001Yep. >> 17. I will call the meeting to order. We have six board members present. We stand alsy and justice for all your presentations. Honoring and thanking Lee King and Lou. Hi everyone. [snorts] Use [clears throat] this mic. >> [clears throat] [cough and clears throat] >> Hi everyone. I'm Shannon Daw, a visual arts instructor at Berlin. I teach um 6th through 12th grade. I know most of you. Um so I really appreciate >> [snorts] >> giving me an opportunity to share an update on the TCA community tables. And many of you know Lee King, Owen Lowry, and Nate Mace. Tonight, we're going to celebrate Owen's poet earning the Eagle Scout rank by leading the Takani table project. Is that me? At Berlin Central with Nate support and Lee King's mentorship, making it all possible. I'm
002going to talk about Lee for a moment. Leland King is one of those career people who is truly on a mission to give back. He lifted us all up and reminded us that together we can accomplish the goal. He isn't in it for himself. He often shares stories of mentors that changed the trajectory of his life and speaks about his deep desire to pay that forward. And pay it forward he has for more than 20 wait more than 20 takata community tables have been built and donated through Rler in Rler County and we have one so far. Here's the beginning of it. are great photos from the summer. It was very hot. And there's some of these family also. >> Oh yeah. Okay. So, just go back. It's okay. Um, truth be told, Lee is
003not exactly patient. When when he wants to give back, he wants to do it now. And I would say, Lee, um, you know, we need to we need a little bit of time. And then Lee would say, "I can come over today and we can get started." And more than once, we had to tap the brake pedal a little bit and say, you know, we got to cross our tees and our eyes before before we can actually do this table. Um, and whatever met with a challenge, Lee's response has always been the same. Get her done. So, we did. Um, along the way, we learned a great deal. Even when services and materials are donated, there are many steps involved in accomplishing a shared goal. Through perseverance and collaboration and community support, we did succeed.
004Um, and we look forward to continuing our relationship with Lee's Donic Community Tables into the Berlin Community Forest and building on the positive impact he has exemplified. So, in appreciation of all of their work, I wanted to um in commitment, we'd like to recognize Owen, Nate, and Lee for their service with a certificate of appreciation and a small token of gratitude. >> Rachel indicated to me that this mic does work. So, [laughter] and Rachel left such a very positive impression. very first time that I met her in early April of last year. U she left a great impression when saying that the school is our community. That has become [snorts] a driving inspiration considering your community, it's it setting, it people etc. Um that was something that was in the the very uh premise of
005the inspiration throughout this teana community table project which [clears throat] was an experiment. I am a retired designer and builder of material handling system. So now that I'm retired and and have time available, as I had stated before this board before, it's my pleasure to be able to salute and give appreciation for those mentors when I was Owen and Page. Um there were there were people who took me under their wing that were primarily farmers and builders and veterans and they gave me a great start in life and it's only natural that when I am in this position now that I should uh I should salute them and I should express my appreciation for their giving me a good start in life by doing the same as they did for me. So the Takana community
006table project was was a uh was a pilot program that worked very well since I was working with arts, letters and numbers as an artisan and uh they suggested that what I would do is uh develop a program where we could have some area students involved in in hands-on learning etc. So it was a project that by design uh was was fluid and and it turned into a very positive event. And uh before going any further, I just want to say that this evening is is a real surprise to me. I had no idea that I was going to be honored in this fashion, but uh I I want to express my [clears throat] sincere appreciation for Shannon in particular being a real spark plug, making sure that everything stayed on time. And it is
007a great honor that um I was I was uh given permission to to work with Owen and Nate and and share to have one of our tables installed at the very entrance to your beautiful campus. You you are you are to be commended for having a very beautiful and inspirational campus here. I had anticipated that uh I was going to segue into retirement and I was looking for an opportunity to hand this uh Takana community table off into some capable hands. have been trying to do so for years and there have been no real viable candidates until uh this opportunity has come along and [clears throat] now it it does appear as though uh there's there's some there's some real activity that I had not anticipated in in my future. are very grateful for having
008the time available and this this challenge which has now been inspired. Uh and I want to give you some some brief details but a meeting that took place on January 8th. Uh there were five individuals in a meeting. It was myself and Shannon and uh uh Michaela Henrik from uh Hudsonic Lands and Jeff Brits who was uh on board directors with Hudson's Ponic Lands and also Steve Lawrence uh who is the deputy director at Arts Legs and Numbers. And what we did in uh our meeting was try to find a way that we can incorporate into the Berlin Central School some kind of a program where we can uh we can continue this this pilot program into greater fruition and then we can marry it with the uh learning landscapes program that Michaela Henry is
009so successfully conducting And the challenge here, the design challenge is to find a way to uh to make this I'm going to use the word marriage. I'm going I'm going to see if I could design a way to make this marriage happen. Realizing that uh there the transportation problems associated with getting our students to Questar is just a promotable challenge. realizing that we cannot expect to be able to create a new wing on your school just just for a project like this. So the design challenge comes down to the plausibility of creating a mobile classroom that can service this school as well as potentially incorporating uh into four or more school districts here in the Ranso County area. And I don't know if I can pull off this design challenge but [cough] uh it is
010it is something that I have now become very encouraged to do. So thank you for your inspiration and and and your incentive and thanks to you and and those those qualities I now look forward to having some some real excitement in in my in my real time. Thank you very much. >> And just as a tiny note, I would like to thank the board for approving this project and letting this thing happen in the table from the school. It would probably be good for Owen to give a little bit of elaboration into the success that he and particular for Owen with utilizing the skills training that he received in this program has been directly attributable to his >> Yeah. I mean without without this project like this this was my eagle project. So this is
011a big part of becoming an eagle scout. So yeah want to thank we came mainly for that. What is what is being seen on on your screen right [laughter] now? U few pictures was where uh this was a table that was additionally constructed by Owen and Nate and it was um donated to and constructed in a private force of an individual in Ritter County who was a very generous philanthropist. And we thought that uh it it was time that that someone would donate something to the generous philanthropist who has been supporting so many environmental and and other good causes in Runs County. So hats off to to my colleagues here for being a part of giving to someone who has proven record of great generosity. Now we'll be Mr. Ch. Thank you. >> Thank you.
012At this time we will move on to the report. Representative Bella had a game. So Mr. report [clears throat] So, Bella has a basketball game. She's sorry that she can't make it. She's about to activate. Middle school band and chorus had their winter concert. Family and friends all enjoyed the concert. The performers did a great job. All students enjoyed the two week holiday break and seniors have come back happier and healthier. We are planning some fundraising activities for Valentine's Day. Student council will be selling pink and red carnations. We will also be helping the PTO with their lucky duckies for Valentine's Day. Valer Madness was this past uh well it was not this past out but it's been postponed till >> January 31st and juniors are working together to plan prom to have everything ready
013by May. Finally the student council is planning great ways of recycling more within the school and coming up with the most uh effective and efficient ways to do this. We are going to make posters that we hope to hang around the school to spread awareness. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> At this time, we will the minutes of the regular meeting held on December 16th, 2025. >> Okay. We have a motion by Frank and a second. Second by Elaine. Okay. Rebecca, how do you vote? >> Yes. >> Kim, >> yes. >> Frank, >> yes. >> Honey, >> yes. >> Elaine, >> yes. >> And Derek, >> and I am a yes. So, it carries 601. We'll move on to um consent agenda item, public comment. This is limited to the items on the consent agenda.
014Anyone set up any public comments? Okay, we'll move on to consent agenda items. Um 5 A through I with J being approval of the consent agenda items. Are there any items that we're going like to pull? >> F I'm just wondering question what change in the calendar was because I didn't have time to go back. day change the date with the half day of the elementary school >> around the capital project aligning that half date with the Caes >> March 17th >> and the 18th >> correct >> and and superintendent say is there school those days >> not for students >> school >> that's a regional PD day quest we align with Questar's calendar so staff participate in that >> and why isn't graduation on Is that never on the calendar? Graduation, >> Mr. Bernie,
015what's day of graduation this year? >> Friday 26. >> Nothing is ever on the calendar. >> 26. I know it's never, but I just don't know why. >> Can we get a separate just uh communication out? Maybe just reminding parents about the date for it coming up. It's not the district calendar. >> I think a couple things have gone out already, but I can make sure that >> Thank you. >> [snorts] [clears throat] >> Okay. Is that the back here? >> Yep. Okay. So, um can I get a motion for J, which is approval of A through I >> motion. One other question on the G, the payment of taxes for solar. That project hasn't come in front of us. Just curious that works. calling it the solar the solar credits >> the pilot gets
016is included in our tax calculation and we won't pay we won't pull that out of the tax base until they build the project and start their work there so until it's active it doesn't become a pilot should we approve the you have to approve the agreement And then >> the pilot. >> Yeah. So right now property tax value is very low. Obviously when they build on it it's going to increase and so that payment will offset the taxes. [clears throat] >> There's a cat in the back. Is a cat out the back? No. just just came to us this week. Okay. >> Just curious that was time by this district first and that's not >> the county. >> So they just pay for 15 years and then after that they don't pay anything >> and
017then they return to the tax base. >> Oh okay. >> Yeah. I think solar is a tax exempt project. So yeah in theory they should zero but this is a payment instead of no payment. >> Right. I'm not sure. >> I think it's after a certain period. >> I don't know. >> [snorts] >> I think at the point of the pilot they would be able to reduce once they build up this property they would be able to reduce their payment also an increase for us because that I think I asked about that first will be something like $1,000 or less that they wouldn't pay in taxes. So this will be a set amount for a period of time as the property and then part of our regular taxes. Any other questions? Okay. So, I have
018a motion by Frank for Jay and a second. Second by Penny. Derek, how do you vote? >> Yes. >> Elaine, >> yes. >> Eddie, >> yes. >> Frank, >> yes. >> Kim, yes. >> Rebecca, >> yes. >> And Anna, yes. Consent carries. This time we will move to um the capital project scope and budget update provide an update. [clears throat] >> Thank you Katie. Um the update what we're basically trying to provide to the board is the scope board session this week. So there's two propositions. One was the one we refer to as critical infrastructure. That's the total capital project cost of 6.35 million. The second one is the other additional needs which is 3.5. So those two 9.45 and second sheet is a revised detail put together last week as well as the subsequent
019revisions of the board. include the increase for the increase for the coupon and the also the increase for two two items house updated numbers a question for colleague when do we capital bonds coming off. >> I looked at the schedule recently. I think it was around 2029, I think. >> Somewhere around 2029. The only reason I'm asking because I sent an email to the board and I spoke to Katie. We're not going to do the black top at this time. So Katie's working and snow kind of hampered it to come up with how to get by till the bonds come off and start another project then do it and there's no increased tax base. >> Yeah, I think that the way you should be approaching this is you have this capital project but then you
020you have to have a plan going forward where's your priorities. >> Well, we took it off this one and we do have a plan going forward. say there >> it's not abandoned. We do have >> not abandoned getting stop yet to the next proposition and pay us off but that one was deleted from the project. >> You completed a different project. So that would make sense. >> So then in theory it's coming up in 29. So this one will start the payment around 2028. You would want to come up the payment to begin the project should begin the year before where you take out the bottom and the second year you start making payment to level up the tax. Yeah. So in theory the 2029 coming off our debt schedule. Yes. >> This is a
021lesser schedule. >> So there there I know there are two dips in that schedule. One happens in 2029 and then just a few two or three years later I want to say there's another dip in there. Um but if it picked up a project and began it in let's say 2028 and then they issued the bond in 2028 that whole year. It's kind of like when you take out a car, but you don't pay the first John, you pay the next one. But this case would be you. So if I read this correctly, tax levy increase, that's all these numbers. This is the maximum, but that the numbers come out to be for the project. if it goes less than life. So if it's worst case scenario in pro proposition one which is the critical
022infrastructure at 6.3 million that will be a.575% tax increase >> correct >> utilizing our reserves >> using reserves cost balance just >> and you're comfortable taking all Yes. So, this is the 2019 reserve um that we originally funded with a million dollars and then the extra 45,000 is the interest we earned over last year. So, in this coming year, interest rates are falling, but we'll get a little more interest. Uh we do need to continue to look at our expenses against our revenue. The ideal thing would be to have revenue that exceeds the expenses. So, we could begin to fund that capital reserve [snorts] again for this 2029 new payment. Colin that reserve is only for 10 years. >> 10 years and it begin 2019. >> So the maximum of five million. >> Yeah. So
0232029 it should be spent or transferred. Yeah. You could open a new reserve and transfer the value in. >> And proposition two which is the auditorium upgrade. So rejoin this entire auditorium. included the seats and the floor. >> And what else is included? The lights and the sound, >> performance lights, car sites, sound system, seating, flooring, wall beings, >> flooring. I think we just have to make carpet on just this section and then >> Yes. So it was carpeting for the eyes of carpet. >> Um it's the HV control system at both facilities, >> both buildings, new control systems >> and the sidewalks at [clears throat] elementary. >> Correct. And that because we're using all the reserves for the critical infrastructure makes the tax impact 784%. >> Proposition >> and proposition one must pass in
024order proposition to move forward. >> That is normally how it is done. Does anyone any of the other board members have any questions? >> Forward. >> We have a separate vote in Proposition one and Proposition two. >> Okay. And then um have you read any headway with the historical so that's as far as we are and I think probably because of the holidays they took a little bit and so recent experience with that usually a week to 10 day review. So we're part of a week into the session. So hopefully next week once we have a response we can reach out again about the historic about the extra cost for unfortunately I don't think that's in our hands I think that's our hands to be sure >> it is um be a conversation. When we
025hear back, we'll talk to him. We'll see what we do. Right now, we've made big asks bigger ask question. I'm just trying to remember all the questions I was asked between last night and any other questions. Okay. So, proposition one individually. So, proposition one. Can I get a motion um for proposition one? Motion by Frank. A second. >> Second by Rebecca. >> Rebecca. Any discussion? >> Okay. Rebecca, how do you vote? >> Yes. >> Kim, >> yes. >> Frank, >> yes. >> Penny, >> yes. >> Elaine, >> yes. >> Derek, >> yes. >> And yes, as well. Proposition number two, which is the proposition regarding the auditorium. the HVAC system in the sidewalks at Burland Elementary. Can I get a motion for proposition number two? >> Motion by Kim. A second. >> I'll second. >>
026Second by Rebecca. Rebecca, how do you vote? >> Yes. >> Kim, yes. >> Frank, >> yes. >> Petty, >> yes. >> Elaine, >> yes. >> Derek, >> yes. >> And Ammy, yes. The next is um the notice to vote which the vote will be held on March 17th between hours of 10 and sorry 12 sorry excuse me 12 and 900 p.m. at home. Can I get a motion for the notice to vote? >> Motion by Frank. A second. >> A second by Penny Rebecca Haro. >> Yes. >> Jim. Yes. >> Greg, >> yes. >> Teddy, >> yes. >> Elaine, >> yes. >> Derek, >> yes. >> And Amy, yes. As well, we'll move forward to D, which is the SRA project number one, which relates to proposition number one. Can I get a motion? >>
027Move it. >> Motion by Frank. A second. >> Rebecca. Second by Rebecca. Rebecca, how do you? >> Yes. >> Kim? >> Yes. >> Frank? >> Yes. >> Penny? Yes. Elaine, >> yes. >> Derek, >> yes. >> And yes, as well. We'll go to SRA project number two. Can I get a motion? >> Motion by Penny. A second. >> Rebecca. >> Second by Rebecca. Rebecca, how do you vote? >> Yes. >> Tim, >> yes. >> Frank, >> yes. >> Penny, yes. Elaine, >> yes. >> Derek, >> yes. >> And Tommy, yes. As well. So that moves forward and we'll have a vote on March 17th. Okay, move on to um the president's report. As you have just heard um the district capital district vote featuring two important propositions. come. The first proposition focuses on essential infrastructure
028improvements across all school buildings, addressing critical repairs and upgrades that ensure safety and functionality. The second proposition aims to modernize this auditorium, upgrade control systems in both buildings, enhance comfort and overall experience for students and visitors alike. Uh it's a great opportunity for the community to support the necessary upgrades that will benefit everyone. I encourage all residents to learn more about each proposition, ask questions, and make their voices heard by voting. Your participation is key to shaping the future of our schools. So, please take the time to research, come out, and come out and vote on these important issues. Um and then, um lastly, um this is more just based on my observations. Um it's important to recognize individuals who go above and beyond to support students and create opportunities for them. In our district,
029we are fortunate that we have many dedicated staff members who make a real difference every day. Um one person who has truly stood out to me is Bill Saunders. Um Bill consistently demonstrates a positive attitude. Um, and I've noticed, you know, other individuals in our community have stated that he greets them with a smile when he comes they come into the building and he's just gen um he has a genuine willingness to support everyone he encounters. Um, his commitment goes the extra mile and it does not go unnoticed through um he just in my opinion creates a supportive environment that we should strive to maintain. So, thank you Sarah. Thank you very much. >> That's all I have for my presence report. Move on to superintendent. [clears throat] >> Good evening everyone. Hard to believe
030we're halfway through January and 2026 virtue budget season and capital project season. So especially busy time of year. Uh first want to acknowledge uh our students today who took the ELA exam. Um our 11th grade students who stepped up to come in the building to take that exam in January. um to thank Christy alum pain 11th grade ELA teacher um our BLA department Mr. Burnsley, our counselor Sio Gilbert and their collaboration providing this opportunity for our students. I truly do believe there's an opportunity for students to step up and show what they're capable of midway through the school year for us to assess their progress and then to provide support for students who may be at risk and struggling. So, I'm excited to see how our students perform. That's a very important assessment and hopefully
031most did very well on it and then they can take it off their plate and not have to worry about it in June and focus on all the challenging exams they're going to have. So that was a change this year that we're very excited to see the results and montain really was was critical to leading that work. I have an update for the board and committee on our speed zone beacons. I'm excited to uh let you know that working with our school resource officer deputy dlesio and uh department of transportation the town of Berlin. The new speed zone beacons uh I'm told will be installed by the summer of 2026. For those you don't know those are flashing beacons that'll be out 22. Um it is a speedy zone for people to slow down, but
032often on a straight away they don't do that. So it's another reminder for uh the community just to slow down when schools in session. They are solar powered. Um they do need to be maintained and then the town has basically offered to pay for those first year and then the school district will take over the $1,200 fee or so each year to maintain those. So we're really excited for the safety uh piece of that coming this summer hopefully. Um, recently over the Christmas break, holiday break, uh, Sirill uh, helped us to bring in a repair company that looked at our roof at Rolland Elementary School. If you're not aware, there's been water leaking the building in the classrooms. Uh, at the elementary school, we have a slate roof on that building. Uh, the building was
033built in 1932 and we are now the year 2026. Do the math. those 100 year slate tiles are reaching the end of their life expectancy and begin to thin out and they begin to fall off the roof and can be very dangerous and as a result of 44 slate tiles that were missing we had water come in the building. So we did a short-term patch to fix those and uh we're hopeful that this will be a short-term fix until we can resolve the issue in the capital project uh to replace the roof which is again approaching 100 years old at this point. So that's one part of of the project that we're very focused on. So thank you to Sir Owen uh for that. Had a couple of different companies up there and giving you
034know the uh tour outside inside the building and we did a lot of assessment on that roof and what needed to be done just to get it to right now where it's was patched for the winter time. Hopefully things hold up through the winter. So speaking of the capital project, last Tuesday the board held a special capital project workshop on synthesis. I want to thank since architects uh and Jim Graham was here tonight and also schoolhouse construction uh Eric Roberts joined us last week. Uh the board has um now adopted some resolutions to address failing antiquated systems and critical infrastructure. It impacts health and safety. It impacts the efficient operation of our school district. These include the roof at elementary school, the clock tower, uh sidewalks at elementary school, fuel tanks, uh and propane conversion
035in both buildings, water systems, sewer systems. A lot of these, uh critical infrastructure are things that aren't very pretty, frankly, but need to be addressed. Um and we hope our community will see the value in addressing these these important priorities. Um, prop one, just to clarify for the community, comes at an estimated cost of $610 for every $100,000 [clears throat] assessed value. So, if your house is assessed 100,000, the right schedule increase would be $610 and $100,000 for Proposition One to address those uh critical infrastructures. Prop two, there's additional priorities the district has identified for building condition survey working with architects. That includes the auditorium, our HVAC control system, and sidewalks. And Prop 2 would come at a cost $8.30 for every $100,000 assessed value. uh the district is trying very hard to be very
036mindful of the impact that these u improvements will have on taxpayers while looking towards the future and making sure that our students have the best um available education possible and best facilities possible for them. So, as Katie mentioned, March 17th is going to be the vote. Um I am not Irish but I'm hoping for uh luck Irish and that many people will come out to support and full support the students who are going to be a concert that day and will participate in this important um referendum on March 17th. So more information is coming. We also have surveys coming out this week from the community which we hope to gather more information from everyone on u you know their thoughts and feedback and the board will look at that survey in February be very critical
037to the next steps. So again, please circle March 17th on your calendar. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Move [clears throat] on to administrative snapshots, the business office. [clears throat] Ken mentioned moving into budget season. So some of that work has already started with analyzing the 2425 closing budget and where we are mid year in the current 25 26 budget. We have a spending freeze coming up in February. The reason for spending freezes, not because we're running out of money, is so that we can look at all the open purchase orders, close those that don't need to be open, make sure the ones that need to be held aside are open, and assess where we'll be at the end of the school year to make a prediction about what money will be available. And that's
038working on business. you give us any idea give us any idea just where we're at though you know we feel like we're in a good place in terms of our budget this point in the year for this point of the year yeah we're about even with last year's spending um little escalation for cost increases so we are in a good spot um there are orderings that happen will order in January and they order in May. So, some of those little chunks need to be encumbered, but I would say we're in a fair place as we were comparable to where we closed last year. Any other questions for you? We move on to PTS and MTSS. Uh, good evening. So um earlier this month we had some data chats at Berlin Elementary School um with the
039grade levels and that went really great. I led them with Ariel. Um they were really productive conversations and we have a plan moving forward next month when we meet with the teachers. Um we in both buildings have been working on the winter assessment and diagnostics. So the LL building may have like the phonics assessments as well. Um, and right now we're in the process of just wrapping those up. And then we're going to look at that data and analyze it. And then we're going to be looking at our groupings of students for MTSS, what students could potentially move from tier three to tier 2, um, and what students can be exited. >> Thank you, Sam. within special education. We're certainly in full swing with our annual review meetings and our planning process for getting all
040of those meetings scheduled and underway. But I did want to take a moment to talk to you a little bit about an open forum that I held at BEES with all staff just to get their thoughts and feedback on special education and as well as how I can best support everyone. I thought it was a great conversation that we had. We had the opportunity to talk in depth about educational issues, the landscape of special education, um talking about some of our strengths and challenges both in Berlin and generally in education as a whole. And it's a great opportunity. It was a great opportunity to have everybody together. Um and upon reflection, this is not something that we typically have conversations with, you know, our gened teachers and and other individuals getting more involved in just
041having conversation about special education. So, I thought it was a great opportunity. It seemed to go really well. It generated some great conversation and some really good ideas and suggestions for collaborative problem solving about how we navigate some of the issues that special education and education as a whole faces. Um, I do have a survey out to get some additional feedback from elementary and I did extend it to the high school staff as well to see if this is something that they would be interested in doing as well. um as well as any additional topics that um they'd like to discuss in an upcoming open forum. Again, I think there's a lot of value to having these conversations as a whole to get a better understanding and to do some uh collaborative problem solving and
042it's just something we rarely have the opportunity to do in a day-to-day um setting. So, I think we found a lot of success in that format. I look forward to the feedback and I hope people enjoyed it as much as I did. Uh, I'd love to to continue to do those going forward potentially in both buildings and could also consider the thought of if if this is something that's a positive format, I'd love to potentially do one with the community as well as a whole and just get some more conversation and input from everybody involved. So, it was a great opportunity. I'd also like to thank Jod and Ken for joining me in that open forum and uh for Ken as well for suggesting a potential budget forum as well for people in future future
043open forum. Thank you. Any questions for >> Yeah, just about the open forms. This is the first time you have done this kind of open form with the high school. >> So with the whole staff, yes. Okay. >> Um typically we talk within our departments about special education within the special education department about um you know review process. We talked about our continuum of services and what we what we might need to look at. But it's the first time I've had like a true open collaborative conversation with all staff and that was really something I reflected on like you don't realize it in the dayto-day but that's really not something that the whole staff is always involved with. So it was a great opportunity. >> So the staff seemed enthusiastic about being participating in this.
044I >> I got some positive feedback about it. Yes. I think it was a good opportunity to have it was a voluntary afterchool event and it had a really good turnout. So that alone says that, you know, there's certain interest for it. Again, >> you'll do another one this spring or >> as I mentioned, Ken offered the idea of doing one for the budget. I think that's a great idea. I I am looking forward to the feedback to see if there are other topics. And I again hope everybody was as enthusiastic about it as I was, but from what I've heard, it had some positive feedback as well. And I'd love to do the high school as well if that's something they like as well. It's okay. She's been busy in the weather. >> I'm
045building. So again, thank you for your comments with regard to uh Billy Saunders. I'm sure he'll be happy to hear that and certainly um do appreciate your reflection on him and what he's doing for the school district. So along with that, the custodial staff continue their hard work. Um in addition to what you've heard publicly, I've heard um internally. I received a couple of emails recently recognizing the day custodian at Brown Elementary School as well as our new maintenance worker for the wonderful work that they're doing and being so kind. Um, just like to take a moment to, you know, I don't like to put one person out there over another, but by the same token, when they're doing great work, I like to recognize them. So, um, so Joanne Williams was moved to Berlin
046Elementary this year. She is the day custodian there. Jared Harrington is the new building maintenance worker, um, that was recently appointed. Um, and he's doing a great job really and uh, is picking up on things quickly. So, Ken mentioned to you about the repairs to the slate booth at Row Elementary. um that was done over the holiday break and uh got a chance to take a look at it when they were finished and you know the it looks really good for a 90 year old plus roof. So um hoping that has taken care of all of the leaks um with that regard. The annual water system inspection was recently conducted by a representative from Rzzer County Department of Health. I'm waiting for the inspection report to come, but there were no citations issued um while
047she was here. We did have an opportunity to speak about the uh the water system and the fact that it would be upgraded um potentially during an upcoming capital project with a successful vote. So, she certainly were happy to hear that and they'll be glad to be read of the final um waiver that they have out there for the lead copy. um in the water. So, also over the holiday break, the uh maintenance staff repainted the entire middle school hallway walls and all the door trims for classrooms and really um cleaned that up and and made it look a lot nicer than certainly it was looking. So, uh, they, you know, so they [clears throat] did that and then since then they've also repainted um room 120, which is in the sixth grade link. Um,
048I understand that that room's being converted over to a conference room and training center. So, as part of that, they did that and very shortly we'll be putting down the carbon um floor in there as well. So, um, the maintenance and custodial staff continue to, uh, deal with the snow as recent, you know, with the recent storms and take care of that. And I just want to say that the equipment that we've purchased in recent years, the Ben Track tractor with its um, snowb blower accessory and the other snowblowers that we the walkbehind snowblowers that we've bought in the last year really are making that work easier. So things are going along rather well and very pleased with things. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Yes. stand up for the official. Uh Jod's under the
049weather tonight, so she asked me to provide an update. Before I do, um and the board of questions about budget, I just want to touch upon I missed earlier. The governor had her state of the state address, and there's at least three things I want to highlight for the board right now. They're coming out of that state of the state address. One is an increase in foundational aid for every school district. 1% increase from the previous school year bringing us up to 3% is the projection which is about correct me wrong 88,439 projection for an increase over 1% with 1% okay so 88,439 with 1% uh increase every district's scheduled to get that increase this year uh the governor is keeping universal meals for all schools and expanding that program so that's important for us
050to continue having for our students free breakfast, free lunch included. And then she's looking to expand the prek program so that all four-year-olds will have universal pre-k by the year 2028 to start the 2029 school year. Uh pure p per pupil funding is increasing to cost uh at least $10,000 per pupil uh this year. So she's focusing heavily on um something we knew was important earlier this year. We talked about that with the prek program. Just being a reminder that we want more enrollments open for that. students um who are eligible uh four years old the new school year to make sure that they are registering uh for that by April 1st is the deadline for that too. So reminder for our community so we can plan for enrollment. Uh current we have two sections
051and make sure we have numbers available to budget for universal uh prek for this upcoming school year. Any questions on Rebecca? >> Do we offer um any after school care? >> I don't believe so. >> The organization for whom we were working with pulled out was enough for them. >> It was made in the year. I >> had a question. If prek is universally covered and recommended by local at some point after 2020. Does that mean we're not paying for it as a school district? I mean, I know we're paying for it as state residents, but it's not really in our budget. >> It looks like we'll get additional funding to support it is what is projected right now. How much I don't know in terms of cost of the program at that point in
052time or but supporting it, you know, right now, you know, we're taking on heavy cost of that program to do that. So that's at least a optimistic outlook right now. That's going to be something that be uh was pre was kindergart that was being supported full in kindergarten. Now we're looking at you know prek. So that's that's a good sign. Any other questions? Certainly as we see more information we'll provide more updates in terms of what things start to look like and coming of your presentations upcoming. uh from Jodie from PES. She said, "Our students student support team continues to review attendance data weekly and communicate with families around the importance of being in school." This past week, uh they met with 10 families to understand the challenges that each family individually faced and develop
053interventions specific to each student and family. On a positive note, in December, 68 classrooms had perfect attendance at EES. And those classroom students were able to celebrate with a holiday movie during their lunch break. Kudos >> um 68 classrooms total. >> What does that mean? >> Uh perfect attendance. [snorts] like >> each classroom for one day had perfect attendance and they then put in a uh put in essentially an icon to note that they had that and number celebrations. 68 days for the class. >> Thanks for the clarification because I couldn't answer that question. >> So when you families that were having >> Yeah. both buildings Dave at the middle school high school and J they have intervention intervention here Dave mentions dense chats different strategies one comes in and understand what the what the
054obstacles are the barriers that preventing attendance sometimes students doesn't wind up in the morning the parents argue with them sometimes parents not home and so often find solutions to to help support getting the child to school and emphasizing the importance of being in school as well sometimes just knowing the school is monitoring ing and that we're we're there just that conversation will start to sort of help the student students turn the corner. Other times it's more serious like anxiety requires you know outside providers but usually it's a team effort to look at the child and be able to support them. So kudos to to Jo to Jody and D doing the same work in the middle school high school and um al also point out being support our students here as well a lot of
055our attendance just running that for us and looking at um where we continue to improve attendance been very very helpful for us districtwide to have that support as well from the district office. So Jody continues on to say, "Looking forward to welcoming families on the on Thursday for math night. Volunteers are planning fun games activities for students to participate in. Literacy team is also planning literacy night coming up. It's on March 5th with activities focused around the rod. Jord will provide more information in March regarding literacy that's upcoming. So look for that math night coming up and also literacy night. are important activities for our families and students to engage in. Lastly, she states that March is reading months is organizing activities to celebrate and encourage the love of reading. March Madness brackets pick a
056reading partner counter activities Mark Rust performance and various other activities are focused on reading. It's aligned with her building goals. That is all I have for the opportunity. Any questions that I can try to answer? Thank you. We will move on to the Burland High School and athletics. Good evening. I want to say congratulations to our varsity um cross country team, boys soccer team, and varsity girls volleyball and soccer team for being the NISva scholar team athlete award. So congratulations to all our varsity teams in the fall. Um I also wanted to talk about the winter season. We have March the Mountain Madness is now rescheduled to January 31st. It's going to start at 9:00 a.m. and the last game will kick off at 2 PM. So, it's a little bit earlier in the day.
057Um, we also have our girls basketball team is doing a teacher appreciation on the 30th that they're very excited. It's um my jersey, your impact. So, they're going to present a teacher with their jersey to display. So, we're really excited about that. Um, we're also working with um Mrs. Marbit, Coach Marvett for our unified bowling to get that kicked off. That's going to run right after her bowling season. Um, other than that, we have our senior nights. We've already had swim and we just had bowling today and we're just working on planning those senior night events. All right. And then we are still looking for spring coaches. Spring season will start March 9th. Any questions? Is there any specific spring coaches that you need or short? >> We have open right now uh varsity baseball,
058varsity softball, um JV baseball, modified baseball, JV softball, modified softball, track is solid. But if baseball, softball, if that's your interest, we love >> Well, we have Yes, but we do have some people interested. We just need to iron that. A quick question. Um, with Madness, are the same two schools in German Town and pretty much still partaking or we change schools. So now we have OESJ which will be a better competition for our boys team. So I'm very excited about that. And then Hawthorne Valley which will be good competition. >> My last other question was is are both the girls and boys varsity teams playing that day or just one? Both >> both both boys 2 p.m. >> Okay. Earlier times. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Good evening. As always, my monthly report
059is centered on our three building goals. Improve student attendance, narrow achievement gap across subgroups, and strengthen student parent engagement and ownership. Goal number one, improve student attendance. I'm pleased to report continued progress in our attendance efforts. At the same point, last school year, our chronic absenteeism rate at this time was 31%. We are currently at 20%. Um, where 17%. would not climb bill. Uh that is a credit to our school counselors, Mr. Shaw and M. Caldwell, as well as M. Reynolds and Darcy. Um I think Darcy and I go back and forth a couple times a week with the attendants looking at things. Um, one of the big things I tell you is how it's being documented in the state. If you're not on top of that, you're going to have a higher rate than
060you should. So, Darcy really deserves a lot of credit for that. And then James V and Megan have done a fabulous job about reaching out to the families as well as coming up with incentives for students to be here. Now, please remember last year when we finished up the school year, we're at 33.43% 43%. So, right now we're at 20. I'd like to get it down to 15. I'm being aggressive with my bullets, but I think we can do it. Um, to reinforce the importance of attendance, we have placed tenants matters uh signage in our frontier with additional signage being installed throughout the building in the coming weeks. Each sign focuses on a specific message related to attendance, engagement, and student success. And I'd like to thank uh Rachel Terretzky. She's been fabulous with it.
061Uh coming up with ideas, sprinting it out. Um we're really looking to expand on our brand and that's part of the semester building. While there's still work to be done, these early indicators demonstrate our systems, communication, and consistent expectations beginning to have a positive impact. [snorts] Goal number two, narrow the achievement gap for subgroups. We continue to analyze academic data closely identify both areas of growth and areas according to targeted intervention. So for example, this Thursday we'll have a meeting about the current ELA uh regions results. So we know uh we will look at targeted interventions uh where strengths are in areas that we need to work upon. That's collaborative effort. uh the LL diagnostic data that was taken in the winter. Rate six demonstrated strong growth in both ELA and math. Grade seven and
062eight ELA showed some areas of growth along with identified areas of concern and our instructional teams are actively addressing and grade seven mathematics demonstrated significant growth which has occurred. I'll be presenting more formal and comprehensive academic data report at the February board meeting including subgroup analysis next instructional steps. Goal number three, strengthen student and parent engagement ownership. We continue to place a strong emphasis on building pride, ownership, and partnerships with our families. Tonight, we held our first course selection and course catalog information night. On top of that, we uh presented to the uh PTO last week. I can't tell you how well tonight went. I'm so proud and happy. Again, Miss Bwell and Mr. Shaw deserve the credit. They created a beautiful uh presentation and presented beautifully tonight. Uh we have a decent crowd. We
063will >> decent crowd. >> Yeah, >> it was a good crowd for us. >> We had a good crowd. >> How many people? >> I think >> about 10 families about 25 people and then we streamed it online and recorded it. >> Right. >> Okay. So, we had 10 families who just found out yesterday, right? So, >> no. No, that's been out for a couple weeks. >> Yeah, >> I just found out about it yesterday. >> It's been out for a couple weeks and I purposely yesterday sent an email and a phone call. >> When you say out, is it just out on the website? That's how it's out. >> No, we uh we email it. We put it on the website. Uh couple different communication. >> Um but definitely speak. Okay, that that's concerning
064because we >> I saw some Facebook stuff about it too. >> We are being very targeted and intentional with how we um put things out in terms of community and try to get believe it or not 25 people tonight. It's a great success. When we do town halls or other things, I'll get three or four people. So, >> we're putting it online tonight. Uh or maybe tomorrow. I'm jumping the gun a little bit. >> It's up. >> Oh, it's up already. Um, so we want people I'll write another email this week encouraging people to look at. >> All right, Dave, can I just add one thing? We'll sort of communication to continue to do better with that for sure. Together is always to improve upon. I do want to mention just to give a little
065credit PTO being last week, Rachel and I were here in person. It was remote as well. It was just Rachel and I in the building and there were some people in the mode as well. It was discussed that was the first step to this two-step process with the master schedule for selection um to get people unfortunately we didn't really see turnout for people to come but we just discussed there Rachel was very clear you know and Dave that the next step is going to be next week presentation before the board meeting I think we can get more people even with the just to turn in tune in to what's going on too. So there's more communication there to other avenue where we're trying to share information as well and we continue to hit that um
066in all areas. So we have to look at the website to look at social media and really survey our parents maybe see what works best for them and what we're missing in terms of getting information out but it was definitely something last week that was discussed and I'm happy to hear the park had a lot of cars so I was happy to see there was a lot more people that were partaking than at least in the first one. I I can tell you that Rachel and I have Rachel and I around any event have multiple conversations about how to advertise it um and and even how to present it. It's I hate to repeat myself. I apologize, but it's very intentional because we we do understand that we're not getting uh crowds that we are
067hoping for. So, we're not just sitting here just trying to do the same thing. We we are trying to be very creative uh in doing that. So even though 25 does not seem like a lot, it's a vast improvement than what we've had in the past. Especially, we understand that parents are pulled in multiple directions at night, you know, with their own kids, different age groups and everything. So we're hoping that uh being online now that people can still look at it and call. The big big thing about tonight was creating uh a collaborative relationship. Um but you know it's critical to help the families understand graduation requirements, academic pathways and how course selection directly impact student future opportunities. Um, you know, quickly I just spoke about if your child wants to go to a
068two four-year college, especially four-year college, they're looking for you not only to do the minimum, but the maximum requirements, for example, three years math, three years science is the state requirement minimum, but four year colleges are looking for four years for each of them plus at least three years of world language. Okay, so those are the things that we want to have discussion so they understand those things, right? Maybe they don't want to go to college, but we still could work with getting a career tech program set up for them, right? So they again, James and Savannah did a fabulous job and we're very excited about what we're doing here. Um, you might have also noticed I entered the building. Did you see the the Berlin bee logos on the doors? Okay. I can tell
069by your face you didn't. So when you leave, take walk out the door and then look back and see the bees and say, "Oh, I see a thing." Okay. Um again, we're branding. We're trying to bring pride and and uh collaboration with the students and families. We're having the signs put out all around the bees uh around. I mean, poor Rachel. I go to a different school for whatever my kids or other stuff. I'll see something. I'll send it to the hurricane. And I'm like, "What do you think? Can we do this?" Like, uh, you know, so like the be I was at Columbia High School, so they had a big seat when I walked in. So I took a picture and I sent it to them and Ken said, "Put a B, but we
070can't put a C." He was trying to put stuff around here. >> Yeah. So I I agree with Columbia, but you're going to start seeing it. You're going to start seeing things on the floor that we're trying to get the right materials on see it. we're trying to change. Included in that is the front porch. Um it's officially underway in the renovation. So, Mrs. Hayes and student council for leading this work, ensuring the space reflects student voice and student motion. Um work order has already been uh put in. We're going to take the pictures of the teachers. I don't know if you realize that the teachers the pictures of 25 years or more of service in our district. So, their picture goes up there. So, going towards the the gymnasium, they're going to be lined
071up with pictures. All right. We're going to have a sign recognizing it. So, actually, I think it's going to be really classy and really nice. Um, in fact, we're missing two or three of the teachers, so we're working on getting the pictures um who are not there. So, we've been talking about this. Now, we're going to have right today. Uh, Ken put my thunder with the Can you mention the trophies too? Just that we're looking at that area too. There's a lot there that's down the road looking at how to better organize those. That's a conversation. >> So, there are a ton of trophies there and they should be recognized and they should be celebrated. So, we're trying to think of a way to have them u displayed that they're all being seen. Not that
072it looks like it's just cluttered. Um, so we're thinking of ways to do that to clean that up as well. Uh, look closely. Next time you walk by, take a look. I mean, there just so many there are just kind of just now >> just jammed together. >> Maybe another trophy key something, you know, to make it better recognized. So, just some ideas for that. I think there's pl that need to get updated too. Student board >> the ones out there. Yes. Funny you said that. Rachel, we were speaking about that with Amanda to update that immediately and she already contacted. There's a uh a place that we take it to that she's already contacted to get that whole update. >> So, you know, you're with us in terms of how we think. >> I
073saw a plaque in Mrs. school mom's office for students who've gotten music awards. I'm like, no one's going to see that plaque hanging in the school's office. >> Yeah, except Mrs. Gold. >> Well, you're right. And that's going to go out there, but Megan has spearheaded the science Olympia mastermind. >> Masterminds. We have a ton of uh plaques that have been hung up. So she has uh organized that where they're going to go and they should be up hopefully by end of the month. So uh yeah, so we're trying to get all that out there that fits into the whole plan of renovating what you know what we have and try to get uh an emphasis on school project. So today we did have the ELA uh regions exams and live environment in the afternoon.
074Uh we only had grade six students here for half a day. Uh everything went well. The staff members who were not assigned to proctoring duties participated in meaningful professional development throughout the day. Department teams focused on reviewing and analyzing student data. Uh budget planning for 26 27th school year and continue worker departmental uh curriculum mapping. This allowed us to both maintain a secure testing environment and ensure productive use of staff time and monitoring goals. Uh finally, I'm currently working with Nebel, uh Anna Baker, Megan Reynolds, Tom Olson, and Ken Rizzo. in terms of stars basketball program uh where I've always had a vision of wanting students who do not necessarily to join like the tonic league or other things like that um give them an opportunity at least once a week to practice but also
075try to come up with games and eventually try to reach out to other districts. Um, I know we have unified, but this is something a little separate. This is a little less formal. It's all about them getting together K through 12. We're trying to do that and trying to get them to feel a part of the community, but also we're going to try to do when kids, you know, I'm working with the kids playing and all have parental information, too. uh resources to help them uh in terms of concerns they may have and resources that are available to them. So, we're trying to combine it. I'm hoping in the next meeting I can give you final details of it, but I'm really excited that this question I have just one quick question. So, the presentation
076that is going live, so parents have questions, they reach out to the counselor. Yes. >> So, just make sure you include that, >> right? >> Yeah. Well, when we put that out that they can reach out to me or the counselors, um, you know, and then we'll set that up with them >> to help that communication. >> Absolutely. >> There is a QR code like a link to a form included on the presentation that parents can just click on and put their information in that form and it comes right to us. >> Perfect. >> Yeah. or our contact information also on there both. >> Yeah, they put their pictures on the last slide with their contact information. >> That's on the website too. >> That's great. That helps with >> But I'll also put in
077>> um so just go back to the attendance for a second. You said that the way it was reported to the state, the stats reported to the state, it could be tricky and it could look like our numbers are higher percentages are higher. So maybe like 31% this time of year. Last year might not have been accurate if that's the state. So like maybe it was 25% last year. I'm just wondering like how I since we have a new bar that we're a new you know we're setting a new bar right so we don't really have good numbers to compare it to since we're since we're changing our actual >> metrics to some extent right okay all right but you're saying but regardless of this we're still seeing improvements in attendance >> 100% >> think
078of it this way we are um we have and continue to strive to changed the culture of things. Quick example, teachers are now recognizing if the students out contacting us to let us know someone to jump on it where that wasn't happening before or our attendance people are saying, you know what, I don't think that's the right code state code that you report to students. They'll speak to Darcy. Darcy will speak to me or all of us speak at one time and then we will fix that issue where in the past it wasn't even being recognized once you submit it to the state in terms of can end of the school year beginning of the summer we'll have to sign off on it doesn't matter if you made a mistake you sent it in it's
079fine so we're being proactive in terms of getting on that and again Darcy deserves a tremendous amount of credit because She uh not only is dogmatic and looking at it but she's very knowledgeable. So she's brought an element here that we have now. So obviously to my true counselors deserve and deserve more. We also met last week last week with probation. Yes, >> we had a district meeting uh with the admin team just looking at processes for example referrals students with IEPs some of these processes you know when when when we reach out to probation for diversion and which students qualify what we need to do before certain students get sent over there students they won't accept so just be something more tangible in terms of processes too that I know this year we're looking
080at more carefully that's a big resource for her for us when students become chronically absent is to have probation involved as well for for those uh intervention or serious interventions >> and with the preins and pins. People look at it as this could be a negative actually be a positive because through those services families can receive county state services that they may not be able to get besides that. So it many times it's helpful. Obviously, it's scary as a parent family and all that, but that's not the purpose. It's not to get someone in trouble. It's to try to one hold them accountable, but two, to provide them and their family with different services that they may need that will help the child get to school. >> Okay. So, the reports don't go to the
081state every month. They go to the end of the school year. Well, each week data I'm not gonna get into the weeds weeds. I know >> I know Doris goes up. >> Yeah. So, it goes weekly and you can continue to fix it until you submit it for final final end of the year. You verify the final end of the year each along the way. So, so it's it's twofold. One is absolutely our data is getting cleaned up for sure, but also the interventions and principles, you know, are putting in place um to collaborate with families continue to they haven't done that past years. They have, but always continue to look at what other things can we do continue to do to try to improve this. Hey, just an anecdote real quick. I had a
082a parent call me last week. He said, "Mr. B, my my my child has the flu. I can give you a doctor's note. they're petrified to come to the house and get [laughter] and come uh you know pick up the school and I said I appreciate it but we're not that bad you know I said I appreciate the phone call but obviously your child's not consistent so we understand things going around but the point of me telling the story is the kids are feeling like we are speaking to the kids counselors are bringing them down [snorts] and really making them >> but absences are absences whether are excused for medical reasons. >> State does not care. There's no such thing with the state as an excused excused. An absence is an absence is an absence.
083And it could be look like child has surgery. Obviously, that's understandable. State doesn't care. The excused unexcused is a district meaning that excused absence the student can make up the work. Unexcused the teacher does not allow the teacher. That's more of a dist. So like I said, you could have a really good reason for being [snorts] or sick whatever state. I give another example too where Darcy help us. We've had students who are homebound for medical reasons, say student surgery. Uh we've had some cases where students out for a month that we know while they're home. It's been reported as an absence. Well, it's not technically an absence. Students homebound. They're actually getting instruction while they're out. And in that case, we don't have to mark the students absent because they're getting contact instruction that
084time and then when they come back in again, they're back in the building. So just accurately reporting on those [clears throat] absences as well, making sure that the right students are being marked absent when they are. So those are scenarios that she usually looked at and I'll just say where's the student? Why is a student this and that's helped us quite a bit there as well. I think this year you're right, would be a good baseline for us and then set that set that bar and we can in the future continue to. Yes, I think I think Becca brings up a good point that since we have the system and the culture in place that starts this year, don't set it too high. Just just [laughter] do school suspensions absences. >> No, not tree removal.
085>> So, that's a good question. That's something that we look at. Yeah, we don't want to be punished because kid has to be punished. >> Yeah. [laughter] No, that's that doesn't count. >> Thanks, >> Mo. Opportunity for public comment. Any [clears throat] public comment? Okay. New business. Any new business? Okay. The date and location of our next meeting will be the regular meeting held on Tuesday, February 24th in um in this building at 7:15. Moving on to adjournment. Can I get a motion to adjurnn at 8:40? >> Motion by Frank, a second. >> Second by Elaine. All in favor? I. Any oppose?