. There they are. All right. We have water. >> Thank you, Asher and Nester. Fantastic. Great. Um, so while I have my fellow facilitators kind of quietly collect all the materials, I'd like to just share some pictures with you of some of the work that we've done. So, Dr. Brum, you want to the next slide? Perfect. So, here you can see some of the students at work. So far we have we are working on our third unit or our third thinking task. Our our first one was the corkcrew. The

055second one was about microgravity in space and the importance of Velcro. And the third one I'm not going to tell you anything about because some of these students are still working on that task. So Dr. B, feel free to go to the next one. There we are. Oh, thanks for just >> This is one of my favorite pictures of everybody together after our second thinking task. screw activity, right? >> This one was our Velcro activity. But yes, the corkcrew one was in here. Yep. Here's an example. If you go back, this one >> was a corkcrew. >> The reverse slide >> and your reverse slide that you created. Yeah. >> Yeah. >> Wow. >> You got to put these wheel. One of the one of the priorities is that all students go all students in

056third and fourth grade experience activities. So it's not just for your high strong students. Um it's building in I will say one of the challenges is is that everyone that I think participated in the very first one does not want to not do the next one after that. So yes, there is a challenge that was the very first one bringing some students in because that helps to more lead the work as we continue to go but some of them haven't multiple tasks. Our role really is that all students have the opportunity and participate in these challenges and these different things. >> Thanks um Dr. B. The next couple slides are so here's an example of our second thinking task with microgravity in space. Um, if you want to do the next one, this is the

057current one that we're working on creating a spy device. The kids are very excited about that. So, I won't give any clues about this one. Um, but if you go to the next slide, um, these are just some of my personal reflections and takeaways. I've found that when students are provided with challenging, engaging, realworld problems where students, student direction, exploration, and collaboration are key components of the structure. What we set up, real meaningful learning and a true excitement to learn takes place. And just like Mr. Smith said, this is really geared for all students. Um, it's really anyone can access this. And it's been great because I have had some students in these groups um that haven't been able to shine in ways that we'd love to see them shine in the classroom, but when

058they come here and they become engineers and builders and art artists, you can see it and they feel it. So, next steps for me, I'm going to continue to develop these units of exploration, these thinking tasks. I'd love to extend this into other grades. Um and I'd love to share some of these foundational principles behind the building thinking classrooms and the learning challenge with other educators. And then guess there's always the the option of PD opportunities. So, thank you again to everybody for participating. Thank you for all my fellow facilitators and their grown-ups. Um, and I hope you I hope you enjoyed it. Do you have any questions or comments for either myself or any of my facilitators? Do you have any comments or questions? >> Yeah, I'm so I'm discombobulated now. >> I know.

059You go first. I just want to like give a round of I just want to give a round of applause to all our students here. >> You guys are absolutely incredible. Your presence, the way you communicate as well as um your your way inquiring about things. Uh always I always get so hopeful and just so joyful about um what you do not only as you reflect your school, your classroom, but also um the community. I think um you guys are shining stars and also will um most of you I think are going to just probably build rocket ships and go to space cuz I mean some of those things are are really incredible. Um and I I just want to say thank you also to the parents for coming out and doing this. This is

060really I think what what Dr. Dr. Roman does with these is we try and really highlight especially and you all can watch this back on YouTube um and when you're an engineer graduating from MIT you be like look what I did um but I think it's really just a great example of of um the innovation that our educators have. So thank you so much. Thank you Mr. Smith for um for bringing this to us um and to the community just to learn. Sometimes people don't know what's actually going on in our classrooms and um how are we thinking about ways especially as the world changes um how we can continue to uh foster critical thinkers and I think that's really um what we're we're trying to do and what you are absolutely I think succeeding

061at. So thank you for bringing this to us. Um I'm now like man I need to go pick up some magnetiles. Um so thank you [laughter] >> Miss Vus. Um, again, I'm struck by how you collaborate. Um, when I was your age, when we were doing math, we literally had to memorize the tables. And I don't know, I'm probably older than most everybody here, but, um, we sat individually and we had to just memorize how our subtraction, addition, uh, multiplication, and division tables. And there was no sense of collaboration. there was no explanation of how these uh foundations are going to help us and and build upon that learning. And I'm struck how the teamwork piece of it, how everybody um empowers and lifts their teammates up, but how all the pieces fit together in

062a way that's special and unique to each individual learner. And that is just incredible. And um I'm just so proud of the work that you and your staff and our students are doing. um we are going to have just amazing amazing brilliant kids um moving on to even better and bigger things. So, thank you very very much, >> Miss Lindsay. >> I just want to say your questions for us was right on the money cuz you helped us figure out our thing even better cuz we had no clue about a filtration. We weren't thinking of We weren't thinking of what else were Oh, the bucket we weren't thinking of. We had to collect it. You guys like asked us questions that helped us think out more out of the box and what to do and

063very proud of you guys for coming up to us cuz not even in my day we would not be going to talk to strangers and well I we all be like uh do we have to? So you guys are wonderful. the parents. You guys are amazing that you're the support you guys are giving your kids and thank you for coming out and doing this with us. This was fun. >> I just have a a question. Is there um how long are they the units? Like how long do they have on each? So typically it goes for about 5 to six weeks. When we get towards the end of that fiveweek period, I'll typically ask who else needs more time and I might give them another day or two. Um I see the students three days

064a week first thing in the morning. Um and it's Tuesday, Thursday, Friday. Um and sometimes I have a meeting one of those days and if we don't meet then you know it's a big deal and everyone's asking me why we didn't meet. Um and so then we maybe push it back a little bit but it's typically about five to six weeks. >> Okay. So every student in third and fourth grade is getting a unit for this school year and then in fourth grade they'll get the next one or another one. >> Well actually this is a combination of third and fourth grade them together. Yep. >> Yep. So which makes Our goal with our way of starting a little bit later in the amount of time we may not get, but our goal is that

065it's a longterm opportunity for everyone to just awesome >> and the kids enjoy it. Do you guys all like it? >> Yeah. >> Like Mr. Smith said, sometimes they are there before I'm even with all my things like, let's go. And they're already in the closet materials ready to go. So yeah, we love it. That's well done. An amazing presentation. How about another round of applause for our >> moving third and fourth. >> Thank you very much. Beautifully done. >> Thank you so much. >> I do have a domino here. >> Oh, you have. >> That's true. Maybe if there are dominoes out, I'll, you know, collect the rest. Thank you. >> Got collected. >> Thank you so much. Thank you. >> Thanks everyone. Get a good night's sleep for tomorrow's school. Oh my god.

066Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. She said older people than they probably don't have or any of that. So sitting around I wonder >> Oh, sorry. [laughter] Try and problem solve. >> Okay, back to business. Back to business. All right. So, our next item of business is a report on staff allocation and class size for 2526. >> Well, if you thought solving real world problems and corkcrews was fun, way do you get a load of staff allocation? >> So, um I open uh this with um just trying to set the table for you in the context of this report. Um this report uh this board meeting is to share with you where we are currently with staff allocation and class size. So you'll see where we were last year and where we are right now. That's important information

067for you to consider when next board meeting I share with you what we're projecting for next year. So, we'll take all the information from tonight. I'll ask that you keep it with you. And then when I share with you next board meeting what our projections are looking like for next year, all of that's very relevant and important for you to consider when you're thinking about passing a budget for next school year. Right? So, all kind of fitting right in line with the budgeting process. That being said, uh this report does just that. We focus primarily on the certified. And when we say non-certified staff, we do not mean our hourly employees. What we are focused more on would be other union employees that we have such as like custodians, secretaries, things like that. But the

068report is primarily focused on um certified staff, uh which are folks that are working directly with our students, classroom teachers, and providing um services to our students that might be outside of the classroom, but all certified educators. So, that being said, um between last November 2024 and throughout this whole summer, uh to September 1st, we hired and filled 53 positions. Uh during that time frame, um 40 were certified staff and 13 were non-certified staff. Of the 40 certified positions, uh there were 38 contracted positions and then two were long-term substitutes, meaning two of our current contracted positions weren't coming back uh for this school year. So, we had to fill those positions with long-term subs. Um some others, uh some of the results and the reasons why we had to fill so many positions uh

069is accounted for in the paragraph underneath that. So, what we had um 11 vacancies uh were due to resignations, 13 were retirements, seven were transfers, so movements within the district, two leaves of absences. That would account for what I shared with you earlier. Um [clears throat] and seven were new positions. We had one full-time math interventionist at Ruth Jaffy, one full-time psychologist at Newington High School, one full-time special education teacher at Newington High School, a full-time special education teacher, which was grant-f funded at John Wallace, and one full-time uh teacher, bilingual teacher, which is districtwide, and that's housed at John Wallace, but services some of our students districtwide. that if you all recall who've been on the board, the reason for that is because we meet a certain criteria of students who speak two languages

070and English not being their primary and so we are required by state statute to provide bilingual uh teacher support for those students. Um we also had um a20 uh world language teacher. Uh you may recall some of you last year um we had Sheila Hulahan retire from Newington High School, our Latin teacher. Um we did have a cohort of seniors who needed to finish Latin for their senior year this year. And we wanted them to be able to finish um and uh complete their world language requirements. So we did ask Sheila if she would stay with us for just point two to finish this one group off be uh accepted kindly and uh those students will get the credits that they need so they can uh move that work forward and and then that that

071will um no longer exist that point to after this uh year. Um and then we had one full-time elementary teacher at Elizabeth Green. Um among the the non-certified vacancies, uh there were three resignations, four retirements and five transfers and one vacant um see uh to an employee passing away unfortunately. Um so with all that said, I would love to turn um to the next page and just share with you uh a couple of areas where you might see some increases in the numbers and some of what I spoke to a little bit already. If you are on the page uh that shows and lists all of our programs by school, uh you'll see art starting us off and career vocational ed. As you go down, you'll find mathematics intervention. Um exactly what the teacher this

072evening does. Um we did uh improve in that area in interventionist. That was one full-time interventionist at Ruth Chaffi School and a 08 full-time at John Wallace. Um we did have a reduction of 0.40 at NHS uh because there was a shift from um one teacher teaching 040 intervention and now just going back full-time math and then we had another teacher who point who taught the other two going full-time intervention. So we had some shifts up there. So that would account for uh the total position changes that happened there in math intervention. If you continue down to more, you'll have the aerospace academy. Uh you'll see a reduction there. We did not lose staff. We had um less numbers and we had a greater need in some of the mathematics and science courses. Um so

073our academy uh teachers instead of teaching as much academy as they previously did, they've some of their time has been reallocated over to the math and sciences. So that's what happened there. If you keep going further down, you have the school psychologists. Uh you'll see an increase there. I mentioned that earlier. We did improve that. The board approved uh a full-time school psychologist at Newington High School uh for last uh for this school year. And so we did hire uh successfully a great um new employee there. Uh going two more down under special education, you'll see a reduction. Um we did not necessarily uh reduce special education but it is a reallocation of staff. Um you know one full-time um special education staff member um did go uh I'm sorry for special education um what

074we did is we've pulled out all of the K to4 extension um program and we made that their own. So those are all special education teachers right now who do our K4 extension programs at the elementary schools and we clustered them into one group. So we just reallocated and brought those folks into a new place. Uh and we also created the preschool uh which some of our our staff there are special education teachers as well. So you'll see a heading right under uh special education which is preschool. That's brand new. We had those folks either allocated all throughout the teachers if they were classroom teachers or in special education if they were special education teachers. Now we've consolidated them into preschool so we can account for our preschool program and that will show clearly for

075you all so it's clear to everyone you know what do we have for preschool because that was a question we would constantly get. Uh and you see the increase in the bilingual teacher right underneath that. That is a new line too. We've never had that position before, but due to legislative mandate, we are required to have that. You go a little further down, you have a speech clinician. We did go up 0.5 at Newington High School, uh, to account for an increase in speech there. Um, and then as you you keep going down, uh, you'll see some shifts I talked about at John Wallace. uh those shifts are because the two academy teachers went from being in the academy and that um allocation now went into the classroom. So you see the classroom teacher portion

076increase there. Lastly, you'll see for Elizabeth Green, Anna Reynolds, John Patterson, and Ruth Chaffy, the classrooms uh do go down. Um and that accounts for all those teachers uh coming out of those numbers and going into the preschool numbers. I feel like I know what I said, but I said a lot. >> So, I'll pause there and offer an opportunity for any questions that you might have about staff allocation. What what gets a little challenging and why I try to explain it both up front and again in more detail as we go down. A lot of times a lot of it is due to some reallocations, some new hires. So, I try to put that all up front so you can go back and review that and then explain it as we go. Um, but

077when we do have to have teacher assignments move from year to year just to kind of navigate the es and flow of either course selection, what students choose or enrollment, it does look a little different. Um, but we that's how we have to account for where we're putting our folks. So for aerospace, the program itself and the students in the program didn't change. It was just the teachers are teaching more than just aerospace. >> Correct. So we find that we don't always need as many sections at times. And so at times when we have a bigger need for maybe in algebra for more students than just the aerospace, we reallocate them to to manage both. and they can in their time that they have. So that can happen. Sometimes we have to increase a little

078uh if we have too much enrollment in certain areas and decrease. So that would um account for that eb and flow >> and I like that it the real the the extra line for preschool and obviously bilingual is new this year but >> um spiking those out is a good indication. So obviously as you said that adjust the other numbers but it's good to see that. So next year it'll we'll see the 11 to whatever is for next year. Right. >> Right. Correct. >> Yep. Any other questions or comments? Miss Petus, >> just a quick clarification. Um I just want to make sure I understood. So the preschool teachers um the 11 is a mixture of special ed and regular ed teachers. Okay. >> Right. Correct. So, some of our our kindergarten teachers uh moved

079down to preschool. Those would have been um general education teachers. Uh they would have been counted in a kindergarten um um teacher population. So, they would have been for the whole school account. Um where some of the teachers who work in that program are um special education and used to be uh counted in the special education count. And so, um now they're just all teaching preschool, some half day, some full day. and we account for them under the preschool line. >> Okay. But then there's um but they're able to very quickly identify needs of our preschool students who maybe haven't had any intervention but like be their first touch. So >> absolutely >> and then that communication continues on going forward. >> Yes, we still even if um a preschool teacher is a regular education

080teacher, they still have a special education case manager so we can identify any needs that are are necessary immediately. thing. >> Absolutely, >> Miss Weaver. Uh, yeah, thanks for this. Um, just want to scroll down. I think, um, do we have a year-over-year total change in all positions? We do. Okay. Maybe just thinking as we Yeah, I'm saying for um, budget season, just if we have a historical record of that, too. Um, just as we go into budget, kind of how that looks based on need and knowing obviously it helps when we spoke it out to know where we're being responsive to. Um because folks will say, "Oh, eight positions. Oh my gosh, is that or 8.6 or whatever?" Like that's going to be is that all, you know, why do we need more teachers

081or this kind of thing? So, obviously the breakdown helps, but just kind of seeing where the trend is to um show the >> uh the need that has increased particularly I know the the special education areas. >> Yeah, the is is very much where it goes. Um just so we can kind of identify where those pain points are um over the years. So just I don't know how far back. It doesn't have to be a lot. I mean obviously I maybe postco. >> Do you have a recommendation? Yeah. Right. >> Yeah. Yeah. I would say probably just the last Yeah. Postco I think is is more because obviously that's where we're seeing >> 21 22. >> Yeah. Um maybe if we have pre-COVID numbers just to see maybe 2019. I don't know. >> Five five

082years is I think. Yeah. >> Five years. >> Okay. Tim says five years so that's fine. >> I'm sorry. Five years says five years back. >> Five years. Okay. we can >> whatever Tim says. Uh [laughter] >> and and I think the data will show that it primarily is um the preschool, right? We've improved our preschool, which is phenomenal. Uh and our um related services in special education. Yeah. >> And is the sorry this is written, but preschool is that included in our enrollment numbers too now or No, >> sometimes it is. Absolutely. >> Okay. just as because I know it's going to be a sometimes people use the large per pupil and all these things and I'm like okay well this has the the breakdown of it. I think that's more clear. Um >>

083yeah yeah we have an enrollment summary that we have every month that would show you >> when everything is going in and now um and it's been pretty steady almost declining just a little bit. So I just wanted but we're increasing a lot in preschool. So I just >> Yeah. and our special ed numbers similar to the state are going up um percentage wise >> and uh we're not above the state average but we're increasing in a similar trajectory >> every day every day. Yeah. Uh just so as we go into budget season would appreciate that but thank you for this. >> Dr. Stanley >> I just had a clarifying question. So John Wallace increased 1.2 FTEES. Um is that part of it is coming from the aerospace. I can track one but where's the

084other point two coming from? >> Uh that other is coming from um so John the actually 1.0 uh John Wallace um did something to help support their students a little differently. uh they traded in um so we've shared with you I think before that we struggle with um hiring para educators and so when we have a lot of vacancies we're without and so Wallace was noticing that um Dr. Dr. Braum, you know, offered the opportunity that, well, instead of us trying to fill those vacancies, which are very hard to do right now, we would maybe have better luck if we just put in a special education teacher and you trade in four of those vacancies. That would account for that um same financial impact. So, um they did that and so that would be the

0851.0 and then the other percentage was coming from theies. themies are from both schools. It's a little bit of Yeah, >> but the the aerospace is the only one that lost the FTE on this. Am I saying that right? From the 2.6 to the 1.6 for the 2:1. >> Yes. And so I could see where that would translate to the John Wallace change, but you're saying that that change for teen teachers came from special education teachers. >> We did that. Um Yeah, we did have the aerospace, you know, move into more of the math and the sciences. So, we had that increase. Uh the 1.0 I'll have to look into for the aerospace part. Why it's 1.0. >> Thank you. >> Okay. >> Any other questions? Let's see. So, thank you, Mr. Frey. More to

086come on that. Um, in next meeting, we'll go into what that translates down to class sizes and the work that Mr. Fesi's done, meeting with every principal to assess projections for next year along with this data to determine if we can reallocate staff um or if any new staffing needs arise. >> Thank you, Mr. Fesey. >> Thank you. Okay. And the next item is the Oh, just a discussion. We were asked to or I was asked to um assign a board member to um the human rights commission. Um we haven't done it in the past and they haven't met since what 2017. >> Yes, 2017 is. So, um, since it's human rights and I love social work, I just assign myself, but I don't know if it's going to ever meet. So, we'll see. But

087that's what that is. Um, yeah, >> this page. >> Yeah. So, it's the same Yeah, all the same committees and then just added the human rights commission on the bottom. Go ahead. Just a [clears throat] point of note, too, we we'll be adding the communications and that kind of stuff. Um, so an update just to board members so the community knows we're trying to work on getting a new committee. Um, that will be updated in policy. Why I'm saying this? Um, we I think are one of the few towns that actually put what the committees do and are charged with in our policies. >> Learned that most people just have a very generic nondescript one. So, um, we're doing that into policy. Um, so once we bring those policies forth, we can kind of move

088forward, but would welcome board members inputs on what they would like to be charged with. We came up with a lovely draft. Um, but that will be getting sent to you. So then you can opine on that and would appreciate if you opine on that. Sorry, I just wanted to use that time. Awesome. Yes. Oh yes. And maybe doing a board of ed newsletter. >> Yes. To increase our communication. And >> thank you policy committee. very much looking forward to that new Yeah. >> Yeah, definitely. We will bring back this agenda item when we have another update to our committee assignments. Um >> Oh, if you have interest. >> Sorry. >> Interest on being on >> Yeah. Oh, yeah. [clears throat] Any other comments on that? No. Okay. And we have a discussion and possible

089action on budget transfers. >> Yes. So, I'm going to kick us off and then turn it over to Lynn. But every year, um, we routinely uh have to balance the budgets throughout the the school year and now is the time when we want to report to the board on what was done. So I've asked Lynn was working on making it align to how we are going to report our budgets for the upcoming budget season which is you as many know is well underway. So she took the time and that's why we're uh doing it probably a meeting later than we normally do. Um I want her to explain how she's organized this and it'll be very similar to what you see in board budget books in the coming couple of weeks. So Lynn, um I'm

090going to kick it over to you to kind of explain what you've done here and and uh why we we still have money in the budget. We've just been shifting it around a bit. Take it away. >> So the the report that you see um it outlines budget trans transfers through December 31st. Our goal was to keep um you fully informed on how we manage our resources to support transparency and trust in our financial processes. These reallocations result in net changes of zero dollars to our board's budget. What we have done is we've created new accounts to separate educational technology from technology so that you can see education for what it is and clarify the pro its focus to improve its transparency. Emphasizing educational initiatives over the day-to-day technical needs of the school district. We

091have taken all of the aortioned amounts um where teachers were put into the big five programs and we have transferred those into elementary education. That's where you see that very large in the 1010 on the program. That was all of those pieces that used to be in um language arts, reading, math, science, and social studies for K4. And for the six to eight schools, we did a similar project assign aligning them where the fractional FTEES were to what they actually teach in the district hoping to make it more transparent and give a precise accounting of the full-time equivalences distribution across all programs and schools. So these are the outcomes of moving them to those places. Um also the administrative salaries that used to be fractionalized into each department have been moved to the proper departments.

092Um the human capital human capital development HCD as it's um has been changed to that and the salaries of the people assigned to that department are now there. the um curriculum development has had the salaries of that were aortioned 5% here there and everywhere into their own departments. Um and the rest of the the changes are based on new people coming in that came in at a lower rate and any other transfers that needed to be done at that time. >> Miss Weaver, >> thanks Lyn Verhero. Thank you. Um just for the on the point of the curriculum development, does that encompass all of the curriculum development done through for the year or for like the fiscal year or for like total district curriculum development or is it just want to clarify that point. >>

093The the people that were assigned to curriculum and development, the administrators were fractionalized across the district along with being in um the 20 2320 central direction. Okay. So, we took them from central direction and put them where they belong. >> Okay. So, this isn't necessarily covering the um like curriculum writing. Is that what you're asking? >> Yeah. No, the curriculum writing is in there. >> It's in there as well. Okay. >> Yeah. That that was all that used to be in there for the most part was the the minimal supplies that they needed >> and the curriculum writing. Now the salaries of the people in charge of that are in those positions. >> Okay. Thank you. >> You're welcome. >> Turn on your mic, please. >> In layman's terms, Lyn, all these salaries that used

094to be spread out everywhere are now in their proper places. Right. That's what you're saying. They're not 10% here, 10% at Chaffy, 10% at >> Anna Reynolds. They're all where they should be so it's easier for us to read. >> Yes, that that is what you asked for. That is what we're giving you. >> That's what we asked for. >> For those of you that are doing previous budgets, it was all spread out amongst other areas and it was it wasn't meant to be confusing. I don't believe it was, but it was confusing because you didn't know who was where. >> And thank you. >> Um just a question. So you said all the in 1010 the elementary education that's all of the elementary teachers for the four schools. >> Yes. >> And then um

095for middle you said that they're like world language math they're broken up into the same departments as like with the high school >> correct >> would be in. Okay. And previously was that done previously from >> they were aortioned um 20% 20% 15% um >> it was okay >> the big five. >> Okay. Okay. Okay. So now it's reflecting actual like what the teacher is teaching correct >> in the right budget category. When you look at the reading 1026, those um are now the reading teachers that it was 3.5 million. We now need 1.4 million for the reading interventionists and the reading >> coaches. Correct. >> Okay. Okay. >> Same for math. >> So, the money is all the same. It's just trying to bring clarity to it. Hopefully um at the first budget presentation

096when you get your books we will further illuminate our efforts to make this budget process more clear um by showing school by school who's in a school how many positions again versus the percentiles that I think historically have made folks a little >> confused unintentionally. So, we'll hope hopefully that process this year will will be successful and people will enjoy the clear the clarity of it. As a side note, in case anyone's worried or wondering, our budget is going along well. Our uh balance is fine. We are projecting to be in good shape for the rest of the year. Obviously, things curve balls can occur, but uh we are right now in solid position um to with the budget. Um, just to just to ask, I think it I like this better because it's more

097reflective of where the um the money is being spent. I'm just if we're looking to compare year-over-year, it'll like accountwise it'll be more difficult. So, we'll have to >> first year. Yeah, the first year, but we'll have to look at like number of um like number of staff or like we'll have to just as if you guys can just make sure to be clear like where the differences might be and because it'll be harder to see significant increases or decreases due to the reallocations. >> Thank you. I think Lynn's going to comment on that. We are actually converting last year's data over into this because we know the exact percentages >> and the people so we can do the same thing >> into the new year. >> Love it. Okay. >> Okay. Good. >> So

098if all goes according to plan, the board will love our new budget process. [laughter] >> I mean we do love budgets. Um so yeah. And then does so there so there's the reallocation that you discussed and then as um Lynn mentioned there's like the stuff that always happens like someone >> whatever the the the the normal adjustments >> normal day-to-day activities. So was there anything significant for the normal day-to-day like budget adjustments that you could point out or need to point out? >> There's nothing of great significance. Um, aside from some additional special education money that was moved in, but um, a lot of the the extra money that is needed in special ed was taken from places where we had excess with um, the people coming in. What do what do you how do

099you what words do you use for the people that come in lesser? >> Oh, um, >> realize savings. >> It was realized savings. >> Okay. Thank you. [laughter] >> Okay. So, we have a motion. Go ahead. >> Uh, I'll move the board of education approve the reallocation of funds from one program line item to another as proposed by the superintendent of schools. >> Thank you. A motion and a second. Is there any further discussion? Okay, we're voting on the reallocation of funds. Will you do the role? >> Yes. Marissa. >> Yes. Yes. >> Yes. >> Dr. Gail Stanley. >> Yes. >> Motion passed unanimously. 90. >> Thank you so much. And that brings us back to public participation on any matter related to board responsibilities. If you're in the room, you can come and be

100the head of the table or online, you can raise your hand. >> You have four minutes. >> There she is. >> A long but good day. Jen Rodriguez, 71 Northwood Road, Newington. I just want to say that the presentation that you saw earlier today is just an example of uh some of the best that we have here in Newington. Um I mean she is honestly a treasure and I hope she never moves. Uh we we shared her with another school at one point and that was really hard for us um because we just know how um wonderful she is. Uh outside of doing that for many years she's also done things um like math challenges for every grade. Um, I sat through a presentation today at the state board of education and uh the legislative

101policy development committee by CAPS um and Miguel Cardona uh and the work that he's doing with CAPS and it was talking about how do we um prepare students for uh for work and how uh companies like uh Sakorski are looking for people who are problem solvers um and they're willing to hire people really out of high school if they have certain skill sets. And I think when we're starting this young with those problem solving activities, it really sets them up for success in the long run. It's it's that build over time. So what you're seeing now helps our community later uh because organizations and companies want to invest in communities that have a workforce that's prepared for the work that they need. Um so that problem solving is really at the core of it. So

102when we see Mrs. Figuroto working with third graders or first graders really setting that foundation to preparing them um in attracting um companies to our state or town that are going to be interested in the bioa the biomedical academy or the engineering academy and how we're preparing students at a very young age. So um Newington public schools in my opinion does a very good job with that. Additionally, I wanted to come here and say thank you and Jason has already left, but uh uh Jason Smith is my principal and uh obviously Dr. Brumit is my superintendent and they have been very supportive in a lot of the work that I've been able to do um at the state level chairing the Connecticut um education preparation and certification board um and uh representing Newington in those

103ways. And I just want to say thank you so much for uh fostering that leadership and that opportunity for me to continue doing that work. So, thank you. And that's it. Thank you, former teacher of the year, Miss Rodriguez. [laughter] >> We're so proud of you. Um, any other I don't see any other online. Okay. Remarks by board members, Miss Weaver. Sorry, I have to I I didn't get to say I really uh it's one of my favorite phrases. Um, but just appreciated um the emphasis on productive struggle. Um, I think that is so so important. um you know, you never want to see a kid struggling, but you need them to engage with that. And I just um I'm so glad that that was the phrasing that was brought up tonight. Um so, just

104want to thank everyone, all the parents that came out, all the students. Wow. Just absolutely blown away as usual with um how incredible um and how just bright and amazing our students are and how they interact with us and the community. Um it's just once again sometimes you need those days where you like need restoring and hope of our future and it just comes at the best times. So thank you for for bringing um that to us. And I just also wanted to um note um I did note the same thing. I was Mr. Rodriguez was right on point here um because I saw her face and I saw Dr. Brumit's face on NBC Connecticut the other day or yesterday or today. I don't even know. But um uh with the same thing um looking

105particularly at the announcement um with Miguel Cordona and CAPS on um students graduating with associate degrees um in May before they graduate high school in June. Um and really just looking at kind of the employment numbers um particularly underemployment with students with college degrees um just kind of where the labor market is at right now. You know it's always our goal to be responsive to um you know where we where students want to go post uh new newton public schools doors. And I just wanted to um emphasize it's great to continue to see Newington represented both at the administrative level, teacher level, all of these things um to be able to uh support initiatives like this that I think are responsive that when these students leave our doors, they are critical thinkers. Um they are

106able to global citizens and they are able to truly embody the portrait of a graduate and be able to actually um pursue post-secary things and if they so choose have an associates degree already set as an option. And I think that's just one of the um things that I'm really excited about. So I was going to highlight the same thing. Should be not surprised that our our students are teachers and already thinking of those things, but just wanted to say thank you for that because I think um it's one of those things we'll continue to think about and as we enter into budget season. Uh just encourage board members to ask questions and thank our staff in advance for all that they do because I know it's going to be a lot. Thank you, Mr.

107Newton. I just want to say that with the upcoming budget coming and the we're bound to have disagreements, but I can't emphasize enough the importance to our youth to continue our direction in the mental health area because we we it's not something new. It's been there. It's been there when I was in high school, but nobody dealt with it. It's important that they have the opportunity and the avenue to have it dealt with. And mental health leads to substance abuse. substance use back to mental health. They're all intertwined. So, we just need to make sure we have the tools there for the students. >> Thank you. Sean's not raising his hand. Um, yeah, I'll just add um kind of what Mr. Newton was saying just kind of ahead of budget season or we're in the

108middle of it, but for our for us to talk Dr. Dr. Braum and her team has been in the middle of it for quite some time. But I think this meeting really um kind of calls to the importance or like we saw firsthand the importance of our you know mental health support especially at the high school but at all levels it's really necessary and then the importance of our coaches. I know there's been a lot of discussion like why do we have math coaches or why do we have interventionists and um just those those positions are really important for this kind of um extra support for students and like Mr. Smith was saying like allowing giving this opportunity for every student in the school or every student in third and fourth grade potentially feature in

109the school but to have those extra learning opportunities um because it's you know not everyone gets to do the cool things like with the old gifted and talented it was only a select group of people that got to do extra things and um I love that they came here and showed us that um everyone is able to do it and everyone is is getting something out of it. So I think just just want to reiterate the importance of having those, you know, those supportive positions that are really important to um just kind of enhancing the education experience that everyone is getting here. So um yeah, and obviously our mental health is um needs to continue to be a focus so kids can learn. Any other? No. Okay. Oh, just next meeting is and budget, right?

110Or presentation with the town. Sorry, one more. >> We have one more regular meeting and then February 4th, the invitations have been sent and I believe we'll have a good turnout of our town uh colleagues to hear our budget presentation. Yes. Motion to adjurnn. All right, we have a motion, a second. Any discussion? Second >> Tim Newton second. Uh all in favor >> I Sean feel better. >> 8:43. >> Thanks. I just lost my voice. >> Thanks for coming on, Sean.