001Good evening everyone. Welcome to the board of education um board special business meeting. Today is Tuesday, July 15, 2025. The time is now 5:08 p.m. Apologies for a delay start as we have um some difficult um technology issues at the moment. And with that um I have in no particular order as I can see my screen I have board members Mary Ellen Flare Lewig Ashley Gulas Jasmine Pressy Cara Bakey Janine Randolph Howard White Sher McCriedy Pritchard with me this evening and I also have Dr. Estraa and her cabinet. So if we can start with the pledge of allegiance. Pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for it stands one nation under God indivisibley and justice for all. >> Thank you. So, this special meeting tonight has been
002called due to time-sensitive items that require a vote. In consideration of team members and colleagues currently on vacation and working remotely, holding a meeting virtually ensures broader participation and allows for timely decision making without delaying any critical actions. Thank you everyone who took their time to join us this afternoon. I know that um you know being summer and everybody is either working or on vacation it's very difficult but I just wanted to take the time to thank everyone that is here online and participating this evening. So the first item on the agenda for tonight is the appointment of school preparedness and safety supervisor. So I am going to transfer the meeting to Dr. Stra for that item for any type of discussion. So, good evening members of the board and cabinet as well as the
003public that is watching us virtually. Uh, the school preparedness and safety supervisor is a position that the board had um spoken greatly about particularly because of all of the safety concerns um that have been coming to life across the nation um with uh some of the violence that has been experienced nationally. But most importantly, we wanted to make sure that we had enough personnel supporting safety and security across our district so that we can effectively support our school leaders as well as continue to develop systems that would effectively have a proactive and supportive approach to uh student behavior intervention and engagement. I'm going to ask Sandra Foes who um leads this team to speak further about the role but also um talk uh in greater detail about the candidate that we're proposing. >> Thank you
004so much Dr. Estrea. Hello board and thank you so much for having us. It is with great pleasure that um I approach this topic. It's been a long time coming. Uh for quite a while now, we've only had a single person in charge of school safety, which makes it uh particularly difficult if um Ryan Harold is ever on vacation or if he ever has to be out uh like we found ourselves this spring. Um the board had expressed some um desires to have a second person be um brought on to the team uh for all the reasons that Dr. that just named, but also so that we have backup in case a person is out. Uh it seems um like it's been a long time coming, but it it's something that was important to everybody
005on the team to ensure that there are no gaps while people are receiving either the time off that they are um afforded or if they need other care. Uh Jonathan Kenny is no stranger to the school safety team. He has been working alongside Ryan Harold since 2022. He has been a a member of um our district reunification team. Uh he's also a member of the district safety team. Uh in that capacity, he has worked to revise a lot of our safety procedures and protocols. Uh made sure that we are advocating for students um with our behavior intervention guide. uh he has been working as the Jefferson safety coordinator uh since 2022 and prior to that he was at Ponis and I think prior to that he had a brief stint at Ryan McMahon High School
006but in his role as the safety coordinator he was really instrumental in making sure that the school community was safe. Uh Jefferson is a diverse community and it has uh it's in sort of like in an urban center like you all know. So there are concerns that come up at Jefferson that are unique to that school site and Jonathan has been really a standout. So when he um approached with interest in filling in as the interim acting safety preparedness um director in Ryan's absence, uh we gladly accepted and he was able to show us that not only can he take the reigns in terms of school safety and the districtwide procedures and protocols, but he also can um work with the capital improvements that we have been undergoing uh for the last three years. And
007with that, it was a great relief to us to have him uh volunteer in that capacity and um step up in that capacity, but also just to really get to know the skill set that he brings to the team and see how it is that he can be uniquely qualified as somebody who has done school safety for a number of years now and is also a staunch advocate for our students. Um, with that, um, I'm going to either turn it over to Dr. Estrea or Dr. Estrea, Jonathan is also here. It's really up to you how you wish to proceed. But I'm excited about today. >> Thank you, u, Miss Foes. I wanted just to give Jonathan an opportunity just to share a few words and then we'll turn it over to the board. >>
008Uh, good afternoon everybody. My name is Jonathan Kenny as I've been introduced. Thank you for having me here today and I'm honored to be speaking with you today uh at this meeting. Um like was said about me already, I spent the past three years at Jefferson. Uh obviously, you know, working with our building safety and the safety protocols that go along with that. But what I think is most important is the relationships I've developed with families and the community at large because that's really what safety is all about is dealing with the people that are in the building. you know, buildings can be improved, systems can be added to, programs can be bought, but developing the relationships and procedures that go along with everybody in the community being safe is really what I think is
009the most important and what I hold as the most important part of my job. So, I'm honored to be here today. Thank you for having me and I'm happy to answer any questions if they come up. So, >> I turn it over to um the board for questions. Hi. Um, I just had to ask the question. Um, so this was a position that we already had budgeted and was in the budget that we voted on already. Correct. >> Correct. >> Yes. Okay. >> This was the position that was advocated for for some time by the board and was included as part of the reconciliation of this uh coming year's budget. >> I just wanted to confirm that. Thank you. Is this position a grant position? >> Yes. >> What grant it is? >> It's in
010the Alliance P uh priority schools district grant. >> And Ryan Harold still out at this time? >> Yes, he is, sir. So, I don't have a question um but just a comment which is that I'm so happy to see this position finally filled. Um school safety is something that is very important to me. It's something that I ran on in 2021. Um and I know we as you mentioned Dr. Ashray have been talking about the need to have um at least one more person on this team. Um, you know, the work that Ryan Herald has been doing is incredibly difficult work and stressful and he's done a great job. Um, but I'm really glad that he has some more support here. Um, I think that, you know, when things happen in the district, when we
011have any kind of threats or lockdowns is when we really hear from our community and from our parents. And that's really when the you know kind of questions and concerns and and and really like cries for what are we doing? Are we doing enough seem to come up to the top? So um I think that this is you know one way which we can hopefully make um our parents and students and community feel like we hear them. Um and this is equally important to us. Um so thank you very much Mr. Kenny for uh stepping up here and welcome to the team. I know you've been on the team but to this team formally >> and Cara, I echo your comments. Um for a long time this board has advocated for making this department bigger
012and for providing more support. I think that um hearing Mr. Kenny talk about the fact that he's developed a relationship with the families. Um, I think that it's important that we have additional safety and security in our buildings. Um, again, like I said, we've advocated for that. Um, it's unfortunate that we didn't already have this in place, but now we're forced to do that. And so, um, I look forward to, um, the work that Mr. Kenny will provide to us. Welcome. >> So, this is also a central office position. It's not a student driven position. Correct. >> It is a central office position that is student driven because of the supports in place. Um, not only is he, like Ryan, providing overarching supports districtwide, but they will also be supporting students that engage in potential
013expulsion or suspensions and also working handinhand with school leaders in buildings to ensure that protocol, systems, and structures are in place so that students are safe. >> Sorry, go ahead. I'm sorry. So, so like um all central office precisions, we are in service of schools, we are in service of students. So, the role will encompass interaction and engagement with families and students. >> So, also then that also means so this is a this is a non-union position. He's coming from a union position. Correct. >> Correct. Was a non-affiliated role. >> So, what does that mean? Does that open up a position for someone else to fill in? >> I think that during the rift process, unfortunately, there were individuals, sorry, >> there were individuals that um were shifted. Uh this gives Jonathan an opportunity to
014continue in in the work that he uh had been doing in the district and doing well which um because of the rift process wouldn't have afforded him that opportunity this upcoming school year. >> Okay. I have an additional >> Yes. >> Um I know Dr. Sh you just mentioned that um serving servicing families and students. Can you um describe like how much of his time and or Ryan's is spent in the school? So, it's a 5050 like in the buildings. I know the position supports but just buildings. >> Yeah, >> Ryan Ryan um office is like really close to mine and I never see Ryan in central office because most of his time is in schools. Um, same thing with Jonathan. When um, schools are active are actively open or summer school is in action,
015most of the time is spent in the school buildings and very minimal time is spent in central office. >> May I expand on that, Dr. Esta? Um, I don't know if if everyone realizes, but Angela King, who had been in charge of student suspensions and expulsions, was one of the positions that was cut um when the central office reductions came about. So the the Angela King's position was totally studentf facing because it was more in the advocacy of the students and then when if the student was um had to serve an expulsion because it was something that uh the law absolutely demanded it um she then would serve as the superintendent's designate. So now the the role that Jonathan and Ryan have have to also absorb that. So there's that studentf facing aspect of it
016that will take quite a bit of time because we no longer have a person that's just designated for that. So we're we're gaining a person, but I also lost a person on that team that was a critical member of the team um during the cuts. Um and then the rest of the time like Dr. asa said is spent at the schools not only just looking at to make sure that schools are safe but there there's often times where they're in consultation with school leaders um because of other concerns that are at the schools or just doing rounds or you know doing things like safety checks and um other um inventory types of things that we do but most of I would say 75% of their time is student facing probably another 15% of the time
017is adult-f facing at schools and then the remainder of the time has to do with the capital improvements that we've um put in place with mutual link uh with um ambient AI and those other pieces that we've done with school cameras and those other things. >> I'm glad you brought that up, Sanja. Thank you for explaining that. Um >> however, Angela King, she was working closely with Ryan Harold, correct? >> Correct. So her position was cut. Correct. >> Correct. >> So if this grant was an opportunity, why wasn't an opportunity presented to her before >> it was lost? >> Oh, she turned it down. >> Yeah, she turned it down. Angela King has found another job at a at a different school district. She just This This is a very different role than what she
018was doing, but it was presented. >> Thank you. >> You're welcome. >> Yeah. Thanks for that breakdown. Oh, sorry. Go ahead, Mariela. >> Yes, I I appreciate that breakdown. Also, Sandra, I have a question for Mr. Kenny. Um, when you're looking at the time you've spent as an interim, um, I I'd like to know what was the most satisfying um, in terms of student uh, behavior and outcome for this time that you were uh, in the position. All right, let me unmute. Sorry, as as we're speaking, I'm dealing with uh we got an alarm from Brian McMahon High School, so that's why I'm on the phone here. So, um uh in the time that I've been uh you know, in for Ryan, helping out. Um I I've been doing a lot of what I've already
019been doing for the past three years with uh with talking with parents, especially um Dr. Australia came in one day and because a parent had contacted her about a problem that she was having um that she wanted resolved and I was able to work through that with her, you know, listen to hear her out, you know, listen to what her concerns were. I was able to address those concerns with the administrators at the building and have a good conversation with her about the expectations involving the student, you know, her son and what was going on there. And it ended up being a very good conversation um where we were we understood I was able to explain our protocols to her why things were safe and you know we were able to leave it in a
020very pleasant way maintaining a good relationship um because her son's going to be moving on into one of the high schools. So you know just working with parents like that offering a calm voice hearing them out addressing their concerns because I was able to do that too. Um you know kind of like I've been doing for the past three years at Jefferson just on a on a bigger scale. So, that was very satisfying. I always like to leave a good parent interaction with making sure that we're all professional and leaving on good terms. >> I appreciate that answer. >> Thanks. >> I had one more additional question, but I want to make sure Mariela got in. Um, you mentioned the the the position is Alliance, the grant through alliance. >> It's the Alliance priority schools
021grant. >> Okay. Is that one? I know we have that on the agenda. Is that a stable one? Yeah, that is not one of the ones that has been threatened yet. I mean, we always say yes, but yeah, it's in the Alliance Priority Schools grant. There's a piece of it that allows us to uh apply for school wellness and school climate, and so that's where the the position aligned to. >> Okay, great. Thank you. >> Okay, >> thank you everyone for all that additional information. um definitely you know understood and the importance of safety especially in this climate nowadays and I know that a lot of families have been questioning and that was the decision as to why we also felt that it was very important to have a second person on on safety and
022with that um I need a motion to appoint Jonathan Kenny a school preparedness and safety supervisor I may not be able to see you so if you could Say your name when you raise your hand and say I. >> Motion. >> Okay. Motion by Cara, seconded by >> McCrin Bridget. >> Seconded by Sherry. All in favor, please say I. Raise your hand. >> I for Howard. >> Yeah, I was just going to ask. Thank you, Howard. Next item of the agenda, the ratification of tentative agreement with collective bargaining unit upu custodians maintenance and security effective July 1st, 2025. Dr. Straa, >> thank you. So um we had a really uh productive and collaborative uh conversation with the custodial uh bargaining group and we have a tentative agreement uh that we reached. Um the average overall
023salary increase year after year is about 2.7 to 3%. And the insurance increase um every other year is about um 5%. um they asked for uh Junth and Eid which are holidays that we've added to the uh calendar to be added to their um new new contract which is something that uh made sense to add and um we are looking for the board to consider the approval of this tentative agreement. >> Thank you. Any questions before I move? All right. I need a motion for the ratification of tentative agreements with collective bargaining unit upscu custodians maintenance and security effective July 1st, 2025. >> So moved. Ashley. >> Ashley. Um seconded by Jasmine. Thank you. All in favor, please say I. Raise your hands. >> I. I I >> Okay, thank you. That's unanimous. Okay. So,
024the next item on the agenda after legal guidance, the current contract between the board and Dr. Straer requires that the board vote on a new contract prior to July 1st, which vote the board did not take. Dr. Straa has indicated her willingness to amend the contract to defer the requirements for board action to a later date. So item C is discussion and possible action to delegate the board chairperson authority on behalf of the board to amend the board superintendent contract. No contract extension at this time. Any discussions, questions at this time from board members? So what's the purpose and the reason for the amendment if there's no discussion in reference to the uh extension? >> We still have to discuss um the amendment is changing or pushing the extension to a later date because we
025had already entered into negotiations um earlier this year. And because we were already in negotiations, we have to make an amendment and it has to be voted on. And it was supposed to be voted on before July 1st. >> Where in in a contract that says that? I didn't see that. >> It's in the contract. I've spoken to legal three times confirming it all. Um when >> you can see the contract publicly. So >> I I did I was reading that. However, I'm still lost on this because if it's not, we're not discussing extending her contract. Then what's the purpose for the amendment? >> You have to remember too, she is an employee of no public school. >> I understand that. >> And there are other items on that contract that >> you want. Wouldn't
026you want to do that? No, because since she requested an extension and we had started negotiations per her contract, we had to have voted by July 1st. That doesn't null and void anything now just because there is no extension. >> Exactly. But she waved that right. Correct. >> No, she did not. >> She waved it to move it forward. the extension, but she did not but she did not wave it. She agreed in discussion to move it. She has not waved her rights to it. >> So why wouldn't why wouldn't we just have why wouldn't we just open it up in reference to extending it in discussion in reference to extending it? You're you basically just indicated that you know she waved the contract extension part of it. So that's that's where I'm lost at.
027So if she waved that right and then now we're asking to to vote on to ex to amend it. I'm I'm confused. I'm truly confused. So what are we amending? >> Moving the extension to a later date. The negotiations have already started. When's the when's the extension later date going to be? >> It's going to be in September. >> We need to do Dr. Australa's review, Howard. And that's something that we would have done in the spring retreat in June. And if you remember, that got cancelled. So, we have to have the retreat in September to do Dr. Estraa's review. >> I know that you may not be able to give details. Are there other are there there are other amendments also there? There's nothing else other than just the movement or the the pushing
028of the extension. >> We can't discuss anything that's in negotiations at the moment because of confidentiality, but she is an employee of North Public Schools. >> Okay. And just to clarify for folks who maybe have not seen this process before, the process of us voting to delegate for the board chair to sign the contract is pretty standard. Correct. Like >> correct. >> Right. Every year one individual the chair signs whomever that chair may be and it's um the board has still discussed what the items are like we know what the contract is but one individual signs the entire board does not sign. So that piece of this is just standard procedural >> correct >> just for folks who um >> for anyone that asks that's always been a procedure forever. It's always been that the
029board has to give the chair. Any other questions, concerns? Sherry, I know that you were going to um say something, but I don't know if you other Okay. Yes. I just am in supportive of moving the order because I want to make sure that we are in compliance. Right now we are out of compliance with her contract and at minimum we need to be able to do that. So I will support this. >> Okay. Thank you Sharon. >> All right. So I need a motion for action to delegate the board chairperson authority on behalf of the board of education to amend the board superintendent contract with no contract extension. Motion >> McCreaty Pritchette motion to move this forward. >> Thank you. Seconded by Carol. All in favor, please say I and say your name because
030I can't see everybody. >> I Mary Ashley. >> Thank you. And a no. >> No from Howard. >> Thank you, Howard. Next item, approval to authorize Superintendent Dr. Alexandra Estraa to execute any and all agreements and other documents including the engagement letter necessary to retain the outside council to represent the board of ed in the insulin pricing lawsuits. Dr. Straa, >> thank you u Madam Chair. So um I'll have Lunda speak in greater detail because um he's been collaborating with the city. The city is um joining this class action lawsuit um that I am recommending the board to also participate in. This is not a lawsuit against us. This is a lawsuit that we will be putting on behalf of uh the district. And this lawsuit is as a result of um overcharges in insulin
031um prescriptions when we were self-insured back in 2002. Um this was happening over a course of approximately 10 years and um the city as well as many uh municipalities across the country and states as well as districts that had this um potent alleged um incident happen are participating in uh this uh class action lawsuit. So, in order for us to be participants, I would need the board's approval to um sign on behalf of uh the board of education in uh being active participants in uh the class action suit. Mr. Omani, did I miss anything? >> Uh no, you didn't. Um again as as you indicated this is a national lawsuit that targets major um our insulin uh manufacturers Eli Lely Novo Nordisk Seni and these are all pharmacy benefit uh managers. So the allegations in
032the lawsuit are that they engage in anti-competitive practices and deceptive pricing which artificially inflated the price uh for insulin. How this impacts the BOE is that because we are uh jointly working with the city and when we were self-insured, we were jointly self-insured with Express Scripts. That's the firm that was our pharmacy benefit manager and this was for a period from 2004 to 2017. So, this does make the board of ed um potentially eligible for compensation due to these inflated uh pricing. As far as action so far, uh the city council, common council took action on June 24th. Uh they voted to move forward with it and we are working with the attorneys um as well. But because we are we're a standalone entity, but we're also part of the city when we were self-insured.
033And so for legal purposes, they do need the board to kind of agree to join the city in moving forward. The common council um has already done so. And so what we're asking today is just uh for your approval to allow to authorize the superintendent to move forward and sign any documentation that require uh the superintendent signature. Uh the mayor has already signed on behalf of the city for this. >> Thank you for that information. Can I ask uh just a clarifying question? This there's no cost to the district to join this class action lawsuit. >> Correct. uh there's no cost to the district nor to the city. What they will do is whatever they recover they will work on a contingency and a a portion of that revenue will go towards uh we do
034have a number of districts in the state that have already signed up. Um in addition to us the city of Hartford city and schools Bridgeport city and schools, New Haven city and schools waterberry city and schools have already signed up. Um, as we're going through this summer, more and more cities will also be signing up for this, not only in the state, but outside of the country. It'll be similar to that tobacco lawsuit if you remember a few years back. Um, so it's very, very similar, but again, there is no out-ofpocket cost to the district or the city um at this time. So again this is the kind of situation where um these companies were overinflating their prices so that people who we ensure so an employee potentially has a family member who has to
035have insulin was paying more than they should have been paying for insulin and this was going on since 2002. is that allegations, >> right? And so the way this class action works, assuming that they win it, the attorneys will collect their piece of money and then we will potentially get money from them per the money that we lost when they were over inflating their prices. Correct, >> Cherry? >> Yes, >> that's okay. I just want to be sure about that. I mean I think this is something that I mean simply we need to get involved with this. >> What about the actual um employees and their families who were paying these inflated prices? Are there any um you know rewards for them here or does it just all come to the district? >> No. So
036this is part part of the lawsuit. So depending on once the allegation substantiated a determination will be made on what portion of this was overpaid by the employee, what portion was overpaid by the district and the distribution will be made accordingly. So um the employees who overpaid will also be compensated as part of this. >> Got it. >> Yeah, it seems like a no-brainer to >> Thank you, Linda. And which if I could ask which department receives the funds whenever it happens? >> Well, because we were self-insured and so at the time of self-insurance, we had two buckets. There was a board of ed just as is now. There's a board of ed bucket and there's a city bucket. >> And so once the determination, the calculations are done, um the the refunds, for lack
037of a better word, will go to those respective will go to those respective units. um in terms of where the money was was spent out of but our internal service fund it is one big fund that's a city fund with multiple buckets between the board and the city and so uh we'll determine how that get redistributed between the entities >> is there any uh time frame on this >> no there is not at this time as some as you know these things take some time um trying to get once to get everybody signed up in the class action takes time and then the court will eventually play its course. So this will probably take some time to get resolved. >> And regarding Dr. Shoya's time commitment, is there anything once if given the approval to
038sign, what else would take, you know, that she would have to give her time to? Are there appearances? Are there meetings? Are there discuss like you get what I mean? >> I don't sure we're represented by council and so council will be the ones making most of the facetime. I mean we've already had to prepare um you know we've already had to pull contracts uh with the with the providers and the pharmacy managers. So most of the work will be done on the back end. Um but in terms of giving testimony and and those types of things, many of the people that are involved are no longer with the city or with the district and so most of the time will be dedicated by the attorneys representing us. >> Thank you. I think one of
039the things Jasine just for for your awareness because um we've done this uh in other cases um similar circumstances I would keep the board in informed if we need to go into an executive session to further discuss the ma the matter we would and we would have the attorneys involved present to just um provide the board with updates and uh whatever relevant information in regards to the case that the board might have to take further action at a later time. >> Okay. So, I need a motion to authorize Superintendent Dr. Alexander Strea to execute any and all agreements and other documents, including the engagement letter necessary to retain outside counsel to represent the board of education in the insulin pricing lawsuits. Motion Cara. Okay. Motion by Cara, seconded by Jasmine. All in favor, please say
040I. Raise your hands. >> I actually >> Okay, thank you. That's unanimous. And um the last item on the agenda is update on federal grants. Hopefully, we get some good news. >> Unfortunately, no. Oh. >> Um, so we wanted to provide the board with an update uh regarding where we stand with some of our federal uh dollars and uh the work that we've been doing uh as a team just keeping uh track of the scope of where things are, the potential impact in the organization at large and um with the hopes to further engage the board as we acquire additional information on how the board wishes to engage. Um, as the board uh may be already heard, I uh said yesterday the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the president being able to eliminate departments
041uh which uh would has placed the the US Department of Education at risk of being eliminated. And um alongside that there has been um certain actions that have been taken that uh has created circumstances where certain funding have not been released and these fund these funding sources are tied with current um jobs and roles that are critical for us to do the role. Can you uh transition to the next slide please? So um the team today wants to provide uh the board not only with some background information and how the federal government is looking at different components but also helping define certain terms for clarity. I want we want to take some time to look at uh the federal grants and the impact of some of these grants being um placed on hold and then
042what are what does that mean for us as a as a learning community and the work that we need to do. So I'm going to turn it now to Mr. Omani and other members of the team that will be um presenting on different components of the federal grants and where we are. >> Um thank you superintendent. Can everybody see the slides? >> Yes. >> Okay. Thank you. Um, so just to give some background, I'll give some background and then Miss Fyois and Mr. Gerlac will talk about the specifics of Nor public schools. Um, just what is empoundment? Um, empoundment is basically when the president delays or withhold funds that are already approved by Congress. So these funds have already been approved by Congress, but the president does have powers to impound, which is basically uh
043what is happening now. um these this empoundment act was authorized in 1974. So this was when the law came into effect. Uh why this matters to us is because every time funds are not released to us, it does mean fewer resources in this instance for schools and potentially if these funds are not eventually released, it does put pressure on states and districts to fill some of these funding gaps. So the total empoundment at this point is anywhere between 6.2 two to7 billion depending on um how you categorize the funding. But these are primarily key educational grants uh that are now unavailable. The way that this impounding is impacting is all of the states and territories in the United States. The total dollars that we're talking about amount anywhere between 10% to 15% of overall K
044through 12 funding. about 17% and territories um are impacted by more than 15% of their overall funding as far as uh looking at the state Connecticut and then our local public schools level. So you could see that the $6.2 billion is across these uh five uh major grants migrant education our title two title three title 4 and then what we refer to as the 21st century grants. So at the state level at the national level it's about 14.4% 4%. For the state of Connecticut, the total empoundment is $46.8 million. Statewide, this is almost 12% of all education funding that comes to the state. We have begun our initial review of how this impacts our budget for this year for Norwok. It's a little over a million dollars at this time, which is about almost 3.2%
045of our overall grants. um title two, title three and title four are impacted and the next couple of slides will go into detail in what these are. But it is also important to know that we do have a number of agencies in the community that partner with the school district to get some of these fundings and the biggest partner here locally is the Carver Foundation. So they provide uh pre uh before school and after school supports in our schools. uh this funding is only available to them and about 840,000 these are numbers we just got today from Navallet at the Cover Foundation is what they're looking at potential impacts to them. This is money that 100% funds our students here in Norwok public schools for before and after. So any loss of this funding is
046not just a loss to the coverver but it means that we as a district will now have to determine how we continue to provide these uh before school and after school services. Uh these are just preliminary numbers. We just learned of this. So these numbers will continue to grow. Uh the Carver Foundation did receive early on there were some reductions that they received um and we did have to work with the city to cover to cover some gaps. I see Dr. Estraa you wanted to add a couple of points there. >> You already you already um stated it. I was just going to reiterate if the board recalls we had some challenges um one uh about two about one or two years ago where the the 21st century grants uh didn't come in at the
047level that we were expecting and we collaborated with the city and getting additional resources to fund the Carver program to make sure that we had the before and after care and and programming because they also provide academic supports, homework help in a number of different um support structures for our scholars. So, losing this opportunity will deplete us from having some uh critical services that aid in maintaining uh the the the programming structures that have facilitated a lot of the positive academic outcomes that we've had thus far. >> Thank you. And now I'm gonna pass it on to um Miss Fyoist and Jay Gerlac to go over the next couple of slides just to give you some more detailed nor specific information. >> Thank you Mr. Omani. So we have received confirmation of which grants have
048been impounded. I mean that's the information that we have so far. One of them is the title 2 part A um grant. So this is not to be confused with like title one which all schools get and go directly to the schools. Title 2's purpose is really to enhance um curriculum the curriculum department um curriculum initiatives uh and to improve the quality of effectiveness for teachers. Uh currently we're standing to lose 405,000 almost $46,000 uh which is a a big grant to to be losing. And then um there are quite a few number of staff that are um funded through that grant. As you can see down there, when we say 2.2 FTEES, FTEES of the full-time employment positions, um it means that part of one person's salary is in there and then two uh
049full salaries are in there. That's what that means. when you see that and there's also other programming there. The other one is title three part A. Now title three part A um the purpose of this grant is to help us with our MLL population. Um this could be anything from hiring teachers to uh support staff to everything like curriculum um development and professional development. Um, so the title three part A is one that has also been communicated to us. Uh, you could see that this grant is $318 um,,000. So if you're doing the math, you could see that we're approaching um, $800,000 at this point. And with this grant, we have four staff members that are paid for within this grant, as well as some other programming. and um title 4 um actually um Jay
050Gerlac, Mr. Gerlac is here and we we had him join us because he has been instrumental in writing Title 4. Do you want to go over Title 4, Mr. Gerlac? >> Yeah. Hi everyone. Jay Gerlock, director of grants. Good to see you tonight. >> Thank you. >> So Title 4 um is really one of those grants that just provides well-rounded education to improve academic achievement for students. Um, in years past we've it's supported a lot of our after school arts programming. Um, it's supported technology. It's supported laptops, smartboards, those kind of things. And, um, as you can see below, we have about $294,000 in that grant that we've been allocated for this year. And um there's no staff in it, but it does go towards really vital programs like our district-wide mentorship program, our workforce
051development, dual enrollment programs, um a portion of our IB program lives within title 4, as well as student internship programs that we have um going on. So it's it's a it's a vital grant that no public schools relies on every year. >> And then Um before you advance because we don't know the other one that I'm sorry um Mr. Gerlac for interrupting. These are the three that we have confirmation have been impounded. The next one we want to talk about as an update but are there any questions regarding these three the title two the title three and the title four. >> So as of right now we're losing possible we're losing seven teachers seven staff. It's not teacher staff. >> It's staff because this is a combination a combination of um administrators, teaching staff, and
052support staff. >> And that's what that's what it stands. Yes. >> So, we're starting this school year. Mine is still seven staff as >> we we haven't gotten notice yet. I'm sorry, Mr. Esmani. Are you going to speak on what empoundment like what that means and what you've learned from the state? >> Yes. >> Is that what you were going to do? Okay. Go ahead. >> Yes. From what I've learned from the state, once it's impounded, there are about 45 days for Congress to take action. That deadline expires August 14th. Um, and so in order for funds to be impounded, the president has to give notice to Congress, uh, which he has. And then within the next 45 days, Congress either um agrees with empoundment or or disagrees with empoundment. So there's some technical things
053that happen, but we'll know for sure what happens on August 14th, whether the full amount is impounded, whether there'll be conversations and a portion of it is impounded. So there's a chance that we may not lose all of it, we may lose some, we may lose none. Uh but everybody's being put on notice just so that you know what could potentially happen. So worst case scenario is we lose we lose all of it. >> Now the other piece too is this is money that flows through the state. So in the event that this money doesn't come to us there is an option where the state intervenes um either through its savings or however tries to make districts whole. But we will know more um as we approach kind of like that August 14th end of
054August timeline to know what the actual impact is. For example, if it's totally impounded, we'll know that and then we will know whether the state is going to provide any stop gap funding to keep us whole or partially whole. But potentially, to your point, Mr. White, uh we are potentially looking at seven FTEEs if this was impounded and if there's no additional funding that comes to the district >> and we'll know more. We'll know more um mid August. >> Correct. I I think we need to also articulate that we have been in conversations uh with the city the city um and BET are aware of um this potential loss and um we've been in active communication with them just to make sure that they are uh uh you know a breast of uh some of
055the potential losses that are resulting in the empowerment or potential like um elimination of federal funding that has been critical to some of the programs that we have across the organization. >> Mr. Omani Sherry here. So, just to kind of put a point on how disruptive this is, can you just outline to us typically what happens with these grants as we approach a new school year? What is the typical protocol that we go through? >> I'm going to defer to Miss Fyos on that one because there is a timeline of grant notifications and and all of that. >> Thank you. So typically around now we would have gotten some notifications of what has been allotted to us. So for the grants that are still safe like the one that we said the alliance grade the
056prior the um the alliance grant the priority schools grant um those amounts have already been shared with us and they opened up those applications in order for us to begin the planning for the opening of the school year. So we would have expected that from all our grants. And so what this means for us is that if we move forward uh with the planning like let's just say if we consider ourselves flatfunded and we move forward with the planning because that's what we do even in our SBB conversations or school-based budget conversations is we assume a flat funding just so that we could um meet the deadlines of our budget. Um, and if we move forward with that, we're entering the fall um as if we were going to be getting these grants. And then
057if um if we don't receive notice by August or if we receive some sort of notice by August, it would actually mean that we would be um scrambling to find out what do we do with these staff people or we would turn back to Dr. ESA and to the board to say um is this something that we go before the city? But we should know by um mid August what our stance is in terms of this funding but we would have heard by now what our amounts are. I hope that answers that. >> Thank you. >> Yeah. >> And I have a question. I'm just looking at this slide and I see here in the list of programs the international balorat programs and I know that we have that embedded in I think both of
058our high schools and most of our middle schools. I mean what does that look like? You know how do we like does that mean like these programs literally get like extracted out of the schools that like that's what would happen? >> I think we just went through the approval and accredititation process. It would be really unfortunate that we would have to do um something of that nature. Depending on um where this lands, I think we would have to regroup and have conversations about what we how we prioritize and >> where we could potentially find a different additional resources to maintain the programs that are in play. particularly because um any shift right now in personnel will create a new process that would um engage bumping and rifting which we just completed. Um we would have
059to engage in that process again. So I I think it's important just to tie to this and you can understand the complexity of what this would mean if we lose these resources. It's important for us to go into the conversation um around title 4 part D which is our MSAP grants which is a magnet. Um >> I'm sorry can we advance the slide because it'll actually that's that was the next one. These those were the confirmed ones. Yeah. But go ahead. Mhm. >> So besides um the traditional grants that we have been receiving um in an ongoing yearly basis, as you recall, we applied for um the Magnus School assistance program grant that allowed us over the course of um five years $3 million. In that grant, we currently have nine FTEES that provide an
060an array of different supports to bring to fruition the expectations of uh the magnet funding that we receive. Jay, do you want to speak in um greater detail on this because I know you had some points you wanted to make about this before I go into other components. >> Yeah, absolutely. Thank you, Dr. Stra. So, yeah, the the MSAP grant is a grant we received two years ago. Um, it's a five-year grant, $15 million spread, so spread out over the course of five years. And it um is led by Dr. Black and it is at PEK, Ponis, and Kendall. And it's basically, you know, as you can see here in this slide, to attract a diverse group of students and desegregate public schools is really what it boils down to. And so um creating kind
061of an interd district school and pathway centered around STEM and career readiness at those three schools, college and career readiness. And so, you know, while this isn't part of the empoundment that we alluded to earlier, this is a federal grant and knowing what we know about, you know, potential dismantling of the Department of Education, we just wanted to present this to the board so that they have this um on alert and just so the board knows that um federal grants are on a different timeline. So, state grants are on uh um July 1st to June 30th timeline and federal grants like this one are on a October 1st to a September 30th timeline. So, they're on a little bit of a different timeline. So, we wanted to show you this in advance knowing that October
0621st seems just around the corner. And given that this is tied to title four funding and we are learning that title 4 has uh is it has been impounded and the the buzz is that these resources might not be available in uh future fiscal years we have to assume that there is a possibility that these resources would also become obsolete. So we want to bring awareness to the board because now we're talking about close to seven positions in the other federal fund funds and an additional nine totaling approximately 15 FTEES across the organization and um if we lose these resources and these resource these fund funding sources are not uh replenished or provide acquired in other ways then we are going to face the difficult challenge or of making uh personnel eliminations before the start
063of the academic school year. So, at this point, we we're going to open it up for Q&A, but um I thought it was important for the board to have context of where we are with federal grants, the work that the team has been doing. um one in keeping uh up to date in terms of the shifts and um conversations happening at the state but also at the federal level. This is a continuously moving target. So as we acquire more information, we will keep the board ab breast so that the board can make the best informed decisions in terms of how we want to proceed moving forward uh to to make sure that we can continue to do as best as we can given the current limitations the possible our children families. >> So my question
064is too. >> Is it okay to ask a question? Is somebody else going to make some more presentations? >> No. No. Yeah. >> So, >> no, no, it was um we're up to Q&A. >> So, if this were to happen that we were um subject to losing or uh 17 16 15 16 staff, then that would mean that we would be looking at the rift process again per union contracts, right? We would be resorting to that in order to eliminate these positions before the start of the school year >> potentially unless we find in other places. Yes. >> Or or if we get better news. Okay. >> Yes. >> Thank you. >> I I had a question. How is there anything that we or the public who are listening and want to be involved can
065do as far as advocating? I mean, is this a reach out to your congressperson and encourage them to release these funds by that August 14th deadline? Like um anything that we can do to help advocate for this? >> The empowerment is is by uh the president. Um so I I I think the best course of action is advocating to um our Congress men to take action. All right. Because they have until um August Lunda, remind me cor if I'm correct. August 14:15. Um that 45 day time span. >> Yes. So like reaching out and advocating for action that favorably supports maintaining the resources that we were expecting given what was approved would um hopefully help in um encouraging them to understand the importance of the schools maintaining these resources that have been instrumental in supporting
066families and students. I mean, Ashley, we know our Congress people are going to vote the right way. >> Um, I would say to anybody listening that, um, the people who need to, you know, be hearing from their constituents are the Congress people in the states who probably are not going to vote the right way on this. That's why I would be reaching out. Yeah, I I I agree that I feel pretty confident in our Connecticut Congress folks, but I would still reach out to them because they should hear it and they they keep track of everything. But I agree wholeheartedly, Cara, for anyone listening, for anyone here, >> you know, if you've got friends and family around the country and you can take a few minutes to share with them just how serious the implications
067of this are and encourage them to reach out to their Congress people, that um >> would be really important. They take calls from non-constituents as well. They do log them. >> That's true. >> Matter. >> I mean, we're we're losing so many resources even with the dismantling of the Department of Education where 1300 employees were released um as of yesterday and a lot of them played critical roles in supporting states uh around federal funding and aid. Now those individuals are not there to really provide the support and advocacy that uh we have been accustomed to and has been instrumental in in effectively moving practice and work across the nation. So it's um something to be concerned of. But any advocacy would obviously help. I think that that's the conclusion of our presentation. I'm sorry that
068we don't have better news, but I I thought it was critical for the board to be um and the public to be informed of of where the federal aid um empowerment process is, the impact of it and its implication and how we can effectively move forward as an organization. We've already had significant reductions uh made even after getting the $6.5 million that will inevitably impact the effectiveness of the systems and structures that we have established that have yielded such positive outcomes for us as an organization. Um when we compare ourselves to other city school districts across the state, we are outperforming in so many ways. Um even with graduation rate alone being the only city school district with graduation rates over 90% speaks volume to the work that our teachers, school leaders, par educators, and
069other personnel have been doing on behalf of our students in collaboration with our families and community. Um, so as we continue to advocate and um, speak on behalf of our families, I think it's important for the board to have awareness of on the ground level what the direct and immediate impact has been in um, some of these reductions. and we will continue to work alongside you to find the best possible solution in a not of best or most ideal circumstances. So, thank you for your leadership and um for your support as we continue to navigate unchartered waters and territory because this has never happened before. Um, similar to the pandemic, every day we're learning something new and um, we will be proactively looking at ways in which we can find solutions to this challenging uh,
070climate. >> I turn it over back to you, Madam Chair. >> Thank you very much. I just wanted to say thank you to everybody that was here today. Um, like I said, you know, it's uh summertime and some of us are on vacation and working remotely. Um, thank you for the team and everyone that has worked really hard even during the summer. You know, people think schools are closed in the summer. No one's working, but Dr. Stray and her team are constantly working. As you see, you know, they're discussing all different types of subjects and grants and things like that. Um, so with that being said, I'd like a motion to adjurnn. Jasmine seconded by Ashley. Thank you everyone and I thank you everyone. Thank you.