001Welcome everyone. I'd like to call the Monday, October 20th, 2025 board of education meeting to order at 7:02 p.m. Uh, can we all stand for the pledge of allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the stands nationy and justice for all. Okay. Uh, mission statement. Ken, would you uh be kind enough to read that our mission statement? >> Be happy to. The elementary school district recognizes that the education of each child is the shared responsibility of every member of our community. Our goal is to inspire and empower each student to achieve academic excellence, embrace social and individual responsibility, and lead with integrity. We believe all individuals should be valued and treated with respect. Together, we will make a difference. Thank you for that. And we will move over to board
002introductions. And I'm going to start with Amanda on that side. >> Thank you. Amanda Zapatka, >> Ronette James, Liz Ter, >> Carmen Rodriguez. >> Hello, Ken Zimman, >> Susan Ria, >> Jeff Cap, >> Tatiana Msina Mullen, Betty Hadlock, Anthony Scarenzi. >> Okay, welcome again everyone to our meeting tonight. Uh, we are going to move over to public participation. Uh do we have anyone in the public uh wishing to uh go ahead and do public participation tonight? If so, uh you'll go head to the podium. State your name and address. So, do we have any takers for public participation? >> Second chance. >> Okay. >> I know as you were saying second chance, I was like, well, I do have a question. Um, hold on one second. >> All right, let then let Susan brief. One
003second. >> Speakers may offer objective comments to the board concerning school operations and programs. Comments will be limited to two minutes per speaker. The board encourages speakers not to express personal complaints or defamatory comments about the Orange Board of Education personnel or any person associated with the Orange Public School System. Comments about security issues, matters related to due process, negotiations, or grievances will not be permitted. Consistent with the principles of the Federal Education Right to Privacy Act, Burpa, discussions about students are prohibited absent a written parent waiver. Public participation does not allow for two-way conversation between the board and the participants. We thank you for expressing your thoughts and opinions. All comments will be taken into consideration. >> Thank you. Um, I'm Lauren Gray. I live at 205 Wilson Road. Um I didn't get a
004chance to email you guys this. Um or I would have sent an email to ask. Um Governor Lamont announced today that there was a $5 million grant in state funding for afterchool grants. Um he announced that there were 41 grants across 30 municipalities that were awarded. Um and I saw our neighbors Bethany, Milford, and West Haven on here. Um, the grant was for afterchool programs that provide academic supports and enrichment opportunities beyond the school day. And I was wondering if Orange Board of Education applied for this. I know it's not a two-way conversation, but just wanted to ask because I saw our neighbors on here and I know how important um, Century 21 is. My son goes to after school um, and it is a really great program, but just wanted to ask if Orange
005applied. Thank you. >> Okay, thank you for that. I can this is to you not to the uh to Mrs. Gray but as as we the board knows we've applied to many grants. Some we receive we and some we don't. This one we did not receive. We did apply but the year before as you know we did receive it. Sometimes I use the analogy of our schools and sometimes I receive calls. So again we have four schools Marielle Tracy Turkey Hill School and Racebrook. And typically when one school gets another, the other school say, "How come they've got it and we haven't?" You know, and I and I do make that association with the state too that it fluctuates. We've talked about and even uh Mr. Gray in our previous meeting, he's mentioned about the
006uh school security grants. Sometimes we've received it, sometimes we haven't. So um but to the board, um just as a refresher to all of you, we have and we continue to apply and yes, that notification did come out from the governor today. >> All right. Thank you for that uh update and reminder to us. Uh any other public public participation before we close that? No. Okay. We will move on to our consent agenda. I'll need a motion to accept the first item under the consent agenda. The first item is the minutes from the September 15, 2025 board of education meeting. Do I have a motion to accept the minutes from the September 15, 2025 board of education meeting, Liz? Second, Susan. Any discussion? I'm sorry. Oh, I'm Amanda. Okay. Well, I'm gonna have to get
007my seating chart out again. So, um I will go with Amanda. And I'm sorry, Liz. And then I still think Susan had her hand up second. Any uh discussion? No. All in favor? Any? And Ken will abstain. Thank you, Ken. Okay. Going to move over to uh our presentation technology update from Mr. Armstrong. >> Thank you. Uh thank you for allowing me the opportunity to present our technology updates this evening. Uh our technology staff supports our uh teachers, staff, students, parents, guardians. Uh we are centrally located here at the board of education. Um we are all crossrained to handle any issue at any school. Uh if anybody needs any support, they can email our help desk at tech support-ed.org. I just want to take a few minutes to go over uh some important areas of
008our website for any uh new u parents to the district or or any uh returning parents to the district. Uh you can find us at www.oes.org. Um if you see here on the upper right hand corner of each of our web pages, we have a uh language translate tool. Uh this allows any parent to go in and you can uh select that uh language dropdown and pick one of over 250 languages and it will convert that. Um what's good about it is it will convert it for every page. So you only have to do it once. Uh which is helpful. We have uh many different u families in orange and they speak about 29 different languages. in the top center of our uh web page on every page is our family resources link. Uh this
009is a link to all of our um it's a repository for all of our frequently commonly used uh pages from our parents. Uh if you're looking for popular forms, you can click on that link and get to our popular forms. We did add a school messenger link. If you click on that, it will take you to the school messenger information. Uh, school messenger allows our schools to send emergency uh, alerts as well as messages to our parents via phone, text or email. Uh, if parents haven't signed up for school messenger, they can click that link uh, and it will take them to this page where it will give them instructions on how to opt in or sign into school messenger. Uh some parents have uh contacted our tech support and asked us where on the
010website is our uh calendar. Um we've prominently displayed it here uh in the bottom of the family resources page, but it can also be found at each of our school um websites under uh um school information. >> I'm sorry. Sorry about that. Parents want to go to our uh power school portal. Sorry. Uh parents will want to go to our power school portal. Um that's where uh they will sign into their power school there. If they've got um one or more children, they'll see their children's name in the upper leftand corner. Um they can then if they want to get their uh children's report cards, they can click on student reports. If they have any forms, click on that link in the menu as well. If they want to uh make any lunch or online
011payments, they can do that there as well. We here at Orange take school and security safety uh uh uh very seriously. Um so if you are a parent in the district and you're around our schools, if you see something, we encourage you to say something. If you see something that isn't right, uh gives you a funny feeling, something that just seems out of place, we encourage you to reach out to a school principles or staff members and SRO officer uh and report it. If uh you're uncomfortable with doing that, you can come over here to our website and click on the safe schools tip line and you can also do that anonymously as well. Parents have also asked us about Chromebook insurance. Um we do offer it. It's through our partner Smart Techch. Uh it
012is $29 a year. Um the it runs from the coverage starts uh July 1, 2025 through uh June 30, 2026. Uh it covers everything from damage, lost, and theft. Uh if any parent out there would like to inquire about it, um they can reach out to our tech support and our staff uh will assist you with that process. We do lots of pro uh tech services does uh lots of projects uh throughout the year. Um a lot of the big projects we do uh over the summer months uh the summer break uh specifically so that we're not disrupting the uh teachers and students during the teaching and learning uh throughout the year. Uh the other reason is is the the buildings being empty empty. Uh it gives us a little bit of wiggle room around
013the schools. Uh one of our projects that we work on every year is we will um after school ends we will go to every school, collect all the Chromebooks. uh we will clean them, repair them, update our inventory, and get them back into the cart charging, getting them ready for the beginning uh of uh the first day of school in the upcoming school year. Um over this summer, uh one of the projects that we worked on was we needed to update all of our uh computers from uh Windows 10 operating system to the Windows 11 operating system as the Windows 10 operating system is no longer supported. A big project that we had over the summer as well um was we purchased and implemented the Masha Briner Associates MBA Cafe. Uh and that is a
014uh student and staff lunch program. Um we purchased that to help streamline point of sales and uh to accommodate the state mandates on lunch programs. Uh this program works specifically with P school. Uh it's very userfriendly. Um it has you can have uh multiple menus. It's a really nice program. Uh tech services continues to upgrade our security devices through security grants and any um budgeted line items. We also continue to educate and train our staff in all things technology. Specifically, uh we will train them in how to recognize and avoid any suspicious emails uh in regards to uh fishing emails and spam. Um spec specifically, we'll uh try to train them what to do, but what not to do if they receive it as well. Um we our technology services team participated in an IT
015network audit uh over this uh school year. Um and what the audit does is allows us to identify weaknesses in our network as well as to improve security controls and enhance data protection. Uh data protection. Our web filtering and web monitoring tools. We use our uh firewall and go guardian. uh they work similarly uh hand in hand to block inappropriate websites, inappropriate content and uh advertisements that our teachers and students may run across while they're on their devices. GoG Guardian specifically works on Chromebooks. Um and that has a recovery feature on it. So if a Chromebook were to go missing, um we can uh enable that recovery feature and we can track a missing Chromebook within 90 meters of where it sits. Uh we also have a free program uh so free software called Bark.
016And what Bark does is it monitors our uh data um and looks for specific terms or words that are associated with cyber bullying and self harm. Our students continue to use quick cards to help them log in uh efficiently. Um the quick cards can be used through all students kindergarten through grade six. It is primarily used for kindergarten through um second graders. They're not as efficient as typing as some of their upper classmates. We update our five-year plan continuously and look for to try to find ways to upgrade our infrastructure and our hardware for any uh legacy or um aging uh equipment. I've attached uh at the bottom of this our technology long-range hardware plan. I want to thank the board um the board members Dr. Scott Petty, Dr. Russo, Mike Gray, the rest of
017the staff, as well as my team of tech um for all the work that you guys do to help make us successful uh in what we do. I'd be happy to answer any questions that you may have. >> Thank you, Neil, for that. Um I have two quick questions. Um, regarding the insurance, do you have do you feel like there's a lot of parents that take the insurance out? >> There haven't been a lot that take it out. Um, there have been a couple here and there. Um, but they have asked about it. >> Okay. Um, and then have you had issues where they did not have the insurance, but they've had to pay to repair the computer because it's become damaged otherwise. >> Um, there have been a couple of instances over the years
018where um the there was Chromebook damage where we've reached out to the parent. >> Okay. And just curious, could you give a ballpark figure what that repair might have cost that parent? So, if they had the insurance for $29. It could have saved them how much? >> I would have to research and get that specific information for you. Um, >> okay. >> Each Chromebook part has a cost to it. So, you know, a screen could cost around $40 to fix. So, if it was a broken screen, they would have saved money right away. But again, I'll have to get specific information for you on that. >> Okay. And that's what I was trying to get at. Okay. And then, uh, the second question was SMS texting. Um, because I know there was a new law
019that came out a year ago and it actually affected us at my current employer. Um, has there been any issues with text messages going out >> um at all with your the service that you guys are using? >> Um, >> they've been going out, right? You haven't had >> We haven't had any issues. Parents have to opt into Oh, they do. >> Yes, they do have to opt in. Uh, which is why there's a information page for them to opt in. Okay. >> Um, we do encourage our our our parents to do that, especially for inclement weather that's going to be happening soon. So, we want to make sure our parents don't miss any of those notifications. >> Good call, >> Mr. Cap. That was part of um my report just to briefly mention that
020the winter weather advisory letters out. The only issues we've had last year that we've talked about is that parents haven't opt in. And so I want to remind parents, all of you watching at home, even if you think you've done it, please do it. I know uh part of our conversations, we've talked about maybe even doing a test to the entire district of warning parents, hey, we're just going to send something out. If you don't get it, that means you haven't opt in. And so, um, that's one piece. >> The other piece that say >> because we're gonna we're going to send notification >> of saying there's going to be a test No. Well, yes. >> Yes. >> And then we'll have it on a specific time and date and then they could say if
021they received it or not. Um what happened last year is a few people staff and parents did not receive it and they for whatever reason did not opt in that that year. And then just uh briefly on a few things that uh Neil has shared is really the feedback we received from parents. So number one, the insurance we got that information from our parents. So we appreciated them reaching out and saying, "Listen, have you thought about this?" Because um that's something that they heard of. Uh the other piece was Bark. Bark is actually a free P platform that protects our students. So we always want feedback. We uh appreciate it and uh some of the times we actually are able to impact that. And those are just two examples. we have. So, thank you to
022for the parents who have reached out and helped us and guide us. >> Go ahead. >> Regarding the insurance, again, I don't want to beat a dead horse, but how would parents have known about the insurance but for this presentation? Because is it posted anywhere? This is the first I'm hearing of it. So, where would they find this information out? >> So, I I believe it's in the handbook as well as on the website, but I can get all that information for you to make sure >> it's it's in the handbook. >> And is it for Chromebooks that only are taken home or is it for Chromebooks that are also used in the classroom if something goes arai in the classroom? >> It it could be for Chromebooks in the classroom as well. >> Thank
023you. >> Hopefully, we won't have to face a situation where students are taking Chromebooks again. Maybe if there is a medical issue, that's something different. But the only times when every child has taken a Chromebook home was during the pandemic. So, but accidents do happen. Students are responsible for that even in the school. >> Anyone else? Betty, >> I first want to say thank you to Neil for sharing all that information and what's been going on with the technology committee or techn technology support team. But I wonder um you know when Tatiana just said how would you know about the insurance um I guess I'm I'm wondering how many parents actually use the use the website. Well, I know that um this is just an aside, but my gu the garden club of Orange has
024a beautiful website and our web master actually designed a scavenger hunt that they sent out or they handed out to people to members to make them navigate the website and there was a prize for someone who actually completed the scavenger hunt. So, I don't know if it's just something to think about because I have a feeling that there are other parents who probably aren't aware that there are certain things on the website that they that would be helpful to them. >> Thank you. That's a good idea. I like that. Okay. >> I just I haven't seen it. I don't remember how big the handbook is, but but I would I would think if there's something like this that we really wanted all parents to get, um, we could do a better job than just putting
025it in the handbook. >> Amanda, >> I feel like we're all jumping on the insurance right now. Um my question is >> does the school get any of that $29? And if they don't and like everyone's saying if parents were made aware of it that hey maybe my child should have that insurance. Is that something that we can put an extra few dollars on that would raise money for the PTA or PTO? >> I would have to check and see. We have a a partner in but I'd have to double check and see if the school gets any of that. In some schools they um the way they sell it is that the school gets to keep a dollar or two. >> They can't do it for PTO's though or PTAs. They have to it
026has to be something that the company is doing and saying, "Hey, we're only going to charge this and you'll be paying that, right? You can't do it for PTO." >> Okay. >> Run it. >> Um Neil, thank you so much for your presentation. Um so at AMD, I have a junior at AMD. um we have to uh it's a mandatory form we have to fill out and we have to say yes or no if we want the insurance and then we get build. Um so and that's all through powers school. Uh so it's pretty easy. Um and um the second question were you guys completely down today because I know my district was. >> So there was an issue with class link. Class link was down. Uh so CL we sign in with the single
027sign on through class link. Uh so class link had some issues. Uh so people couldn't get in through the class link portal but if they were to log in say to uh powers school directly they would be able to get into those. It was just a throughway of class link. Um for us here that came back up this afternoon but we were monitoring that throughout the day. >> So business as usual now. >> Yes. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> And yeah, Anthony, >> great presentation, Neil. Thanks. Just real quick, um, which, if any, uh, grades take them home the tough uh, Chromebooks on a regular basis? >> None of them take them home. >> Thanks. Anyone else? Okay. Again, thank you for the presentation. um was really really good and uh we
028appreciate it. >> Thank you all. >> Okay. All right. We will move over to our next um item which is going to be the superintendent report. Uh Dr. Scarpi, it's all yours. >> So, good evening board members and happy autumn to all of you. We recently organized a bus driver breakfast on October 9th. Thanks to all the board members who were able to attend. We want to express our gratitude to our dedicated transportation team for their role in uh safely transporting our students. Thank you for all that you do. I think most of you know that uh one year I rode all the buses and then subsequent years I would ride a bus here or there but for whatever reason I felt like riding all the buses again this year. I think it's been some
029time and uh some great questions on the bus. Uh, I might have to take some uh mental health. One kid thought I was 100 years old. So, we'll take that as as is, but it does get the kids to know. And again, I go back and it's something I share with my administrative team is this superintendent profile. For all of you that don't know, when I came on board, there was a superintendent profile. It's about students getting to know the superintendent. And so I did a variety of things of hopefully students getting to know me. But I just felt like especially younger kids besides seeing a tall guy with a suit in the halls like who is this guy? So I'm doing that again. Finished uh PE Place MLT. I'm halfway through Racebrook and then
030I'll be headed to Turkill School. So those are fun times riding the bus. Um we're already uh at parent teacher conferences. It's that time of year we conduct those conferences. Tomorrow and Thursday have been designated as early release days to accommodate these meetings. Our teachers and staff have been preparing and look forward to discussing their students progress with parents. But again, I want to especially the parents that are watching at home. You do never have to wait for a meeting to speak to your teacher. I'll say it again. You don't have to wait for these meetings. If something's going on, please reach out. We're here to address anything or any concerns or any questions you have. But tomorrow and Thursday are early release dates for parent teacher conferences. I already talked about the winter advisory
031letter that's been posted, but please sign up on to P school and opt in. And uh as we're moving on, it's like even before this board meeting, we all some of us are talking like, oh my gosh, it's November, it's almost November, it's almost November. So, there's been a lot of fall fun events already that have been occurring in schools. We've been having uh a lot of events at some farms and such. Um there's going to be the parades on October 31st at all schools. The volunteer fire department will hold a haunted firehouse on October 24th and 25th. So, you know, beyond uh what we've already discussed about the learning that's going on, all these events that the PTO's and are conducting are occurring, including the volunteer fire department. In addition, Neil uh briefly mentioned
032about safety is extremely important to us. Uh our schools are currently conducting their first safety security meetings for their school year and I have also begun our crisis and fire drills. I asked Mr. Gray to speak about that in a moment. But I'd like to express our gratitude to the Orange PD, the fire marshall's office for their assistance in ensuring the safety of our students and staff during these drills. Uh, as I mentioned, November is right around the corner and we have professional learning which will be Tuesday, November 4th. This will be no school for our students. However, our teachers and certified staff will have professional learning and I've asked Dr. Russo to update not only what's happening in that, but the professional learning that has occurred even since the beginning of the year. And
033not to push the year too far in advance, but we're already talking about the 2627 budget. So, the budget collection letters were sent out to the principles and directors on September 30th, and the final budget drafts are due back on October 31st. In addition, we received the town's request for the board of education capital planning requests, which are due November 21st. And Mr. Gray and I are currently working on that request. Also, again, not to push things too forward, we're also talking about the 2627 draft calendar. Uh and looking ahead, we've begun we've begun crafting that as done in the past. We're going to share that version with the leadership team and the Orange Teachers League before they are presented to all of you in November. But the board will have a month to look
034at that and we typically vote for that in December. Um a few other things that are going on, we have the paper shred day on this Saturday, October 25th. like technology efforts of the orange recycling committee and Rotary for their continued support for the paper shred day. Uh the Lions Club have been involved in our schools. They've been conducting eye screening to all our students which is a valuable service to our students and families. We extend our thanks to all the volunteers. Mrs. Hock, I don't mean to put you on the spot, but how how's that been going? Are you going to give it in a report? >> Okay. >> All right. We'll wait. And then uh subcommittee meetings will be a week from today. We'll send out the agendas and times for you uh
035before that. And then lastly, uh I'd like to take a moment to recognize two members of our board of education as they conclude their service to our district as board members. That's Carmen Rodriguez and Liz Ter. [Applause] When I look at all our board members, each of you has brought something truly special to this board that has contributed to the board's work. I I can say that for each and every one of you, but since it's specifically Carmen and Liz's night, uh I want to highlight them as their specialty has been you spend your lives in education. Uh Carmen, your years as a principal gave you a leadership perspective in the meetings that you've attended. You understand the challenges and triumphs that come with running a school and your experience has always kept us focused
036on what matters. Liz, your work as a teacher has brought the voice of the classroom into our conversations, especially working at AMD and that that collaboration, reminding us what learning looks like and feel likes every single day for our students and staff. From day one, as all of you have, both of you have embodied what it truly means to contribute. There's a saying I have often shared and Dr. so happens to love this so much when she hears me say this. You're either contributing or contaminating and there's no in between. When you're in an organization, I don't care if it's a school, your family, a business, you're either contributing or contaminate. There's no in between. Both of you have exemplified the very best of what it means to contribute, to listen with empathy, to speak
037with purpose, and to always act in the best interest of our students, families, and staff. you've understood your role as board members that being a board member is really about partnership, working together, listening, and helping move our schools forward in a positive, meaningful way. So, on behalf of our entire school community, thank you both for your dedication, your wisdom, and your genuine care. We thank you for your service, and we will miss you. Thank you. [Applause] >> And that ends my report, Mr. K. Thank you, Dr. Scarpy for that. Um, any questions before we move on to the next? >> I'll be happy to answer any questions about insurance on the computers. If that's >> I feel bad following up that that beautiful tribute to Carmen and Liz with with the question about the calendar.
038I'm sorry. Um, just because you mentioned it. So, um, I know you you're in the process of drafting it. We'll start to look at that next month. Um today just because this is fresh. Amity had the day off. We did not. Um any feedback that you've gotten from families regarding that um and and any um requests to observe Dewali? >> We have not. I think the requests were received. I think Dwali was mentioned when we had families attend last year. So the intention that I know I'm going to present to BOA and to the leadership team and to OTL before present to all of you is doing what we did last year which is eat alpha which will have our professional learning. I'm sure it's may make some people upset because usually we have our
039professional learning attached to Friday so it's a long weekend for families but teachers do come in. Um off the top of my head I think for that calendar year is midweek, but that's the intent we're going to be doing and that will be the only holiday that we'll be I'll be putting on the calendar unless the board changes their mind uh and wants to add additional holidays, but I haven't heard anything. But we may receive uh some more more requests from some families. >> Any other questions? >> No, >> um thank you Dr. Petty for mentioning our Lions Club service project to do the eye screenings in all the elementary schools. Um members of the club and myself spent six days in each of the six days alto together in the four schools and we
040screened 838 students alto together and had 93 referrals for students to follow up with an eye doctor. So, I know that it's important for students to be able to see clearly and for most of those little people, they have no idea that they don't see as well as other students. So, it's our pleasure to do this and um thank you for recognizing us. >> What a great service, Mrs. Hock. You and the Lions Club. I always remember, Mrs. had like when I walked in one day and you were giving me an example and that student happened to have something that had popped up, you know, and something like this. And so, and I think when I've talked to families about this, especially the ones that What did you say, Miss 93? And to the point
041you made, some families don't realize and again that could truly impact a student's progression in their learning. So, thank you for your service again and the Lions Club. If you could extend our gratitudes to to the Lions Club. Any other questions? Okay, we'll move over to Mr. Gray. Good evening everyone. I'll begin as I usually do with a grant update. Uh the first grant to update you on is our ARPA summer mental health support grant. This is year three of a three-year grant. Um it's $35,000 this year. We have yet to spend anything out of that grant for this year. Um because it is used to support summer programming. Um so it'll be in the next summer program next year that we'll start spending that. uh the ARPA summer mental health specialist grant. This again
042is funding an additional social worker in district. Uh we've gone through two years of 100% funding for the salary of this person. This is year three and it is a 70% grant. So we're funding 70% of the salary from grant and 30% was put into the operating budget for this year. We also have our consolidated title three grant which is an $18,000 grant and this is used for language instruction program assistance. Um to date we spent about twothirds of that around $12,000 and have about $6,000 remaining. And finally our primary mental health grant uh for the year 26 is a $16,600 grant. This is again for K3 early detection programs for emotional, behavioral and learning problems. Um, and we've spent about $3,000 of that grant and have about 15,500 remaining. Uh, for food services, I
043would just like to remind families, as I always do, uh, each month, that, uh, updated free and reduced lunch program um, applications and other materials can be found on our website under the food services tab uh, for any families that believe they may qualify for free and reduced lunch. And as I mentioned last month, um at the beginning of this year, reduced lunches went back to 40 cents. Uh for the past couple of years since COVID, reduced lunches were also free, but that money at the state level has run out. So those lunches are now 40 cents. Uh audit and educational financial systems reporting or EFS reporting. Uh, as mentioned, the auditors kicked off that financial audit uh, for the 2425 school year budget in June. Uh, they came throughout the summer on several occasions.
044They were here in September doing some fieldwork for a couple of days. They were also here at the beginning of October. Um, they interviewed Dr. Scarpetti, myself, a few of the um, um, people in the finance office. They will be coming back in October, uh, November, I'm sorry, and finishing up by the end of the year. The report isn't due until February 2nd this year, um, statutoily, but we always like to have this done before the end of the year, um, meaning December 31st. That concludes the finance portion of my report. >> Thank you for that part. Anyone have questions on the finance? Okay. >> The three-year grant that's over Uh, are we planning on picking up that full 100% next year? >> We would we would be putting that into the operating budget. Yes.
045>> Great. Thank you. >> Any other questions, Linda? >> Okay. Thank you. >> Okay. So, I'll do the facilities portion of the the report. And as Dr. Scarpetti mentioned, we are um getting ready for the annual capital planning process for developing a five-year plan of short-term projects for the schools. uh he and I have been developing a list of those projects. We look forward to meeting with the buildings and grounds subcommittee next week to look at that list and um make appropriations to that to move forward to the town. It's due November 21st. Um that'll be sent over to the finance director, Mr. Ciferelli, and then we would present to the board of finance in February um on those projects and what the rationale are for the projects. Dr. Dr. Scarpett also mentioned our schools
046are currently conducting their first safety and security meetings for the school year. We conduct these meetings at each school three times a year uh year. Um in attendance at those meetings are obviously the principal, school staff, the custodian, our school security officers, members of the Orange Police Department, namely our uh two SRO's, Detective Artane and Detective Bailey. Uh fire marshals department is also there. Um the purpose of the meetings is to review all of our procedures and uh plans, make adjustments as necessary. Um we do make adjustments with staff because staff changes from year to year. Um and also procedures because there's something called an all hazards plan that we have to develop every year and it gets turned into department of emergency management homes homeland homeland security. Um, and there are certain statutes that
047go into play year-over-year that change the plans a little bit. So, we do have to make those changes uh annually during these meetings. Um, we're also going to be conducting our first lockdown drills of the year in the coming weeks. Uh, again, that's in collaboration with the Orange Police Department. And these are announced drills. The teachers go over the drills with students beginning on the first day of school. Actually, they tell the students what the procedures are, how they should lock down, where they go, what they do. Um, so they've had a good month and a half or so to prepare for that. We do the drill. It is announced to the students and staff over the loudspeaker. So, they know it's a drill because it could be a little taxing um if they weren't
048aware of it. The police department comes in, they clear all the rooms. We account for every person in the building. that's students, staff, visitors. Um, and then at the end of of conclusion of the drill, the principal will make an all clear announcement and then they send a notice home to families that afternoon letting them know the drill has taken place um and giving them a little bit more information about that. And that's the conclusion of my report. >> Thank you for that. Does anyone have any questions? I >> I was going to ask you about the um those drills. Do we we still do fire drills too, right? Have any of those happened yet? >> Yes. So, we have to have at least uh 10 drills a year. Two of which are lockdown drills.
049The rest are fire drills. We try to do one fire drill every month >> plus the two lockdown drills. We end up having about 12 drills, >> right? Um, and it's great that you asked that because part of that all hazards plan is a drill log which has to be turned in by June 30th of each year for each school. >> Thank you. >> All right. Any other questions? >> No. All right. Thank you again for that. >> Thank you. >> Uh, we'll move over to Dr. Russo. >> Good evening. We'll begin the curriculum report with some updates with professional learning. As per our professional learning calendar for the month of October, we scheduled 14 sessions over seven days, two sessions a day. We've completed uh 10 of those, four to go. and for uh
050November and and the focus was on math and integrating the illustrative math resource into our curriculum. For November, we have 12 sessions scheduled over six days and um we are looking forward to those. The teachers have provided lots of great feedback. They are grateful for the opportunities and the support um to integrate those resources into the curriculum and into their lessons. We are currently finalizing plans for the November election day professional learning. The leadership team will review tomorrow. We did consider recommendations from the professional development evaluation committee. We had originally scheduled for a full day for English language arts, but we will now focus half a day on math and continue with the work that we've been focusing on and half day for English language arts to really secure those instructional routines that are linked
051to the new story boards and um the vocabulary work and language comprehension that we've integrated into those lessons. We spent this past curriculum Wednesday focusing on one of our long range plan goals, which was to shift all all um of the standardsbased grading to relying on the proficiency scale, which moves away from that 100 point punitive scale. And so all uh sp all areas all content areas now have shifted to that scale. And so we spent Wednesday making sure that all teachers were aware of the the standards that were prioritized for reporting on the uh report card. And we really have to thank the IT department because there is a ton of behind the scenes work for that to happen. Um we were um so happy to see that our teachers were so successful with
052the digital administration of the dibbles or dynamic indicators of basic early literacy skills assessments. Um those that administration period was so smooth. will continue to collect feedback from the teachers um during the middle of the year and endofear assessment periods as well. And uh the we we also have uh professional learning that is provided by the Connecticut State Department of Education. We have a team registered for something called Readcon or Read Connecticut 2.0. and our uh leadership team will also be attending the science of reading master class sponsored by CAPS or Connecticut Association of >> Public School Superintendent which Dr. Scarpedi is a member of. And finally, we are so excited um that the Orange Historical Society this week will be welcoming our fifth grade students um to the Brian Andrew House. And we really
053appreciate that they accommodated the trips this year for the fall instead of the spring to align with um the social studies unit. And that concludes my report. Mr. Thank you for that. Um, there are a couple of really nice Eagle projects that took place there at uh the Brian Andrew House, >> right? >> Yeah. >> Starting soon. >> Oh, there is. >> Yeah. >> Oh, okay. So, they're really going to enjoy that. Amanda, >> um, I have a quick question about the Readcon 2.0. I was reading about it in the board update and the team that you have going, is there a representative from each grade or how did you pick who was going to be getting that accreditation? >> That's a great question. We uh there was a similar opportunity from the Hill for
054literacy and a team from Racebrook and Marielle Tracy went and so now for the Readcon 2.0 O a team from PE will go and we are going to wrap around Turkey Hill with the science of reading. >> Thank you >> Betty. >> Um thank you Dr. Russo. I'm very interested in what you talked about with the report cards and I understand that the teachers feel comfortable. How are parents being informed about the changes or is there going to be some information session for parents about how the report cards will be different? So when it's time to um send out information about the report card, we have videos that explain about the proficiency scale. And in that communication, we will communicate that now all subjects will be moving to the proficiency scale as opposed to that
055um former 100point scale. And just for my own satisfaction, the proficiency scale includes mastery or developing and exceeding or >> so it's all parts of a standard independently. >> Okay. >> So um performance at a 3.0 level is all parts of a standard. A 2.0 oh and it has to be independently. >> 2.0 0 would be any part of a standard or a prerequisite and a 4.0 would be increasing the rigor of the verb so that um it would entail more uh demonstration from a student or integrating different standards. >> But the the nice thing is is that you're not averaging scores. So, I'm just going to make this up, but say on one demonstration somebody gets a 50 and then you get a 100. Well, when you're averaging, you're lowering your final score where
056this allows for growth and you're not penalized for learning and so it's more of a growth mindset for students. >> No, I like it very much. I just wanted to make sure parents are going to be able to understand the shift. >> And Mrs. Hadock. Just so you know, I I've asked Dr. Russo to reach out to Mr. Zimman. That's going to be one of the agendas for the subcommittee uh a week from today. And again, subcommittees are not just for those members. Those are for anyone else who would like to attend if you if you want to join. Then as we finalize little tweaking of that final, that's when it'll be communicated to parents as Dr. Russo just shared. >> Thank you. >> Uh Liz. >> Hi Dr. Russo. Um, you you mentioned some
057videos that would explain to parents how the standards based grading works. I have never seen anything like that. Where could we find that? Those are all included in a in a communication that goes home in the school newsletters. But to your point like about the insurance, we can always think of additional ways to make sure that you know everybody is aware. >> So you're saying like once a year something goes home where parents can get a link to these videos. The link I believe is shared with with with the um newsletter be prior to every report card release. >> Thank you. You're welcome. >> Anyone else have any questions? >> No. Okay. Thank you for that report. We'll move over to uh Mrs. Edo. >> Good evening. As Dr. Russo shared um on November election
058day for our professional development, the special education staff will be working alongside our general education colleagues engaging in the district's math and English uh language arts initiatives. Our school psychologists will be attending an annual school psychologist inservice regarding advanced cognitive behavioral therapy otherwise known as CBT for school-based populations. School psychologists use CBT as an evidence-based intervention to support students with mental health, behavioral challenges such as anxiety, trauma, or school avoidance. School psychologists received training to apply CBT and other strategies in the school settings to improve student outcomes and well-being. And that concludes my report. >> Any questions? Okay. Thank you, Mrs. Zto for that. Okay, we will move on to uh board business here. Uh first item on board business is discussion and uh possible action on the 2026 board of education meeting dates. Uh
059if you guys clicked on the link, you should have seen the proposed meeting dates. Um, I made a suggestion for uh December that we would meet on the second Monday uh because of the Christmas holiday and it falls the week after Hanukkah. So that's why I came up with December 14th. But you guys would like and you guys >> That was gonna be my question. Why are we switching that? Oh, that's why I was trying to look out for everyone. Try. Yes, because I know that always does become an issue every year. So, um >> No, but I mean, >> and I know it's a busy week, so >> Right. But I guess I'm also thinking about there's a whole bunch of holiday concerts and other things going on in school. So, I guess they're
060going to have to plan around the 14th now. >> Yeah. I mean, I I was thinking that and it was just the one day. Um it's just moving it up just because I'm I'm afraid that if we to meet on our traditional third Monday. Um it's it would be the 21st and that's a going to be a bit a busy week for everyone. I don't know if people want to be here late on that Monday, but it's up to all you guys. >> So, no, >> if you guys would like, we could vote on it now, uh approve it, or we can uh do it next month. It's up to you guys. How you guys >> You want to think about it? >> No. No, I don't. >> Oh, you don't? You want to vote
061on it? >> I can. >> You want to vote on it? You want to vote? >> I have a question. >> Um, the January meeting is um doesn't conflict with MLK. >> That was my only concern. >> No, that would be Monday. That's why it's Tuesday. >> I should double check. >> Just to the 14th is a Sunday >> of the 26th >> of 2026. Not this year. >> 25 or 26. >> It's good. Okay. >> No, that's okay. >> You What do you guys thinking? >> It's up to you guys if you guys want to make a motion to approve it as is or we can wait until next month. >> I I'm fine with it like this. >> I'll make the motion. Susan will make a motion. Ken will second it. Any discussion?
062>> Okay. Approved. >> Not approved. >> Uh opposed. Okay. >> I'd rather meet on the 21st, but it doesn't matter that much. Yeah. >> Okay. So, the motion will pass on that. >> So, you you didn't vote. >> I was >> abstain. >> No, I'm not. I'll >> You're gonna She's going to agree with that one. was in the middle of doing. I >> just add on that. >> Okay. >> Thank you. >> Okay. So, we got nine yeses on that one. Okay. Okay. Thank you for that. Uh let's move on to our second item which is policy second read orange board of ed policy 4118.9-4218.9 personnel certified non-certified duties of personnel. Do I have a motion to accept the Orange Board of Ed policy 4118.9-4218.9 personnel certified non-certified duties of personnel? Liz Ken second.
063Uh any discussion? All in favor? Abstain. Did you vote, Liz? You did. Um, that's okay. So, you approved. >> No, I did the same. >> Okay. Okay. So, unanimous. Okay. That's okay. That's okay. >> Missed the vote. >> Okay. I I'll give you another try on this one. Policy. Second read orange. Board of Ed policy 4119-4219. Personnel certified noncertified electronic mail. Do I have a motion to accept the Orange Board of Ed policy 4119-4219 personnel certified non-certified electronic email? Susan um Carmen second. Any discussion? All in favor? 100% unanimous. Moving on to our next one. Policy second read. Orange board of ed policy 42173 personnel non-certified reduction and support staff. Do I have a motion to accept the orange board of ed policy 4217.3 personnel non-certified reduction and support staff. Liz Carmen, I'm sorry. you
064guys. Yes. Carmen >> and Ronette, will you second? Okay. Because that's what I'm hearing. >> Any discussion? Any discussion? All in favor? And that is unanimous as well. Okay. >> It is. It has been. Okay. Uh let's move over to standing committees, finance and operations. Susan, >> the finance subcommittee met prior to this meeting. We reviewed um approved the prior meeting uh minutes. Um we went through the financials. We went through the cafeteria. Mr. Gray did a fantastic job as always. Uh we did discuss the audit as well as the grants update. Um that's it. >> Any questions? No questions. Okay, thank you for that report. We'll move over to personnel policy transportation. Mrs. Headlock. >> Yes. Um just for clarification, I think people at home might sometimes wonder uh how can everybody vote so
065easily on these policies, but they need to remember that first of all um I meet with Dr. Scarpetti. We review um policies that need to be updated or new policies that have come about. We select those for our subcommittee to then read and meet about. We have that meeting. After our subcommittee meets and we discuss the policies and make amendments or changes, they are sent to the entire board for a first read, giving everyone time to look over the policies, ask any questions, whether by contacting me or contacting Dr. Scarpetti. Finally, they become a second read. And at that time once again there's an opportunity to discuss and have ask any questions. Most of the time those questions have already been asked which is helpful and we're able to decide whether to approve or not
066approve the policy. Um as you can see this month we just had second read policies. That's because we the uh committee did not meet but we will be meeting on Monday and reviewing a number of policies. So, um, I hope that is helpful for people who are listening and, uh, thank you very much, Mr. Cat. >> Thank you. Go ahead, Susan. >> So, just to note, um, and Betty, I know you've said this before, but all of our policies are posted. So, if anybody was interested in any of the policies, especially since we posted for first read and they'd like to read it, they should. >> Right. On the on the Yes. school website >> under board oes. and it's under under board of education. >> Thank you, Susan. >> Anyone else? Okay, moving over
067to buildings and grounds. Anthony. >> Um, as Dr. Scarpetti and Mr. Gray have mentioned, the building and grounds committee will meet also on October 27th. Uh, at that meeting, we'll review the capital items planned for submission to the town. >> Any questions? Okay, thank you for that. Uh, curriculum instruction. Mr. >> I was sorry to have missed last month's meeting, especially since the topic of math came up. We often hear people say, "I can't do math. I heard it last month." Now look, everybody is afraid of trigonometry, but these people are talking about computation and that's just criminal. It's especially important when it comes to parents because we know from research that academic anxiety can be passed on from the parent to the child and then become a self-fulfilling prophecy. One of the best things
068about being an adult is we can often avoid things we don't like. We're good unless our children bring it back into our lives. For a long time in this country, we didn't know how to teach math properly, leading to people suffering from this relatively common math anxiety. To resolve this, the first step is to realize we read and write using an alphabet of 26 letters, which can make hundreds of sounds. But computation has an alphabet of 10 numbers. That's it. 0 to nine. That's all there are. We may move them around or break them apart, but in the end, six is always six. You can trust me. My first position was as a sixth grade teacher, a grade in which as a student, I was a spectacular failure. >> Sorry. Okay, I got to get
069this out. Yet, when I had to face it again as a teacher, I was at first impatient with my students because I couldn't believe how easy it was. I would urge any parent to forget any negative thoughts they might have about math and just try it again and let me know >> any questions. >> Oh, Ron, >> this is out of order and I apologize, but I'm I'm just plugging in my calendar and the September date is actually on Yamapour. Um, And I think our schools are closed that day. September 21st, 2026. >> So is that a no or a yes? >> So we would have no school on the 22nd then? Okay. Ken would know. So, >> no. >> Okay. If if you say it's okay, >> it's a lot of pressure, >> Mr.
070Cap. Mr. Cap, we'll double check and if there's a conflict, we'll bring it back to the board on next month. >> We can re address it next month. >> I always thought, and I am not Jewish, I haven't um observed any of their holidays, but I always thought that the evening when it started, people get together and celebrate. I I'm just I'm just wondering because I know there were football games this year that were changed because of the evening. >> Okay. >> But our meeting at >> But it wouldn't be it doesn't get dark until later. But yes, that is a good point. >> We can revisit. Okay. Just wanted to bring it to your attention because I just saw it right now. >> Okay. No, thank you. >> And and I would agree that
071it is right to be sensitive to our population. >> Yes. Yeah. >> Okay. Yeah. We can definitely address that in um for uh on our calendar for next year. Definitely. Okay. Thank you for both both of you guys. Uh let's move over to uh Asus Susan. Uh, yes. Sorry, hold on. I forgot about ACES for a second there. Um, not that I would forget about ACES, but I did have it up. So, um, ACES met Oh, I wish I had glasses. Um, Thursday, October 9th, um, um, in Hampton, and, um, Oh, I did write some. We we have three board members that we celebrated and honored for their contributions to ACES that are either um not going to be on their own board next uh as of November or have um um basically the three
072that are not going to be on their board. Um in addition we talked about the ACE ASUS Chase Academy construction project which is an enormous project because the buildings that are in um Chase Academy is in Waterberry and it used to be a private school was called Chase Collegiate um and it's a it's a six to eight we've added nine we've added 10 next year we'll add 11 and the following year we'll add 12 so the kids are kind of going through it we'll add it as they're going through and it's great, but the buildings are older and not necessarily compliant. So, this is a extremely large project that we have in place. And so, we went through some of the buildings and what's going to happen and what are our plan B's if something
073doesn't come in in time and we need the buildings and all this other stuff. But, it was um a good review of the entire renovation project and that was done by our architect and builders that are starting to work on it. We also um have 88 Basset Road um which is in North Haven which will be a um predominantly a special ed school. Um and I got to tour it after our board meeting yesterday um last Thursday. Um but what was great about it was that there were about six board members with me and we hadn't seen the building at all and it's truly going to be state-of-the-art for some of them and it's it's great for the kids. There's lifts if if needed for certain areas for um therapy and all those other things.
074Um and that will be open um by July of this year. So they'll have summer school there and they'll be moving starting to move things in as of I believe February. Um in addition um Early Head Start has been doing a lot of work and is still at capacity fully fully um full capacity which is good. Um And then the other thing to know is that our current executive director um is retiring at the end of this year. So we have started a search committee to um find a new executive director. So that's sad because Tom's been great and he's done a great job. Um we're trying to talk him out of retiring, but he hasn't he hasn't agreed yet. So um and we also b voted on a board calendar as well and it's
075kind of the highlights lots of openings if anybody's looking for a position. Um we seem to have a lot of transition of things and we do have a surplus also almost a seven almost a $5 million surplus currently. That doesn't mean that it'll stay because our magnet schools are not fully enrolled and so we that number will go most likely go down unless we get more students. That's >> Any questions? >> Susan, I'm just trying to remember the um North Haven site. >> Is that part of the old Gateway? >> Okay, that's what I thought. >> Yeah, actually Gateway is still there as we've been doing the renovations. So when they they will ultimately go out and then we'll renovate that space as well. >> And the uh Chase, >> it's a campus, right? Multiple
076buildings. >> Yes. >> Yeah, there's um I can next time I can bring in the the plans. You guys can take a look at it. Actually, I had it in the car and I forgot to >> That's okay. I just was just trying to remember. So, >> yeah, there's um I want to say there's at least seven or eight buildings. There's one that's enormous, really old, beautiful, old building, beautiful moldings, and that building would get remodeled first >> and then the other buildings um that currently is um uh is ready to be remodeled because that's where their cafeteria was. So, we put a cafeteria in a different building >> and so that's ready to go. >> Yeah. And this is not the former Edison school. That was Meridan. No, >> no, it used to be
077St. St. Margaret Mary, I think. >> Okay. Yeah. >> St. Margaret something. >> Yeah. Okay. Thank you. >> Any other questions? >> Mr. Cap, if I may, that date would have to be changed for the 21st. We were looking as the U board members were reporting out. We don't have to do it tonight. We do it next month, but that would have to be changed. So, it will be at the Tuesday the 22nd where we would have the uh board holiday. I mean board, not board holiday, the board meeting. >> Board meeting. Okay. So, we'll add that to the agenda for next month for the revision. Okay. >> All right. Uh and then right before we close, I just want to say it's been a pleasure for having Liz on the board and Carmen all
078these years. Um you know, you guys have been fabulous. uh you contributed a lot to our board. Um you know, I got to work with um both of you. Um more so Carmen being on buildings and grounds being my sidekick. Um we had to arm wrestle a few times on some stuff. She would always win, but um but no, I I really appreciate having you guys uh on the board and everything that you guys did and we're definitely going to miss you. So, thank you. >> Thank you. Can I say something to you? >> Sure. >> Um, I wasn't planning on saying anything, but I figured it's a great opportunity. Um, I guess when I started four years ago, I had no idea what I was getting myself into. Um, and you know, it's been
079a great experience honestly all around. Um, Vince, it's been awesome working with you and the rest of the directors uh, and the board as well. And one of the things that really stands out to me about the experience is, you know, we get here um but we're not divided by our politics uh or affiliations. We're actually united because we're all parents. We're all neighbors. And because of this experience, some of you are now my friends and my acquaintances. And I'm going to miss all of you guys. And I had a great experience through this. So, thank you. >> Yes. Thank you. Yeah. Carmen. Um it's been a pleasure to serve um our community. Um I'm a longtime resident. My children went through the system and um when I was interviewed I I was asked a
080question and I and and my answer to them was that I believe that when something is not broken, we don't go looking to fix it. And I think that that is so critical moving forward. um because we know that many of our young folks that are moving into the district and moving into Orange, they come because of our schools. So given the fact that that is basically the driven factor or driven force of our community because that's why we came, I think it's important that we continue to to make sure that we guard it so that um what worked for us and for our children continues to work for the future. And I also believe that um every time we come together, we come together and we pledge allegiance and we have a mission statement.
081And I think that that should not go on deaf ears and that we should not practice something or speak something that we do not uphold. And so, uh, going forward, I think it's important that we continue to push the agenda of keeping the integrity of our of our system and our district and the people that we serve. These folks that served me, well, when I ran a school, those were my daughters. Those were my sons. And the way I wanted people to treat my sons and my daughters, I said that's the way they're going to treat my teachers and the staff. From the person that picked up the paper, from the custodian to the bus driver. I think it's amazing. I was I was telling um Dr. Scarpetti when I came and and and celebrating
082the bus drivers and celebrating the folks that just are your essential workers every day. those people are the ones that really basically make the make the schools and and and and they are not getting the pay that uh we as professionals do. So I think going forward I you know I want to honor the staff. I think you folks deserve um more than what we're giving you and I think basically we don't want to fix anything that is not broken and thank you so much. Thank you, Carmen Liz. >> Again, we're gonna miss you guys a lot. So, but thank you both. >> I also want to shout out to Darlene because she does so much behind the scenes. I'm going to miss you. >> She does a lot of behind the scenes. Okay. Uh
083adjournment. Do I have a motion to adjourn tonight's meeting? Ken Susan second. Any discussion? All in favor? Okay.