001Good evening everyone. Welcome to the board of education business meeting. Today is Tuesday, September 16th, 2025. The time is now 7:02 p.m. Um, just a reminder, the public comment sheets are over to my right, your left. if you could please sign in and anybody online if they can raise your hands so we can take uh notes of everyone speaking and we will be collecting um the list within 5 minutes of the start of the meeting. And if we could also stand for the pledge of allegiance. I pledge algiance 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. With me this evening I have board members Ashley Gouans, Janine Randolph, Cara Bakey, Sherry McCriedi, Pritchette, Mary
002Ellen Flwig, Jasmine Pressie, Howard White and remotely we do have Colin Host, Dr. Straa and her um cabinet will is joining us this evening. And with that I am transferring the meeting over to Miss Bakey for spotlights for the evening. Thank you, Chairperson Karpio, and welcome everybody. Thank you for being here. We have three spotlights this evening. The first one, Hispanic Heritage. >> Okay. September 15th through October 15, 2025. The Norwok Board of Education proudly recognizes Hispanic Heritage Month. Observed each year from September 15th to October 15th. We take this time to celebrate the rich histories, cultures, and contributions of Hispanic and Latino Americans whose roots trace to Spain, Mexico, the Caribbean, and Central and South America. Across the United States and here in Norwok, Hispanic Americans have shaped every facet of our communities as
003educators, entrepreneurs, public servants, artists, scientists, and leaders. Their stories are woven into the fabric of our nation and play a vital role in building a more inclusive and exciting future. This month-long celebration began as a week-long obser observance in 1968 and was later expanded to a 30-day period in 1988 to better honor the depth and diversity of Hispanic heritage. The start date of September 15 reflects the independence anniversaries of Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua. While Mexico and Chile celebrate their independence shortly after on September 16th and 18th, in Norwok public schools, where more than half of our students proudly identify as Hispanic, this month holds deep personal and collective meaning. Our diversity is a source of strength that inspires cultural pride, academic excellence, and community connection. Part of that community connection will
004happen at the district's 4th annual Hispanic Heritage Festival on Thursday, October 30th from 5:45 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at Brian McMahon High School. This year's theme, collective heritage, honoring the past, inspiring the future, will come alive through powerful student performances in dance, music, visual arts, theater, and spoken word, all honoring the traditions and triumphs of Hispanic culture. The board of education encourages our schools, families, and community members to take part in this celebration. By honoring Hispanic Heritage Month, we reaffirm our commitment to cultural understanding, inclusive education, and the celebration of every voice that contributes to our shared story. Together, we recognize and uplift the countless ways Hispanic Americans have enriched our community, and we look forward to continuing this journey of celebration and learning. Our second spotlight, Norwok Board of Education celebrates the 2025 teachers
005of the year. The Norwok Board of Education is proud to recognize and celebrate two outstanding educators who have been named the 2025 teachers of the year for Norok public schools. Dr. Navep Dinsa and Matthew Farley. These awards honor not only their exceptional teaching skills, but also their unwavering dedication to their students, their schools, and the Norwok community. Both Dr. Dinsa and Mr. Farley were celebrated last month during the district's convocation assembly. Dr. Dinsa was named secondary teacher of the year for her work as a science teacher at Nathan Hale Middle School. a passionate educator who came to teaching later in life. Her journey began when she volunteered to read to her daughter's first grade class. But instead of a simple story, she brought science to life through a fun and engaging experiment. Watching the students
006light up as they saw their hypothesis come true sparked her own love for teaching. It's a love she now brings to her classroom every day. Mr. Farley was recognized as the elementary teacher of the year for his work as a fourth grade teacher at Foxrun Elementary School. Mr. Farley's teaching goes far beyond the subjects he teaches. When he and his co-teer noticed a student struggling to focus in class, they learned a new living arrangement at home was affecting her sleep. Mr. Farley responded not with frustration but with compassion, giving her a nightlight. That simple act made a world of difference and soon she began to thrive again in the classroom. These powerful connections and acts of care are just a glimpse into what makes Dr. Densa and Mr. Farley so deserving of this recognition. They
007embody excellence in education, a commitment to nurturing lifelong learners, and deep compassion for the students they serve. On behalf of the Norwok Board of Education, we congratulate Dr. Dr. Dinsa and Mr. Farley and thank them for their extraordinary contributions to Noro Public Schools. We are truly fortunate to have such dedicated and inspiring educators in our district. >> And um is Dr. Dinsa and Mr. Farley here? Oh, here they come. Congratulations. All right, let's take All right. And for our final spotlight of the evening, Norwok Board of Education honors National Middle School Principal of the Year, Dr. Damon Lewis. The Norwalk Board of Education wishes to congratulate Dr. Damon Lewis, principal of Ponis Ridge Steam Academy on his award as the 202526 Middle School Principal of the Year by the National Association of Secondary School Principles.
008Dr. Lewis officially accepted his award in July during the illuminant gala at the United Conference in Seattle hosted by NASSP and the National Association of Elementary School Principles. He was one of three finalists considered for national recognition at the middle school level. The national honor came a few months after being selected as Connecticut's 2025 middle school principal of the year by the Connecticut Association of Schools. Dr. Lewis has served as principal of Ponis Ridge since 2015. Following four years as the school's assistant principal, a visionary and collaborative leader, he has cultivated a culture of academic excellence and inclusivity, helping to drive significant schoolwide improvements. Under his leadership, chronic absenteeism at Ponis Ridge dropped from 23% to just 8.3%, a success that has drawn national media attention. Dr. Lewis has also championed equity and access resulting
009in increased enrollment of Hispanic and black students in the gifted and talented program and a notable rise in female student participation in accelerated math. Beyond Ponis Ridge, Dr. Lewis had made has made lasting contributions to district-wide initiatives including the redesign of the gifted and talented program middle school model school counseling services and steam programming. He has served on several leadership groups including the superintendent principal advisory council district strategic plan task force and safety task force committee and currently facilitates the black male administrators group. Dr. Dr. Lewis's national recognition affirms not only his remarkable leadership, but also Noro Public School's commitment to fostering excellence, equity, and innovation in education. Congratulations to Dr. Lewis on this incredible honor. The Norwok Board of Education appreciates your leadership, heart, and dedication to your students and staff. The next section
010of the agenda is the superintendence report. >> Oh, sorry. Public comments, Miss Sherry. >> Good evening, everyone. Before we go into public comments, I want to make a few statements. Number one, with respect to community engagement, we will continue holding town halls and the board will collaborate with the superintendent and her team to map out a calendar so that we can continue to have a back and forth with all of you. Unlike a regular scheduled board meeting, it does not afford us the opportunity to go back and forth because we want to make sure that everybody has equal time to speak. And number two, by law, we can only act on items that are on the agenda. And number three, some of the questions and comments that may come up may require research in order
011for us to be able to respond appropriately. So, I just wanted you to know that that we will continue to schedule those um town halls so that we can continue to have the back and forth with you. Um so, next we're going to start our public comments. Everyone has three minutes. Please, when you come up, state your name and address. First, I have Mr. Tyler Gablins. >> Good evening. My name is Tyler Goblins. I'm a resident of Norwok for about nine years and presently live on Wolf Pit Avenue with my wife and three children. All three of my children are attending Wolfpit Elementary School this year. I'm attending and speaking this evening to express my concern related to the item on tonight's agenda labeled discussion and possible action on contract matter. I understand this may
012be related to the renewal and/or extension of Superintendent Estraa's contract, but the fact that I'm unclear about that being the subject matter is part of my concern. I look forward to this discussion later in the meeting so I can learn more about what is being discussed under this vague label. Regardless of whether the discussion tonight is about superintendence, Australia's contract, or that occurs at a later date, I'd like to take the rest of my time to express concerns I have about this process. We all struggled through the weeksl long budget fight in the spring and early summer and know the issues were saved only by the temporary emergency funding allocations from the state and city offices. During that time, one of the main frustrations other than the potential loss of music programs or staff was
013the lack of transparency about the budget process, decision-making, and negotiations with Senator Duff and Mayor Willing. I hope that as the discussion of contract renewals or extensions are had, transparency with the parents who invest so much in this great school district is made a priority. The first piece of transparency I hope to hear from Superintendent Estrella and the board tonight and in the weeks and months going forward is what the plan is to address budgetary issues that may and likely will arise this coming year. We must be proactive to plan for a budget that can maintain highquality programs and staff for our kids without relying on multi-million dollar funding packages that are unlikely to be available yeartoear. Accountability is critical aspect of public service and any discussing discussion regarding contract renewals or extensions must take
014a backseat to providing to proving this leadership has a plan to avoid the issues we all experienced earlier this year. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Next I have Miss Sarah Riido. Good evening members of the board, Dr. Estraa. My name is Sarah Rabbido and I live at 90 New Town Avenue and I'm a parent and taxpayer in this community. I stand before you tonight not to launch a personal attack and not to make this about personalities or politics. I recognize that the role of superintendent is one of the most difficult jobs imaginable. No decision will ever please anyone and the challenges are immense. But this is not about whether we agree or disagree with every decision. This is about trust. Time and again, this board has cultivated distrust in the community through a total
015lack of transparency and blatant disregard for your own commitments. Shame on you for not heeding the warnings from last spring's budget crisis. Shame on you for once again attempting to push through matters of this magnitude under the noses of the public without clear and honest communication. And shame on you for going back on your word. The very public promise that Dr. Estraa's contract extension would not even be considered until after the next school year's budget had been passed. This is not about a witch hunt. It is about accountability. It is about keeping promises and it is about respecting the families, taxpayers, and staff of Norwok who deserve nothing less than clarity, honesty, and transparency in every decision that affects our schools. The community should not have to beg for the truth or fight to be
016properly informed. Your responsibility is to uphold public trust, not to erode it. I urge you, honor your commitments, respect the process, and remember that every action you take sets the tone for how the public views this board and the leadership. Above all, remember you are dealing with a community who is watching you guys very closely. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Next, Nick Zorzan. Mr. Nick Zoran. Thanks, Nick Zerzan. Uh, I live at 1 Gene Avenue. I have three children in Nor schools. And I ask in advance for any of you uh hecklers, could you please keep it till after I'm done talking because uh I'm not a public speaker and I can easily lose uh train of thought, but uh first of all, I'd like to thank you guys all for your service to
017the town of Norwok. Uh I sincerely appreciate it. And a big congratulations to Dr. Lewis. That was amazing. uh he's a principal at um my daughter's middle school and my son went through there and uh we've been so uh grateful to have him as a a principal and he's been doing a phenomenal job as a lot of people uh in the public schools and uh we attribute that largely to all you guys and you do uh Dr. Estrella. Um and I'm here basically I also want to thank you guys who those of you who have responded to me with my concern about this school lunch issue uh and funding for that. I know that's been on your minds and some of you guys have been uh very responsive to my emails. So I sincerely appreciate
018that. Um but I'd just like to talk a little bit about uh you know in the last number of years uh you brought great stability to Fox Run by uh placing uh Mrs. Vontto as a principal there and uh my kids have thrived in that school environment as well and I have a uh my oldest son just went to PEK and uh we've been very pleased with that process. So, uh, I just would like to to kind of credit all you guys for, uh, my my experiences with the Norwok schools and, uh, and I've been feeling very blessed and owe a huge debt of gratitude. Um, that being said, I was also talking to a former, uh, board of ed me, uh, member who was part of the process, um, for, uh, when you were
019hired, uh, Dr. Christa and uh it sounded like a pretty uh ex extensive expensive uh process and vetting and uh we were very blessed to to have you uh chosen amongst many uh qualified candidates and you stepped up and you've done a great job and um I know that Norwalk has a pretty uh horrendous you could uh research it uh record of uh what's happened with uh superintendent and stuff and I can't believe that uh we it's not that easy to get someone to step in with our track record. I know we have two uh future the future mayor of Norwok's here in attendance tonight. So, uh I understand with the school budget issue and this manufactured crisis, I know that you guys all were uh warning us in advance about what was coming with
020that and uh the costs and uh the public kind of caught wind at the end and it was a little bit late, but I know that uh this is going to be coming up next year and going to be a continuing issue. So, uh, hopefully we can get in front of this a little bit, but, uh, I apologize to all you guys for being sort of thrown under the bus in the whole process. I know that you guys were kind of talking about it and trying to get people involved and, uh, those that had to say over the budget, we're we're not voting in favor of it. And, uh, there was some money that went into the rainy day fund at the end of the day. And I don't want to point fingers and blame
021anyone, but if we all work together, I think uh all of our intentions are to provide uh good schools, good schools and uh good places to work and uh a positive environment for our children, which are our most important assets. So uh I'm basically here just to say uh I sincerely appreciate you guys. Uh Dr. Estrella, I'm praying that uh they can renew your contract and you can continue on because uh the continuity has helped. I think I've seen I don't know about the numbers and statistics. I think they're probably pretty impressive, but when I have my finger on the pulse of the school community, basically I just see my three uh kids beautiful faces across the dinner table from me. And uh I've been, like I said, I've been blessed. I don't want to
022jinx it, but uh you know, part of that's a huge part of that's the No Public Schools. And I think they've been trending up and uh I have a huge debt of gratitude to all you guys. So, thank you. >> Uh thank you. Uh, next I have Lori Bradock. I hope I'm pronouncing your name correctly. >> Good evening. My name is Lori Bradock and I'm on Strawberry Hill Avenue. I am the proud parent of three amazing students at CMS K8. I am here again to express my deep concern about the continued lack of transparency towards parents. The agenda tonight was very vague about what was actually being voted on. If a Norwok citizen had not posted on social media, many of us would not know the vote was happening. What I don't understand is why
023this vote cannot wait until after upcoming elections, especially because four current board members, Sher McCriedi Prit, Cara Bakey, Janine Randolph, and Colin Holston, are either ending their terms or potentially up for reelection. Back in the spring, over 1300 people expressed their no confidence in our superintendent. The teachers union also voted no confidence. While some may argue that 1,300 votes does not represent our 11,000 students in our district, I believe the low turnout reflects a lack of awareness among parents, language barriers, and communication gaps. By voting yes to the extension, you are sending a clear message to our teachers that their concerns do not matter. These are the people that are educating our children every day. Please stand with our teachers and administrators who work tirelessly for our children. Thank you. >> Next, Mary Gordon. Good
024evening. Thank you for the opportunity to speak this evening. I'm speaking on behalf of the board of education coalition of unions. We are stunned that tonight's board of education is considering extending Dr. Estraa's contract. Just a few months ago, as was just described, hundreds of parents and staff packed board meeting, multiple board meetings to protest the budget crisis created under Dr. Estrella's leadership, a proposal that initially sought more than an 18% increase from taxpayers. The members of the Norwok Federation of Teachers unanimously voted no confidence in her leadership, and we presented that to you. Before the city and state stepped in with their millions of dollars in emergency funds, Norwok schools were about to lose over 100 staff and dismantle our awardwinning music program. The funding came with clear expectation that the board would not
025move to extend her contract at this time. And yet, under the vague agenda item, quote, possible action on contract matter, quote, this vote is now tiptoeing forward as if hoping no one would notice. We noticed, parents noticed, and what has changed so dramatically in three months to warrant this reversal? Has Dr. Estraa demonstrated that she can build a responsible budget, respect parents, value staff. We see scant evidence. Norwok deserves leadership that is transparent, accountable, and collaborative, not isolated and dismissive of those who work directly with children. By sidelining the expertise of teachers, parents, and principles, she has fostered mistrust instead of partnership. We urge the board to delay any vote on this contract until after the November election when the public's voice can be reflected through its elected representatives. This decision must be made openly
026and in alignment with the will of the community, not in the shadows. Thank you. >> Next is Joseph Jango. Good evening. Joseph Jerko. I live at 163 Chestnut Hill Road, Norwok. Again, I'm speaking on behalf of the Norwok Federation of Teachers. And I just want to read a brief statement from our June 3rd meeting, which was when we took our votes. The general membership of the noalk Federation of Teachers has voted unanimously to issue this statement expressing a lack of confidence in the leadership of Superintendent Dr. Estraa. While acknowledging the challenges of leading a diverse school district, Dr. Estraa's decision-making has constantly prioritized optics over substance, data collection, and image over the real needs of our students, educators, and school communities. Relationships are the foundations of teaching and learning. Yet under this administration, we've seen
027constant staff changing top- down inspection model of governance and a climate where educators feel increasingly disrespected, micromanaged, overworked, undervalued, and underpaid. You have heard me say these things before. These conditions are unsustainable and have led to an over 10% turnover year-over-year. Educators show up every day with professionalism and dedication. In return, we have seen little accountability, little transparency, and no commitment to collaboration. This is not the leadership Norark deserves. The board of education must not quietly extend this superintendent's contract. At a minimum, it should be subject to a public discussion. Full board review not agreed to before we even know the terms. Our members call on the board of ed to realign district leadership with the core mission of public education, putting students and the community first. NFTT members stand united in demanding that leadership,
028excuse me, that leadership is collaborative, ethical, and student centered. Thank you, >> Maria Miss Linsky. >> Hi, my name is Maria Mlinsky. I live at 27 Park Hill Avenue. First, I want to address the continued lack of transparency by this board of education. I would have thought after the debacle at the end of the last school year, things might be better regarding communication and clarity for the community. I guess that was my mistake. Time and again, important matters are presented to the public in vague or incomplete ways. And this pattern undermines the trust that families, staff, and community members should be able to place in this body. Most recently, the agenda item concerning the contract matter for what's presumably Dr. Estraa's extension was presented without clarity or detail. The shifting and modification of the agenda
029combined with the vague language used makes it nearly impossible for the community to understand what is actually being discussed or decided. A superintendent's contract is one of the most significant decisions this board makes and it should be handled with openness and cander. The lack of transparency around this process suggests an unwillingness to engage the public honestly on an issue of enormous importance for our city. I urge this board to take seriously its responsibility to conduct business in a transparent manner. Clear specific agenda items and consistent communication are not optional. They are necess they're necessary for accountability and public trust. It's also clear that a few members of this board are making genuine efforts to break through and make a difference. Unfortunately, it is equally clear that these individuals are not the majority right now. I
030look forward to the next election cycle and I'm hopeful that this board will be renewed with fresh perspectives rooted in transparency, accountability, and an authentic partnership with this community. The city of Norwok, its taxpayers, educators, paraprofessionals, parents, and children deserve nothing less. Thank you for your time. >> Barbara Smith, you're up. Good evening and thank you for the opportunity to speak to you tonight. Um, first I do want to thank you for your service to the city of Norwok. I know every one of you, Dr. Estraa, every one of you on the board of education and I know that you do your very best to serve our students. What I'm asking you to do is listen. I'm asking you to listen. And I'm going to refer back to that June 3rd meeting when this room
031when I walked into this room and saw how packed it was and heard the anger of the community. I was stunned. And I will say again to you that the insults that were hurled at you were unacceptable. And the subsequent emails that you received were despicable. and no one should have to go through that. But when we hear from from so many residents that they feel unheard about their concerns about the direction of our schools and how our tax dollars are being spent, I urge you to listen to that. when our teachers who work teachers and staff who work with our students every day stand here and tell you that they have taken a unanimous vote of no confidence. I ask you to please hear that our students depend on you. Our families depend on
032you and we need to hear them. And so I urge you to listen and take that in and do what is best for the families who really care, for the teachers and staff who feel unheard. They need a voice. Thank you. >> Jason Sandler. >> Good evening. My name is Jason Sandler. I live on Dearwood Manor here in Norwok. I have three beautiful daughters in the Norwok public schools. I wanted to raise some concerns tonight that speak directly to accountability and transparency in our district and the board. First, I was troubled to see that a discussion on a contract matter added to the agenda with less than 30 hours notice before this meeting. And to have to do my own research into the actual meaning of that agenda item instead of having it plainly spelled
033out as the discussion on the superintendent's one-year contract extension, it screams lack of transparency. This kind of timing effectively denies community members any real chance to prepare comments or make arrangements to attend. Our schools belong to the community and any contract matter that could shape the leadership or direction deserves open discussion and not surprise scheduling. While I understand that this was a carryover from the weekend's retreat agenda and I thank the board members who motioned to table it until tonight, having this particular very tenuous topic vaguely slid into a not well attended weekend retreat meeting should raise us all a cause for concern. Additionally, I need to acknowledge what many residents have heard in Norwok about a senior leadership's remarks of being untouchable because student test scores have risen. Student test score increases are the
034direct result of the work of our student-f facing staff, teachers, principles, and interventionists. However, with teaching cuts that we have seen in the last few months and retained central office positions, we should all be wary these scores may not hold due to larger class sizes and reductions in studentf facing roles. I urge the board to restore transparency, to take these concerns seriously, and to ensure our leaders model accountability and respect for the staff who serve our children daily. All of the issues we ran into this past spring and summer with financial concerns, budget cuts, back channel dealings. I think we ought to wait until we have a reconciled fiscal year 27 budget prior to any considerations of a contract extension. In addition, any extension should be directly tied to meaningful deliverables that benefit directly our
035students. Thank you. >> Thank you, >> Marcus Jamie. Good evening everybody. Um I I'm almost at a loss for words um because we did speak about this last year. Where are you from? >> I'm from Norwalk. Um like all of us, we spoke about this last year and I don't want to repeat the same thing everybody's saying. It's obvious that there's a severe lack of trust, a lack of transparency. Um and it's very troubling. I have a student who's a special needs student and what I have to experience on a day-to-day with the school and the way there's a lack of transparency and trust. It's similar to what's going on here, but I want to really focus on the board because you guys are elected officials. Um, people did vote you in and when they
036give you their vote, what they're asking is for your trust. Um, and obviously we're here again. The way this room is almost empty speaks to the sneakiness, the lack of transparency um, with the way this process is going. So, I asked myself, what am I going to do? Am I going to get up here and speak all the time? Am I going to come up here and repeat myself all the time? So, what I've decided to do is put my name on the ballot and I will be running for a seat on the board at this upcoming election and hopefully I get in and I can be part of the transparency and the trust that Norwalk deserves. Um, and if I'm voted in, one thing I will guarantee is that my vote will earn people's
037trust. Um, and that's pretty much all I can do and all I can say. This same board last year was here and voted to not extend the contract until 2026. And here we are quietly, sneakily trying to extend this contract. Um, so I plan on running for election and if I'm part of this board, um, I will ensure that the voters can trust me and that I'm one of the members of the board that can be trusted. And hopefully there are members up here. I'm not saying that all nine or eight of you cannot be trusted, but what voters need is trust. What voters need is transparency, honesty. Um, and that's what I intend to do if I'm elected to the board. >> Thank you. >> Yes. Once again, my name is Marcus. M A
038R C U S J A I M E. >> Lori Palen. Is Lori here? Yeah. Good evening everyone. Um it's it is nice to see everybody here. Thank you for being here in person. I'm Lori Callen. I live at Five Margaret Street. Um, so it's kind of interesting what Marcus just said about the word sneaky. One of the things I noticed I was the person last at the last meeting who I love the sound of singing in the hallways who said um, you know, trying to get this meeting in that tiny room. This meeting looks like it was planned for a lot of people. I really appreciate the space. I love the screens. I noticed the tablecloths. I noticed everything was set out for a large space. Your facilities team did it. They brought us
039to this large space, but somehow the residents of Norwok were not told about what was going to be discussed and so we weren't able to fill this space that somehow was planned for. Um, Dr. Estraa has three years left on her contract. extending it is about jobs, her job security. We all want job security for the next three years. Contractually, if I understand this correctly, Dr. Estraa is entitled to a vote every year on whether or not to extend her contract. It's actually part of her contract that she's allowed to get this vote. So, we communicate explicitly in advance that we are discussing that item. We ask the board to vote no on it and we wait for a year to let job performance inform the vote about job extension. I don't know why that's
040such a complicated thing to ask, but please communicate explicitly when her vote to renew it will be expected. Let us talk about it and look at the data. We know it's hard to get a superintendent. We're grateful for the leadership that we have right now. That doesn't mean that we're supposed to have a discussion tonight or vote tonight to have the current superintendent here for the next four or five years. There are three years remaining on this contract. I wish I had job security for the next three years. We're all uncomfortable right now, but that is not what we should be voting on tonight. So, one, communicate explicitly what the vote is going to be about and when. Two, at the proper time, please vote no. Three, let's let let's let the temperature settle. Let's
041have a new election. Let's get the fiscal budget settled. And then let's look at this again and say, how did we handle this moment of crisis? How did that moment of crisis from the spring go all the way through into this new year? Because it's we haven't forgotten this room and the sound and the noise of all these people. So, I do thank you for putting this meeting in this room. It's bringing back a lot of memories for us and probably very difficult ones for you. Um, and that's my that's it. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Do you have anybody online? >> We have we have six people online. So, um, uh, I will unmute them and ask them to speak their name uh, address and they'll have three minutes. So, our first person
042tonight is Jameson. >> Hi, it's Erica Dealama using my daughter's computer. So, I'm Erica De Palama 110 Perry Avenue and I am also a former member of the board of education. I know many residents are deeply passionate about the education provided by Noral public schools and tonight you have heard and you will hear from some who feel that there have been missed opportunities and even suggest mismanagement. Their passion is genuine but only those of us who have served can fully appreciate the numerous rounds of public budget presentations that take place each year. the lengthy discussions that take place with the mayor, the common council, state officials, and the unions throughout that process, the legal and the HR constraints, the contractual obligations, the state and the federal mandates that make this role far more complex than
043a typical CEO position. That is why it's important for this board to set aside emotion tonight and ground your decisions in facts and outcomes. And those outcomes are ones that you should be proud of. Nora public schools growth in ELA and math exceeds the state's growth among all students. Our performance index for ELA, math, and science is ranked the highest uh among Connecticut's largest cities. Chronic absenteeism is down, and our graduation rate now exceeds the state average. Of course, there will always be opportunities to improve, but this team is well positioned to build on this momentum. The decision to extend the superintendent's contract should not be influenced by rumor, by perception, or even uh political pressure. It is a business decision like any other and should be made based on the hiring landscape, the economics
044of the position, and immeasurable results. Third party data has reinforced that the vision and the mission are working and the state of Connecticut is now looking at Norwok to replicate our model in other districts. For these reasons, I strongly advocate that the board of education extend Dr. Estraa's contract. Thank you for your service and your com continued commitment to our students. Our next speaker is Lisa's iPhone 5. Please state your name. >> Can you hear me? >> Yes. >> Great. Lisa Brenton, 19 Shorefront Park. Um, I'm here to just speak very briefly about the superintendent contract. Many of you guys may have realized I put my name down for the board of ed. I've also got it down for the common council this election cycle. I was coming to this meeting to try and catch
045up on things because I'm a few years out of date. Uh what I'm not out of date on is the 20 years of budget crisis that culminated this last spring and just being so frustrated uh with the continued fingerpointing that goes on between the the council, the city, and the board of ed. But anyway, be that as it may, um I'm not I'm not here to speak tonight for or against the extension of the contract. Um but there is a board of ed election in seven weeks. And so this seems at best illtimed. Um I'm aware of the controversies that we've had with the superintendent, the budget. I'm also aware of the common practice of rolling contract extensions. But like everybody else, there's many people on this at this meeting, my concerns been over the
046transparency. Um, I did raise eyebrows in terms of how it was obliquely referenced in the agenda. Um, somebody came to me a couple days ago and and mentioned uh this contract. I I said, "No, no, they would never do that. There's too many things going on right now." Um, and I said, "No." I looked at the agenda and I saw very explicitly that the teachers contract was spelled out. So needless to say, I was shocked when I found out that we really are going to kind of look at the the superintendent's contract. Um I don't blame Dr. Estrella. I I blame you guys on the board or I you know I you know board actions like these exemplify the culture of mistrust. Um and it it carries through into the budget process and the the
047constant infighting with the city. Uh in terms of tennis, we call this an unforced air. Um, I would hope that, you know, I don't know what you guys are going to do, but this is this was not a cool activity, uh, in the terms of the way it was presented, and I just hope that we can do better in the future. Thanks a lot. >> Our next speaker is Amanda from Bully. Can you hear me? >> Yes. >> Okay. Hi, my name is Amanda Tromboli and I live on Cider Lane. Um, I have two kids in elementary school. Um, I don't have anything prepared. Um, I don't have a speech prepared. Um, I'm not going to sound like a broken record. Um, I'm just going to kind of piggyback off of what everyone was saying
048about lack of transparency about this meeting and this agenda item about Dr. Estraa's contract extension. Uh I I would I would have hoped that after the turnout of the meeting in June about the budget and hearing the cries from the public about how the board needs to be more transparent in how they send out their messages, how they send out their agendas. um this sliding this agenda item in last minute um for this meeting yesterday. It just it looks very sneaky and it doesn't allow the public to gain trust from you. It's very disappointing that a board that we elected, a board that works for us can't deliver on something very simple. I also sent an email Sunday night to all of the board members, each and everyone, just asking if this agenda item was
049talked about um extending Estraa's contract. I got zero response. I got no response from anybody. It was just a simple question. I just wanted clarification. So, if I have questions, how am I going to trust that anybody's going to answer them if nobody can send a simple email back? It's it's infuriating and it's it's just disappointing all around. I really hoped that you all would have done better and heard us from the p the past town hall that we had, but you're showing us now that that's not the case. I'm not going to sit here and talk about the contract extension as a whole, but I I'm more concerned about the lack of transparency that is being shown tonight, and I really hope that you all do better. Please, please add Q&As's quarterly an like
050bianually Q&As's for the public so we can come ask you questions and you can answer us back because if you're not going to answer us back in emails, at least do it in a town hall where other people can attend and see it on Zoom and get their questions answered. Thank you very much. Our next speaker is Deanna Hansen. >> Hi, can you hear me? >> Yes. >> Hi, my name is Deanna Hansen. I live at 10 Vulmer Avenue. Um, obviously it's clear, I think, based on everyone's comments that we were all not necessarily certain what this agenda item was about. Um, but thank goodness back in July, I had a lot of emails back and forth with the board to try to get clarification on this uh contract, I guess, process. So, based on
051those conversations, it was my understanding that Dr. Estraa's contract does allow for her to every year ask for the board to vote on an extension and she invoked that sometime in the April or May time period and then the budget issues arose where we all know what happened and because of that we and the town and the city and the state put a condition on the additional funds our children received that a vote would not take place until after the fiscal year 2025 to ensure that the board of education and our public schools had the proper budgeting and that we could have more confidence in what was happening. Um based on the July board of education meeting, it was my understanding that this procedural vote tonight was going to take place because of um Dr.
052Estraa wanting to have a vote on her contract, which was put forth earlier in the year, and that this was a way for the board of education to ensure that they were not in breach of contract, but instead we would have a procedural vote tonight. Now, that being said, she her contract goes through the end of this year into next. And I am urging this board to have a procedural vote tonight and vote no to the extension this year. We know it's going to be asked upon next year and I have major concerns about the financing and the budgeting for this coming year. It's my understanding in July that the board of estimation and taxation is already not including the 3 million um that the city had given us into their minimum um budget requirement.
053So, there's a lot of work to be done and I want to see that work to be done before we have a vote to extend the contract even further. That's all I have. >> Our next speaker is Ilana Zuniga. Excuse me. >> Hello. Uh, my name is Iana Suniga. Uh, good evening members of the board and Dr. Estraa. Uh I live in Running Brook Lane. But first of all, I want to thank each of you for your service to our schools and to the families of Norwok. I know this work is not easy and it often goes unrecognized. Um I am a proud mother of two students who have come through the Norwalk public schools. One is a sophomore now at Yukon and the other one a senior CGS. I have been a parent in
054this district for almost 16 years. An active parent who has shown up to PTO's activities and board meetings and budget meetings every single year. I was also one of the very few parents who participated in interviewing the superintendent candidates. The turnout was so low I could count the number of parents on both hands. The experience showed me how important it is for parents to engage early and consistently, not just when there is conflict. As a parent earlier spoke about moments of crisis, I want to emphasize that Dr. Estraa has performed under one of the most severe crisises any superintendent could face. Leading this district through COVID whilst continuing to support students and families. As a parent, I live through that crisis in our schools. I also face very real challenges of helping a child through
055severe bullying. Every time I reach out to Dr. Estraa and her staff, they responded. She didn't just respond. She connected me with the people who could help ensure my son had resources and help him not only survive but thrive. That same son just p this past Sunday won a youth business initiative competition to fund his startup. At 17, he has already registered an LLC and earned $3,000 in seed money. He's not even out of high school and he speaks three languages, English, Spanish, and Chinese, all a result of the school district. My oldest son is now thriving at Yukon. graduated from PTE with both his high school diploma and an associates degree in mobile programming. People often reference that one meeting where everyone showed up, but they failed to recognize how many times the doors
056have been open and nearly empty. 99% of those parents who fill the room that night are not regularly involved in their child's education and planning when it comes to board education meetings or budget. True support means being engaged before things reach a boiling point. When programs are being built and budgets are being formed, these outcomes for my sons did not happen in isolation. They happen because there was steady leadership, programs and bridged divides and a superintendent who cared deeply about creating opportunities. Whether it's the family center ensuring students feel safe and supported and their families or even something as simple but meaningful as making sure kids could attend prom with dignity. Dr. Estraa has led humanity with humanity and vision. I beg Dr. Estraa to be patient with our community because many of us are
057deeply grateful for her leadership. Being the CEO of thousands of students and teachers is one of the hardest jobs in the city, if not the hardest. And I regret the level of ungratefulness that has too often been shown. Norwok must turn that culture around. Parents need to engage early, consistently, and constructively. For my part, I want to state clearly, I am grateful for Dr. Estraa for what she's done for my family and for the district and I strongly hope her contract gets extended. Thank you for your time. Our next speaker is D. Sebastian T if you could unmute our final speaker is Z King. >> Okay. Well, that concludes our public comments. Any email comments will be included in the record. Over to you, Madam Chair. >> Thank you. >> I think there was more.
058>> There was one more round. >> Yeah, I think there's I think there's one more. I'm sorry. Yeah, I'm trying to >> Hello. >> Yes. >> Okay. Hi, this is Zena King. I am a proud um graduate of Nor public schools. I live in Norwalk and Nursery Court and I have two students who are going through the school um the school system in Norwalk and so I am a very avid supporter of most of what goes on in the district. Um I wanted to just share a couple of words. I just in listening to all of the comments from parents, I felt like some of the themes that keep coming up are those of lack of engagement, lack of transparency, and inconsistencies. I was listening to the speaker before me who has had such great
059experiences and I have to say as a parent when I've reached out to lots of folks within the district, I've never even gotten an email back or a phone call back. So, um I would love to see that more consistency. Regardless, I wanted to speak today about um a case in point when it comes to collaboration partnership um and transparency. I have a child who is attending Silvermind dual language program. Um and it seems that the program has been morphed um unbeknownsted to the community from the straightforward dual language program it has been to something else. There is another model I don't even know where it would fall on any scale. Um but essentially we've been told that the school has had an enrollment problem. so that parents and people are leaving Norwok and we're
060not filling classrooms. This year we were able to fill the kindergarten class which is great. We also filled it when my students were in kindergarten as well. What I've noted is that the school doesn't have an enrollment problem but a retention problem in that there are so many things that happen at the building level um that deter from the dual language focus that parents get frustrated and leave by the time students are in fourth and fifth grade. I've seen several parents who I started with who still live in Norwok who no longer attend the school. Um, so I guess the point of my comments today is that imagine if students at PE woke up one day and received a random email that said, "Hey, we're taking away all the technology focused courses in your program.
061Oh, we're not changing anything. We're just taking all of them away. Still the same program." We I think everyone would be up in arms and I'm curious why such a thing is happening at Silvermine and we're being told nothing is changing but if you look at the schedule, if you look at whether or not the program is balanced in a dual a true dual language program, it is not. Um so I think there needs to be some communication, some conversation, some engagement with the parents and community at the at the school in terms of what is actually happening. not random email messages, but a real a real conversation and engagement because these things matter. Norwalk promotes school choice and for parents who avail themselves of that, I don't think that the district should engage in
062a bait bait and switch. So again, falling in lines with lack of transparency, lack of collaboration and partnership, this is really a case in point. Um, and I'll end my comments there. And our our final one for the night that happened to um it seems like she got disconnected and reconnected again. She had her hand up in in time was uh Angela Geraldo. >> Yes, Mike. Can you hear me? >> Yes. >> Uh yes. Hi, good evening. Um, my name is Angela Hialdo. I live on Perry Avenue. I also have um a daughter in one of our public schools. And like every single parent, almost every parent before me has stated, there is an issue of transparency, not only with the board, but also at the uh school level with the administration. Um uh in
063my experience we are not being adequately informed of changes in our children's education. Uh now this is not new. Last year, parents asked as have asked for better communication from the school, but unfortunately there have been no improvements. Um, from adjustments to the to the curriculum, reductions in the number of class sections and reductions in the number of teachers, we are only being notified after such changes are made. Providing prior notice is not just a courtesy that should be granted to parents. It can also ensure transparency and build trust between the school administration and families. It not only respects parents fundamental rights to make decisions about our children's education but also empowers us to be proactive p partners in our children's academic journey. In addition, clear communication can help mitigate potential disagreements or misunderstandings that
064may arise when changes are implemented without notice. I would like to request of this board and of the school district to please implement a policy that mandates every school to provide prior written notice to parents and guardians prior to any plan changes. Such a policy ensures transparency and reinforces the vital partnership between schools and families. Now, I have two questions which I know that might require um more research. So, I do not expect an answer tonight, but just for the board to please keep these two questions in mind. According to my daughter's school, at least 22 students are needed per class and these enrollment trends are districtwide. However, I was informed through an email with the BOE that the minimum of all schools is 15 students per class and each school is individually based on
065neighborhood trends and patterns. So, I will please like clarification on whether the minimum is 15 or 22 students. And my second question is is if there is a minimum time requirement for English language arts, science and math. Uh that's all I have for tonight. Thank you so much for listening and for your time. >> One more. >> Our last speaker is D. Sebastian Uh, good evening, Board of Education. This is Daisy Sebastian. I live on Perry Avenue. Um, you know, I do think that the kind of sneaky agenda item is apparent considering most of us were not informed till late late last minute. But what I want to focus my time on is the word transparency. And I really hope you all have heard that from almost every speaker tonight, regardless of the number of
066years Dr. Estraa has left with us. I hope the board of ed, Dr. Estraa, and the rest of the administration in our district hears the parents plea for transparency. We deserve to know if there are program changes, if there are major votes. And what the last two parents spoke about, which is what I want to speak about as well, is our dual language program. It is supposed to be a 50/50 fully immersed dual language program now in grades K through 8. And I am so grateful for this program. I think it is a gift to our our students and it has changed. It has changed without any sort of communication. We just got an email about an hour ago um now explaining but in the grades four, five, and now six at Westerro Middle School,
067the decrease of education in the Spanish side is unacceptable. And again, this goes back to what happened in the spring that we were not informed about our beloved music program getting cut. Um, so I I do hope regardless of how many years we have left with Dr. Australia, I do hope what comes out of this meeting is you all hear the importance, the need um that we all, you know, respect you. We want the respect back that you all will um share information with us when it is available, not for us to figure it out a month into school. Thank you so much. Okay, that concludes public comments. Um Madame Carpio, over to you. >> Okay, it's um time for the superintendence report. Dr. Strea. >> Good evening everyone. Thank you for joining us today.
068Um I want to start the superintendent report providing an update around um school opening. I uh was so excited the first day of school to see all of our scholars um back. Uh it was such a vibrant day to see families as well as our scholars. really excited to be back to school as well as our staff really um excited to welcoming them. Had the opportunity to visit all of our schools within the first week. Um and it was evident that the work that we did alongside our school leaders in terms of developing uh them and giving them professional learning opportunities throughout the summer working in collaboration with our teaching staff and other personnel um paid off to have a really smooth uh school opening. So I want to thank our staff and our leadership
069for making the first day and past few weeks of school uh quite positive. With that, we also had a historical moment in our district when we had the opportunity uh to do the ribbon cutting of the Sono Elementary School, a school that for over 40 years the community has been advocating um to have in existence. and we were able to open its doors uh this August and there was so much joy and excitement as um students entered the new space, our staff welcomed the students into the environment. So, I have a video just to share uh with the public uh the facility and um for everybody to have an opportunity to see how beautiful this new building in Sono is and how this building will enable uh students to have a an amazing environment to
070learn. [Music] Hey, hey, hey. Hey, [Music] hey, hey. Heat. [Music] Hey, Heat. [Music] Hey, hey, hey. [Music] Hey. [Music] So that kind of gives you a glimpse of um the environment that will not only facilitate a wonderful learning experience for our scholars but also creates a community hub for the South Nora community. Um I it not only beautified the space but also will enable community the community to utilize the space on the weekends in the in the evenings and allow for community gathering something that the South Noah community was lacking for an extended amount of time. So, um I'm really excited about uh this facility and what it will offer to the South Norwalk community. During the time of its uh grand opening, we had the opportunity to have uh the governor um our senators,
071legislators celebrate with us um this grand opening. Alongside that, uh, the commissioner of education was also with us, um, speaking about the importance of the space, but also highlighting the fact that we had the opportunity to, uh, engage in a number of, uh, conversations at Hartford, speaking about our um, performance as a district in terms of our accountability metrics and speaking about the successes uh, that we have accomplished thus far. Uh through the work that we've been doing within our strategic plan, we've worked really uh hard alongside our teachers, par educators, and um other personnel across the district, alongside our school leadership to ensure that scholars were getting a really robust and and well ststructured learning experience by enhancing curricula materials, enhancing uh the curriculum itself, making modifications along alongside our coaches and other staff.
072And all the work and systems and structures put together as a result of uh having a really systemic and well ststructured strategic plan has allowed us to achieve uh really exceptional metrics in in terms of our accountability data and um Diane Filo will speak uh to those components. We had an opportunity to speak about these during uh the board retreat this um past weekend, but I thought it was important for us to reiterate uh some of those metrics and um continue to celebrate the outstanding work that has been accomplished as a result of the tireless efforts of our educators and leaders. I have a little clip from um our commissioner and some of the words that she shared when she spoke at the Sono uh ribbon cutting. One because it highlights um the critical work
073that we've done around our accountability metrics and two um the other important component of our work around social emotional learning and development. Uh we had the opportunity to apply for a state grant that enabled us to not only provide additional services in collaboration with community partners that yielded very positive outcomes in terms of our students mental health and well-being but also allowed us to create a tool that enables our facilitate our counselors who facilitate um services intervention to understand and have a grasp of all the services that are available for our scholars and families beyond the scope of what we offer in the school system. something that um we didn't have easily accessible. And this grant allowed us uh in collaboration with our city partners and community partners to put together so that our counselors
074and social workers have an easy way to connect our families to the network of resources that are within our city. So, I just wanted to share what the commissioner stated about the work we've done. Good evening, Dr. >> Oh, hold on. Let me He's going to share a video and then we'll transition to the date. >> Sorry, Diane. >> So, now we have the uh from the Connecticut State Department of Education, the commissioner uh again who helped uh bring this forward and uh who's been a great supporter for educated education not only in the city of Norwok, but certainly in the state of Connecticut. and we're proud to have you with us. Uh, Commissioner Charlene Russell Tucker. >> Good morning and thank you. And it I was impressed with the greeters. They greeted us coming
075in. So, so thank you for that. Uh, what a joy it is to stand here to celebrate the opening of this beautiful new school right here in the heart of South Norwok. uh you've got your history, but I have to tell you in putting up Google Maps to get here today, they still have a satellite imagery of a dirt lot here. >> So, we need to let them know that what we have here is no longer a dirt lot, uh but a beautiful school, state-of-the-art school building. And we're so thankful, as Michelle, Commissioner Gilman said, for all of the the kudos and thank yous for all of you working together uh with our mayor, our superintendent, uh our senator or representative or principal, everybody working together. Uh thank you uh for the work that you've
076done. I really just wanted to do a shout out though to your superintendent just in case you didn't know uh because she's leading uh fiercely leading and advocating for the 11,473 students and the 1,247 staff here in Norark public schools. And she took my invitation just a few weeks ago to come to Hartford because we were announcing how we've done with test scores and attendance this past year. and I brought in four school districts just to be there at the press event with us to talk about what it takes on the ground to make this happen. And Dr. Estraa was there talking about the work, the progress that we're seeing in Norwok and representing to the entire state the work that is happening here. So, thank you for that. And because she was kind enough
077to say yes to that, I invited her back up uh to her state board of education meeting to talk about the behavioral health efforts that she's championing here, making sure that we're addressing students behavioral health needs. So, could you put your hands together and give her superintendent a nice round of applause? So, thank you for all working together with the local board of education, our superintendent, and all of you in community to make sure that we could celebrate today the opening of this school. This is true school, family, community partnerships. So the work that she um was highlighting um just speaks to some of the things that we have done here as a collective to ensure that our programs are always exhibiting uh excellence and academic excellence for all of our students. Obviously um this
078work didn't happen alone. It took a village of all of us coming together working collaboratively to make uh this uh effort happen. So, I want to take a moment to thank all of our educators and school leaders for working alongside each other, professionally, developing themselves, building their capacity to be able to do this work successfully and effectively. This work um yielded some really outstanding outcomes in terms of our achievement metrics across the district and has placed us ranking once again as the number one city school district in the state of Connecticut in all accountability metrics. So, I have Diane Fardo with me today that will speak to our state accountability results alongside our graduation rates and um the amazing achievements we've had in ensuring that our scholars continue to thrive uh and graduate uh at
079the conclusion of their time with us. Miss Bardo, >> good evening Dr. Australa Board of Education and Community of Norwalk. We're here. We're very pleased to be here again to discuss our 2025 state test results. The topics that we're going to be covering tonight include our reduction in chronic absenteeism, our proficiency, performance, and growth on state testing. And these these are key measures that we we will be looking at tonight. But before we even begin looking at measures, we want to talk about positive impact on these 2025 state test results. You can see in this diagram, we've had a reduction in chronic absenteeism through portrait of a graduate. Our students have been focusing on uh critical thinking. Our staff and administrators have had professional learning. We've we've had an improved school culture demonstrated by our
080panorama survey results for several years. We've had school improvement plans and we're implementing literacy vision and we have a new math curricula. So, it's not just one, but there's multiple factors that have really impacted our results. We'll start by looking at chronic absenteeism. We see a five-year trend in Norwalk on the left and the state on the right. And you can see the dark, the black line in the middle shows overall chronic absenteeism. And you can see it's been declining. Excuse me, Ralph. Um, we're going to have to fix the the view because it's covering some of the graphics. Thank you. So on the right we see our the state results by comparison. The blue line over Norwok shows the percent of chronic absenteeism for our high need students versus that of the state on
081the right. So our chronic absenteeism is lower than the state for our high need students. And then we see our non- high need students. So bottom line we're on a trajectory of reducing And to give you some sense, close to 2,000 students were chronically absent in the 202425 school year. By comparison, in the prior year, it was almost 2400. So, we are seeing a reduction and we have a ways to go. Before we look at results, we really should take a look at our demographics. who took who were our test takers and compare that to the demographics of the state of Connecticut. And you can see that we have almost double the percentage of MLL students. We have more free and reduced lunch students, more high need students. If you look at the pie charts,
082you can see that our white students at the state level are about 45% of tested students in comparison to 20% for students in Norwalk. Our Hispanic students, almost 60% of the students that tested were Hispanic versus 32% of the state. So demographics should be in the back of your mind as you are looking at results to give true context to what you're looking at. We'll start by looking at ELA achievement and looking at the measure of proficiency. A student is proficient if they meet or exceed the grade level standards. And the table on the left for ELA shows levels three and four which are proficient proficient or exceeding. And you can see that explanation of level level one the red the not meeting standard level two approaching standard level three meeting and the blue level
083four exceeding. If you just look between 2022 and 2025 for the the the bar charts for Norwok, you can see a reduction in red. So that means that there are fewer students in that not meeting standard level. Likewise, if you look at the green and the blue, you see the percent of students that are meeting or exceeding the standards is increasing. We see a similar pattern at the state, but certainly we see more dramatic change here in Norwalk. This is the same chart looking now at mathematics, smarter balanced, grades three through eight. The table at the left shows proficiency over time comparing Norwalk to the state. here again. Uh in 2025, there were almost 160 fewer students in that level one and there were about 130 more at levels three and four and then by
084comparison you see the distribution among those levels for the state. Now, how did our subgroups do? Across all the grades, all major subgroups have an increase in ELA proficiency between 2024 and 2025. So, the bar charts, the light blue show 2024 proficiency, the darker blue um show 2025. And if you look at the MLL, you see that right now 10% of those students are reaching proficiency. But in comparison to 2024 when only 7.4% met proficiency, it's actually an increase of 36%. Likewise, for special education, that increase in of 2.9 percentage points represent a 30% increase. Now we're looking at the same chart for mathematics. Here too, across the grades, all major subgroups had an increase in mathematics between 2023 and 2024. The largest one of the largest gains was in special education where the gain
085was a 2.3 percentage points which is almost a 30% increase. Now, we always try to to look at students who are with us consistently over time. So, we're looking at a matched cohort. The first group we'll call a cohort one. This is for ELA are students that were tested at grades three, four, and five in Smarter Balance. You see there were approximately 700 students and those students started in grade three when they took the test 35% were proficient. By the time they took the test towards the end of grade five% of those students were proficient. These are the same students looking at cohort two again grade three through grade five but these two students were tested in 2023 through 2025. So all students started at 32% proficient. By the time they were tested in fifth
086grade they were at 46% proficient. For that same group of students that fell into the high needs group in grade three, 19% were proficient. By the time they were tested again in grade five, 33%. Now our non high needs 61% in grade three. By the time they tested in grade five, 73%. So you can see just by looking at the gains of our high needs in comparison to our non- high needs, both groups grew, but yet we're closing the gap, but not at the expense of one group declining in performance. Now we're looking at the same type of graph, but now we're looking at a different level at we're looking at math. First of all, now we're looking at mathematics and we're looking at grades 6 through 8. If we look at the second group,
087so students in grade six when they were tested, 30% that rose to 37% by the time those same students were tested in grade 8. High needs started in grade six at 19%. By comparison to that first cohort, the first group 2022 to 2024, they started at 14%. Different group of students, but you see that high needs by the time they tested in fifth grade, 26% were proficient. Non- high needs 50% in grade six. By the time they tested again in grade 8, 57% were proficient. board have any questions? >> Um, not a question, not a question directly, but it's it's really um comforting and exciting to see that all students we maybe focused strategies on high needs uh but we are also focused on strategies to have our non- high need students uh accelerate their
088learning also. And so I think that's that is a really a strong point of closing the gap but keeping everybody moving on an upward trend. So continuing in terms of what you were saying Mary Ellen >> what that wasn't a question just a comment. Yeah. Um just on Marielen just on your point one of the great things about uh the work that has been happening particularly with um our pathways bringing in international balora the marine science as well as a lot of the advanced placement coupled with the work we've been doing around gifted and talented like you stated um the non-hyne students have had access to really rigorous academic programs while also having giving the opportunity for those students that need those additional scaffolds to receive them and also have potential access to those programs
089because we've been able not only to improve achievements in all of these metrics but also increase the accessibility of all group all students into specialized programs across the organization. um on the first cohort that we're showing there on the left. >> Yes. >> Can you talk to the um decrease on grade eight? that that has been a typical pattern in mathematics as as we go up in grades the percent proficient. If you look at state results online through Edsite public access or you look at ours you see that pattern that's why the second cohort was such an anomaly. We're not seeing that pattern. We're seeing steady increase in grades from five to six from six to seven to eight. And I and we attribute that to a lot of the um professional learning provided in
090mathematics as well as a lot of the intervention supports. If you look at the prior year cohort, you see that variation where there is a drop. But when you look at the 23 25 cohort, you see that the strategies and interventions put in place are shifting that constant anomaly that was seen not only in our district but across the state. Now we're going to take a look at science. Science is tested in grades five, 8, and 11. And it's the next generation science test. Again looking at the concept of proficiency and you see overall way to the left you see between 2024 and 2025 Norwalk had a 4.1 increase in the percent proficient. By comparison, the the chart below for the state shows the state grew 1.5 percentage points between 4 and 2025. If you
091take a look at grade 8 in particular, we did have a spike of 7.4 percentage points between 2024 results and 2025. By comparison, the state grew too. So what is this showing that Norwalk's proficiency rate is increasing at a faster rate than that of the state. Now this table shows proficiency for smarter balance that measures 3 through 8 ELA and math and also science over a four-year period. You see the major cities in the state of Connecticut and the percent of students that were proficient over those years. Norwok is highlighted and the state is is listed. It's the last one on this list. And I think one of the things that um the board is able to see here when you look at our ESPback data across the metrics when we're compared to other city
092school districts across the state, we have outperformed all of the city school districts in the state of Connecticut and we're ranking at the top. Uh and a lot of that again has been through the strategic work of building professional supports for our educators through coaches, principal professional development alongside um bringing in specialists in areas that we needed to elevate support particularly around the work of uh multilingual learners, bringing in expertise to really enhance uh capacity across the organization. uh but also coupled with that uh strategically mapping out the curriculum shifts that we needed to make to ensure that we had the the right tools in front of students. >> So I just want to make sure that this does not get lost because I feel like we don't toot our horn enough here. And just
093so that everybody's clear, this is the second year in a row that out of the eight urban districts in the state of Connecticut, Norwok has been number one in ELA and in math >> and for the first time science. >> So I just want to like highlight that because I don't feel like it is touted enough. And in science in particular, we went um and we continue to engage in uh revisions in terms of our curriculum materials that have um really shifted the work and and the support structures in the classroom to ensure that uh we set students for success, but we also provide our educators with the tools that they need to do the work. And I think it's important to also mention our math and literacy interventionists that work alongside the classroom teachers
094to provide those additional supports for those students that need that additional push uh and and in terms of their support. And then through that data and information and the SRBI process, we then determine whether or not the child needs even additional services that require special education services or if that additional push in tier 2 is enough to then um continue to mainstream their education in the general education classroom. >> Now we're going to look at Connecticut SAT students in grade 11. All students are expected to take the SAT. This is part of our next generation accountability reporting. And over a 4-year period, you could see for Norwok for ELA, we rose from 46% up to 54.5% proficiency. So between 2024, the light blue, and 2025, the dark blue, there was a spike of 10 percentage
095points, which equates to about a 24% increase. Likewise, in Norwalk in math, between 2024 and 2025, we had a 2.6% increase, which is a about a a 2.6 six percentage point increase, which is about a 10% increase. By comparison, the state grew 3.2 points between 2024 and 2025, which is about a 6% increase. And then in mathematics, about a 5% increase between 2024 and 2025. So again, this is an example of the gains and the high acceleration of those gains that we're seeing in Norwalk by comparison to the state. And I think that it's important to mention particularly here um these gains were a direct result of working in partnership with our high school leaders alongside the central office support staff working collaboratively to ensure that the uh English programs at the high school level
096were being enhanced as well as the mathematic programs and curricula to ensure that students receive the supports so that they could succeed. lead and also shifting the mindset around how students taught about SAT particularly because most of the kids that placed an emphasis or value in the SAT were those students that were um on a college brown track not necessarily those students that were on a workforce development like look um high school to work experience and one of the things that um the principles alongside the central office support team and the uh teachers in the school. They campaigned um a a very different message which is the SAT is an indicator of how well you are doing in high school or how well you are prepared for the workforce as well as if you choose
097to go to college the collegebound experience and shifting that mindset has um yielded a different level of um accountability for the students and understanding the value of of taking the assessment, but also putting additional coaches, for instance, in Norwok High School to provide support for the staff and having designated members of the central office curricula team working alongside the school leadership, coaches, and in some cases instructional leads at Brian McMahon helped uh coordinate an effort of support that yielded the outcomes that we're seeing and we're hoping to continue to leverage those supports to continue to in um strengthen what's happening. >> Diane, you can continue. >> Diane, >> yes. Please continue. >> Diane, >> continue. >> You can go to your next. >> Okay. This table is looking at Connecticut SAT average scores, ELA over
098time. You see, we're starting with 2019 pre- pandemic. If you calculate the difference between Norwok's ELA score on Connecticut SAT, Norwok versus the state, Norwok was 23 points behind the state in 2019. If you go down to 2025, that difference between Norwalk and the state has been reduced to 11 points. This is on the scale of 200 to 800. Likewise, in mathematics 2019, Norwok and state the difference is 22 points. Now in 2025 that difference has been reduced to seven points. Likewise we want to see how our students have done >> in terms of subgroups. If you and this is recording the difference you see the change between 2024 and 2025 for ELA and for math proficiency. And if you look down towards the bottom to high needs you see that was the greatest change
099the greatest increase of 17.7 points for ELA and 7.1 points for mathematics. and overall at the bottom and we saw that before with the other um bar graphs an increase from 2024 to 2025 of 10 points ELA and 2.6 points in mathematics. >> Can I ask a question about the last slide? >> Um at the bottom with the no sorry number of valid scores. So that's how many I know sorry mic I'll be loud. Um, that's how many took the test >> for Connecticut SAT. We had >> on the It's the slide before this. Sorry, we kind of >> the slide um >> Oh, the slide before. >> Sorry, I was looking at the bottom. >> Yes, that's correct. >> So, um, is that just sort of is it a enrollment? Is like the change
100from year to year enrollment? Is it just who happened to be in that day? >> You know, it varies. A lot of students didn't participate in 2021. Right. Okay. >> Um >> so that's the actual enrollment number of students. >> It depends on the class size too. I mean it does vary. >> Yeah. So it is just the enrollment of that class at any time. Okay. >> So this is the same table again. We're looking at the large cities within the state of Connecticut. And we see percent proficiency on the Connecticut SAT in ELA and math. Diane, are you gonna highlight this slide? [Music] >> So >> I think Go ahead. I mean what needs to be highlighted here is that Norwok once again highlighted and you can see that this is the the first
101year where Norwalk ranked both number one in ELA and number one in math on the Connecticut SAT among the largest Connecticut cities. >> Thank you. Now earlier this summer uh the re state the results of loss links was released. Lost links is giving to every MLL student. So we had almost 2600 students take this test and it measures progress of students towards me meeting the English mastery standard. And students are tested in the the in literacy the growth in literacy is measured and the growth in oral speaking is measured. And here for the first time you can see that Norwok again highlighted in literacy exceeded not only um exceeded most of the city of the cities but also exceeded the state. Likewise in oral growth Norwalk exceeded the state. Now we're going to move towards
102another measure and the next generation accountability reports which is federal requirements will come out in November. Every November uh school districts throughout the country get this report and it's based upon their state plan. So, we have a Connecticut state plan and we're required to measure 12 indicators and one of those indicators is performance and performance unlike proficiency is really a better measure of achievement because it includes let's say in the area of ELA it includes the results of all the different tests that were given in ELA. Smarter Balance Connecticut SAT. We have some students in special education who take an alternate test. The results of of of all of those students, whether they're in level one performance, level four performance, they're all included and they're put on a common scale. So that's where we get
103the idea of an index. It it it so we have an index for each student and you can see for high needs for Norwok versus the state our ELA performance index for indicator one exceeded that of the state. Now we're looking at that same indicator but now looking at mathematics. And here if you look at our high needs in Norwok versus the state you can see that for four consecutive need years Norwok's high needs performance index for mathematics exceeded that of the state. Now these tables show trends over three years of the performance index by subgroup. And whenever you see a star is where Norwalk has exceeded the state. For example, if you go down to Hispanic, for three consecutive years, our Hispanic students, their performance index exceeded that of the state in both ELA
104and mathematics, as did our white students. Our black students, for two years, they've exceeded the state in the ELA index and for three years in mathematics. Now, here's some more groups that we certainly look at. Free and reduced lunch. You see, for mathematics for three years, we've exceeded for high needs in mathematics for three years. In 2025, in ELA, G exceeded in for free and reduced lunch students that are eligible. And for our high need students, here we have the district performance index, the DPI for ELA, math, and science. And here we have again all of our major cities and also the state of Connecticut. And you can see that our performance among large cities was number one for ELA, for math, and for science. Now, the last indicator we're going to talk about is
105growth. Growth is really the pace of learning. Now this measure is only for smarter balanced and it compares the achievement of the same student from from one grade in year 1 to the next higher grade in year two and you compare the scale scores each year. How much did they grow from year one to year two on that vertical scales? How many scale score points did they gain? And how do we know if they've gained enough or not? The there's the Connecticut growth model that the first year depending where the student is on the Smarter Balance scale assigns a target for growth. So if I'm a student and I have a target of 50 points to grow and I grow 30 so I didn't meet my growth target but the percent of growth target was
10630 over 50 or 60%. So, it's not yes, I met it, no, I did not. But rather, it's what percent of that growth target did you achieve? And for each student that tested two years in a row, they they calculate this. So you can see that for the first time since 2021 2022 Norwalk's growth in ELA across the tested grades exceeded that of the state. If you look at high needs for the past three years, Norwok has exceeded the state. And this again is growth, the pace of learning. Any questions? >> We saw ourselves, you know, keep looking at mathematics, the same metric, but here we see look at high needs for four years. Um, Norwok has outpaced the growth of the state. And for all students, this is the first year that Norwalk's percent
107of target achieved is above the state. Now, we're looking at the growth trends. And if you go down the ELA column, you see all those stars all the way down. So that for all those subgroups, we exceeded the growth of the state. In mathematics, all but Asian for Asian students, we did not exceed. Again, we have to remember a small population where changes are very sensitive. Only 4% of our tested students were Asian, but you can see all the stars. >> Looking down. >> Yes. Just a question on that. When you're presenting this to teachers of um LA students, the LA students, um how are they receiving this? I mean, does it reaffirm the strategies they're using? Are they h how do they incorporate this looks like a successful um uh proof of what they're
108doing? How do they receive it? I can't say that I've presented that often to teachers, but I can tell you that our central office staff, our school administrators, when they look at results, not only do they see scores, but they see the target and they see this metric for every student. So if they see that a student is not if their a percent of target achieved is low, why is that? That's a red flag. So they could plan for those students so that when they test again that doesn't happen. >> And I I think I can um add to that. So we uh will be at the principal meeting presenting the data accountability. the principles received the data um prior to its release and what I can say is that there's been a lot of
109excitement uh across the district amongst our school leaders and seeing that the work and effort that they've put um throughout the scope of the year alongside their um teachers and par educators has um demonstrated a positive outcomes because they've been very strategic through their school improvement plans and mapping out areas of concern and development and actually seeing the impact of the practices put in place by um the data showing evident improvements in the areas that they have been focusing uh throughout the scope of the past few years have have yielded a lot of excitement and confidence amongst our leaders and and staff. um when when I can tell you when the principles were started to see the um metrics and um the success of the work that they had put so much effort in throughout
110the scope of the year alongside their staff. Um there was a lot of excitement and uh I had several leaders call me like oh my god could you believe uh all the work that I we did in X Y andC has really paid off and there was some like really positive uh competition amongst the leaders particularly at the middle school level where um they were challenging each other in terms of the work that they they were doing and how that was yielding uh positive results. You heard earlier from u Dr. Lewis the work and efforts that they put particularly around chronic absenteeism and um the positive out outcome that resulted in a lot of the strategies that they were putting to play. Same thing with AC across the district with all of our leaders, how
111they implemented um the cycles of improvement alongside looking at the work that was happening with teacher teams, tying it to the work that coaches and improvement teachers were doing alongside them. all collectively um help yield the positive outcomes and they could see the direct connection to the practices that they were putting in place to the improvements in student achievement which is evident based on the results. So here we have the rest special education MLL free and reduced lunch high needs and here we have for all students we see that Norwalk's growth in 2025 exceeded that of the state for both ELA and mathematics. Now, this is the final slide. We're looking at growth in a different way. We're looking pre- pandemic where we were in ELA. The light colored line is the state where the
112state was and the darker line graph is Norwok. And you could see the change year after year in ELA growth. And you could see that Norwalk again exceeded the state. ELA mathematics again you see in 201819 somewhat below the state and stayed below until this year in 2024 2025 exceeded the state. Finally, we're looking at ELA and math again by the large cities in the state of Connecticut. And you see that Norwok not only exceeded all the large cities, but also the state, ELA, and math. >> And I think this is an important metric to to look at. I think one of the most important uh to me is growth particularly because we have so many students coming into our school system, English not being the primary language and our big emphasis in like developing
113them in terms of their language and building their proficiency and seeing growth over time because we have some students that test very early on where their language proficiency is not fully developed and seeing how across the district Um students are growing and uh growing at a faster rate than our uh our um other cities across the across the state is testament to the work that we're doing in terms of developing their capa their capacity in terms of their language development but also their proficiency in mathematics as well. >> And that was our last slide. So um I wanted just to provide highlights of um the state accountability metrics. Uh as you know we had a more extensive presentation during uh your retreat because we wanted to make sure that um the public as well as
114uh you as the board understood uh where we stood uh relative to the state but also in comparison to other city school districts. We the the presentations from the bore retreat are also posted on the website. Uh it's a good resource because it connects the work that's happening amongst the schools central in collaboration with central office in um the different uh stations where members of the cabinet presented on the work that's happening within all of the departments to yield the achievements that uh we have. Um these achievements didn't happen by accident. It happened as a result of really strategic coordination amongst department and schools and working in unison with our support uh staff and personnel to ensure that our students thrive and succeed. Uh I also want to um kind of reiterate our graduation rate.
115Uh when I started in the district it was in the 80s and I'm really proud to say that our graduation rate is 92.7%. And uh that work is not only attributed to uh the work that's happening amongst our high schools but also strategic uh programming through our future ready program that allows students that have a lot of adulting responsibilities to have flexible programming that allows them to continue their uh high school experience despite some of life's challenges. And um I want to thank the team uh Ralph Alenzi for his work and leadership and working alongside the cabinet and myself to uh put that pro or coordinate that program to life and it's yielding really uh great opportunities for our scholars um particularly those that have very challenging life experiences. With that, that concludes my um
116superintendent report um and update in terms of the things happening across the district at this time. >> Turn it over to you. >> Thank you for that in-depth um presentation. uh we didn't have many questions because we had a more detailed uh presentation during the retreat and we definitely had um our times with the individual um cabinet members. Next on the agenda is the action consent or approval of personnel, approval of budget transfers, approval of trips, and approval of minutes. Motion to approve. Diana, um I did have one um edit request for the minutes. Um, in the June 17th minutes, there were names of board members, supposed board members, previous board member, a common council member. I would just ask that um from 617 the names be reviewed. >> And Diana also to add to
117that I was present but not marked present in 617 minutes. Okay. So, with those two changes, the review of board members, common council members, everyone that was at that meeting on that day, and also the addition of Jasmine Pressie as um attending that meeting. I need a motion to approve Mary Ellen, seconded by Janine. All in favor, please raise your hand, say I. >> I. >> Okay, that's everyone. Thank you. Next item. The board of education will be voting this evening on whether to extend the contract it has with Dr. Straa. The board had this item on its agenda for the board retreat last Friday and Saturday, but in the interest of transparency, the board has moved the agenda item to tonight's meeting. Among the board's most important responsibility is to appoint and contract with
118the superintendent of schools. The no public schools have been fortunate to have Dr. Straa as its superintendent. Under her leadership, student achievement has improved significantly and the no public schools have been recognized by the state of department of education and other uh and others for its achievement. I believe that it's imperative that the board do what it can to asssure that Dr. Estraa continues to serve as the superintendent. In accordance with the contract between the board and Dr. Dr. Straa. The board is obligated to vote on Dr. Straa's request to a contract extension by the end of this month. The contract provides that the board should have voted on the contract extension by June 30th, but that day was extended by mutual agreement to September 30th. A failure to vote on this question would violate
119the contract between the board and Dr. Estraa. I understand by I understand that support by some of the critically needed school district funding for the current year was tied to the board's deferring a vote on the contract extension until next year. However, I do not believe that those two issues are the same. The funds needed to operate schools and the board's statutory duty to employ a superintendent, they should not be connected. by contract. The board must vote on Dr. Straa's request for contract extension and the matter is on the agenda so that the board can fulfill its contractual obligation. Each board member will determine how he or she will vote on this matter. Given the importance of Dr. Straus continuing as superintendent, I myself will be voting in favor of extending Dr. industry is contract.
120>> Anyone else? >> Yes. Let me Can I speak? >> Sure. >> What I will say is that Norwok public school students are achieving Norwok public schools. Can I speak? This is not a this is not a town hall. I went over that earlier. So, we can we can schedule a town hall for that. Norwalk public school students are achieving due to the work of this administration along with our teachers. Our students have made much progress. But before before I talk more about the progress, I want to make a few comments. And that is last summer there were many collective missteps. I admit that there were many collective missteps. I can certainly admit that. However, going forward, the superintendent and this administration will work together with the board to make a better way forward. [Music]
121>> I've read your emails. I've read your emails who have asked that we don't extend it. But I talked to people, my constituents, they contact me personally. I've seen them out and they like and they appreciate the achievement that our stu that our students have made. >> Okay, public comments are over. Please listen to the board members. Let me talk more about the progress that I've seen. Student achievement is on the rise based on the state test. More students reach proficiency as you've seen and ELA, math, and science. And that is due to the work our administration and our teachers. Graduation rates have increased to 92.7%. Access to advanced learning opportunities has improved for students of color. Students of color are now twice as likely to be identified as gifted and talented. I have lived
122in this district in Norwok a long time. And for the first time, I'm seeing some real progress. There was a time when we didn't see black and brown kids in advanced placement and in honors classes, but we're seeing it now. We're seeing it now. Due to the work of our administration and our teachers, those students are now being identified in those classes. Disciplinary actions have also decreased, particularly amongst our black and brown students. But overall, progress has elevated all of the students. The black and brown students are doing well, and so are all of our students. Both of our comprehensive high schools continue to show academic growth aligned with improved PSAT and SAT performance. So for that, I will vote to extend the contract because one of the things that I ran on was to
123make sure that I saw some of this disproportionality disappear. I wanted more equity and I wanted all of our kids to achieve and it's happening. And that outweighs that outweighs some of the other things. And like I indicated earlier, missteps were made. and we will make sure that we examine that more closely. But my students are achieving and that's what's important. >> Anyone else want to speak up now? >> So, I'll I'll chime in, but I am really respectfully going to ask to not be interrupted. I really would like to share what I have to say. I've put a lot of thought into all of this. So going back to June, my own misstep in June was in the way that everything went and how rushed we were and I did not do my due
124diligence to understand that what we agreed to went against Dr. Estraa's contract and if I had understood that and I I am owning this mistake. I am owning my mistake. Please stop interrupting. We are not okay. I'm not in a back and forth right now. Diana made it really clear. >> Please, this is not public comments. This is not a back and forth. Please allow all members to speak. >> Diana made it clear that what happened. We were supposed to vote on the contract extension at our retreat in June. Let me give you the timeline. We didn't have the retreat in June because we were managing the budget stuff. That means we were in breach of the contract by not voting by June 30th. In the summer, we had a vote that pushed the deadline
125graciously to September 30th. So, we are not rushing. We are doing what we are legally obligated to do. That is the process to get here. I am the one over the weekend at our retreat who said that it would be wrong to vote on it at the retreat. I made the motion to be sure that we were doing it on a Tuesday night. Going forward, I would continue to say that it should not happen at a board retreat in this coming June. It should always be at a business meeting on the agenda. I agree that the language in our agenda for tonight wasn't great. I myself was like, "This isn't clear." I >> I'm owning that. I am owning that that that was not great. We have discussed send um I have advocated for sending
126as this school year goes on sending agendas through parent square making meeting announcements even more clear so that folks know what is happening. We have discussed town halls and Q&As's where we can and will have a back and forth discussion. We these are things that we talked about over the weekend at our retreat as we discussed the school year. So I I want to make all of that clear. >> Um so I I am owning that I should have done better in June so that I I don't want to be lying but and I would have done things differently in June if I had had more time and if things hadn't been the way that they were. I just said that. So when it now, please let her speak as we're talking about a vote
127tonight specifically and we're talking about integrity. My job when I ran for this volunteer position is to do what I believe is best for our students. Okay? And I think that it's been very clear beyond I go way beyond like data and testing. Um, it's the fact that we are being recognized for behavioral health. It's the conversations that we had this weekend with all of the cabinet members about the goals, the achievements, the programs that have been put into place that are working and serving large groups of students in ways that they were not years ago. Um, and so as I vote, that is what I'm taking into account, what I truly believe is best for our students. I 100% think that our teachers and administrators are the ones putting things into action and making
128things happen. I also believe that the leadership and the continuity that is putting these systems and programs into place is coming from our superintendent and her cabinet and what they are creating in our district. >> Are you okay? Who's next? Mary Allen. I would like to speak now and I would also ask that you listen to our thinking, listen to my thinking. I'd like to start out that three years ago I um started at the board and just by chance I was assigned to CES to be a liazison to CES. um that is a consortium that's in st in uh Trumbull and it gave me an experience that is relevant to this discussion when I go uh to the meetings seven or eight times a year I'm on the board of CES which has a
129superintendent has four or five schools you many of you may know it's a place that we um it services Lichfield and Fairfield County uh for special needs. We send kids to uh CES. Um there's also a theater group there. There's just a number of things. But what's pertinent here is the people who are on the board are like myself representing a school board in Fairfield or Lichfield County. So I'm in contact with 13 other school systems and we do talk about the business at CES but then we have time to talk about well what's going on in our school districts and three years ago uh when the first extension w came up I was puzzled at that it seems to me uh not being in that uh thought process that you have a three-year contract.
130Well, at the end of 3 years, then let's talk, see how you've done, and have another three-year contract. Um, what I found out is the way things work is all superintendent ask for an extension if things are going well after the first year. And then, so now they have a three-year contract and then the next year they ask for an extension. this that happens for everyone. Nothing unusual about it. It's it's a way of saying uh that the the board is supporting that superintendent and the board likes the way things are going. On the other side, if the board doesn't like the way things are going, that gives that superintendent, and it's a peculiar job being a superintendent. uh certainly in in Connecticut and it's a very fluid job. People move all the time. Um
131all right. So I'm sharing I had that knowledge about this is very common to ask for an extension. Um the second part is having taught for 44 years and been in systems it is very good to have stability in a system. That's not a reason only to vote for a superintendent, but it is a huge positive to have uh programs year after year and you see how progress occurs with some stability. So that's the second thing we've discussed and looked at um all the positives that have come out of the LA looking at at a five year what's happened in the last five years in Norwok academically um emotionally for students and I come from a time I started teaching in the civil rights movement time one of my goals but one of the goals
132goals of of the movement was to um shorten the gap between uh students that were high needs or low economic with the high achieving students to narrow that gap. I worked on that my whole career. what I'm seeing here looking at this data that you've seen tonight looking at every math, English, science, not only are the high achieving kids moving up higher, but the low achieving kids breaking it down into race, breaking it down into special ed. All of them are lifting up with this series of things that have helped the teachers help the kids. I recognize that and I support that. Is it perfect? I'm not going to say it's perfect, but there is an attitude of continuous improvement. What did we do wrong? Like right now I'm realizing what did I do wrong
133and I thought we had said we're gonna talk about the extension tonight and it actually was vague as people have pointed out. Uh, but I am here to tell you with the best of what's in my mind and in my heart, I see Nor school system on the move in the right direction and I want to continue with this leadership and I will vote yes on an extension. >> Any other comments? Karen. >> Yes. So, um I would also ask for the same that you all not respond. We gave you your time for public comments. We are not responding. This is >> this is not a dialogue. So, um, just going along the lines of the importance of continuity. So, I've been in the district for 22 years. Um, I put two kids through the
134district. Well, one of them I actually pulled out for high school. My husband and I were not happy with what was going on in the school district. We had been through multiple superintendent. Um my daughter just was not getting what she needed and we pulled her out and she went to another school for high school. Um my son did end up graduating from PEK last year. Both of my kids are thriving. >> Um what part of the reason why I ran for the board back in 2021 and I'm not running again. So I don't really have anything to lose to be sharing with all of you why I ran and why I'm not running again. I ran because I raised my family in a neighborhood not very far away from here. There were seven families.
135We were all at Narramac. We were thick as thieves. Our kids were tight. I was tight with all of the parents. We spent holidays together. We had the best damn time. When our kids got into middle school, some of us went to Nathan Hale. My kids did. Four of the seven families left town. Why? Because of the schools. We were all brokenhearted, devastated. we've managed to maintain some of these relationships. But it really broke my heart and the reason why I'm telling you this is because this is not happening now in Norwok. I am not hearing stories of people leaving Norwok quote because of the schools. What I am hearing is that other districts, the other seven urban districts that we beat out again and again and again in math, ELA, and now science, SATs,
136we are number one. I'm not sure what everybody else wants. You know, in addition to that, we have reduced our absenteeism rates. It is now lower than it was before the pandemic. Our graduation rate is the highest it's ever been since I've lived here. It's almost 93%. So, as Darlene Young said the other night at the mayoral debate, our kids' educations are not a political football. This is also not a popularity contest. I believe that the continuity that has been happening in this district since I've been on the board for the last four years is incredibly positive and therefore I'm very proud of the work that I've done here on the board. I will not be running again because I don't have kids in the district anymore and there are obviously some people here who
137are very very passionate about the district and for that I applaud you. I love it. Run. Please run because our kids need us. So, for all of these reasons that I've just stated, I will be voting to yes, give another year on Dr. Estraa's contract. >> Anybody else? >> Janine Howard? >> Yes. >> Okay. Um, I'mma be straight in front. It's my two years here on this board. I speak and I represent what I speak and represent for. Accountability is what's important for me. My background, my experience, this is not new to me. So when it comes to making a decision and when it comes to making this decision in reference to a increase of a pay, a increase as far as position is concerned or even from a contract standpoint. I weigh pros and
138cons and I look at what's important. We are doing great things. I'm not going to take that away. We are doing great things. our teachers, our administrators are doing great things. However, however, when it comes to a decision, me personally, I just don't weigh it on as far as a report that's done. I weigh it on transparent, communication, relationships, responsibility, and there are things that we didn't do as a board. I'm not going to sugarcoat that. I'm not going to It's obvious. There's things that we did not do as a board. I have said some things to Dr. Australia. I have given her some ideas or some thoughts moving forward what needs to happen and how we can make these changes because the changes have to be made within ourself whether we agree to disagree
139to whatever it is but at the end of the day when it comes to a decision it has to be taken in consideration and because of that and the things that I stand firm for I vote Oh, >> anyone else? >> Yes, Colin still on Ralph. >> Uh, yes. Uh, Madam Chair, can you hear me? >> Keith Colin, >> yes, if you can hear me. I apologize that I could not be there in person tonight. I'm uh not in town. Um, I do appreciate the opportunity to contextualize uh my vote against this contract extension tonight. Um, and to be very clear, it's not a reflection on the incredible work that our scholars and our teachers and staff and cabinet and Dr. Estraa are doing to uh improve the academic standards here in Norwok. Right. I'm
140voting against the contract extension for different reasons. um chief among which is uh the fact that the legal obligation to vote on this tonight or before September 30th is based on Dr. Estraa herself not waving that right as is just laid out in the contract. And so it's not that we are required to do this by law. It's that we are require we are being forced to do this by Dr. for Australia. And I find that objectionable because when I first joined the board in 2019, there was a mantra that we all repeated, including the superintendent, that this was not about the adults. This was about the kids. This was about putting kids first. And tonight, it feels like Dr. Estraa is putting her contract above the needs of this district. And I find that
141highly highly objectionable. I think that the way that this entire thing was conducted with a very vague item on the agenda uh to uh you know the idea of going back on something that we promised our constituents back in July does very little to inspire faith in us as a board in this process. uh you know and frankly it you know it leaves me very disappointed in in and and and in uh the promise that we're making to the families that we serve. Again this has nothing to do uh with the incredible work that our students, their teachers, their staff, the cabinet and Dr. Estraa are doing academically. This has everything to do with the fact that everything tonight is completely avoidable. Dr. Australia's contract runs through 2027. There is no mad rush uh to
142have this vote tonight. The idea of creating stability in this district um to me is uh counterintuitive because by creating and fmenting more distrust between us as elective elected officials and the constituents that we serve is only going to make the system more unstable. It's only going to create more distrust between us as elected representatives and the people that we serve. I can't in good conscience vote to extend the contract tonight. I would, by the way, if we did it next year as we said we would, I would happily vote to extend Dr. Estrea's contract as I have told her, but she has forced us to have this vote tonight. She has forced us to be dishonest with our constituents. Uh, and uh, I'm disappointed, Dr. Estraa. I got to tell you, very disappointed. My
143vote is now. >> Just for the record, Mr. Hust, we've never had a conversation about my contract and I need to clarify that. I understand your perspective, but you talk about honesty and integrity. We have not discussed my contract. >> We did not discuss my contract. >> I know I read a statement prior >> I'm a liar. Thank you Dr. >> is that I myself have been here for six years. I have seen the work that's been put into this district. I have seen the changes that's been put into this district. At the same time, we as a board have to be responsible. Dr. Estraa is an employee of Norwok public schools. She is not a political chess piece to be kicked around and thrown around and done like that. So this is this vote
144tonight for me is about the children and I think everybody's forgetting about that. It has nothing to do with politics. It has nothing to do with uh Dr. Australa and it has nothing to do with us as individuals. It has to do with all the children of Norwok. And when I say all, I mean all children. Are we done? Any other um comments, concerns? Jasmine, are you good? Janine. Okay. I need a motion to approve the one-year extension for Dr. Estraa. >> So moved Bridget. >> Thank you, Sherry. Seconded by Carara. All in favor, please raise your hand, say I. >> Okay, that's everyone except for um do we have any nos or abstensions? Howard? No. >> No. >> Colin, no. >> No. Thank you. >> Okay. Thank you very much. Next items on the
145agenda, we have the approval of the 202526 revised goals and expectations. Ratification of tentative agreements with collective bargaining unit NFTt effective July 1st, 2026. Remove current bullying policy now included with school climate policy and approval of 5003 policy and regulation school climate. Any questions on any of these before we move the vote. >> Okay. Motion to approve all of these together. >> I guess right just gets roll. >> I'm going to vote on all together. >> Yes. And that that school climate policy that was came from the state >> correct >> I know I'm following that correct >> so about the policy the bullying there's there's no change in it was just incorporated in this climate >> u so >> all right motion to approve Mary Allen seconded by Ashley all in favor please say
146I raise your hands >> I >> unanimous Thank you. And now we have the FY 2425 year end review. Mr. Manu Good evening board. I wanted to take some time just to share the year- end financials, how we closed out the year. Um, it's customary that we present this to you in September. Uh, the books have not fully closed uh by with the audit. Uh but we are um we're we're close to to doing that. We're just making some some adjustments, minor adjustments. Um so this is a slide. I only have two slides for you tonight. So this slide shows you what the historical budget has been for the past year, fiscal year 24. You'll see on here for the fiscal year 2425. We began the year with an approved budget of a little over
147233 million. This was approved back in May of last year. Throughout the year, the board you do make a series of transfers uh within within the budget. Uh that's reflected in the revised column of 233.5 million. And then the actual number, the last column in the 2425 is what we have actually spent as of June 30th. We've spent 233,000 233 million uh 400,000 a little over that. So that's where we've ended the year. Uh this means that of the total appropriated budget, we have about $126,000 that we haven't spent this year. I will talk about what we're doing with that amount, but that's basically where we've ended. You'll notice that in prior years, we have typically ended the year um having spent considerably less compared to the budget. And what that has allowed us to
148do in prior year is to transfer some of that fund, some of those additional funds into a carryover fund that we're able to use for other for other items that perhaps were were non-budgeted. Uh this year, due to the t tightness of the budget, we began the year with a little over $2 million in those carryover funds from the prior year, we used that funding this year to pay for our increased health insurance cost benefit. So we have uh dried up that carryover fund and this year we will not be contributing into that carryover fund. So we have accumulated that fund over the past three to four years. the state allows boards of educations um in Connecticut to carry over 2% of unspent money of their prior year budget and therefore this year we would
149have been able to carry over a little over $4 million had we underspent uh but we have not um uh we've not been able um to do that. So with that I do also want to spend time and talk about this year's budget. Uh we are in the third month September of the current year's budget. You'll see that uh the approved budget initially was $242 million. Uh this was the budget that was approved by the BET. I believe it was in April. Uh we had some subsequent conversations since April. During the month of May and then during the month of June, as has been mentioned today, uh the city did provide an additional $6.5 million uh for board of ed operations. $2 million of the six and a half million was applied to our health
150insurance fund account. So we that transfer has already been done into the health insurance account and then the remaining um 3 million the remaining $4.5 million would come to the board of ed general fund. So right here you'll see what the $4.5 million uh does. This was to reinstate those positions. So, a big chunk of that goes towards salaries. Um, also corresponding benefits for those individuals that are covered by that. And then there was a small item of $20,000. This was actually the kids in crisis program at Brian McMahon. There was a portion of this money. We were short about $20,000. And so part of that $4.5 million, $20,000 is going towards Brian McMahon. But the rest of this funding is salaries and benefits spread. uh throughout um and this is throughout the school the
151school budgets. So that brings us to an amended budget for this fiscal year of 247 247.1 million because we're now accounting for those positions that we brought back. Um our strategy for next year uh would obviously we would like to retain all of these positions that we were able to reinstate with that additional funding. So the budget um as we begin the budget for this coming year uh we will begin with the 247.1 million which accounts for that 4.5 million. And so we will present a budget that um allows us to maintain those positions and we will obviously factor in any contractual obligations that are tied to that taking into account any um you know utilities go up some of those items. But I believe in conversations we've had looking at next year, this will
152be primarily a maintenance budget. Basically trying to keep whole what we were able to um to fund in this year's amended budget and our hope is to continue to provide that level of service into um into this coming fiscal year. So as you know, we're beginning those conversations in the next couple of weeks. We do have a our first joint public hearing will be on Wednesday the 24th and we will present what we're beginning to see for this coming year. Um and so with that uh the next slide is basically just >> Sorry, Linda. >> Sure. >> Can I interrupt you? I just have a question. Um you mentioned for the next fiscal year um that we will have 4.5 of the funds that came in after we voted in the budget as recognized. Um
153I thought it was 6 million. >> It was 6.5 million. >> Six and a half. >> $2 million went to the health insurance account separate from the general fund. >> And then the four and a half million is what you see here. >> Okay. So this is this is budgeted funding for this year. >> What we're going to do for FY27, I mean we will get into negotiations with the city. Our request for FY27 is to continue with the full funding that we got this year which included the two uh the four and a half million and we will request funding for those positions taking into account whatever contractual um obligation that we have for our employees and and other area and other services that we receive. And just for further clarification, um as part
154of the BET meeting, um the city CFO reiterated that those $4.5 uh million dollars will be part of our MBR. So it will be a a base u minimum budget requirement. And um I just want to clarify that. I also had a conversation with the mayor just to reaffirm that because in the past that has not historically been the case but um based on what was presented at the BT meeting my conversation with um Mayor Reeling that that 4.5 is part of uh this fiscal year's MVR which then are ask for the upcoming academic school year will be whatever contractual obligations um and uh insurance and benefits that we would have to in incur as um the standard yearly increases which changes the conversation in terms of um what the ask is because there's no
155financial cliff at the end of the fiscal year. that that bit of information is deeply reassuring in a sense of um the worry I'm sure for many of us has been if we start in the whole 6 million or 6.5 million then that's a huge uh deficit to be in and you're saying that we've been assured that we'll have 4.5 as is our starting point >> based on the conversation at the BET U meeting as well as my one-on-one conversation with the mayor that is the case. >> Okay, that >> it's not 6 million 6.5 is 4.5 million because I corrected that from the prior year just to make sure that we're clear on that. for >> but I think that that uh will alleviate a lot of the um tension amongst our staff that
156were concerned about what the fiscal outlook will be for um this upcoming year because I know that that was something that really worried our our staff and um I'm hoping that this uh kind of alleviates some of the concerns across the organization >> and uh London to what you were saying it sounds like simplicity is going to be the the strategy in a sense that we're asking to just maintain next year. >> Correct. We will be asking to maintain the positions that we currently have and honor any contractual obligations we have whether it's um compensation from our through our collective bargaining agreements or any contracts that we have for services um that are provided to the district. So, we want to honor those as we do each year when we go through the budget cycle.
157So it would be no different this year. Uh finally I did want to share I mentioned that the available balance is a little over 126,000. Each year we break it out into two components. We do have a number of items that are listed here. These are primarily services that we have either engaged in this year for some reason. uh either there were supply chain issues or there were issues with the delivery of items. Um our accounting rules allow us to carry over monies from this year from last year into this year because we have entered into contract with these with these items. So we'll have $74,000 in incumbrances from that unused items that will go into FY26. So we won't be using this year's money for these expenses. um this these monies will come will
158roll over. This is a process we do um each year. And then we also have our um severance payments that we pay for employees uh that are left in districts. We typically do two installments, one in August and one in January. And so this is the installment of the August payments that carry over. Uh these items actually go to the BET. So we'll be taking these to the BET in October. uh BET does have final approval um on these incumbrances, but we typically bring them to you so that you're aware, but we will be presenting this list uh to the BET to carry these items over. Um historically, they have been able to carry over because it's really an accounting mechanism more than anything else because the funding is there >> um this and I'd
159be happy to answer any further questions that you may have. >> Do you see any stressors as we go into next year? I mean, typically it's been special education and health care, health costs, health insurance costs. So, >> yeah, I think um healthc care will continue to be to be a challenge. Um as as we mentioned this year, the city did provide $2 million from that six and a half to address some of the health care um expenses on our end. So, I think we should be okay uh this fiscal year. Special education continues to be a challenge. Uh last year in this budget uh the board had approved a special education line item budget of 10.1 million. We actually spent 11.4 million this year. In this upcoming budget, we were able to budget 11.7
160million for special education. So, I think we're in a better position with with respect to special education this year as in prior years because in prior years we kind of shorted the special education line and we've had to do a series of transfers. But I think we're in a better place this year with respect to what we actually anticipate spending with special education. And that's all I have. >> Any other questions? Thank you, Luna. Next item on the agenda is committee representative reports. Anyone have anything to share? >> Finance committee meeting, but you just heard the report so did >> Should we just >> finance meeting? But Linda just went over everything. >> We were just saying down our uh facilities has not met yet for this school year. Special ed not met yet for
161this year. >> Policy is going to be this week. >> Yeah. And policy will be this week. >> ML this week. >> Uh MLL's coming up too. Yes. >> All right. Any board member announcements? Anything that the board members want to share so that the public gets to know us a little bit on the personal side? Okay, with that, thank you very much for everyone to be here. Know it was a a very long night. And with that, I need a motion to adjurnn. Ashi, seconded by Carara. Thank you everyone.