BOE Board Business Meeting - Jan. 20, 2026

001Good evening everyone. Welcome to the Tuesday, January 20th, 19, 2026 uh board of education business meeting. Uh calling to order the meeting at 7 o'clock on the button. Um, next is the pledge of allegiance. Please join me. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Okay. Um, roll call tonight. Um, we have board of education members Nelly Cole, Garrett Oliver, what do I say? Oh, Sher McCriedy Pritchette, Ashley Gulas, Howard White, Mary Ellen Flity Litwig, Diana Karpio, Jasmine Preie, and Marcus, sorry, last me. Thank you. Um, next item is public comments. I'm going to turn it over to um the board board chair Howard White. >> Thank you. >> We also have

002uh to the right of me um Dr. Alex Australia as well. So before we begin and go into the public comments, it's just a few things that I want to you know talk about before we move forward. And I would like for these things to happen with the respect of each other, respect of the board, the respect of our peers that come to the podium to speak. You have a three minute window. Once you begin, please address your first last name and your address. At that point in time is when the clock will start as well. But let's just be mindful that when one is speaking, let's respect the fact that that person is that has the podium at that time is to respect their time. Please, for whatever reason, your comments or whatever moving

003forward you talked about transparent and that's how we want to move forward with the transparent. We want to move forward to work together to make sure that we stay within. your respect is very important to us and I and the main thing is our respect is important to you as well and we're going to do the same thing. So once we move forward with that I just think it's very important that we all stay on the same page. We're all in this together for the main thing for the betterment of our school system and the students. And for those who are online who have not signed up yet, can you please take this opportunity to do so? And when you are called upon, you can raise your hand as well. You can raise your hand

004now so we'll know exactly what it is. Um for those who sent emails and wanted those recorded and documented, it's going to be recorded as well. So for those who have sent us emails and you wanted that to be recorded on record, that will be recorded on record as well. Thank you. All right, first on the list is Lynn Moore. Uh, good evening everyone. I'm Lin Moore. I reside at 813 Foxboro Drive, Normal, Connecticut. I'm speaking on behalf of the Board of Education Coalition of unions. First, we want to say congratulations to the new board officers. Secondly, we want to thank Sherry McCriedi Pritchard because she has reached out to the union presidents to foster stronger communication and uh Sherry that outreach is very much appreciated and important. We like the fact also Sherry that

005you think that the idea of having finance committee meetings as hybrid uh would be useful. We believe that that would be useful because it allows the community to have input all along in person at those finance meetings. As we move forward in the budget process, uh we are asking that the BOE please consider as examples. The community deserves to see a spreadsheet listing every unaffiliated position uh in terms of their salary, cost of their benefits, any stipens received, any mileage, and any other costs that are there in those uh as possible job perks. We are asking that salaries not be buried in the budget process thereby creating a situation in which the community will always be unaware of the real cost of positions. We are also asking please that you do an indepth uh spreadsheet

006so that we can compare the salaries of the outsource custodial workers as compared to the uh real employees. We ask for this because we have uh in our buildings uh very poor maintained in terms of cleanliness by the outsource uh workers. We also ask that this cost for the school choice program uh be provided. In closing, we also ask that you fully fund the silver minds the silver mine dual language uh program. no shortcuts, please, such as uh having students on uh computers as they learn to be fluent in Spanish. Thank you for your time. >> Thank you, Dr. Moore. Um next on the list is Daisy Sebastian. Um and while Daisy's coming up, one other thing that Howard and I discussed earlier was just a reminder that um this is an opportunity for us

007as board members to listen. Um, we are listening. We are taking notes, but we it's protocol that we are not responding during at this exact time during public comment. >> Hi, good evening. My name is Daisy Sebastian. I live at 127 Perry Avenue. I'm here again to talk to you about Silvermine Elementary School. I've been a parent at Silvermine for nine years with my fourth child now in the fourth grade. Silvermind Dual Language School is a Kto5 school with a 5050 model. The only elementary school like this in our school district. Half of the instruction is supposed to be in English and half in Spanish. Silvermine uses a team teaching model. Each student is supposed to have two teachers, one English and one Spanish. Here's what's really happening at our school. The 50/50 model is

008no longer in existence in the fourth and fifth grade. Parents have reached out to the school administration for the last year as well as Dr. Estraa, her staff, and the board of education. No one's listening. No one's taking ownership of this huge problem. No one is acknowledging that there is a problem. No one is offering solutions. Senora Pedes, Miss Shepard, and Dr. Straa keep offering parent meetings. We don't need any more parent meetings. The parents of this incredible school have signed up for the program I've just read about. This program is researched, based, and proven to be successful. I know this firsthand. My daughter, a freshman at Norc High School, being raised in an English-only speaking household, has successfully completed the 5050 dual language program at Silvermind and Westerro's middle schools and is now an

009honors native Spanish, too. Native Spanish, too. She's not just keeping up, she's scoring an A, a class filled with students living in Spanish-speaking homes. Parents advocating at Silvermine are being lashed out against one time in front of the entire community. You would think the leader of the silvermind would be the first one to advocate for our program that they are entrusted with. How do you expect these students become bilingual and biliterate, especially those coming from English dominant households? How will these students be adequately prepared for the nth grade native Spanish class and then be ready for the exam to receive their CT state seal of biiteracy? The problem isn't solely our program has been changed. Senor Apprentice is really destroying our school. Four years ago, we had over 500 students enrolled with a lengthy wait

010list requiring a lottery system. Families were begging to get to our school. Our school was filled with teachers that had been part of our amazing community for 10, 20, or even 30 years. Almost all of these teachers I'm referring to, experienced and certified dual language teachers, have left. Now, our enrollment, I believe, is around 400. It is not a secret. The climate at our school is toxic. former teachers, current ones, and families have written countless times to the superintendent, her staff, to share the disgusting and abusive behavior that is happening. Why would the superintendent support this abusive behavior towards our teachers and families? We need new leadership who sets the dual language program a priority, creates a safe work environment for our teachers, and is able to engage in respectful respectfully with parents who provide

011feedback and advocacy. We look to you, Mr. Dr. White and the new board of education members and I'm so happy to see the mayor is here tonight to stand up to Dr. Estraa, ask the hard questions and stop allowing the destruction of our incredible school and allow us to rebuild it with new leadership to bring it back to the amazing place it once was. >> Thank you so much. >> Thank you, Daisy. Next, we have um Gabriella Espinosa. Good evening everyone. My name is Gabriella Spinosa. I reside in uh 55 Winding Lane in Oral, Connecticut. I'm 31 years old. I was born and raised in Nor Connecticut. I attended Silver Mine Elementary School from 1999 to 2005. I was part of the first mono and monmano dual language graduating class. In my hands is the

012yearbook of Silvermind from 1999 to 2000 where under the class picture it states featuring Silvermind's first dual language kindergarten. I am a proud alumni of the Mono Mano program and I am forever a Swan. I come to you today to speak on behalf of the dual language program. When I attended the school, it was considered an honor to be a part of the winning lottery of the first dual language program. During my attendance, I made lifelong friends who I still remain close to this day. We are taught by legendary teachers such as Mrs. Zaza, Mrs. Cologne, Miss Montgomery, Miss Thomas Damato, Mr. Rogers, and so many more. After we graduated Silvermind, the program was continued for us in West Rocks Middle School as advanced Spanish with Miss Osis where we were offered a school field

013trip to Spain in the eighth grade. Together, we hosted a fundraiser for a trip for by offering soccer tournaments and car washes for our community. Once West was completed, my education moved on to Noro High School where the program continued as heritage Spanish, which led me to simultaneously attending AP Spanish classes in both my junior and my senior year with the wonderful Miss Tolesini, where we were also offered a trip to Spain our senior year. I consider my upbringing and education at Mono Mano to be foundational to my career. I'm currently a bilingual inside sales representative that works alongside Spanish- speaking contractors and builders. Thanks to the dual language program, I'm able to have the confidence that I have today in speaking Spanish along with being able to fluently read it and write it. I'm

014able to offer my services translating efficiently and breaking language barriers. Despite me not being able to complete my degree, being bilingual has opened so many doors and opportunities for me. My friends, who are not of Hispanic descent, have the ability to also have the confidence in Spanish thanks to the Mano Mano program. Given the unfortunate political climate that we are facing today, educating our children in different languages and cultures is imperative to our future. It's what connects us to our neighbors and allies and it deters us from hating those who come from the same backgrounds as us. Reducing the dual language uh program would only hurt the future of the children along with our diverse community. >> Even though this program may seem as a small issue, Mano Mano impacted my life to the fullest

015and continues to guide me through my adulthood. Thank you. Thank you. >> Um, next on the list we have Angela Heraldo. >> Good evening. My name is Angela Haldo and I live at 158 Perry Avenue. The Supermine Dual Language Program is facing serious non-compliance issues. To summarize the issue, the program is not being implemented in accordance with the 50/50 dual language that families were promised and that state magnet standards require. Fourth and fifth grade lack the required Spanish staffing. Core content instruction in Spanish has not met model ratios and students are not receiving the sustained exposure needed for biiteracy. These are structural program level gaps that directly affect student outcomes and long-term program integrity. These issues are not private individualized matters. They are programwide compliance issues affecting an entire student cohort and the integrity of

016the district's magnet offering. Those concerns remain relevant regardless of where my own child attends school. The district's claim that families are not entitled to information while their children are currently enrolled in the program is incorrect. Taxpayers who fund magnet schools, program evaluators, and families considering future enrollment all have a legitimate interest in program transparency. Magnet programs by design involve choice, recruitment, and ongoing public oversight. The district's assertion that these issues should only be handled through administrative and governance processes does not absolve the board of its statutory responsibility for ensuring program fidelity, compliance with state magnet requirements, and transparency to the public. Administrative processes are not a substitute for public accountability, particularly when compliance concerns have already been substantiated. To be candid, telling a parent that they can no longer seek information or raise concerns because

017their child is no longer enrolled in the program is not a sign of accountability. >> 30 seconds. >> It is a tactic for shutting down scrutiny. In this case, it has the effect of insulating non-compliance from public view at the moment it most needs corrective action. I ask the board to review these concerns on their merits and ensure corrective steps are taken. Students in the program and families considering it in the future deserve a fully compliant dual language program with transparent oversight. Thank you. >> Thank you. We have anyone online? >> Yeah, we have one person. >> Yes, we do. We have I'm allowing you to talk. You are unmuted. >> Hi, good evening. Uh, my name is Suniga. I live in Running Brook Lane in Norwalk. I'm a parent of two children who went

018to through the Norwok's public school system and I want to start by saying how grateful I am to be a Norwok public school parent. I'd also like to congratulate the newly elected board officers and the outgoing chair Diana Karpio for her strong advocacy for minorities and for all students in our district. I also want Dr. to thank Dr. Estrea, our superintendent for her leadership and commitment to equity, equity, and student success. I'm here to speak in strong support of our dual language and multilingual program and to make a clear request. I'm asking this board to fully fund and protect the silvermind dual language program. This is a really a conversation about opportunity and about how we prepare the workforce of the future. Through the Silvermind Manual Mano program in West Rocks, my children were given

019early access to strong academics, language development, and cultural awareness. These programs didn't guarantee outcomes, but they created the conditions for success, confidence, discipline, and a global mindset. While my children were in the program, I also encouraged English only speaking families to join. Over the years, I watched those students grow from monolingual English speakers into fully bilingual young adults. One of the most powerful moments for me was seeing my oldest son and his classmates, many from English-speaking families, use and practice in their Spanish, in real life situations through a school trip to Spain. That's when you truly see the impact of the dual language education. Because of the foundation, my oldest son completed an IBM internship, participated in PEK, and graduated high school with an associates degree. My youngest son studying Mandarin chi Chinese traveled the

020international created a business focus on global travel and cultural awareness and earned both the youth business initiative entrepre entrepreneurship award and just this last uh Monday the Martin Luther King service award. He also volunteers with me through Latinos Unidos Norwok which represents nearly 8,000 Hispanic residents in our community. A commitment rooted in the empathy and awareness of fostered through language educa. >> Thank you. Is there anyone else? >> Is there anybody else online? Hispanic consumers are expected to command over 2.7 trillion in bow and power which means employers increasingly need bilingual and culturally competent professionals that our schools are needing to build this workforce. Dual language programs are also inclusive by design benefiting all learners including neurode divergent students by strengthening communication flexibility and proven soling skills. This is why we moved to Norwalk 16

021years ago and why we remain proud alumni Silvermine and West Rocks. The Silvermind dual language program is not an extra. It's essential. I urge this board to fully fund and sustain the Silvermind dual language program so future generations of students can access the same opportunities. Dual language programs don't just teach children another language. They teach them how to think globally, lead with empathy, and succeed in a diverse world. Thank you for your time, your service, and allowing me to privilege of being a Norwok public school parent. >> Thank you. >> Is there anybody else online? I don't see any other hands. >> Okay, thank you. So, we'll close public participation. Oh, of course. Can you just sign the um the list please >> and state your name and address? Um, I want to just start

022by saying outright, um, my oldest daughter started at Silver Mine in 2019. My youngest daughter is now in fourth grade. >> Can you I'm sorry. Can you please state your name and address? >> My name is Zena King. I live at Seven Nursery Court here in Norwok. I graduated from Norwok Public Schools and moved back specifically because the schools were so fantastic. I wanted my children to be part of them. Silvermine we found and we thought we'd hit the lottery. Everything was going great when my daughter started in 2019 and since then the trajectory over the past three years has been nothing but down. I think there are certain parents who we've been screaming to anyone and everyone who would listen. We've been saying there's smoke, there's fire, and not a single person has listened.

023Our children are suffering, the parents are suffering, the community has suffered. Examples of this include when my daughter started I looked today the budget for each student at Silver Mine was 14,000. It's now 20,000. Students are getting less instruction time. There are less C certified teachers in the school. The morale at the school is toxic. Staff members at the school are toxic. There is no response to people who who email. I have to state that I was a member of the SGC and I was excluded from being part of the SGC because I asked questions about things like budget. What what are the changes to our budget? Why are we not um employing teachers? Just random questions, not questions that were con confrontational. It was more questions about I'm a partner. I have kids here

024at this school. I'd like us to listen. I'd like to have a conversation. None of that happens. What parents experience like myself is retaliation and retribution for speaking up. It is silence from the administration who ignore us, who provide no information. For example, there's testing that may be happening or may not be happening at the school. We don't know. We don't know what level our children are speaking in Spanish. We have nothing. My daughter gets tested every other week. For what? I don't know. They essentially senor Pedes took our program and ripped it apart. All of the scaffolds that were there are gone. All of the aids that were there for students are gone. My older daughter went through the school. I never once used Google Translate. Do you know what I used to teach

025my fourth grader now? Spanish. I don't speak Spanish. We use Google Translate because the teachers do not have time to teach. And what that causes for students like my daughter who has Spanish first thing in the morning is she gets to school and she's frustrated because her teacher has no time to teach her. She goes to math and she's sad, she's upset, she's depressed, she's anxious, and it follows her through the day. They at the school, they recently said, "Oh, we're going to make all these interventions." And you know, one of the things they did, they asked math teachers who speak nothing but English to print out Spanish worksheets to provide to our kids to teach them Spanish. This is just one indication. This is nothing. If you guys want to know what's going on,

026speak to students. Speak to parents, speak to alumni. What you're hearing here, it's a 20 foot level dayto day. It is a scary place. And I'm actually getting ready to pull my child because it cannot continue. The leadership is terrible. The school has been destroyed. And we just ask you to listen. There is fire there. >> Thank you. >> Is there anyone else who'd like to speak before we close public participation? Okay, we'll close public participation um and move on now to the superintendent report. Thank you. Good [clears throat] evening everyone. Thank you for joining us this evening for um our board of ed meeting. There's a number of items as uh that I have as part of the superintendent report. The first piece is um a document that was created several board iterations ago

027around the uh code of conduct and it's a tool that we have been using uh for a number of years now. Just speaking to some of the expectations for members of the board and uh around trust, student centered focus, equitable practices, integrity, uh commitment to service and um having honorable practices. uh particularly also how we engage um in social media and um I'm putting this [clears throat] forward to the board. This is something that the board has uh signed in the past uh as commitments to uphold to to have uh good practices and healthy interactions amongst each other, the community as well as the superintendent and other constituents that we uh engage in. I'll just open it to the board for any questions about the document particularly for those of you who are new. Um

028Howard's copy would be the one that uh each member will sign. Uh Howard as the chair would be the first to sign and then um subsequently if the board agrees everybody can um sign the document. But I just wanted to put it forward as part of the superintendent report. um and make it public that this is a code of conduct that board members sign every year just stipulating how we engage. I'll give the board a moment to do that. as [clears throat] the board signed. Also, um just forformational purposes, the um Connecticut school law book has been provided to all board members as a resource uh for for your information and um that's the book that's uh on at the table for for your use and guidance. uh Attorney Mooney, who is our uh who

029is the district board attorney, actually uh writes the book for the state of Connecticut. And um if you have any questions, please let us know and we can always uh invite him to speak to any of the content. The second topic that I wanted to talk about, I would like to invite um Francis Saias and Rob Pennington al alongside uh Taylor to join me for this conversation. We want to uh have a conversation with the board particularly for those who are new to the board uh around our bilingual programs across the district. some of the work that we've done particularly under the strategic plan and um reshaping some of the programs across the organization particularly in the um area of service hours being provided. Uh we want to also talk about what the state mandates

030are and how uh the district has designed programs that supersede many of those expectations to make sure that our students are adequately uh supported particularly because in the state of Connecticut Connecticut there's very little guidance and um state mandates around uh service hours for MLL students and what is expected from the district for MLL students to receive. So, we've actually looked at what's happening beyond the state of Connecticut in uh the region in terms of MLL services and utilize some of their best practices to kind of guide our models because of the fact that the the state of Connecticut has suggestions that are um quite limited and we felt that we wanted to have a more robust structure that provided more adequate um service hours and that were uh better aligned to the research in

031terms of language development. So I'm going to turn it over to U Francis SAS, Mr. Pennington and Taylor to walk us through some of this information and I will be chiming in as they go through the presentation. Thank you Dr. Sta. Could you hear me? >> Good evening board members and welcome to the new members. I am so happy to be here and I'm so happy to hear how the parents advocate for dual language programs which are one of the best bilingual programs. So I'm happy to hear they kind of like advocated for one of the things that I'm passionate about and always advocating for to be able to provide bilingual programs for our multilingual learners. In today's presentation, we'll share Norworks public school multilingual data. We're also going to share the Connecticut State Department

032education requirements for multilingual learners and the process that we have to take at the district level to be able to identify multilingual learners. I'm going to do an overview of the bilingual pro programs that exist in Noah public schools and the ESL programs that we offer here. And we're also going to talk a little bit about we did a collaborative um walk through. We did observations. We looked at curriculum. We um shadow students in the past few years just to see the experience that multilingual learners were having in the school system and how we could best provide support and and strategies and scaffolds and training for teachers and administrators. So I'm going to start on this first slide. This is the agenda that I just discussed and and everybody has a copy in front of

033them. So on this slide, it represents our multilingual learners in Noral public school. As you could see, we have a total of 11,37 students in our district. Currently, as of January 1st, we we pulled this data. We have a total of 2,500 multilingual learners in our district. Out of the 2500, we also have duly identified scholars. The duly identified scholars are those ML students who also receive specialized services. That's a total of 63 scholar students. Our monitor students, our monitor students are students that we also call former multilingual learners. These are the students that have taken the last link assessment. It's assessment. It's assessing students proficiency in English. These students pass the assessment. But what we do here at Noralk is that we transition them. We don't just drop them from services. We provide additional

034services for the next two years. How we do that? We look at the data. We look how they performing in schools. We look how they're performing in the repora in the state exams. And if they need extra help, we still provide an ML teacher to support them. So we don't drop them and and and then they're struggling. So we make sure that we continue with the services. On this slide, I'm going to share with you the list of the breakdown of MLS by school. Sorry, by school. And the highlighted schools have the highest percentage of multilingual learners. Those schools have 30 or above multilingual learners. South Norwalk, as you see, has the highest percentage of multilingual learners. Kendall would be the second, then Jefferson, and then Silverme. So, right now we're currently at 22% multilingual

035learners in the district. So, what does the state require us to do as a district? What does the state require us to do as a district? The state requires us to identify multilingual learners, to screen them, and to make sure that we provide every family that comes in to enroll a home language survey. So, I'm going to tell you the steps that we take at the family centers beside being the the education administrator for multilingual learners. it it kind of is very connected to the work we do at the family center for enrollment because we also have to do all the assessments for students coming in. So what the home language survey is, it's a a survey that we give every family that comes in to register that asks us about three questions. If those

036three questions a family member mentions another language other than English, we must assess assess and screen that student to identify him whether he or she is a multilingual learner. We give the kindergartens a what's called a prelass and we give students one from first grade to 12th grade uh placement last links assessment that's given to any student who family survey indicates that another language is spoken by the student by the parent or it's the first language the student learn to speak. If the student achieves a level four or five in that assessment, they're they're not identified as multilingual learners. They don't get the services. If a student scores less than a four, then we identify them as a multilingual learner, we inform the state and we must provide service for that student. I think one

037thing that's very important to mention here about the state requirements is the fact that we must provide service but the state only makes recommendations about the minutes that we support them. It's there's not a mandate. But here in Norway, we took a further step where we created uh a service requirement based on students proficiency level to ensure that all multilingual learners are getting service. And I have to remind you parents dictate the choice. So we provide them with a choice that the state gives us and they select whether they want ESL, bilingual program, do language program. Our family center reps are trained by Taylor and I to um educate the families so that when they choosing the program, they're very well aware of what they're selecting. So on the next slide, every district is obligated

038to have an identification like I said in a screening process. So, at the family center, like I stated, we provide them first with a home language survey. Then we do the initial screening if it identifies that there's not another language spoken by the child or the family. Those results, like I said, determine the placement and determines the service. Um, there is last link annual assessment for all multilingual learners. We're in the process of administer administrating that exam right now throughout the district. My department is supporting schools in that process. That assessment will determine it how many students exit out of the MLL program who became proficient. And we're going to show you some of the stats later on of how we performed this year this past year. So, an overview of some bilingual programs. There's

039other ESL programs, there's shelters, the different models, but the the first one I'm going to talk about is the English as a second language. This this service is provided to only multilingual learners and it's provided by the certified tissel teacher that's focusing on developing the students proficiency in the four domains of speaking, listening, reading and writing. Um when we're going to talk what we found in terms of the finding when we first came here it was a lot of a pull out um model where some students would miss some of the core classes for the pull out. So that is a shift that we made that's going to look a little different and we're going to share that later on. Transition bilingual program. A transition bilingual program is offer instruction in the native language. So

040if it's Spanish, native language primary or primary Haitian, they're provided in their first native language and then they transition them little by little in ESL. We don't have that program here in in um Norwalk. What we offer mainly is do language programs. um the these two programs uh subtractive and I'm telling you they're subtractive because it doesn't maintain two languages. It doesn't maintain students being able to be bilingual, biiterate, biculture like the dual language programs that so many families are advocating for. On the following slide, we have our two-way dual language emerging and we have our one-way dual language emerging. The difference between these two dual language program is that in the two-way program we have native English speakers and the partner language whether it be Spanish whether it be French whatever partner language depending

041on the school environment and the the population we create dual language program based on the school and the school's need. The one-way dual language immersion is one language. So that means all the student population in the oneway do language would only speak Spanish. So it doesn't have um two populations, one native Spanish speaker and one English Spanish speaker. One of the benefits about the dual language immersion program is that kids develop language both the non MLS and the native English speakers they develop language a lot quicker because they support each other with the different language. So the student that is native Spanish will be that expert when he receives the instruction in Spanish that time and then the student that is a native English speaker. So they're supporting each other. One of the ways that

042we believe children learn language and adults is through social interaction. And this is something that we've been embedding in all our professional development. We believe on the social theory that we learn, we think critically through social interaction. And in the dual language two-way, you have that. In the one way, the students are acquiring also two languages because they're being instructed in English and in Spanish in both of these um programs. These programs are additive programs because we maintain two languages. We're acquiring two language. We're learning how to read, write, speak, and listen in both languages. This slide um shows a comparison of the language education program. As you can see, the two-way and the oneway um becomes not only a a service to those um MLS, but also an enrichment program for um nonMLS. Families

043love the dual dual language program. And that's why we advocate so much because research has shown the the the effects in terms of performance achievement. And I'll I'll share a little bit of that research. While the bilingual transition and ESL program is subtractive, it's taking away the students native language. uh they lose their native Spanish and they try to um they're trying to make sure that they achieve English prof proficiency but students struggle with um just ESL unless we're providing the support that we actually need the scaffolds and the strategies then they will perform well as well. So what exists here in MPS? So in NPS when Taylor and I first got here um there were two do language programs. It was uh rest rocks and silver mine and based on famil family's request we

044were able to grow our dual language program to now five schools. So that's Brookside, Jefferson, Silver Silver Mine was already in existence and South Norark. And I'm so happy that we have this program Southwork because if you saw the data previously, 50% of the student population South Norark is multilingual learners. And what an amazing program to be able to offer them where they're going to be acquiring two languages at the same time, learning how to read. and and their scores I I have their scores were amazing in the last links the growth that they had um from last year and I think one of the important things to highlight that one of the reasons why and particularly in the in the schools here that have large populations of MLS we had um transitioned them to

045the dual language either one way or two-way was because we had a large population of students there and otherwise they would have only received ESL And as you saw, it would be a subtractive model that would not be enriching both their native language and um the English language. And a lot of the research shows that students that are enhancing their native language as well as developing English develop English proficiency at a faster rate. And over time, the research has shown that students that are in a dual language programs outperform their um non-dual language peers in terms of their achievement rates as well. So, I I'll use a particular example. Brookside uh third grade had a significant number of students that were uh in need of MLL services and the school leader saw the value of

046building a dual language program which originally was a one-way dual language program and because of the parents in the school advocating for the program that were nonMLO students also we were able to then redesign the program as two-way way even though originally it was designed as one way to meet the language needs of the students at the time. So the the the parent community within the school actually uh showed a large interest and it and it was not only for MLS, it was also for other students within the building and and that's just a good example. >> Can I ask a question? >> Sure. Um so you had said um about social interaction being so great right and and I and I think that that's we know that right I think if anyone's studying a

047language the best way to do it is to speak with other people who um speak that language. what's the data showing in terms of I imagine you you know do all the testing um you know for uh verbal as well as reading as well as writing what's the data showing in terms of reading and writing literacy in in um in English if you're coming from another language versus speaking >> the data I'm going to show today is more about their English proficiency the students that we gave the assessment that we have to do annually and I'll show that in a few. >> Okay. >> But one of the things that you would see in a state accountability metrics is the amount of growth that we've had um as [clears throat] a district and a lot

048of it is attributed to the redesigning of programming to make sure that students were not only developing English proficiency but also enhancing their own native language. So you also see that in the state accountability metrics as well. >> Thank you. >> I have a question. Um, Francis, I see that we have um one way and two-way. Do you see in the future that some of the one way might go to two-way because um parents would would appreciate that? >> That's that's exactly what happened with with Brookside when we did the do language orientation overview and invited all the families. The it switched from a oneway because of the parents advocating for the two-way. I see that happening in any of these schools um based on parents requests. Yes. >> Yes. It's it seems um and

049even taking the positive from uh what we've heard today that there is a great enthusiasm for our young people to be able to have that superpower of two languages. Um and I would, you know, would like to see that and encourage that. Um it's it's uh a way to navigate the world in a much fuller, richer uh enjoying people more and um being positive. So uh thank you. And usually like we ESL services are usually provided when um we don't have the capacity to build a full program but as you saw because the population in certain schools of um MLO students have grown over time it just made sense to provide a program that was additive and not subtractive in nature and that really like developed and and took into account the cultural um lang

050language and the culture of our students. throughout the the different programs across the district which I think is really important. So I previously mentioned that we did a collaborative review with about 40 teachers administrators just to look at ML programming and services and some of the findings that we found was that some of the MLS weren't consistently being adequately serviced. So, we had to take a look at why weren't they being serviced? What can we do to make those changes? Yes. >> Sorry to interject. I think just for context and for those uh members of the board that are new. So this review process happened um a a few years ago particularly when we were at the beginning stages of looking our our strategic plan and making sure as a result of that strategic plan

051one of the things was looking our ML programs and refining them um because there were some areas of concern. So the collaborative review that Francis is um speaking to was uh the first step in analyzing how our programs were working or not and what were some of the necessary shifts that we needed to make and there were a number of things that were happening simultaneously. So we were going through this collaborative review but we were also building leadership capacity around how to effectively serve multilingual learners across the district as well as also providing professional learning opportunities for our teachers and building their capacity and how to effectively scaffold whether they were um within the dual language by um ESL programs as well as in um classrooms. so that in cases where students were receiving ESL

052services but then they were then coming into the monolingual environment that teachers knew how to effectively scaffold and support when um ML students were in in the class during those times as well. So there was an array of different elements that we were implementing simultaneously to make sure that the supports were in effect and through that process also we created the MLL um subcommittee that um Diana are you still the you're still leading um where the team would gather um information and present to the board different components to build awareness of the state of affairs around uh multilingual programs that required a lot of of work. And this um the program findings is where we were at at the beginning of that process. And what you will see as a shift uh is the work

053that we've done that has shifted practices based on what we've learned um the state of affairs were that needed to have um things modified or rectified. So I just wanted to build that context before you wanted >> I I also have to add that in the collaborative review we were was also facilitated by Dr. Walk who's um the director of the national research development center to improve the education of multilingual learners. So Dr. Walk was b brought in into Norwork to provide us the support to really look at those programs and services and how best to support multilingual. So in one of the program findings, we found that some of the MLS weren't consistently being serviced. And in the middle school, some of the MLS that were level three and level four um weren't some

054of them were not receiving ESL service. So one of the things that we did to shift that and we share that with administrators with teachers was create a service requirement to ensure that all multilingual learners were receiving um services and the way we did it was based on their language proficiency. So depending on the language proficiency some will get more more service while other as they are meeting proficiency we scaffold it off so that they could um meet at [clears throat] meet the proficiency level and it's been working. Um another finding was that the program of study and and you could add to it Dr. and and Taylor the program of study was taking multilingual learners four to five years to have access to English courses that they could have credit for. So many of

055the programs that were being offered were double periods of um foundational course development course um courses but they cannot acquire English credits with those. they needed either a transition transitional English course or a English one in ninth grade or English two in in 10th grade. So we noticed that and we started to uh as a team get together and look at the program of studies and how we could change that to make sure that scholars all scholars including multilingual learners students that receive special services have access to standard based instruction and grade level instruction because one of the things that was happening um when you looked at our graduation rate for MLS it was one of it was the lowest of all of the subgroup categories. ies but that was happening because the system was

056designed for many of these kids not to be able to graduate in four years. It is a state requirement that um they have English taught at the high school level by a certified English teacher. So, one of the things that we had to do is create a cold taught experience for our MLL students to continue to get their MLL um scaffolds in collaboration with an English certified teacher so that they could then acquire the credits that they needed in order to fulfill the graduation requirement. In the past, that was not the case. They wouldn't have that experience with that certified teacher until their fourth year in high school, meaning that they were not able to graduate timely. and that as a result kids were taking almost six years to graduate to no fault of their

057own but just because of the way our system was structured that didn't afford them the opportunity to be able to graduate on time. The other piece that I would add is that >> I think you need to speak to the >> I think the other piece that I would add is that the double block uh class that they were taking foundations would then limit the number of STEM credits that they could receive and other credits that they need to graduate. So it had like this compound effect where yes, you're taking this double block to really learn English proficiency, but then it limits the number of classes that you could take to meet your credit graduation requirement. >> And the shift now is that we have students integrated into those classes with nonML. They are all

058experienced the same quality of instruction. Um we've adopted um new curriculum in the middle and the high schools. We have wonders in elementary for all scholars, multilingual learner. Um students that receive special services, we provide them with strategy and scaffolds, but they get the same instruction. Middle school we have study sync and high school we have hotel and those curriculums are being used and exposed and presented to all students in our public school. And one of the things that we were very um cognizant of is that whatever curriculum materials we were going to use as a district that those curriculum materials were also available in um the other native language of our students. So that there it was easily easily trans uh transferable and um the quality of the content and resources were of the

059same caliber as um they were being offered in any other content area. Good evening everyone. I'm Taylor Dilva, assistant education administrator for multilingual learners. Um in addition uh to echo Francis right now um additionally we provided a lot of professional learning um on different co-eing models. Um so really moving that service model for our MLL teachers and our service providers to push into classes rather than pull out. Historically, students um levels ones and twos or newcomers were always taken out of the classroom. Why? Maybe because they just weren't able to engage um in content in grade level content instruction. But not anymore. So, we have our service providers pushing in providing scaffolds, providing that access so that students are are in the classroom with their peers. they're learning um grade level content, but they're also

060provided with a lot of different scaffolds and support in order to access that, right? So, we're not pulling students out and watering down content and instruction. We're leaving students inside our classrooms and we're having them being supported um throughout. Additionally, I want to speak um a little bit about high school. Um, in the past, we had a significant number of our multilingual learner students withdrawing from school before they were able to obtain their high school diploma. Um, and so this was doing being done through administrative withdrawals. Uh, students were not engaged. They weren't coming back to school. And we always want to make sure that all of our students are eligible to walk across that stage. Um we introduced our department has reintroduced a re-engagement process um with a registration and withdrawal handbook which requires

061our school counselors, our administrators to go through a multitude of steps, a lot of different um conversations with students, interviews um before our students leave the school. We want to make sure that our students know all of their opportunities um and that they feel supported in order to stay in school with different programming uh in order to obtain their high school diploma. So, we're utilizing our future ready program which gives us a lot of different um flexible scheduling opportunities. We know that our kids have a lot more responsibility rather than just going to school all day long. Our students work, our students take care of kids, our students have family responsibilities. So, we need to make sure that we're always providing flexible scheduling and uh innovative opportunities and we do that through our future ready

062programs. Um, just like Francis and Dr. Estraa spoke before, we really have been focusing on closing that gap of graduation with our multilingual learners and our our um and all students. So, if we look at and I know that this has been shared through our ML subcommittee before, cohort 2024 uh all students, it was a 92.6% 6% graduation rate, which I know that this entire district is proud of. But we're most especially proud of closing that gap for our multilingual learner students. So almost 80% of our multilingual learner students. And this was the lowest gap that we have had in years, making sure that not only our students are graduating, but our multilingual learners and closing that gap because everybody needs to be able to walk across that stage. >> Where can I post a

063question? Taylor, I would just um ask you to give an example going back to the scaffolding. Um that's kind of uh teacher language. Uh could you I was listening to something at uh the the thinking model uh in a math class where students were learning uh by actually going to different eight uh whiteboards. Could you explain how that would help a multi- language learner and how that support worked? >> Sure. Thanks. So, in math, we have building thinking classrooms, which I think you were able to see. Um, and it's incredible because there's different stations that students get to work at. Um, and they're partnered randomly, which is which is incredible. Um, and so they get to walk around, they have different examples that they're working on together. Um, scaffolds are different, um, supports that teachers

064use. So, um, one support could be there's a number chart for students to be able to make sure that they're getting the math and the teacher is walking around as the facilitator. That's that's what's really different here. The teacher is the facilitator and the students have a productive struggle. We don't want to make it just easy for them. We don't want to water down that instruction. Students need to have a productive struggle with language, with content, um, in order to grow. And teachers are acting more as the facilitator. Um, and all students are in that classroom, Ariel. And so we wouldn't have had our newcomer students pulled out at that time and learning something differently on the side. They're in that classroom and they're either with language supports or content supports um, such as a

065number line, um, such as formulaic expressions we use in order for students to exchange in language. Um, what else can you think? The most important part about those um thinking classroom is the opportunity for them to think critically and challenge each other's challenge each other's thinking and that there's no they're not looking for the right answer. If they get the right answers, okay, but it's the the problem solving experience and engaging and challenging each other. No, this is not the way you do it. these are the steps and having access to the different scaffolds within the classroom that they could have like the example you were saying the time the number lines but um it's amazing when when we give them the opportunity to challenge each other and discuss a problem and try to figure

066it out because we're really preparing them for the outside world instead of just like this is a computation problem you added you use the calculator no they really have to together collaborate and think about how to res how solve that problem. >> And I think to that point, this is not unique to MLS. This isn't also um a shift in thinking that we've also instituted with um school students receiving specialized services where in the past um the curriculum materials were different and we made sure that all curriculum materials across the the organization were are the same. And what changes is how we support students to have access to the content which looks differently in every different in in different environments. Even in in in a classroom where you might not have kids that are MLS

067or receive specialized services every child learns differently. So how we approach um and support students in having access to that is critical. Uh but this is not unique just to MLS. This is something across the organization that we have been working on and looking at. Hi. Hello. Hello. Hello. Testing. Hi. Hi. Um, I have a question regarding the progress monitoring of these students in the ESL programs as they transition from a ESL program into a one or a two-way model. Um, does the progress monitoring monitoring happen at a district level or each school has like a MLL team that progress monitors the students in that specific school? >> So, when you're talking about ESL, they don't transition from an ESL to a dual language program. So, parents have the options to select which program they

068want their child to be. So once the student is in ESL, he continues in ESL and we have the annual assessment, but teachers also do formative assessments in the classroom. Each school does that to monitor the students progress >> and that's done annually like at an annual >> annual across the board in the state of Connecticut. We administer the last link assessment so we can monitor students progress and whether they're achieving proficiency. and we're going to show you a little bit at the end um how how our scholars are performing. >> I have a question. So hearing a lot. So my question is are we meeting the demands of our dual language programs? And if we are um and if we're not then what are we going to do about that to try to move

069on that direction? because you know that's one of the biggest piece that I want to know are we meeting those demands >> when you talk about demand I I need you to clarify the question so that >> so from a from a classroom standpoint right are those students getting reaping the benefit from what they signed up for you know I know they they did I'm hearing that they did from the you know kindergarten on but once they're getting to the fourth and fifth grade. They're not meeting those demands. Are there are or are they meeting those demands? Are we meeting those demands for those students? Are they the services that need to be provided for them? Are they getting those services that they signed up for that their parents signed them up for? >> So

070to be clear, and I think you're you're talking particularly be particularly about Silver Mine. I think one thing that's very important to >> No, I'm not just talking about Silver. So across the board across the board, all the dual language schools are receiving the instruction that they need in both languages. So I have to be clear about the dual language programs. Um there's a belief that you have to have two teachers side by side. That's that's not that's not true. depending on your student population and depending on um the staffing that you have, you create those programs. So, I'll give you an example. In one of the schools, they have one teacher who's truly bilingual, do language, she speaks English, she speaks Spanish. So, in the morning, they could do the English. In the afternoon,

071they could do the Spanish. I'm not telling you it's run that way, but that's an example where you could have one teacher. You could also have two teachers on a side by side like you switch where I believe silvermind has from um kindergarten I think to to third grade. Silver mine went with um departmentalized program in fourth and fifth grade. Their numbers has decreased in terms of student. The most important part about the dual language program is providing both languages. It doesn't matter how many teachers it is as long as I'm excuse me. Excuse me. Excuse me. >> Can you do me a favor? Can you you know I understand that but let's just keep in mind that this is an informational session and as far as the public speaking is concerned we allow that

072but this is the part I want to just make sure that we be mindful about you may not agree with what's being said but the more that we're hearing this on this board it's important for us to gather that information to try to help you at the end but the outbursts like that please let's not do that. Thank you. >> So you don't have to have two teachers and do it side by side. The most important part about the dual language program is allocating the the language the language allocation that you're having equal language Spanish native language arts if it's Spanish population and English. That's the key to the dual language providing equal amount of both languages whether it's one teacher, two teachers. Some schools do it differently where okay, we're going to have Spanish

073um Spanish um social studies and science and Spanish. You look at your minutes. Okay, we're going to have ELA and math. The most important about the dual language two-way is that you have both populations in there. In the one way that you only have one population, but both of them require you instructing in both languages with the language allocation that is as most possible as possible equal 50/50. Sometimes it's not 50/50 due to the minutes that are creating the schools, you know, but it should be as close as possible 50/50 instruction in English. If it's Spanish is Spanish, if it's French, but you don't need, you do not require two teachers. It's about the instruction. >> And I think, can I just add one thing? I think it's also um the most one of the

074key components of dual language programs is that it is honoring both languages. there an array of different models and depending on how you're building the model um you can see that like in in Texas for instance sometimes they have models that start off with 10% in one language and gradually build up until they build um an equivalent of 50/50 there there are many different way iterations in which you do it you could have a roller coaster model where it starts off in one language one uh at a certain point in the day and then transitions to the other and subsequently you have the side by side model you have what um Francis articulated half a day in one language half a day in the other at the middle school level sometimes it's a little bit

075more complex because it's content and um it's the departmentalized even further so you might you might have um an iteration where certain content is in one language the other content is other content is in the other language. But there there is fluctuation depending on um what the model the school is providing. And the most valuable thing is honoring that both languages are important, which usually when you have a transitional program and an ESL program, it doesn't um necessarily honor the native language. The goal is to eventually develop English language and basically subtract out the other language. uh but there there are multiple ways in which the model can be implemented. I know that in some schools we have the 5050 that um some people are accustomed to and in other programs we have kind of

076the rotating model as well. But there's no right or wrong. I think a lot of it has to do with um what the what the building is prioritizing, the feasibility of of what can be done and um in some cases working around staffing and making sure that we could create the best possible um structure for students. >> Thank you for that. But I I still have to go back to wanting to know are we meeting those demands, you know, from a state standpoint. I just think that's important and and if we're not meeting the demands and what of our goals >> you're talking about the the service hours. So the state does not have a mandate around that service hours. Um we have created hours that supersede the recommendation from the state. So we are

077providing more more minutes and on top of that for kids that have tested out of bilingual programs we are continuing to provide services even though it is not an a requirement from the state. So we're exceeding the expectation. >> Um before we moved on I had a slightly separate question. Um, thinking about the one-way model like at um, Sono, are the MLL students separate throughout the day? Are they separate for part of their day or >> they're they're in with one teacher? They're with one teacher and she teaches the instruction and half a day in English, half a day in Spanish. >> Okay. >> Which different than um the other monilingual teachers that have one teacher in the classroom. The only difference here is the act of the language and the instruction. >> May I

078ask a question, please? >> And eventually, if parents advocate to make it a two-way, we would definitely make that transition like we did for Brookside. Um, so you know, listening to the parents here tonight and some of the other parents that we have heard from from Silvermind specifically, I guess what I want to ask is, you know, because the the program at Silvermide, the Mono Amano has been a very beloved program here in the city of Norwok. Um, and many parents have sought it out. Um, it's it's really been a pride of our schools. Um, and so I guess what I want to ask is was there a decision to make a change and more in line with what the district is doing or is the mono and mono program continuing at Silvermind specifically? >>

079So there was no intention of not having the program continue. I think across the district, one of the things that we did was departmentalize um four and five. One to provide more intentional professional development for for staff around content um and two to enhance what was happening um in the classroom. Uh the decisions in terms of how the program are structured, we leave to the school leadership to to decide. And I know that the school leader was in conversation around the four and five um transition. I know we've been h we're having conversations with the leader in terms of what that will look like moving forward. I think enrollment plays a role in dual language programs too because particularly in silvermine after a certain um grade we don't admit new students. So it has an

080an impact in terms of how many students are in the class. Um, so we are also monitoring that as well. But the intent is to continue the program. I mean, we are expanding dual language programs. The intent is not to diminish them, particularly because of the number of students that need the service across the district. We actually had to develop programs because we had a large number of students in different schools throughout the district that needed better programming. and that's why we transitioned from ESL to dual language >> and and I understand it's a very complex um issue. But, you know, I just want to make sure that we're here because we're hearing from a lot of parents at at Silver Mine. And I just want to make sure that, you know, they're being heard

081and and those concerns are being addressed and and if it's a communication, if it's been a communication um issue, then you know, how do we how do we work on that moving forward? >> There's some concerns that have been raised that are being looked into that I can't discuss at this moment. >> I think one a piece of confusion is around the magnet status of silver mine. magnet. Um, Solomon is a district magnet program. It is not a state magnet program and I think that there is some confusion around that. Um, the only state magnet program that we have in the district is CGS. Um, and and the state magnet programs receive specific funding from the state um to fund uh the these programs. But we are a district magnet. A silver mine is a

082district magnet in the same way that Wolfpit CMS are. They are not state magnet programs. And I think that there was some confusion around the the magnet status for for silver mine. It's not a state. It is a localized magnet program that we that the district created and it is an intrad district magnet. >> I have one more question. Um looking at at a wider picture with this in any u language teaching there's a shortage of teachers in everything um and in math and in uh Spanish for example we have a shortage do we have any um a thought going forward in in u encouraging teachers that we have to get certified in Spanish additionally are are we looking in that way and is would that solves some of the problem, the stress that we're

083under in this situation. >> So, I'll let Rob um speak to it, but we have been um throughout the years providing um the ability for our teachers to get the uh Tissole license and um provided the opportunity to take those courses so that we can um attract within uh we continue. Do you want to want to talk in greater detail about that? So uh we have an ARCTEL program which is cross endorsement for current teachers who can go and either get the T- cell certification or the bilingual certification. This year I think is um 16 is which is our highest number we've had in the last few years which I think is phenomenal that we have so many people getting that cross endorsement and uh it's it's exciting. Some teachers are getting it to just

084uh be stronger educators in their classroom and some are looking to go and become a multilingual learner teacher. And so we have different pieces that are happening. But that is something that we collaborate uh with the teachers union around and we have we pay for it as a district so current teachers can get that cross endorsement free of charge. Can I ask a follow-up question to that? Um, is there a requirement once you pay for that for the the teachers to get that certification, is there a requirement they stay with the district for a period of time? >> Three years. >> Yeah. Because we don't want to lose those teachers. >> That is correct. Yes. They sign on for three years after that. >> And and that's what's really important because as you uh we've

085talked about in other meetings, MLL providers is a shortage area. So we're constantly looking for creative ways of attracting the same way with um special education and uh we build not only for MLL um providers but also for um special education providers uh programs that will allow us to build uh capacity within and hopefully address some of the shortage um area needs that we have as a district. Okay. Oops. So, additionally, we've also partnered with a lot of um nearby colleges and universities. Southern Connecticut State University is the only university that actually gives uh a teacher initial certification with the bilingual cross endorsement. So, in order to obtain the bilingual cross endorsement, a teacher must hold their initial elementary education certificate or a secondary content. So, you have to be a teacher first and then

086you can go to the archetel program to obtain your bilingual cross endorsement. So once we have a teacher with initial certification and we know they're bilingual, we're getting them on board and we're getting in them into that program and we're keeping them in our district. Um and so we're we really love to partner with our universities as well to get those teachers with their initial um get them into our dual language schools to do their student teaching and then continue to support them through their certification. Uh back to our our high school programming, some of our noticings when we first came in was that we were seeing that our our MLL our high school students were scheduled for the same courses. So students were repeating courses and it had to do with their language ability.

087So if they were taking that annual last links assessment and a student was the same level for the next year, students were um students were continually repeating the same uh ESL course based on their level. So, we really worked a lot with our different programming um and shifting to different progress monitoring in order to to track our students and support our students. We also saw that students weren't passing um were passing classes, but because of their attendance, they were losing credit. We really set up a new updated attendance policy and where a committee reviews different attendances and students are able to make up that time so that students don't have to repeat a full year course. Um, and we also, um, implemented that, uh, school counselors meet with their students at least twice a year

088to review their transcripts. So, we want to make sure that we know if a student is failing a course in semester 1, we're going to help them right then and there. We're not going to wait until the end of the year. We're not going to wait until semester 2 to make sure that a student repeats a course. We're making sure that we're always providing support services to our students so that that does not happen. And making sure that if a student has poor attendance that we're keeping up with them. we're going to their house, we're getting them back in. Um, and so that that they're not lost. >> I think one of the most important pieces that I need to add is the fact that our department develop a relationship with the school's counselors to

089make sure that we're looking at the transcripts together because sometimes you could look at a transcript and say, "Oh, he might need this. No, he doesn't need this." We also support them with looking at the transcripts that are coming from another to make sure they get the credits that they deserve. >> So in addition to that, the ML department working with the school counselors, looking at the transcript reviews, um just making sure we know what students need in order to get that diploma within four years. Um so we redesigned the MLL summer program. It's actually called the ML accelerated summer program. um because we don't just want to provide students with English um as a second language during the summer. We want to provide students with whatever course they need in order to meet all

090of their graduation requirements so that they can walk across the stage with their peers in a timely fashion. Um we don't want to look at our six-year graduation cohort for our ML students. We only want to look at our four. Um and so in this summer program, we are able to provide ESL courses. were able to provide content, STEM, um even PE and help if a student needs that in order to graduate. Last summer, summer 2025, we had 43 multilingual learner students walk across that stage at the end of July. And that would not have been possible if it wasn't for our summer course offerings. And one of the things I think that's that's important to note that in the past student ML students were limited to a very small pool of courses. uh to

091take and they were not being uh allowed to take classes across the continuum that were being offered and in some cases students that needed a particular cause course and it was being offered they were not being allowed to take that course because it was not an MLL section se section class and that's something we changed because if the course is being offered any student should have access to it >> I two pieces I think are important is the collaboration between the multilingual learner department and then our school counseling department I think has really helped to foster these opportunities uh and then the other layer is in the summer program when we first started our accelerating program for multilingual learners how are we also creating opportunities for all students who might need some courses and that

092really came a push from our high schools How are we thinking about all students as well? And so what's interesting is that we have our credit recovery, our accelerated program, and our twilight program all in the same building in the summer. And last year in particular, the collaboration between those three different programs that they used to at one point run more independently, but now it's this collaboration between all three programs in service of all students. And I just want to highlight that piece because just seeing like this unified program in the summer has really led to some great successes for us. >> All right. So this visual Oh, did it go up? Can you hear me? >> Yeah. So this visual was our initial programming coming in. And so when you look at the top

093here, you see foundations, development, intermediate, literature, and transition. This was the course sequence for a multilingual learner student coming into Norwok public schools high schools. First they would have to start with an English foundations which was a double black course. Then they would have to move into development, another double black course. Okay? So ESL, ESL, ESL going into intermediate and literature. It was not until their fifth year in high school that they were with an English language arts certified teacher. Those first four classes were taught by an ESL teacher. So it was English language acquisition. It was multiple doses, multiple doses, multiple doses until they got to their English as a uh in to their English language arts. And that's a graduation requirement. A student needs English language arts in order to graduate. And students

094need English language arts in order to be successful in life with the reading and writing. Okay. So that's how we first started. Where we are now is students are going right into English language arts if they came from middle school, but they're being supported by a multilingual learner teacher inside that classroom. So providing support, providing access to that content that all students are receiving. We're not watering down instruction, but we're providing support for students to get that access. So they're going right into English one or a transition English. Then they're going to English two, English three, and they get those senior English electives like all of their peers. Now, we also have new arrival students that we know need that English as a second language. We're providing it to them. They're going right in and

095they have English foundations. It's still a double block. They need that English language support. They're new arrivals, first year in the country. Then they're going into English development. If a student needs additional support with the English development, we're providing them with an extra dose of English literature. So, they're still getting all of that support. Um, but it's just in a concentrated dose. Then students are going right in. They're going into that transition English with an English language arts teacher, co-taught with an MLL teacher. They plan together, they teach together. There's a lot of different co-eing models that we provided professional development on. Um, and so teachers are owning that instruction together and making sure that their students are successful in that content right there. and then students get to continue on the the path for

096English language arts. We do offer these classes in the summer. Student could always come in and take a little extra if they want or they can take graduation requirements um in order for them to be successful. The MLL summer academy also partners with our other summer programs. So, we have students mixing in all different languages um in all of the programs and also in our future ready to make sure that those students are graduating in a timely fashion and that we're not losing our students. So on this slide, this is the service requirements that we implemented in Nor public school to ensure that all students are getting service. These are the different minutes that are not mandated by the state, but we're mandating it so that those students become proficient. We're going to show you

097our last link's results in terms of how well our our scholars are doing in terms of meeting proficiency. This is the service requirement for K to8 and on the >> and I think this um applies to Mr. White's question earlier about the number of service hours >> requirements. No. >> Well, the ones that we are fulfilling which supersedes the state Yes, because the state doesn't require any minutes, just service, but we make sure we look at the all MLS in no public school. We look at the proficiency rate every day. We desegregate the data depending on the domains where they need to be targeted and make sure that they receive these services. And for high school, um we also did the same thing looking at the proficiency level, making sure they're the service requirement. Most

098important thing about this is that we did we collaborate during the prevb with um the high school administrators and and administrators in the building to ensure that we provide them with the staffing they need to be able to provide and meet these requirements. So there's a lot of discussion between the administrators and myself to make sure that they have based on how many multilingual learners are in the building and that we're providing them with the the staffing that they need to be able to meet these service requirements. >> Um the proficiency um is the proficiency required by the state? >> Yes. Yes. >> Yeah. What are those guidelines? The proficiency for the state is they are assessed in four domains uh speaking, listening, reading and writing. And for students to be proficient, they must have

099an overall 405, but they must have a 40 or five in reading and writing. So if they don't have a four or five in both of those domains, they don't need proficiency. So um we went back from 2022 our ML graduation rate was at 68.8% 8% with the accelerate summer programs with um the support that we're giving throughout the schools the work of the heart of those teachers those ML teachers and ELA teachers um we are now in um last year's um graduation rate was at 79.3%. So we've been moving the numbers in terms of ML graduation rate and that also shows up in all students how we've moved from 91.1% all the way to 92.6% 6% um this this is major this is major I also wanted to share um a district-wide data plus

100high school data um noai has been doing amazing with our ML population that really shown gains in terms of a graduation um so has um Brian McMahon but we really moving those numbers across the district and across uh the schools as you can see it here from 2022 to 2023 you could see that no KAI in um 2022 was at 67.7% and um cohort 2023 was 70.5 and in 2024 83.3 and that's also the collaboration with the with the guidance counselors making sure all those transcripts review checking to see that students are getting the courses that they need providing the summer accelerated program. 43 students just this summer if we didn't provide those programs the courses that they were missing they would have to come another year they would have not graduated. So that's 43

101that graduated in August. So I also wanted to share this data. Remember we were talking about the last name that's the profic proficiency rate. the um we are compared to other cities in Connecticut in terms of the Lastlings with a population over of 70,000. Um and right here we are number two compared to to the other um cities. But when you look at number two, you also have to look at how we've progressed the most. Um, so, so Danbury, as you can see, for 2025 was at at 62%, but they stay stagnant. They were the same. I don't want to badmouth, but I'm competitive. I want to be number one. We went up a 1.6. So, we went from 57.6 to to 59.2. We're meeting um those proficiencies. This is um the the reading and

102writing is the literacy component and the speaking and listening. they they put them together is the oral uh growth. Um we at 57.7 we went from 54.2 last year we had a 3.5 growth. I also want to um share that no public school outperformed the state. We perform in both literacy and all. Um the state I don't know if I have the state was at uh 58.7 in the literacy component. We were 59.2 and the state was at 55.7 and we were at 57.7. So we outperformed the state in terms of our litacy growth and oral growth. um the schools. >> I think one other point too um is that when the mayor was asking before about our growth, this is actually the growth is um opposed to the proficiency. And Norwok has really been

103closing the gap when we're looking at the difference between literacy and oral. And historically, our district used to outperform literacy than oral. So, we knew that students were reading and writing um but students weren't feeling possibly not feeling comfortable speaking and obtaining that language. And since we've really been looking at the different service models um and providing different programs like dual language that not a lot of districts in the state of Connecticut do, they're coming to us to look at what we're doing here. Um, but because of the different programming and the different models of teaching that we're doing, we're seeing that gap close now and our students are learning language oral and literacy at the same time and that's being raised every year. So, I just wanted to to make that point. I also

104want to mention that when we did the collaborative review, I forgot to mention this piece. We the teachers did all the work. The teachers, it was very teacher center. Students were silent. They were taking notes. that were very well behaved. Now you see the shift where students are collaborating, they're discussing, they're analyzing the text, they're annotating the text. It's a a very different different um approach to teaching that's happening at no public schools. >> Question. I know from the looks of it here, did we look into how do we compare to the other cities to the Trumbles, the Wiltons, Derianne? Did we ever look into the where we are at from that standpoint? >> I mean, Darian has such a small population that I don't even think the state measures them. Yeah, they could they

105mostly compare us to the to to these cities because there's a high population of multilingual learners and they're similar to us both size >> you might have in the other cities two or three >> but did we but did we look into it just to see where we stand and how we compare to those cities in general outside of you know um our area. Yes. I don't we didn't look at them because I some of them don't even have data because their margins are so small but we can pull that data >> just you know there's no need to just to get an idea where we fit. >> Um slight question oh about the previous slide uh I noticed uh at least in oral growth um most uh cities actually had a minor drop in

106uh 2024. Is there a reason for that or Is it just a blip in the system? >> I don't remember if there was there was a switch in the assessment. No. Right. No, for that year. No, don't don't really know. But I did notice that most of them did go down. >> Okay. Thank you. >> They don't have the innovative services and programs like we do. [laughter] >> Good answer. If we're if we're looking at that some uh something New Britain's been doing that's good too. So give them a little credit there. They are in the positive uh 4.4 for oral growth. Not as high as we are uh but you know they're growing. So they must be doing something too. >> Yeah. The growth was there as well. So last year we had a

107total of scholars that met proficiency 126 this year. The previous year, sorry, previous year. Last year we had 224 scholars who met proficiency. Almost 100 more students met proficiency. We had a 75% increase. The number of schools, 15 schools show an increase in oral growth and 10 schools show an increase in literacy growth. And the green highlighted schools show growth in both. A total of 15 schools outperform the state schools in literacy and 13 schools outperform it all. You had a question. I don't have a question, but um being chair of MLL, I just wanted to say thank you to both of you because um the other part that the public doesn't see is that you both have been going knocking on doors when these students don't show up at school. You're not just picking

108up the phone. You're not just emailing. You are actually showing up at these homes. And for the board, new board members, if you have a space in your calendar, go to one of these graduations because when you talk to these students, you hear how thankful they are. You see their parents crying because someone actually is paying attention to them. And for the public, um, our MLO meetings are the third Wednesday every two months. So if you want to continue hearing more about these programs and the data, please, you know, um come to these meetings and listen because they do so much work for these children here in Norwok. >> Thank you. >> And actually we will be having a graduation in a few days for our um students. We have um 20 students, potentially 21

109that will be crossing the stage that would have not if it wasn't for the the future ready program and the scaffolded and differentiated services that we are offering students particularly because a lot of our students are adulting at a very young age either because they're um living on their own or are here without their parents. So we have to take into consideration being flexible so that they can be successful too particularly because of the you know adult responsibilities that they have and despite that they are coming they're engaging and like um Diana said thanks to Francis and Taylor's knocking on doors kids that were disengaged and not coming to school for quite some time have been re-engaged and we've been able to have them cross the stage which to us is a great um point

110of success and and critical in making sure that as many of our students as possible are graduating and acquiring their high school diploma. uh particularly in some cases um we have students that are undocumented that might not be able immediately to go to college because of resources and other um un what's the best ways to describe it other circumstances that are beyond their control acquiring their high school diploma becomes critical. So, we're really proud of the work that we've accomplished in transforming a lot of our uh bilingual services across the district, particularly because it has yielded really positive outcomes for our students and making sure that they have access and that they're developing adequately throughout their experience here in Norwalk. Do you want to say anything? >> Add one last piece. We're constantly looking to

111iterate and try new Last year, for the first time ever, we had an ex a program in ninth grade to support students. One of our metrics that we look at is ninth grade on track. It's uh determining factor for graduation. So, how could we be creative in supporting our students? And so, we had a June program where we, you know, in collaboration with the high schools where we could support students who may need a little bit more support just to ensure that they remain on track. um maybe they couldn't come for a full summer program and so we were able to come up in you know creative ways to support students and so we're constantly thinking how can we support all of our students. >> I just want to thank you so much for the

112presentation and all the work that you've been doing and that you put into this presentation. um you know and I know when the when you brought on the the new um approach there were a lot of questions and this is what four or five years later. Yeah. And so you know I think the data is really showing the success of the of the program. I would just ask to please keep the dialogue open with the silvermind parents and teachers um because you know I think we want to make sure that that they're being heard and um and that their concerns are being addressed. We will do that. >> Thank you. [clears throat] Any questions from the board? >> Well, I'm going to move on to the next um superintendent uh report item which is uh

113providing an update regarding the FY27 budget development. I'm going to ask Mr. Asmani to join us for this component of the presentation. Good evening. Um, wanted to spend some time just to give you an update on where we are with the 26 27 budget development process. For some of you that have been that have been engaged, many of these slides will be uh familiar. Uh but one of the things that we're trying to do this year is to just share and reshare as much of this information as possible because we recognize that people tune in at different times and tune in to different meetings. So there are people who tune in to this meeting but may not tune in to a joint meeting or may not tune in to a finance committee meeting. So I

114apologize if some of this information may appear uh repetitive to you, but I'm sure there's somebody out there who's hearing this uh for the very first time. So, first thing I'd like to share is um the website, the the budget website. We've talked about this. This is a QR link that takes you to the website. Um on that website are all of the presentations that we've made in the past on the budget, but the website also includes our budget book. Uh the budget book is a 200page uh document that's available on the website. It includes the superintendent's message. It has the budget overview and highlights. It includes all of the budget drivers that we have this year, some of which I'll I'll touch on in in this presentation. We talked about uh we have an

115organizational section that will talk about how we fund Connecticut public schools. Uh before this meeting, we had one of our monthly meetings. We met with uh Rouetan parents uh just before this meeting and one of the conversations that took place was how the state funds education um in the state of Connecticut and we had conversations about how different straight different states fund uh their um education public public education differently. So there's a whole section that talks about how education is funded in the state of Connecticut. Um financial information we include our budget assumptions. We do have line item information in that budget that has five years of history, three years of actual, the current year, and the budget that the BOE approved in December. So, we have five years of line item history um that's

116included part of this budget book. We also do the same thing for our grant funds. So, there are five line line item history with five years of history for our grant funds. In addition to the line item by grants, we also show five years of history of individual grant programs. So if there's a grant, let's say IDA as a major grant program. So you will see for the past five years, how much the district has received from that particular grant. And so you name a grant, a major, many of the big ones are included in there. And then we do have some smaller grants that we've kind of combined together. But not only do we provide a five-year history by grant, for each of these grants, there is a brief overview of what the grant

117is, what the grant does, what the grant um who the grant serves, and who funds that grant. Some grants are federal, some grants are state, some grants are passed through. So, all of that information is included in the budget book again with a five-year uh five-year history. Uh we also do the same for our food services fund which uh which funds our school lunch uh school lunch program. We have anformational section that includes some of the information you just heard from uh the previous presenters which talks about Norok um achievements uh for the schools. So we have that information that's provided by the state. We include enrollment projections. Enrollment projections include current enrollment, what the demographer is projecting for next year, but we also show a 10-year enrollment trend. So, we go back 10 years

118to show you what the total enrollment has been. And I believe we do that by grade level. Yes. So, it's 10 year history by grade. So, you can see K has grown from this number to this number or gone down from this number to this number. So, that information is included uh in the budget book. Um a lot of questions on staffing which we hear you heard some um earlier um at the beginning of this meeting. So the budget book does provide a four-year overview of staffing. We do the staffing by positions. We do the staffing by department or by school. So you pick a department, you can go and see uh a four-year history. Last year we had a member of the public that asked a question similar to what you heard today. We

119used to include all of the unil unaffiliated position in in one bucket because there are a number of unions. So most positions belong to a particular so it's easy to follow like the teachers have their own teacher line and so most of those are belong to the NFT group. Um we have others that are smaller unions that are bumped together like custodians. They have their own union and they have their own account. And this years back there are a number of unions who don't have specific lines because they fall in different union groups. So we typically had one line uh for those. We had a request last year to get additional information. So this year we have actually provided a listing of all of these positions that were just one line. So we've broken down

120every single position in the staffing page. I remember the name the page number is 106A and the A is because we added that after the fact because it was requested. So there is that um what is not included in the budget book which was requested um earlier. Uh we don't publish salaries by position but if this something that the board feels would be helpful we would be happy to because we provide that annually to the hour and Nancy Norwalk. In fact, we just had an open records request last week and I'm assuming this week those will all be listed. So this this information is out there in a number of formats. Um and the the media is really good at that. They'll be publishing every single city employee from the city side from the board

121of ed side with a compensation from last year. But but if the board wishes to see that differently or separately, it's information that we always respond to through FOYA. Uh we'd be happy to provide that if you feel it'll be um helpful. in your decision- making. But most of this information is in the budget book. And like I told the SGC parents, if you go through all of these 208 pages and you still have questions, by all means, please reach out. We'd be more than happy um to answer those questions. Um upcoming meetings, how can the public be engaged? Uh today, the 20th, we're kind of recapping this presentation to you. Um, on February 9th, uh, the mayor will be presenting, uh, the, uh, mayor's proposed budget to the board of estimates and taxation. On

122February 10th, that budget will be presented to the city council. And then on February 11th, uh, I will provide an update to the finance committee uh, on what that proposal is, how that um, factors into our request. On February 12th, the city council finance and claims committee will hold a public hearing on the mayor's recommended budget. So then there will be additional conversations um on the budget. Then February 24th, the city council will adopt a preliminary cap which then goes to the BET and the BET will hold a public hearing on March 25th. So these are just some upcoming meetings that the public um can engage. These are the formal meetings. Um, as you as you know, there are conversations always ongoing between the city and the board of ed when it comes to funding

123before these meetings and after these meetings. So, there's a lot more conversation that happen outside um of these published meetings. So, just a quick overview of what did the board of ed approve uh back in December. The blue column indicates the current year's budget. So, you recall that around April last year, uh the council uh set uh set a cap and the BET approved a 4% uh budget allocation. As we went through the budget process, having these conversations that I just referenced, uh the board of ed uh was given a $4.5 million additional appropriation. Uh the common council voted and followed by the BT to appropriate that to the board of ed. those funds were transferred into our accounts primarily to reinstate positions. So the amended budget with that addition is 247 million. That's the

124budget that we currently have uh to operate with this year. So in December when the board approved the budget for next year, we look we took uh we looked at those existing positions, what the salaries would be with the union contracts and some of the other drivers that I'll discuss in the next slide. uh you approved a budget of 263 million which is 6 and a.5% of the amended. If you compare that number to the approved it's just under 8%. Um but the request is for the 263 million. It funds these programs and these positions um as we currently have. So if you look at that 15.9% it it is like I said 6 and a half% over the amended. 71% of that increase is driven by salaries um and benefits uh for our employees

125being 75% of this budget. We did have a question and this is a new slide at the last joint meeting. uh one of the council I think maybe two council members asked us to spend some time to talk about what are some efficiencies uh that we do on the board of ed side as we make decisions on the budget and as we manage the budget after the budget has been approved. So one of the things we've done this year is looking at our transportation contract. We have three main contracts for transportation for our students. The overall transportation budget is about $12 million. This is we believe we're we are in the fifth year of that contract. Uh like most contracts, this contract has a clause to allow us to negotiate an extension rather than going

126out to bid. So what we did when that time came due, we kind of talked to some other districts. Uh Danbury, Stanford, I think Waterberry as well is one. So those districts were like in a similar pa space in terms of their contract. their contracts did not have that extension clause or they had already ex applied the extension clause so they had to go out to bid. So in talking to them and learning from them we learned that their contracts were going up 15 to 17%. That's just what what market was. There's a driver shortage and there's a bunch of other challenges with transportation. And so we with that information we were able to negotiate an extension of our contract rather than going out to bid. By doing so, our contract ended up going 8%

127instead of 15 to 17% that our neighbor uh neighboring districts had. And so that's that's a big difference if you consider $12 million um contract. So that was an efficiency effort that we took um amongst ourselves. One of the things that we do each year, we talked about actually we met with a demographer today as part of our school-based budget, we also align it to enrollment. So in looking at our enrollment at each particular school, we also look at things like their mandated class sizes. So we look at that to make sure that we rightsize the resources in the school to match the enrollment. Understanding that even when we had the conversation with with the parents this morning, everyone prefers smaller class sizes obviously, but there is the budget reality that sometimes you may not

128be able to have those level of classes. So what we try to do is to rightsize schools without violating the contractual agreement we have with the teachers uh in the classroom. So we do that. The other thing that we also do annually with relation to um student enrollment at the middle and high schools, we look at enrollment for electives. Uh the district does have a policy that if you don't have more than 15 uh students enrolled in an elective then uh we would figure out a way maybe we offer that elective next year. But we you know it's a case by case study. So if you have 14 versus 15 is different than if you have three versus 15. But these are all the things that we try to do as we're building the budget

129to kind of maintain some level of efficiencies because we do understand that um you know we're all competing for the same resources. us and the city departments as well. And we also have to consider that tax keep the taxes low and all of those other uh things. Uh we did last year look at position realignment and so we have we have done that. Uh but we continue to leverage grant and philanthropic funding funding. Um so we're looking at grants are a little bit challenging now because grants have really dried up and those that exist more and more of us are competing for them. So there's more money to be shared with the fixed amount of resource. So we look at that. Uh but we also focus a lot on philanthropy. I think a good example

130this year when we were working to reinstate the school lunch program uh we got some funding from the McCords. So we have a number of philanthropic do donors that we also partner with to fund projects to kind of relieve services um to relieve burden on the taxpayer. And then we also spend quite a bit of time with our counterparts in the city just looking at what services we can collaborate and share together. So for example, my department finance works very closely with city finance. Uh Jared and I we meet periodically. We work together on projects. Uh we have right now we share obviously we share the same auditor and we split that cost. We have recently implemented an ebudget book uh that we collaborate together. Jared on Jared's team, Tom Ellis was his go-to. On

131my team, Kristen was the go-to and they met together with a vendor to work to work on these projects. Uh we work with the finance department on the city side when we upgraded Munis. This is our financial system. And so we work together on that rather than us go into one agreement and the city goes into another agreement. We work together. It's one contract. It's one one upgrade project. And so we save um expenses like that. Uh public works and the city's recreation and parks department work very closely with our BOE facilities in terms of access to buildings during snowstorm or snow events. Um just upkeep of the gardens and the facilities. We work with them very closely. our BO our city recreation departments actually works very closely with our school leaders with some of

132our um uh what do you call them playground playgrounds with our playgrounds because these are public these are city properties and so we constantly have Ken would be at a school talking to a principal and Miss Fyos would be there with Bill Hodell just figuring out what can we do with the playground at the school so we have those ongoing um and then the CDBOE and information technology are constantly ly we work on one phone system. We share resources. Uh this year um as an education entity we receive rates uh rebates uh from that. The city this year was going through an upgrade and we were able to talk with the city and say you know what we could save the city some funding because this project is eligible for uh reduction. So we worked

133with um the city team in order to see how we could save the city money in that regard and we did. So there are all these ongoing opportunities that um that we collaborate with um with the city. Again, I'm not going to spend some time on this chart, but this is just showing that 75% of the budget is is salaries and benefits, which you've seen before. Um, I did have a question last year and I've add last week and I've added this to the to the slide is how do we how did we compute the 6 and a half% because that was a question that came up and I think it's worth clarifying. This also came up this morning uh this evening when we met with the parents in Rwaiten because they had heard one

134number and we had shared one number and I said depending on where you are both numbers are accurate. Um it's really just how you present the number. But in as as we have gone through these budget process and last year was the third year where uh the city has been fortunate to have received additional funding that they did not anticipate and through collaboration of the superintendent and the mayor. Uh the city has shared that funding with the board of education to kind of allow us to meet some of the challenges of the budget. So in fiscal year 24 the city received some additional funding and $2 and a half million dollars of that uh they appropriate didn't appropriate but they asked the board of ed could you please give us a list of contracts that

135are eligible for this grant and we will pay these on your behalf. By doing so it allowed us to free $2.5 million in our budget to fund some of the programs that were not funded from the budget request. So we did that and this is how uh that that funding was distributed. This money stayed on the city books. We basically gave them the bills and they paid them um on our behalf. We did the same thing in fiscal year 2425. This was a 1.8 million appropriation. I believe these were outstanding ARPA funds that the city received and 1.8 million was shared with with the district. We did the same thing. We identified contracts that met the requirement of the grant and the city paid for the pay those on our behalf but that allowed us

136to plug another $1.8 million into resource that were um in danger of reduction. Last year was a little bit different but similarly the city did receive some additional funding from the state and some carryover from the prior year that allowed us to reinstate positions. So unlike the prior two years, this funding went directly towards reinstating positions at the individual schools. And so this year we included that $4.5 million in our request because it was part of the budget uh that we have because these funds were actually transferred to the BOE in the past two years. Even though these funds were not transferred to us, we did include them as part of the request. And if you look at the drivers in each of those prior years, we would say, you know, last year we got

137this money for two and a half million. This is what uh we did with it. Please include it in our in our request. So each year we have requested that one-time funding to be part of the base. I think the difference this year is it was included as part of the transfer into the district. The reason you would do the first two options is there is a state requirement of minimum budget requirement and therefore that was a way to balance um on the city side as well so that they don't have to automatically include that in the base and the way that funding came through allowed that to happen. uh the way that the funding came last year was different in that it was actually transferred into a city fund. And when the audit comes

138out for FY26, you'll actually see that $4.5 million in in the BOE fund. In prior years, that amount was in a city fund because it was never transferred into the city. But once that transfer happens into the city budget, it goes into our fund. And so the audit would also reflect that additional that 247 million as part of the spend this year. So this year was unique and that's why it it looks the way uh that it does. Um I'm not going to go into detail because I've shared this before, but these are just the drivers. Special education, insurance, meals. Uh South Nor School is adding a grade. Um and then I briefly I did talk about the service contract uh this year. Um, and with that, I'd be happy to answer um any questions.

139I know you all are tired. >> Sure. >> So, I know quite often, I'm sorry, quite often constituents will ask about enrollment. We know that it's pretty much been flat or close to what it was last year, but we've talked about how the students that we do get have different needs. And so, maybe you can just explain a little bit about the drivers in special education and how that impacts our budget. >> Thank you. >> Sure. So, so there's two things. Um I think one when you talk about enrollment the 10-year enrollment history and the projection that's included in the budget book you will see a a drop um and as of October one we also saw that as well. So when I talked about right sizing at each school. So one of the things

140that we will do this year is one we will look at what is the actual enrollment in your school and then we start with a base uh base level funding based on that enrollment. But as you heard from the speakers before me in the district, we know that MLL students and spe and students with special services I was corrected the other day for how to say that students receiving specialized services um require some additional funding and so it will be a combination. we will see we could potentially see a decline in that base funding because of the drops in enrollment but because the proportion of specialized students receiving special services has gone up and the types of services has gone up um that will drive that cost up. So, and we'll show both when we

141present the budget, how we get to this number. But those are some of the drivers. We are seeing increases in students receiving special services, especially those that are outplaced and the cost of out placement is higher. And it's not just a Norwok issue. Uh this is a statewide issue and I believe at the state level they're also looking at that as well. Uh this year they did pass legislation that capped how much some of these providers can charge district because there there was no cap. So we were just being char we were we would pay whatever they ask us to pay um because there isn't a whole lot of competition but they've capped that somewhat this year. So everyone's working on addressing that issue. >> My understanding is that cap is not going to assist

142with this year though. >> Where's Rob? >> Oh Rob I'm not sure when it comes to maybe maybe it's next year. I'm not sure. >> I thought it would not impact would not be yet. That's good to know. But I did know that the reason for the cap was to Oh, there you are. for the next year. >> for the next year. So July 127. >> Okay. >> Yeah. So we've got a couple years. >> Uh quick question. You had mentioned uh working and partnering with the city to find ways that we can combine find savings. Are you also looking at partnering in uh how we collect trash for the city and for the schools? [laughter] >> Thank you. Um I just I'd like to go back to the transportation. >> Yes. >> You had

143mentioned um that you negotiated an extension uh and I want to reinforce uh from a discussion I had. I I'm a liazison for CES which is u in Trumble and that gathers together um board members board of education members from Lichfield County and Fairfield County. So, we have a a lot of board members there and I uh listened to some of them saying 20% for transportation and I at that moment I knew we had 8% but I didn't know that we had negotiated an extension and that was the reason uh we were able to get so good on you. >> Glad we did that. >> Good on Miss Fo. I think she was the one who negotiated the contract. Sandra's departmenting. Good on that. Um the second thing I want to uh address is the

144um the budget of last year's the infusion of the 4.5 million. Um, it does make real sense to me that that 4.5 million because it was spent on staffing and became part of our working budget that that remain that that becomes a base the baseline that we that we work from. I know there's some question about that, but I'm I'm just uh stating that that really makes a lot of sense to me that we keep those teachers who are uh were brought back on because of that infusion that we have that as our base for this next budget. Thank you. I I agree with Marielle and that it's very important that that's in our base and thank you for explaining so clearly how this one is different from previous years like I appreciate seeing that

145so clearly any additional questions from the board before I thank Mr. money. Thank you. Um, so if there's no further questions from the board, that concludes the superintendent report. I pass it back to you, chairperson. Okay, since we're done with that, thank you for everyone for this opportunity to go through this. Now, we're into the action of consent. So, we're going to move forward. At that point in time, we're going to get a consent vote on all these it all three of these items. Is there any question in reference to approval of personnel? Is there any questions in reference to approval of budget transfer? Is there any questions in reference to approval of minutes? >> Not a Not a question, but um something that I noted and I've already uh emailed Janette from our organizational

146meeting. There was um one of the seconds was incorrectly listed who had seconded my nomination. So I've already let Janette know and just on the same minutes um that I was in in attendance >> to thank you. Okay, with that, can I have a motion for consent to vote on the three items that we just spoke of? >> So moved. >> Motion was first was actually second by Marielle. All in favor raise your hand and say I. That's uh 90. So that's it for that action consent. Next item on the agenda is the information and reporting. So this is the monthly financial report. >> Thank you. While they upload that um as you know I also have oversight over HR and you will notice that in the personnel action there is a name that was

147an addition a new a new hire and also a termination. students really a timing. This was a special education teacher at Cranberry. So, she started with us, but she found another opportunity elsewhere. And so, she she she took that opportunity. And so, because of the timing, we would have brought the new hire now, but then she left before she was h before it was presented. So, you'll see that uh that name there twice. So, it's not it's not an error. It's just a timing a timing issue. So briefly, I shared the budgets. I'm going to skip over this slide, but I really just wanted to spend some time to share where we are uh with the budget. Uh year to date in the general fund, you'll see that adjusted budget of 247.3 million. This is

148part of uh that additional funding, the amended budget uh that we received. I do want to point out that in addition in addition to these slides that I'm sharing with you, part of your agenda packet also includes uh line item budgets uh for the entire general fund. Um all of the lines comparing this year, last year, and the year-to- date information. So, this information you have at the line item level. You also have a summary of the grant fund and the summary of the food services fund as well as part of that with your packet for the year-to- date. I also do a narrative uh description. So, all of what I'm going to be talking through, you actually have a four-page document that discusses the year-over-year variance by each of these categories. And it also

149includes what is driving the variances both up and down. Um, so just wanted to confirm that you have uh that information as well. So I'll go through this. Uh, salaries and benefits salaries continue to be um, our highest uh, expenses. We are as of December 31st, we're halfway through the year. You'll notice that we've spent 62.8 million of 146 salaries. This is an item that doesn't quite there this one and the next one. They don't quite divide by equally divide by 12 because in Norwok we give our teachers the option to get paid throughout the summer. So there's a summer balloon payment. And so during the months of a uh July, August, and parts of September, they continue to get checks, but those checks are for work through June. And so that's retro back. So

150typically what you would see as we go throughout the month, you don't see that um you don't see that impact until the end of the year when we make that balloon payment uh for those three months. So there's three months worth of salaries that aren't hitting uh the budget just yet. Benefits uh primarily are payments for our employee health insurance, but included in benefits are also social security payments for those that we make payments for social on social security. Teachers do not. Uh workers compensation uh that we pay into the state, any 401 or retirement contributions we make, those are part of this. There is a timing issue here in that we make these transfers from the general fund into our health insurance fund. This year that transfer has already happened but it happened in

151January. So that's why you're seeing the 17 million versus the 11 million. Uh last year we did the transfer like towards the end of December. This year we put we did the transfer in January. So next month when I present this you'll see a more even even bar because it'll capture that because this cuts off on December 31st. But that's where but again it's consistent with where you would be professional technical services. These are services that we provide uh are done by others on our behalf. The biggest one uh the biggest expense in professional services is our ESS contract which is our substitute teachers. And so we pay those out of professional services because they're not our employees. So that comes out of the professional services account. And so you'll see that in years it

152fluctuates with the new state uh leave law we are seeing an increase in that because we're seeing higher um absences from our schools and therefore we're needing to contract with subs to fill those classrooms. Um, and so this is a trend that and I know if you've been to the correct you said CES meetings, you'll probably hear that from other schools as well that we're beginning to see that it used to be up until this year uh we were certified all of our employees were exempt from that law. This year the law changed to where now noncertified employees um can take advantage of that benefit. And so we have a number of non-certified employees that are now eligible to make use of this benefit that weren't when the law went into place. So we're seeing

153that uh particularly in our non-certified employees because now they're eligible to make to to take advantage of this. And then we also include like we have substitute teachers for regular education teachers. We also have contracts that sub some of our special education teachers as well. And so we're seeing those expenses uh beginning to creep up as well. But again, you'll see all of this in the line item that you have uh in front of you. Property services. These are all expenses related to upkeep of our properties. Um utilities, boiler repairs, and repairs and maintenance. These are typical maintenance type items. You'll see that the budgets for the for this year, year to date, we are kind of where we were this time last year. So that's again somewhat unpredictable because you don't know when a

154boiler is going to break and how much it's going to cost you to fix. These are repairs that are not part of the capital budget. These are operating budget repairs. So our facilities team, our school maintenance team are the ones that manage uh these expenses. Um but year to date, that's where we are. And again, you'll have the line item information that explains where we are. Other student services is one of the biggest other than personal and benefits. Included in other student services is transportation that I talked about general transportation. That $12 million contract is included in there. Included in other student services are our special education services. So our out of district placement, you'll see that in your line I in your line by line. Believe it's line five 13 16 um somewhere between

155there. So these are the big drivers uh in that budget and again in the narrative I mentioned what's driving these uh we are seeing increases expenses in special education uh we have more students not more students but their needs that are identified with costing more how much we pay for our outside contractors is also going up. So those are some of the challenges we're seeing with special education. But again, that's um that's a driver for this year. Supplies of materials either just primarily as it says supplies of materials within our schools. Um this is kind of where we'd expect. We were at 2.9 million yesterday, we're at 3.1 uh today. Some of this is also tied to timing of when we clean out our buildings. So some of these some of these things require when

156the buildings are empty, like during the breaks, during the spring. There's a lot of work that happens in our school during that time. So again, this is one of those that doesn't see season uh monthly um use, but it has spikes. So you see spike during the spring break, you'll see spike during the winter breaks when our buildings are empty is when we go in and order supplies and do mostly some of our maintenance uh within our buildings. Um equipment or just miscellaneous equipment in our schools. uh we are seeing that it's been consistent at about somewhere between a million and a half and a million.8 uh just various equipment and repairs and replacements uh within our schools. Other objects uh these are primarily it's a small item but it has its own category. These

157are associations and membership dues of things that the district belongs to. K um uh CES that uh Mary Ellen was talking about. So they're membership and dues to these. So, this is relatively flat um year-over-year, but um it's kind of what um what we pay uh for membership and dues transfer to the food services fund. Uh this is one I'll spend some time talking about. Uh you recall that obviously this year with us participating in the C program, um there are offsets that we spend from the general fund to fund the C program and the school lunch fund in general. You'll see that last year in FY25 we did not do any transfers into that fund even though we did have a budget for it. uh we had budgeted to transfer I believe it was

158half a million that year but given some of the challenges with special education we had moved some of that funding to cost to cover special education expenses and towards the end of the year as we met with the city when we were talking about the 6.5 million we had discussed with them the challenges with the health insurance and the city appropriated $2 million to its health insurance uh we had also shared that transfers to the food services fund but they're just wasn't enough uh funding to go around. And so this is one that we're working on this year to kind of play catch-up um and not only meet the service the shortfalls for this year but also the shortfalls from last year. One of the challenges with the food services fund is when we when

159we built this budget, there were a number of grants that we receive in this account that we had historically received for the there's a school breakfast program and then there's a school lunch program and we had applied for 10 for 10 schools and we had budgeted for 10 schools because we had typically received funding for the 10 schools. I think I share this with you. We found out in September, October that only four of those schools were funded and therefore it came up to about 500 and just about 500,000 of revenue that we had anticipated receiving in grant funding to fund the school lunch program that we did not receive. On top of that, because of when we initially were not going to participate in CP, we did see a drop in students uh participation,

160our school lunch counts because parents started packing lunches for their students, for their children. When we came back, when we reinstated the school lunch fund, not all of those children came back and started taking school lunches. We did have some that did, but we're also seeing the school lunch count has also been decreasing, which also impacts how much we get reimbursed as well. So between the decline in our lunch counts and the decline in the revenue that we had anticipated, what we have budgeted this year, even with the subsidy, with the grant funding, with the philanthropic funding and the city funding, we're probably not going to have enough to totally offset the school lunch program this fiscal year. We are working internally with Miss Fyois and her team to identify savings within the current budget

161so that we can top up the transfers to the school lunch fund, but we're also having to do that for special education because the special education is also one that's looking to go over what we had budgeted. So, we'll share some more. We're only halfway into the year, but I believe next month or probably during the February meeting, we'll have a better chance of what we're projecting both in sped and in the school lunch fund to give you a better picture of where we think we're going to end and what adjustments need to be made um in the current year. And with that, I'd be happy to answer any questions. >> Are there any questions in reference to uh Luna's monthly financial report? Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Next item on the agenda is

162our committee representative report. Are there any reports to be reported on? >> Um I will share the um specialized learning curriculum subcommittee hasn't met yet in 2026. We're scheduled to meet in February and our meeting fell over the um public school break. So, we'll be meeting a week later on, I believe, February 24th. And then a library liaison report. Um, there's not much to report from the library, but um they've been updating student library cards in the system. So, all new students should have a number and be able to use the databases and streaming content. And so, it's just an opportunity to remind everyone that all Norwalk Public School students um are able to get a Norwok Public Library library card using their student ID. So take advantage if you haven't yet. >> Thank you.

163Anyone else? >> So the finance committee did meet and so we were presented with what Mr. Osmani pretty much just presented. So um hopefully we will see people at our next meeting in February sec the second Wednesday. >> Thank you. Anyone else? >> Uh yes. I have a report on um we had a CES meeting uh a few weeks ago and um I I wanted to take a little time because we have new people here to uh let you know what CES stands for. I happen to have their last year's calendar, but it's the cooperative education services. um and just talk about a couple things that it does and in the next time I'll talk about another couple things because it's complex. It's a service um that I first came in contact with as a

164teacher over the years because it provides excellent professional development. Um sometimes they come to the school system, sometimes teachers go to Trumbull, that's where it's located. uh just worldclass stuff uh on a range of topics. Secondly, it it um services Norwok schools in the sense it's it has uh one of its uh schools because it has five or six buildings on the campus. One of the schools um has a a place for outplacement students. We have about five or six I believe students that are in middle through high school from Norwok that are re uh that are take services there get transportation uh back. So those two main things. Um the other uh aspect I just want to wrap it with is that they as a group um have lots of connections with the legislature

165and with legislators. They uh present ideas of what would be good for education uh in the in the coming session and they even had a breakfast uh recently with some legislators and superintendent and other um board members. So it's really complex and as I said there are more aspects to it that I'll share next time but I wanted to start out with that CES that's what I'm sharing. Thank you. Is there anyone else? Okay, let me take this opportunity u before we adjourn to just take this opportunity to say thank you superintendent for your superintendent report. Also, thank you to the cabinet that presented as well. Uh give thanks to those from um ML program. Uh to the public that spoke as well. Take this opportunity to say thank you. Thank you for those who

166partake. Um just always keep in mind noted it's definitely noted u what you're issuing your complaints are um it's noted and it's something that you know we would definitely take in consideration have conversations about with that in mind to the board that's here thank you again to each and every one of you guys here I'm just looking forward to what we have to do the work we have to move forward now right now I can take a motion to adjourn first by Jasmine Second by Mary Ellen. All in favor? We good? I thank you.