001Good evening everyone. I'd like to call the Monday, April 21st, 2025 board of education meeting to order at 7:02 p.m. Could we please stand for the pledge of allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all. Anthony, would you please read the mission statement for the board? With pleasure. The Orange 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. Uh let's start off
002with board introductions. Amanda Amanda Zapatka Anthony Scorenzi Ronette James Carmen Rodriguez Liz Ter Betty Hadllock Susan Rio Jeff Gap Tatiana Msina Mullen hi an audience is always exciting Ken Zyman thank you Mr. Simon. H. Okay. Superintendent award. Tonight, we would like to begin by honoring the students receiving the Connecticut Association of Public School Superintendent Certificate of Excellence. At this time, I would like to ask Dr. Scarpiti to please approach the podium or are you going to stay there? I'll I'll start off with this. Just want to welcome everyone tonight. It's a It's nice to honor your students. I want to let you know it was a tough decision as I shared with your children that um and again thanks to some teachers that are here but all the teachers that were involved and the principles
003that we focus on our sixth graders to receive this CAP superintendent award. So CAP stands for Connecticut Association of Public School Superintendent which I'm involved in and the criteria was community service to others and academic prowess relative to ability and leadership service to the school community. So I had a nice little conversation with your children once we gave that award to them the letter. But this is as Mr. Zim said it's exciting to have all of you here and celebrate this in public with all the board members. So without further ado, Mrs. Lasser, why don't you start off? Thank you. Hello everyone. Thank you for being here. Uh first I would like to thank Dr. Scarpetti and the board of education not only for all the support you give us. This is on behalf of
004all three of us but for allowing us this forum to recognize these students of excellence. So we are grateful for the time that you're giving us here tonight. Um I'm going to start I'll have you come up and stand here. I think your parents will get the better pictures. So Jordana, come on up. Jordana Ferris from the Peekplace School. She's our first recipient. [Applause] All right. You good? All right. Okay. So, I'm going to read a few things about you. Okay. All right. Jordana is a well-rounded young woman who excels in academics and has a passion for sports, music, and serving her community. She is a strong student who has received numerous academic and character awards. Jordana is always willing to assist her classmates and lend a helping hand to those in need. Throughout her
005time at PC, Jordana has participated in many leadership roles such as being on the student council, a member of the Battle of the Books team for the last three years. So that means you're an excellent reader. Excellent job. Outside of the classroom, Jordana has been a part of the Lady O's travel basketball team for the last two years, as well as the AMD travel soccer team for the past six years. In addition, as if that weren't enough, she participated in the school musical Annie this year and has participated in the Peek Place Orchestra for the past three years. Geanna strives to serve her community in every way she can. She has participated and collected items for many charities, including volunteering with the Connie West Hills in New Haven. In her free time, which I'm surprised
006you have any, Jordana is an avid reader. She enjoys free drawing and swimming. She hopes to play basketball or soccer for Amity High School and later attend Fairfield University. Congratulations, Jordana. Get a picture. Congratulations. [Applause] Okay, up next is Philip Ivanov. Come on up, [Applause] Phillip. Okay. All right. Read a little bit about you, Phillip. Okay. Philip is a talented and enthusiastic student who is always willing to help others. He has received numerous academic and character awards. Philip is a bus monitor and a first grade reading tutor. During his time here at the Peek Place, he put hard work and dedication into all he has accomplished and it's been recognized. As an accomplished athlete and competitive swimmer, Philip has qualified for overall placements in swimming yearly. He has also competed in various tennis tournaments, tennis
007tournaments for the United States Tennis Association. Philip has helped serve his community by helping out at the Orange Community Center with various tasks, including cleaning out the town pool. In his free time, some of the things Philip enjoys include football, biking, riding his scooter, soccer, and playing video games. In the future, Philip plans to attend Yale School of Architecture and start his own architectural firm focused on creating high-rise buildings with pen houses at the top. Maybe I could find you in 20 years or so. That's cute. Congratulations, [Applause] Phillip. And Christopher Lamb, come on up. [Applause] Yeah. Christopher is a very kind, conscientious, talented, and hard-working student. He has received numerous academic character awards. Christopher is an accomplished musician. He is a member of the school band where he plays the trumpet. He is a
008member of the Battle of the Books team. Christopher is involved in many other extracurricular activities such as swimming, soccer, and baseball. His service to school includes student council, the AV club, and a sound technician and stage crew for our recent musical production and being a reading buddy. Christopher has given back to his community through participating in assisting veterans, food drives, and a walk for epilepsy. In his free time, Christopher can be found enjoying hobbies such as swimming, reading, fishing, camping, Lego building, and playing video games. He also enjoys playing with pets, and spending time with his friends and family. In the future, Christopher plans to attend college, be an Olympic swimmer, and help fight climate change. Congratulations to [Applause] Christopher. And up next is Mrs. McNeel from Racebrook School. [Applause] Good evening everyone. It is
009my absolute pleasure to tell you a little bit about the three recipients of this wonderful achievement and award from Racebrook School tonight. First up, we have Cen [Applause] Hang. Your teacher shared a few things with me and I'm going to celebrate you for a moment. Can has been chosen for this award for her exemplary leadership and commitment to service at Racebrook School. She is a great role model of the big three in school which is shown through her efforts as a member of the student council. She showcases her responsibility and care for others through her dedication to community service by helping to organize numerous collection drives as well as volunteering to work at the school store. In the classroom, Cenne is a hard-working and diligent student, consistently striving for excellence and inspiring others to reach
010their potential. She shows empathy to all she encounters and pushes herself to great success. Cien is a shining example of leadership and we are proud to have her represent Racebrook School. Congratulations [Applause] Next, I'd like to introduce Selena Omandi. [Applause] Selena Omandi is a hard-working student who consistently pushes herself to improve academically. She is very involved in the Racebrook School community and participates in the newspaper club, serves as a bus monitor, is a member of both the communications club and the student council, often initiating collections and lots of different initiatives to support the surrounding community. Selena balances her studies, her volunteer work along with being an avid softball player. Selena reports that her favorite subject in school is reading because it helps her to learn about different things. When she grows up, she would like
011to attend college and become a teacher. Congratulations, Selena. [Applause] And last but not least, I'm so thrilled to in introduce you to Alana Hang. [Applause] Alana is a very determined indiv individual who strives to better herself and those around her. Her positive outlook and involvement both inside and outside of school have instilled the very qualities and values that are embraced at Racebrook School. Alana's expectations for herself, her eagerness, and her persistence to be involved have instilled the very civic characteristics that are necessary to being a true leader. Alana is a sympathetic and an empathetic citizen in the community. Alana shares her musical talents as a member of the Racebrook School Orchestra and her smile is contagious. Congratulations, Alana. [Applause] Next up, we have Dr. Arterbury from Turkey Hill School. It's all good. Don't worry. Hello.
012Thank you for having me. I'm very excited to introduce our three students receiving this award. First, I'd like to invite up Jasmine Leam [Applause] Moy. Just turn these pictures. There you go. It's all about the pictures tonight. Jasmine Le Moy is a sweet, kind, and mature sixth grade student in Mrs. Ziggler's classroom. This year, Jasmine is a co-president of the student council, where she has helped direct and organize multiple community service efforts this year for Turkey Hill and the surrounding community. She is also a member of the literary board where she helped students edit and revise their writing as well as an anchor on the morning broadcast for our AV club. Outside of school, Jasmine continues to be a leader amongst her peers as a Girl Scout cadet in year four, also as a member
013of her volleyball team, and as a member of the Amity Travel soccer team. Jasmine has supported the community by participating in the food rescue program, Havens Harvest, and Lasagna Love, where she makes and delivers lasagnas for people in need. Jasmine is also involved in the arts. She was selected as a case memorial art show participant this year is in our school band where she plays the trumpet as well as a member of one of our sixth grade student bands. Lastly, Jasmine is a student in the LEAP program. Her favorite subject is math and she aspires to be a lawyer one day and travel the world. Congratulations, Jasmine. [Applause] Next, I'd like to invite up Pharaoh Weber. Farah Weber is creative, artistic, and mature sixth grader in Mr. Smolinsky Smolinsk's class. This year, Farah is also
014the other co-president of the student council where she has helped direct and organize multiple community service efforts. Farah has also been a tour guide to students during new student orientation. Farah is also involved in the AV club at Turkey Hill School where she was anchor and graphic designer for the daily broadcast. The creative arts, both musically and visually, are deeply ingrained in every single part of Farah's being. Musically Farah is a member of our school band where she plays the flute. She's a member of our music makers coral group and a member in one of our sixth grade student bands. Outside of school, she also attends the music school of rock. Visually, Farah takes three art classes outside of school to continue to hone her craft. She was even selected as this year's Connecticut Association
015of Schools Visual Arts Award recipient for interest and skills in the arts. Farah is not just artistically inclined. She also participates in gymnastics and taekwond do outside of school. In the future, she aspires to go to college and to travel. She hasn't figured out what she wants to be yet, but you have plenty of time. But she knows it must include the arts and music in some form. Congratulations, Farah. Matty's here. And lastly, I'd like to invite up Maddie Reuse. I'd like to note that Maddie came all the way from her first softball game of the evening to make sure that she was here for this, but she didn't want to miss the game because she's the only pitcher on her team. Dedication and leadership right there. All right. Maddie is a vivacious, mature, and
016steadfast sixth grader in Mrs. Ginsburg's class. Maddie has led her peers as a leader in various capacities in both in and out of school. at Turkey Hill. Mattie is a current flag bearer and was also a student council representative. Both of these roles require her to show responsibility, respect, and safety as a role model for other students. Outside of school, Mattie leads not one but two softball teams as the pitcher. Mattie plays for the Amn Little League in the majors division, as well as the Rhode Island Thunder 12U travel team. Mattie is also involved in the AV club at Turkey Hill School, where she was the sports cer, weather person, and anchor for the daily broadcast. Maddie is also involved in the arts. She is a member of the music makers drama club as well
017as a member of orchestra. Maddie has received the student of the month award as well as third place in the orange Olympics for the softball throw last year. We're aiming for first this year, right? Yeah. Okay. Lastly, she was named the MVP in a recent softball tournament. Maddie aspires to play college softball one day and then move on to be an interior designer because she likes to keep her things organized. Congratulations, Maddie. Thank you very much. So again, I want to wish our heartfelt congratulations to all of you again and to the parents, grandparents that are here. We want to thank you for your support because I know that it just doesn't happen on their own. It happens behind the scenes and again to the teachers. So again, congratulations. And one thing that's special to
018me is um as I get older and see where uh students come, especially there's times where, believe it or not, Dr. Scarpett has gotten pulled over and it's been one of my students. That was a good thing. But beyond that, it's a nice to see where you will reach and what you set your goals to. So, I look forward to as you get older. That's the biggest gift any educator could have is see what you make of yourself. So, thank you for that. And Mr. Cap, did do you want me to announce or did you want to announce that we're going to take a little break or announce? Sure. I'm sorry. I'm not too sure. So, with the with uh with your permission, Mr. Cap, if we could take a little break, we have a
019little bit of cake, so we could celebrate a little bit more and more pictures if we need to, but again, congratulations. Uh we're going to go back into our regular meeting now uh at 7:37. Uh public participation. Do we have anyone uh here for public participation? Okay, moving on uh to our next item, consent agenda. I'll need a motion to accept the first item under the consent agenda, which is the minutes from the March 17, 2025 board of education me. Do I have a motion to accept the minutes from the March 17, 2025 board of ed meeting, Betty? Second, Susan. Any discussion? Um, in favor? Oh, sorry. Opposed. You're supposed to vote, too. Abstain. Gotcha. Did Where is she? You get the two abstain. Okay. Thanks. Throwing me off. Sorry. Okay. Uh, superintendent's report. Dr.
020Scarpedi again. Good evening, board members. Once again, it's nice to see all of you. I hope everyone had a great April break and welcome everyone back with nearly over a month left. Actually, someone said to me, Vince, you know, we have 35 days left of school. Well, it all depends on the motion that's uh in front of you on the agenda and if but it's either 35 or 36. But with that, uh this comes all the end of year events, state assessments, which I've asked Dr. Russo to talk about that in a moment. Field trips and activities are in full gear. This time of year is just one way we see our entire community working together to make our schools a special place on behalf of our children. Uh those are some of the comments
021that were made by some of the parents that came up to me about complimenting our district and the work and again I stress that we do together and what's behind the scenes. Um didn't know that that we would get those accolades from parents and grandparents but they see what the hard work that we do. Um but thank you also for the teachers, staff and parents and administration who make this happen behind the scenes. We are grateful to each and every one of you. In addition to our school community, there are several organizations who also contribute all year round. One of them is the orange roy with the collaboration with the orange recycling committee will be having their shred day event. Uh that's going to be held Saturday, May 3rd from 9 to 12 at High
022Plains. So for anyone who has begun their spring cleaning also um anything else with regarding they do box springsings, mattresses, electronics, if you want the specifics, you could go to orange recycles. That's plural or orangeerecycles.com. And uh lastly, I'd like to share that tomorrow night we have the Orangetown budget hearing which will be held tomorrow. That will be at 7 p.m. Again, we are asking for a 3.9% increase as all of you know. And then after that on Wednesday, May 14th is a board of selectmen in the annual town meeting. And then we'll finally have the referendum on Wednesday, May 21st. And that's all day 6:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. And that ends my report. Mr. Cap, thank you for that. Does anyone have any questions? Petty. Uh, thank you, Dr. Scarpetti. I just also
023want to say to the general public that on May 6th, we will also be voting for the AMD budget. And since our students, uh, transfer up to AMD, I hope that you will come out and support our AMD budget as well. Thank you. Anyone else? No. Okay, Mr. Gray. Good evening everyone. Uh I'll begin tonight with a summary of our grants that we currently have. Uh we have our ARPA summer mental health supports grant. This is a three-year grant. We're in year two. Uh year two is $50,000. Year three is $35,000 and again this is for delivery of mental health services uh during summer programming. We have the primary mental health grant which is a $20,000 grant. Uh to date we've spent about $1,500. Um, we have about $8,500 left. Again, this is for K
024to3 early detection programs uh for emotional, behavioral, and learning problems. We also have the ARPA school mental health specialist grant. This is supporting a social worker in district for three years. First two years was at the 100% amount of the salary. Um, the final year is 70%. We're in year two right now. Uh, so that was $92,000. um to support that salary. We have about $30,000 left in that grant. Um food services, I just would like to remind families because there is no time restriction during the year for this, but as a reminder, if families at home feel they may qualify for free and reduced lunch, um and would like to get information, they can find applications and other relevant materials on our website. If they go to oes.org or and then click on the
025food services tab, they can find that. And that's the conclusion of the business portion. Thank you for that. Does anyone have any questions? Run it. Um, going back to the grants, whatever happened to that one that disappeared. We we were granted and then security grant. Yeah. Yeah, it was a security grant. So, the funding stopped. They never had the funding. Um, so we had about I think $12,000 in that grant spent. We had emailed several times asking if they were going to reimburse us for that. They got back to us and said that they were unable to do that because there were no funds for it. So, we're having to absorb that in our budget, which we're we're able to do. Okay. All right. Thank you. Anyone else have any questions? Part two. uh under
026facilities for security uh in ongoing collaboration with the Orange Police Department, specifically Detective Carolyn Bailey and Detective uh Ardane, we continue to have discussions regarding school safety and security and we will be conducting our final lockdowns, lockdown drills of the school year. Um the drills happen three times a year. Our students and staff are very well verssed in them. Um but it's interesting every time we do them, we always find something that we can tweak. We also collaborate with the AMD schools, the middle school and the high school. They do theirs a little differently just because they have larger populations of students. Uh but we share ideas back and forth and it's very helpful to do so. We'll be conducting those final drills um this week. We also have scheduled our final safety school-based safety
027and security meeting team meetings um at each of our schools. In attendance at these meetings are the school staff, custodians, the SSOs, members of the Orange Police Department, the fire marshall's office, and the building principal. The purpose of the meetings is to review all of our safety and security procedures and protocols, and again make any changes as necessary, but also update our school enrollment sheets, our emergency contacts, and also different staff in the building have various jobs based on different emergencies. So we also look at that as well. And that concludes my facilities portion of the report. All right. Thank you for that. Any questions? Okay, Dr. Russo then. Good evening. I'd like to start my report with sharing that we continue to collaborate with um our BOA colleagues Bethany Orange, Woodbridge, and AMD. We
028just had several meetings with our sixth grade teacher representatives and now more specifically the orange uh middle school teachers, our math specialists and our science specialists are there as well to have discussions about our scopes and sequences and making sure that we provide experiences for students so that when they transition into AMD they're seamless or as seamless as can be. And we do have a director's meeting scheduled uh for this week as well. We have also, as we have shared in our board updates, been working on updating our report cards and Mr. Zimman will share details when it's his uh subcommittee report. We also completed 19 out of 20 sessions for language comprehension, context, embedded professional learning for our teachers. We have one session left to go and that would be for grade two at
029the Peek Place School. Uh as you know the Smarter Balanced Assessment or SBA window opened up on March 24th. It closes on May 30th. The same window applies for the Next Generation Science Standards or NGSS assessments. Uh the SBA assessment is for all students grades three through six. NGSS is just for grade five students. We did share uh information about these windows and some details about the tests with families uh last week. Principles have created their school schedules and they will be sharing those along with some additional details in their communications this week as well. We uh finally are excited to share that we did um submit an application for a competitive consolidated title 3 grant uh which is for multilingual uh the families of multilingual learners. and we were awarded $18,225 [Music] uh based
030on our idea to create and implement a program with two main elements. And those two main elements are a parent university and virtual community meetings to support those. And so this orange parent university would consist of online asynchronous modules using understanding by design or UBD and storyboard principles. And the UBD looks at um desired results first. So it's a backward plan and then considers uh ways to measure those results and then finally create a learning plan for those desired results. And the state liked what we put in there and they approved it because um we talked about userfriendly modules with live translations using a translation and captions platform. Um, and the online asynchronous modules would include links to websites, videos, recorded vocabulary lessons for these families and tutorials, all accessible in the native language of
031members of the targeted cohort families because of that platform. Um and the module topics would include getting to know the town of Orange and its schools, educational components such as classroom learning, um about what is like the multi-tiered systems of support, the tiered services, special education, what is ESL like um the third module would include homework support and general strategies related to mentoring children through growth mindsets. and finally technology information and guidance. And then the virtual community meetings would be available um monthly once a month conducted and facilitated by our own educational leaders in multilingual services and um providing the support with the topics related to those online modules and um informing families of important educational and American cultural topics like report cards, like conferences, is, you know, what is a proficiency scale, standardsbased grading,
032homework assistance, what's science of reading. So, all those types of ideas and we feel that we can sustain that um once we create that parent university will have it just like we have our orange adult learning plan. So, we're excited about that. And that concludes my report, Mr. Cap. Thank you for that report. Any questions? Susan, thank you Dr. Russo. That sounds like an exciting opportunity for us. Um, do we know how many languages we can support with that platform or what are we ging at least at least our 28 different languages. Wow. Thanks to AI. Well, that's fantastic. Thank you. Yeah. I just wanted to say that sounds wonderful. And I'm wondering if um are translation um opportunities for parents included in these discussions so parents are aware of the fact that if they
033want to come to a conference and need a translator that that service is available. Is that something that'll be focused on? Also, we definitely provide translation services for any family that needs that at any conference. I mean, I just wondered if it's part of this education that families will be getting. Is that Oh, yes. Yes. Yes. I just wanted to be sure that was part of it. Yes, definitely. Thank you. You're welcome. Anyone else questions? Okay. Thank you again. Uh, Mrs. Edo, good evening. Um, we're pleased to share that the district is hosting a family wellness event again this year. It will be held on Thursday, May 22nd. We are inviting all K through three families and obviously their siblings to sign up. Information has been shared through our building principles and we are grateful
034to Orange Rotary as well as the primary project grant for funds that make this event possible. The event will include a catered dinner and several activities that are geared to promote the emotional and wellness of our students and their families. activities like such as music, um, air drumming, bingo, the Lou interactive playground, mindfulness crafts, and families get to choose which activities they would like to on a scale of one to six, knowing that they'll be able to attend three out of those six activities. Uh, we also continue to prepare for our extended school year program for children with individual education plans who qualify for this service. The program runs from July 1st to July 31st, Monday through Thursday, 8:30 to um 11:30, but specific information is communicated directly to the families of students who are
035eligible for this service. And we should be fully staffed for that at this point from the looks of our applications. And that concludes my report. Thank you. Any questions? No. All right. Okay. Hey, thank you again for those reports. Uh we'll move on to board business. Uh first item is the healthy food certification for the 2025 2026 school year. Uh pursuant to the CGS section 10-215F. I'm asking for a motion that the Orange Board of Education certifies that all items offered for sale to the students in the schools under its jurisdiction and not exempted from the Connecticut Nutrition Standards published by the Connecticut State Department of Education will comply with the Connecticut Nutrition Standards during the period of July 1st, 2025 through June 30th, 2026. This certification shall include the food offered for sale to
036students separately from reimburseable meals at all times and from all sources, including but not limited to school stores, vending machines, school cafeterias, culinary programs, and fundraising activities on school premise sponsored by school and non-school organizations and groups. Do I have a motion to accept the healthy food certification? Susan second. Liz. Uh, any discussion? Anyone? Uh, all in favor? Opposed? Abstained. You got that? Okay. Thank you. Moving on to the next one. I'm asking for a motion that the Orange Board of Education will allow the sale to students of food items that do not meet the Connecticut nutrition standards provided that the following conditions are met. One, the sale is in connection with the event occurring after the end of the regular school day or on weekends. Two, the sale is at the location of the
037event. Three, the food items are not sold from a vending machine or school store. An event is an occurrence that involves more than just a regularly scheduled practice meeting. Uh extracurricular activity, for example, soccer games, school plays, uh intercolastic debates, um events, but not soccer practices, play rehearsals, and debate team meetings are not. The regular school day is the period from midnight before to 30 minutes after the end of the official school day. Location means where the event is being held and must be the same place as the food sales. Do I have a motion to accept the healthy food certification? Okay, Susan, I'm going blind here now. Um, second, Ken. Any discussion? Um once this is approved, is there a specific um department or who oversees that you know this is this is a
038follow through. So the food service department oversees this and we actually have policy written uh that's aligned to the Connecticut nutrition standards. So the food that we order has to follow that in order to be reimbursed through the federal government for the because we're part of the national school lunch program. So we oversee that. Thank you. You're welcome. Okay. Any other discussions? No, I'll just ask a question. So that means that it won't be food brought by parents or other So our policy organizations, right? Our policy doesn't allow that during school hours. If if they wanted anything, they would have to order it through our cafeteria, which they do. Okay. But I thought this was that exemption is after school hours after school day. That's why they have the exemption for the PTAs and PTO's
039covered by our policy. Great. Okay. Thank you. Okay. Any other discussion? Okay. I still have a motion and a second. Oh, go ahead. So is there like who executes that we are in compliance? Myself and the food manager. Okay. Thank you. You're welcome. Any other discussion? No. Okay. All in favor? Okay. That's unanimous. So that moves on. Item two, discussion and possible action. forgiven forgiveness of the 181st day of school. Um Dr. Scarpedi, do you want to add anything to this? No, just in the years uh past we've had the situation come up a few times where um because of a snow day and such um that the last day of school falls on a Monday, which is a half day. So currently right now that is I'm sorry I'm not wearing my glasses, but
040it's June 9th. So that's Monday and so typically we forgive that day and end it on the Friday before which would be the 6th. Again, state law requires all uh districts to have 180. We put 181 in the school calendar. So we'll still be abiding by the state requirement. Okay. Thank you. Uh do I have a motion to accept the forgiveness of the 181st day of school for this year? Ronette Anthony second. Any discussion? Don't all speak at once. No. Okay. All in favor? That's unanimous as well. Okay. Moving on to number three. Policy second read. Orange board of ed policy 4115 personnel certified educator and leader evaluation support. Do I have a motion to accept the orange board of ed policy 4115 personnel certified educator and leader evaluation support? Motion Betty second bronette. Any
041discussion? All in favor? That's unanimous as well. Okay, moving on to item four, policy second read, orange board of ed policy 4117.5, personnel certified termination of employment. Do I have a motion to accept the orange board of ed policy 4117.5 personnel certified termination of employment? Motion Anthony second. Oh, I'm sorry, Ken. Um any discussion? Okay. All in favor? That's unanimous as well. Moving on to five. Policy. Second read orange board of ed policy 4118.233-4218.233. Personnel certified non-certified weapons dangerous instruments. Do I have a motion to accept the orange board of ed policy 4118.233-4218.233 personnel certified non-certified weapons and dangerous instruments motion Tatiano second Susan any discussion all in favor unanimous on that moving on to number six. Uh these next policies will be second reads at our next board of ed uh meeting uh which
042is orange board of ed policy 5127 student promotion procedures and ceremonies. Uh number seven, Orange Board of Ed Policy 514412, students challenging behavior prevention restorative practice response and 8, Board of Ed policy 6177, use of commercially produced video recordings. Okay. Now I will be looking for a motion to enter into executive session to discuss the uh next agenda item after the standing committees and ASUS uh after each one gives their reports. Okay. And moving on to number nine is discussion and possible action regarding pending claim against the board before the state of Connecticut Department of Labor. And that's what we're going to go in there. I'm sorry. Uh we will make a motion. Um typically we go through the the subcommittees first. Mr. Capital. Yeah. Okay. Thanks. Keeping me on my toes. Oh, you're doing
043helping me tremendously. Uh let's move into standing committees. will go into finance and operations. Susan, so the uh finance and operations subcommittee met prior to this meeting. We reviewed the financials. Everything is in order. Um as expected, we're about 93% spent, which is what we're supposed to be doing. Um we went over cafeteria and grants as well. All good. Questions? Okay. Okay. No questions. We'll move on to uh personnel policy transportation. Mrs. Yeah, personnel policy and transportation met on March 31st. I would like to uh thank Principal Lassa who joined us at that meeting. I'd also like to say thank you to members who read over the policies in advance and reached out with questions already. I know the second read policy and restorative practices was quite lengthy if you didn't have a chance to
044review it in full yet. Um, please uh make a point of doing so before our next meeting and contacting me or Dr. Scarpetti if you have any questions and I imagine we will probably be meeting at the end of the month but to be determined. Thank you. Again, if I if I may again Mrs. Lassau's uh in the audience still and again I want to thank her and the whole entire team. Um I know Mrs. Mrs. Hadlock has gone over this before, but just as a friendly reminder, when we get a policy in, it pertains to certain things like food policy, then I would get Mr. Gray or curriculum instruction, I would get Dr. Russo, special ed, Mrs. Zidto, and then we've had uh the principles involved with the uh next round that we're going
045to be putting up as a second read. So, uh Mrs. Lasso was nice enough to stay just in case if any questions came up with Mrs. Hadlock. So, again, Mrs. Lasso and to the team, thank you. We appreciate it. Thank you. Anyone have any questions for Betty? Okay. Uh we will move over into buildings and grounds safety and security. Anthony, we uh met on March 31st uh for a brief meeting to discuss and choose a vendor for the uh replacement boiler at Marielle. Um that was about it. It's quick meeting. Okay. Uh moving over to curriculum instruction technology. Mr. Zimman. I've always tried to be a pleasant, positive fellow. Yet, since joining the board of ed, I've learned to dread four words. The state has required. This is like when my doctor says, "As we
046age, nothing good comes after that." So, I apologize for this, but the state has required all districts to submit their assessment plans for the year. And so it was a good opportunity for Dr. Russo to share our assessment soup which consists of a wide variety of tests or assessments and gives our teachers the best opportunity along with direct observation to evaluate how their children are progressing. Now that cleverly leads me into the fact that we will be revising our report cards. We discussed the significance of the plus in grading. We have to understand that unlike high school where grades for the most part result from an average of work done, elementary school teachers are trying to make a generalized picture over the course of a few months and reduce it to a few numbers and
047or letters. Still with our assessment program and of course direct observation, I believe the teachers are generally comfortable with the grades they produce. In addition, Dr. Russo called to our attention a podcast called Sold a Story. This is not a podcast, but a series of ongoing episodes devoted to how we teach reading to young children in this country. I can tell you this, this lady is not happy. It's her opinion that for too long in this country, tradition and profits more than research have been guiding the teaching of reading. Sadly, to some extent, this has been supported by those who are creating the textbooks and reading programs, often choosing profits in their own self-serving research over scientifically based research. The good news is that it now appears the tide is turning and more and more
048districts around the country are adapting to the scientifically based research results and the science of reading. And we will not have a meeting the Yes, sir. Any questions? I just wanted to ask Anthony a question. I'm sorry. I was trying I was trying to be easy on you. Did you find a vendor for the boiler and is it being installed? We did. Yes. Yeah, we chose. And um I believe Mike is moving on that. Okay. Okay. So, it's going to be installed before the end of the year or over the summer or It'll probably be installed in end of June just because of the wait the lead time for the boiler to get here. All right. So, but it's been ordered. I'm glad it's all it's all set. That's great. Yeah. Thank you. Yeah. Okay.
049Any other questions before we move on? Okay. Uh ASUS um ASUS board met on April 10th. Uh we started off with uh David Stein and Silver Petraelli presenting our um ECA construction application feasibility study. Um as some of you may know ECA is educational center for the arts. It's in New Haven. It's in what used to be a old synagogue and while it's a beautiful building, it's not as conducive for the arts as it could be. So we're trying to do some modifications and we can do a lot inside. Um, but we do we will need to um add some additional space and redo the parking lot and potentially do a bridge over to another place and have administration in a different building. It's going to be more of a campus is what we're trying
050for. And so we just got the feasibility study. It looks good. Uh we'll ultimately have to vote on it shortly. So we'll see what happens with that. But we're excited about some of the exciting new things that ECA could do like have a full day potentially for students if they wanted to. But that would mean that we'd have to have English teachers and math teachers and get kind of a certificate certified by the states for it too. But a lot of people have been asking for it and rather than having a half day and some of our high school students having to leave say at noon and then go over to ECA, it might be a little bit easier for them to do it at a full day if they so choose. So more to
051come on that. Um, we did have an update on the ASUS design bold steps and um, they're still going in the positive direction which is good. We evaluated our executive director. Um, the update on the ASUS Foundation gala was there was a profit of about $150,000. Um, and all of those funds have already been allocated to give to teachers, which is what the ASUS foundation does is they give money to their teachers, not to modify our budget, but to enhance the learning and different projects that teachers want to do. So, um, that was great. Uh, we have some vacant positions if anybody's looking for work. Uh we approved 13 budgets proposals um including our three programs that we used we were doing it's called regions um for incarcerated youth um and so we approved their
052budgets as well as well as Whitney Academy rise mil road village eibi sales Whitney High School ascend and Sonia both me um me school and anonia middle school and the bridge Um, one more thing I wanted to share which was I don't remember now. Um, that's that's the highlights basically. Okay. Any questions? Okay. We will um move on to the next item which is motion to enter into executive session. The board of education hereby moves to enter into executive session for the following reasons. one to discuss a claim that is pending claim against the board before the state of Connecticut of the labor pursuant to Connecticut general statutes sections 10-26B and number two to review and discuss documents prepared by the board's legal council pursuant to the Connecticut General Statutes sections 1-2006E and 1-210 10B10.
053The board further invites into the executive session the following individuals. Superintendent Dr. Scarpedi and the board's attorney uh Steven Sedor. Do I have a motion to enter into executive session uh inviting Dr. Scarpetti and attorney uh Sedor to join us. Motion Liz. Second, Betty. Any discussion? All in favor? Just the wrong subsection. Okay. B here. B. Should it be sub section 1-26E or B? Do you know E? B here. So that's wrong. Okay. So and number two it should be 1-26E subsection E sound good. Yeah. There's only two list here. So it's lawyers. I'm okay. That's why he's here. Uh I'm sorry. Was we all in favor? Yes. All in favor? Okay. We're in executive session at 8:12. Okay. We are out of executive session at 8:58. Okay. I'm looking for a motion for the
054following. The board of education hereby moves to approve the document discuss an executive session and delegates to the superintendent the authority to issue such documents to staff members as necessary andor his discretion. I have a motion. Susan, second, Liz. Any discussion? All in favor? Okay, that's unanimous. So, that motion will pass. And now I'm looking for a motion to adjourn tonight's meeting. Liz Carmen, any discussion? All in favor? Meeting is ended at 8:59. Thank you all.