BOE Meeting 5/13/26

001Okay, I would like to call the Plymouth regular meeting of the Plymouth Board of Education of May 13th, 2026 to order at 6:00 p.m. Please join us in the Pledge of Allegiance. >> I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> Item number two, I would like to entertain a motion to amend the agenda by adding the following after number seven, which is superintendent's update. Going to add in new business, A, a partnership between Terryville High School and Cook Willow Health and Rehab Center, and B, a budget summary update. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Mr. Bourbonniere, Mr. Perugino, second. Any discussion on that? Seeing none, all in favor? >> Aye. >>

002Abstentions? Uh, motion carries. Item number three, I'd like to entertain a motion motion to approve the following minutes. The minutes of the regular Board of Education meeting of April 15th, 2026. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Ms. Tilton and Mr. Foot. Any discussion? All in favor? >> Aye. >> Any opposed? Any abstentions? >> One. >> Mr. Perugino abstains. Motion carries. And then the minutes of the Plymouth Board of Education ad hoc policy committee meeting of April 15th, 2026. >> So moved. >> Ms. Tilton. >> Second. >> And Ms. Palmer. Any discussion? All in favor? >> Aye. >> Opposed? >> Abstentions? >> Motion carries. One more, the minutes of the special meeting of the Plymouth Board of Education Finance and Operations Committee of April 13th, 2026. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Ms. Palmer. Mr. Showers.

003Any discussion? All in favor? >> Aye. >> Opposed? Abstentions? >> Mr. Perugino? >> Yep. >> And the motion carries. All right, item number four, everybody's favorite, student representatives. We'll start with Eli, Terry Junior Middle School. >> So, um spring sports, spring sport, um So, I'll start off with spring sports. Um they're nearing the end of the season. The track and field team has multiple athletes qualify for state championship meet on May 23rd, and the multiple athletes um the and the Berkshire League Championship on May 26th. The baseball and softball teams will both finish their season on May 26th. The baseball team is currently four and four this season, and the softball team is five and three. >> On May 1st and 2nd, the THS Drama Club put on the musical Mean Girls. The show featured

00424 ETJMS students and both cast and crew. As one of the 24 students myself, I had a great time, and I'm so proud of everyone. We had such a great show. The Drama Club will also have a field trip to New York on May 20th. They'll be watching the Broadway show The Great Gatsby, and are going to eat at the Hard Rock Cafe. The middle school students who participated in THS drama club are so thankful that we were allowed to act in the show and wish the graduating seniors the very best. >> Grit and Wit. Grit and Wit will be returning to Eli Terry Middle School next week on Tuesday. Grit and Wit is an obstacle course with physical challenges and mental puzzles. We split up into teams and work together to get through the

005course as fast as possible. And many of the obstacles and challenges require us to collaborate on solutions. This will be my third year doing Grit and Wit and I and I think it has been very fun the past 2 years and I'm very excited for this year. And thank you PTA for sponsoring this event. >> ETJMS students completed SBAC testing today. Last week we took the math CAT and the math performance task. This week we took the ELA CAT test. Each day we had an opportunity to earn a bracelet by showing up, being in test mode, and trying our best to show what we know. Students who earned all five bracelets will get to throw water balloons at Mr. Vigliotti next week. Over 50% of our Sorry. Over 80% of our students accomplished this, which

006means somewhere over 275 balloons will be tossed. >> End of year events. We are looking forward to a lot of great end of year events over the next few weeks. First we have our spring spirit week and pep rally during the week of May 25th. Then the band and chorus will be performing in their spring concert on June 2nd. The eighth grade class will go to the compounds for a day of fun on June 4th. And eighth grade dance is is the following on the 11th. The 6th graders are taking a trip to Mystic Aquarium on June 8th. And the 7th grade class will go to the Adventure Park ropes course on June 16th. Last but not least, I along with the rest of the 8th graders will participate in the 8th grade promotion ceremony

007on Friday, June 19th. >> Good job, guys. >> Great job. >> Thank you. >> Does anybody have any questions for Sebastian or Julia? >> I saw you in the show, Julia. You did >> Thank you so much. >> Mr. Vegliotti called me today. And he said that you guys came down with 95% of what you were going to say today. So, you guys really did a great job. >> Thank you so much. >> Everything, the presentation, the the what you shared. Very nice. >> Thank you. >> see you two on a news anchor desk someday. >> Good job, guys. >> All right, let's move on to the news from Terryville High School. >> Cruise Night, hosted by the junior class of Terryville High School, was a successful after school event held from 6:00 to 10:00

008p.m. that encouraged student engagement and school spirit. For a $5 admission fee, students were invited to participate in a variety of gym activities, karaoke, and social time with friends in safe, supervised environment. The event drew strong attendance and provided a fun opportunity for students to connect outside of regular school hours. In total, the junior class raised $356 contributing to future class initiatives. Beyond fundraising, Cruise Night played an important role in fostering a sense of unity and strengthening relationships within the student body. >> For the past 8 years, Terryville High School has been invited to the Cheshire to Cheshire High School for their annual leadership conference. This year, THS brought highly involved and deserving sophomores and juniors to represent our school. At the all-day event, students got to network with other students and learn about events

009and leadership styles that work in their schools. They got the opportunity to talk with community leaders at lunch and play games with other students as icebreakers. Overall, students said they had a great time and learned a lot. >> Adding on to what Julia shared about Mean Girls, they delivered three full-length performances that showcased the dedication and talents of the cast and the crew. The production highlighted a strong collaboration between high school and middle school students, allowing younger performers to gain valuable experience while contributing to a high-quality show. In recognition of their efforts, the cast and crew have opportunities to be nominated for Halo Awards, further underscoring the quality of their performance. Overall, the production reflected the depth of talent within the school community and the success of the drama program in fostering creativity, confidence, and

010teamwork. >> The spring concert for band and chorus will be on June 9th in the auditorium. Both groups have been working very hard for the past several months and can't wait to show everyone what they've been putting together. >> The Terryville High School's eSports team has achieved outstanding success this year, earning the title of two-time state championship in Rocket League. Their performance has also secured them invitations to both New England regional competition and national tournament, which will take place next Monday. In addition to the team's accomplishments, three players, Marcus Dunn, Logan Harnish, and Cody Ganderillas, have been recognized with all-state honors. The school community showed strong support for the team by broadcasting their matches on screens during study hall and lunch periods, allowing students and staff to follow their progress. Upon their return, the team

011was also celebrated for their achievements, further highlighting the pride and unity they have brought to the school. >> There are many upcoming events for our seniors. Our first event, Scholarship Night, is on the 21st. This year, we have the largest sum of money ever awarded to students in the history of Terryville High School. We would like to say a huge thank you to local families, companies, and organizations that put out a scholarship. Also this month is a senior class trip to Holiday Hill, prom, and academic awards. In June, seniors have athletic awards, senior dinner, and graduation. >> Thanks to the continued support from Board of Education, Terryville High School has been able to offer a lot of advanced placement program tests, including 10 AP courses and a total of 127 exams taken by students this

012year. These courses include AP Language and Composition, AP Literature, AP US History, AP Computer Science, AP Biology, AP Statistics, AP Calculus, AP Government and Politics, and AP Psychology. Students have been actively engaged in this rigorous academic work. For example, I just completed the AP Lang today. And AP Push and AP Stats last week. Additionally, Fallon completed her AP Psych exam yesterday as well as AP Biology and AP Literature in the previous week. This level of participation reflects both strong student commitment and the value of the opportunities made possible through the board's support. >> We'd like to offer you the opportunity to look at the art show on your way out. It has lots of fun work and students have been working very hard. That's a compilation of all year in every class that Mr. Salvatore

013runs. >> Thank you, ladies. >> Any questions for Tiana or Fallon? >> Thank you. Great job. >> Thank you very much. >> Very thorough. >> You all did a fantastic job. Such a great thing to have on our board. >> Thank you. >> All four of you are welcome to stay as long as you would like. If you have other pressing issues to take care of, you may as well whenever you are ready. >> Thank you very much. Have a good night. >> Thank you. See you next time. >> See you next time. >> Thank you. >> All right. That brings us to item number five, a presentation from Plymouth Center School. >> Thank you. Good evening. Um so we're so excited to be here. We just want to share a little bit about what's

014been going on at Plymouth Center School and it's this wonderful compilation of a whole lot of what we're going to share and we couldn't not bring our amazing new Mustang Coco. He is the Plymouth School mascot that made his appearance this year after this wonderful mystery that we had and I also have brought one of my second and first graders and they're going to share a little bit about their favorite parts of this whole school-wide activity. Um and so they'll they'll hang out with Coco for a few minutes, but and I'll introduce them in just a second. So let me see if I can get this going for us. Okay. So this year at Plymouth Center School, we're really excited to highlight a recent school-wide initiative that brought our entire learning community together. We did

015this like with the joy of reading and family engagement and shared excitement and it was really centered around a mystery theme and this initiative connected with a reading challenge and an interactive school-wide mystery of Coco the Mustang and then a culminating author visit. So it went on for just over a month and when I tell you that my entire student body was so excited, they were charged up. We had little clues, we had excitement on the announcements, there were pictures all over the building and every day kids were running up to me asking me, "Where's Coco? What's going on?" So that's just a little preview and I'll just share some of the highlights. So students were motivated to to at home knowing that the more minutes they read and the more that they logged, the

016faster the faster clues would be revealed. So, it all started out one afternoon, we had our community meeting and out of nowhere, our librarian, Mrs. Boyle, comes running in. Do you guys remember? >> Yeah. >> She was like, "Mrs. Kaylor, Mrs. Kaylor, what's going on?" She was like, "Coco's missing." And she hands me this big envelope and there's a whole big, not a ransom, but kind of a we've Coco's gone, Coco's missing and if you want to find out where Coco is, you're going to have to work for it. You're going to have to read, read, read and the more you read, the faster the clues will come. So, the boys and girls were just stunned because, of course, Coco, our mustang, has been living in the library, a a big stuffy, and all of

017a sudden, he was just gone. So, you can imagine the whole school was so willing to do their part. Um the excitement built, oh, I should go back one. The excitement was built towards a special visit from a children's author, David Adler, who you might know, he is most well known for his Cam Jansen mysteries. And so, um we were excited to have him come and he inspired our students by sharing the writing process, developing his ideas on how he gets published, both fiction and non-fiction, and he provided a nice connection to us and excited us about mysteries. So, he was there and then through this experience, not only did we strengthen our literacy and our math skills, but we really pulled in our family community as they were working and supporting their students at

018home with their reading. So, that was great and they were just as excited. Um All of this, we had, let's see, our family, our reading, our our whole school-wide connection, and then here you can start to see. Everyone in the school was involved. They were all excited waiting for their clues to come and each of our special teachers they took a big part in this as well. So, I want to share a little bit about some of the activities that the teachers did to help get us excited. Oh, you can see here, too. Look at this is what the kids were doing. We had our big Mustang, all of them all of them were making missing Coco posters. They were all around the building. Even one of our teachers was at the veterinarian and she

019came back and she took a picture. She said, "Maybe Coco's at the veterinarian." She's like, "I saw on the board it said Coco." And so we were asking everyone like, "Do you think it could be Coco?" We just kept getting excited and each and every day we got another clue. So, while this was all happening, you could see some of the beautiful artwork. Mrs. Boylan, our fabulous art teacher, she read one of the mysteries of The Snowy Day and then our second graders were working on snow artwork. Um let's see. You can see here our PE teacher, Mr. Tisha, he organized a wonderful scavenger hunt around our all of this excitement. You can see here in science, Mrs. Gallagher, she had all kinds of hands-on learning. She was tying in measurement, magnets, and experiments. And

020then you can see here we had Mrs. Boyle in the library doing all of the exciting um projects and she had our second graders building Google slide shows about their favorite David Adler book and mysteries. So, everybody just joined in and then also Mr. Oster, he did an amazing job. He worked with his music mind and he um he kind of reworked Mustang Sally to lyrics for Mustang Coco and worked with all of our classes pre-K through 2 for them to learn the lyrics to that song. I'm sure if you have littles at home you've heard them singing Mustang Coco and then even just this past week he brought in a music friend of his who helped him mix and record and they're making a beautiful mix of Mustang Coco that will soon have on

021our website. And then the clues just kept coming in. So let me just share a little bit about those. While the special teachers were integrating all of this, the students were getting clues and they were working working working to get all of their reading in and one of the things I really wanted to share was that the response was incredible. Our students read over 43,285 minutes in two weeks at home. So it really just got everyone so excited and we were so proud of them. Eventually students solved the clues and I'll let I'm going to let one of my students tell you a little bit more about that. But once they found the real stuffed Coco or the real stuffed Coco, I'm sorry, once they found the stuffed Coco our real Coco appeared. So this

022was really exciting because now we actually have a mascot who can take part in all things at Plymouth Center School and the kids love to see Coco when Coco makes an appearance and our PTA has also been amazing. I can not speak enough about them. They supported us, they helped us to attain Coco. They also did a big project to align with this big mystery where they had a family event called build build a Mustang and families were able to either come or they could purchase a take home kit and they all did kind of a build a bear stuffed Mustang night. So that was really excited exciting for all of our kids as well. So in conclusion after all the kids were able to go and solve the mystery of Coco they all had

023a great big class picture with Coco and our whole school wide initiative was a huge success. And I have to say I would be remiss to not mention Corey Mezar, who is our literacy coach, who is the mastermind around this whole connection with David Adler and coming up with a mystery. And I'm sorry she couldn't be here tonight, but she really was a huge part of this. So, I think overall we fostered a huge love of reading in our school. We brought excitement to Plymouth Center School with our Mustang. And now I want to introduce these fabulous girls who are going to share a little bit about their favorite part of this, I guess it was about 6 weeks. So, Paige, I'm going to introduce Paige Zagorski. I'm going to have her come up here

024first. And if you talk over here, they'll be able to hear you nice and loud. Okay? They each have favorite parts. >> I will be talking about what must the Mustang means to our school. A Mustang means strength and teamwork. And our Mustang is gentle and kind. In pre-K, all I remember is that I had a picture of a Mustang. This year, we have a real Mustang. Name Coco. To We all voted to name our Mustang. We had a school mystery where Coco went missing. And we all came together to solve the mystery. At PCS, we always say ride with pride. >> Awesome. Thank you. And now I have Madison. This is first grader Madison Cannan and she's going to share her favorite part. Just talk in the mic. >> My favorite part of the

025Coco mystery was every day we worked on a reading challenge to get new clues. We earned a clue each week and we had to solve a puzzle to figure out the clue. One of the clues we had to work together to unscramble one big word that the word was downstairs. So we learned Coco was hiding downstairs. We also did a lot of reading together and celebrated the top readers. It was so much fun, but we still had to find Coco. Our last clue was that we had to work together to solve math problems to um to remove numbers from a hidden picture. Once we solved all the problems it was a picture of a gym teacher, Mr. T. We headed downstairs where we found Coco in the gym. Everyone loved it. My little brother was

026so excited to find the real Coco. Chandler couldn't stop hugging Coco. >> So there you have it. That's what's going on at the elementary school. >> Thank you. >> And thanks for letting us share this evening. >> Thank you. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Girls girls and and Miss Kayla Um I will I'll talk to you two for Oh no, she's What What you're doing at Plymouth Center School is really unbelievable and the culture and the climate you're creating in a primary elementary school and it shows in everything you did here and I know that Miss Mason had a big part of really putting this together, at organizing this with all the teachers and the staff and the faculty you have there because everyone was a part of this, but you two young ladies

027to be standing at a podium um in front of all these strange people. Some might not be a strange for you but you guys were amazing. Absolutely were amazing. Your reading was great. You were so confident. We heard everything you were saying. You guys did such an amazing job. I'm very very proud of you guys. Unbelievable. YOU DID SO WELL. >> THANK YOU FOR SHARING WHAT YOU'VE BEEN DOING AT SCHOOL. >> Thank you so much for having us. >> All right. That brings us to item number six, public comment. So, we will start with our in-person public comment. Anyone for public comment? All right. Seeing none, we will move on to our remote public comment. >> Not at this time. We will check back in after. That brings us to item number seven, superintendent's update

028with new business. >> Uh good evening, everyone. I'd like to start by congratulating our 2026 Terryville High School salutatorian and valedictorian. We have Ezekiel Burger who won the salutatorian, and uh the valedictorian is going to be Drew Fowler. So, congratulations to both of those students on behalf of the board and our school community. It's such an honor to come first or become first or second in the class, and I just want to congratulate those two on their hard work throughout their four years here at the high school. Last week was Teacher Appreciation Week, and on behalf of the Board of Education and the administrative team, we arranged for Rita's Italian ice truck, not ice cream, ice ice truck uh to visit each school as a small token of our appreciation. We treated every employee. We

029kind of celebrate Nurses' Day and Paraprofessional Day and Teacher Day all and Administrative Day. Not Bosses' Day, but Administrative Day. All at one time, and we we purchased a complimentary ice cream for everyone on our staff. Terryville High School will be supporting the Rotary Club's Day of Service. Um the seniors will be participating in a senior give-back day this Friday, May 15th. The idea is for the seniors to thank the community they grew up in by doing some sort of a community service project for the town before they graduate. So, this year the seniors will be working at the water wheel and the lock museum, mulching, landscaping, and painting a fence. I don't know how that fence is going to come out, but they're going to be painting a fence. They're also going to be

030washing and detailing some cruisers for the Plymouth Police Department, and they're going to do a few projects at our schools. They're going to be cleaning the courtyards at Fisher, doing some landscaping projects at the other schools, and helping out the teachers in the classroom. As of Monday, we roped off the playground area at Plymouth Center School where the playscape is in preparations to remove the old playscape. Working with the mayor and speaking with the mayor, the town was not interested in repurposing that the current playscape we have in place. So we as we previously discussed we're going to donate that playscape to the Boys and Girls Club. Our goal is to have the new playscape installed by the start of next school year which really shouldn't be an issue. It just depends on when it

031comes in and when we get going on that. And finally as a reminder, the last three days of school June 18th, 19th, and 22nd will be early dismissal days. The Fisher promotion will be held on the 18th at 9:30 in the morning. The Eli Terry step-up program will be held on June 19th at 9:00 a.m. And the Terryville High School graduation ceremony will be held on June 19th at 6:00 rain or shine. If it's nice, we'll be on the soccer field. If it's not nice, we'll be in the auditorium. And our last day of school is Monday, June 22nd. In your board packets I provided a list of end of the year activities with the exception of prom and field trips. I will be attending as many of those activities as possible. If you're interested

032in joining me, please let me know. And that's all I have. >> All right. So we'll move on to our new items under new business. >> So partnership between Terryville and Cook Willow will be held. >> All right. So earlier in the year at curriculum when we met with Mr. Holts, we talked about programming and they had been looking into the CNA program. Thank you Nicole for helping us with the contact at Cook Willow. I know Mr. Holts and Brian and the team have worked really hard to come up with a schedule to make this work. So, basically it's a 4-month certification program. The students will need to do 100 hours of on-site training. So, I think it's 16 hours of class working and 84 hours. Ryan's handing out the exact numbers to you guys

033now. Um the challenge was so that students wouldn't miss learning time. So, the schedule will be mostly on Saturdays and holidays. So, that is a big commitment coming out of the students to be able to commit to that program. Um it will be paid for by the district. Uh at this point we're going to start with eight students as the pilot program. Um parents or families would would be responsible for purchasing scrubs and then paying for the certification test similar to all the AP exams that, you know, families pay for to take that. Um however, once they complete the program, they'll get their CNA certification and be able to apply for $20 an hour positions at Cook Willow, which I know is certainly more than I started off working at in high school. So, um

034this is a really great opportunity for our students to be able to participate in and we would like to try to get this moved forward ASAP because we need to give, you know, families time to look it over and to commit to it because scheduling is already ongoing for next year's school year. So, um great opportunity and hopefully we can get this on on board. Did I miss anything, Brian? >> No, I was I was going to say um this connection all started with Nicole and who her who she had over at Cook Willow to meet with me at first. And it was first it was us two that met with them, and then we brought in the high school after we saw it was possible, but then we hit another road block block with

035the days. And so we sat together um and we were and Nicole's able to very persistent. Nicole is very persistent. Um and we were able to get a meeting to get these days. And again, as Kelly said, uh the goal from Mr. Holt in our career center at that meeting was how do we put this program in place for kids that is least impactful on their their academics. And so we were able to do that, and that's why we're more comfortable now bringing this forward. >> Question, you said six people, but this says 15 each. >> So it's it's >> We're guaranteeing them eight. >> We told them we would have eight kids based on what they said in the career center, but they can hold up to 15. >> Oh, okay. >> So I

036didn't want to put that number on there cuz I didn't want Matt to get upset. So I said just eight for now, but we can take up to 15. But Alyssa Glazer, our career center um counselor said, "We'll get eight." So. >> Brian, I don't get upset. I just figure it out. >> All right. So I'd like to entertain a motion to approve the partnership between Terryville High School and Touch Willow Health and Rehab to offer the CNA certified partnership course course for the 2026-2027 school year. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Mr. Showers, Mr. Foot. Any further discussion? >> Brian, what about transportation for this? >> They would be on their own for transportation. So yeah, it's it's part of this. This is what will go home to the kids. I want also I

037want to say uh since I was principal here, which is I 12-15 years ago, I don't even know when. Um we were trying to figure out how to make this work cuz this is the same program that Thomas Dim was doing. We wanted to try We just couldn't make it work, so uh it's it's quite impressive that we were able to put this together in in such a short period of time. So. >> Any further discussion? >> Is there any further discussion? >> I'd love to answer that. >> 16 and by October 1st. >> Yeah, 16 by October 1st. It's on It's on the It's on the sheet. So, are you interested? All right. Do you have something? >> No, okay. >> All in favor? >> Aye. >> Any opposed? Any abstentions? Okay, motion carries.

038Fantastic. Always good to bring more things opportunities for our students. And then we have the budget summary update. >> So, there were a few wrinkles that have been put into our plan um that we thought it was going to be very simple. The town council uh increased our budget, which we were very happy about, a 4.08 increase. I thought we'd come to this meeting we could adopt the new budget, and we'd be all set. But then more happens. So, let me kind of go through what I have here and what we've done. So, the state of Connecticut has issued a supplemental educational uh aid fund to the town of Plymouth. Not to the Board of Education, to the town of Plymouth. So, there's a lot of confusion behind it. I sent information to Shipman. They

039sent me back an answer. I went on a conference with the commissioner. They contradicted what Shipman said. I sent Shipman what the commissioner said, and they sent me back a revised response. So, what we do know for fact is that this is a grant that we received from the state of the state department not the state department, the state of Connecticut. We received a 2-year grant. The town will receive, each one of those years, they'll receive $196,042 in supplemental educational aid. The town has three options on what they can do with these additional funds. The first is that they can keep the town's budget as is and let the schools utilize the extra money on top of the current approved budget. So, our budget's approved at 4.08. The town's budget is approved. The additional money

040comes in for school purposes only. The second option, the town could go back and lower the amount of tax dollars going into the educational budget and use the new state money to fill the gap. So, they can take our budget, lower it up to $196,042, take the grant, plug it into our budget, and save the taxpayers, lower the mill rate, or do what they need to with those funds. There's a lot of concern with that because we've been there as a board with regard to our sinking fund, and it creates a hole in our budget if that happens and they supplant that money. So, we have to be very careful with that. The third option is we do a mixture of both. Um I've been talking with the mayor, having some discussions. Um there was

041so much confusion and clarification around this that we just need to kind of wait to see where we go with these with this 2-year grant. So, what Matt and I in talking recommend this evening is that the board approves and adopts the revised budget of $28,703,423 at a 4.08 increase that we received from the town council. Then depending on how the town decides to move forward with the supplemental aid, we may need to schedule a special meeting to figure out how and if we can spend that money and what we can do based on the landscape that we have in front of us. So, that's the first part of the budget summary I needed to share with you. The second part deals with uh what was approved by the town council. They requested in good

042faith that we add $30,000 to the teacher supply accounts across the district. They also restored $68,000 with the expectation that the funds would be used to offset the salaries of the two regular uh education teacher aides and the unarmed building security monitor. Since the tri-board meeting though, a concern has come up with pre-K and the program that we're going to need to address one way or another, and I'm going to have Beth share some of those details with you now of what that concern is. >> So, we're in a bit of a unique position this year because um when we filled our pre-K classes, we have two full-day and one AM/PM. Um we filled them and I usually leave a couple spots just for anyone who moves in during the summer or next year because

043any student who's of pre-K age that has a uh that has IEP and receives special education, we have we take them into pre-K. Um so, I did that, great. We sent out the the um decisions to everybody and then about a week later, three students that were pre-K age moved into district and we had to take them into the classes. Um that pretty much that filled our full-day classes for next year, so there's absolutely no wiggle room. Um and that's a unique position to be in cuz usually we have a little bit of room and we will have students that move in probably next year. That seems to be um typical for us. So, um the AM/PM is also a little bit higher than usual. It's at 10 and 8, which I'm sure you think

044is not that large. But we have to reserve spots Karen saying yes for 3-year-olds, yes it is. But we also have to reserve spots in those classes for any students who are receiving birth to three services but turn three during the year next year and qualify for special education. It's tricky to do that because all we know about the student until a few months before their third birthday is their birth date. So we just know that how many students are going to turn three receiving birth to three services next year that could possibly be in our pre-K program. Some students don't qualify for special education out of birth to three, but most do and then are in our program. So we have to keep those numbers low to add. So So to highlight that this

045this year I think we started with about eight in each class and we have 16 in the AM class right now. So it has exploded. So the other wrench that is thrown into this is we are NAEYC accredited because we get a Smart Start grant. So we have to be accredited by NAEYC, which is I call it baby NEASC. It's just NEASC for you know, high school accreditation. It's just for pre-K. They require a 10:1 student teacher ratio for every classroom. So we're just getting to the point where we're going to need to be looking at more staff if we get more students. Right now we have one teacher and one pair classroom pair of professionals. We meet those ratios, but we could be looking in the full day to need another student to stay

046I'm sorry, need another pair of professional to stay accredited. And we may be visited for our accreditation visit either this spring or early fall, so that's also on my mind as well. So Brian, Matt, and I have had many conversations to brainstorm ideas, but it really comes down to what can be supported by the budget. >> So with that, I'm going to make another recommendation to the board. That we wait to see what this town decides to do with the supplemental aid before we take action with the pre-K because there's two directions we can go here. If we receive the additional funds, I would recommend to the board, I think Beth and Matt would do the same, uh another full-day pre-K uh program that we put into Plymouth Center School. It gives us 2 years

047to build that classroom into our budget based on the the the money in the the educational aid we'll be getting. So, it gives us a 2-year buffer to really build that classroom into our budget. So, if we receive the additional funds, that would be my recommendation. If the town applies the funds to the mill rate or uses the funds for a different reason and supplants them into our budget, um I would recommend converting the two general education aid positions to paraprofessional positions. And then taking those paraprofessionals, putting them into the pre-K for the large numbers, which will also meet the accreditation requirements. So, the second option isn't really what we would want, um but if we're forced to it, we might have to go there. But I think for now, we need to see how

048the town moves forward with the additional educational aid funds before we make a decision on pre-K. That's my recommendation. Doesn't mean that's what you have to do. Um that's just my recommendation. Finally, I have one more thing for you. Thank you, Pat. I've shared with the board the importance of maintaining our sinking fund for our K-8 reading and math programs. Like we've talked about how much money should we just keep religiously in that fund. So, to support that, I've created a chart that outlines the estimated cost of our reading program and our math program and the renewal timelines for both of those programs. These two programs are vital. And they're the consistent foundation we have for learning and growth in K through 8. So, I recommend keeping the sinking fund at a level that covers

049the projected cost of these program renewals at all time. It doesn't have to be both at the same time, not combined, but at least have that in there so that we have a cycle going so we can purchase these where we don't have to build it into our budget, cut our staff to get that program back. We can actually um think ahead of when we need these and make sure we have that money in that sinking fund. And so, that's just my recommendation from there. And that's all I have. >> Any questions for Mr. Felker? >> I question >> When does the town need to make their decision regarding what they're going to do with that money? Or is there no timeline to that? >> I would think that they have to do it before

050July 1st because your fiscal year starts on July 1st. So, I would think that they would have to make that decision at that point because then you're starting you have to close out the previous year and start the other one or something. So, that is my guess. >> Yeah, when I talk about the So, what happened with this with this bill and and what happened with this is and and Shipman didn't know this. So, I had to send them that information. The state shared that at like 11:30 the night before they were approving everything, something was thrown in that let the the the state supplant or the town supplant instead of adding to the Board of Education budgets. So, the bill originally was to support Board of Education budgets and it shifted to the town

051controlling how that those funds could be utilized. Which again, it's to support the taxpayers in the town and the community and the schools. So, which is fine. But, that happened so last minute that the state hasn't even gotten back to us on an update on how the funds could be utilized or whatnot and couldn't answer the questions during our virtual meeting with them. Um so, I would say the the same guess it's when the fiscal year ends on June 30th and so I would I would assume July 1st. Um but we'll have to see. And again, I think Matt, myself and Beth have spoken about if the town were to um give that additional support to the school district, what we can do with that money that makes sense for both the town and the

052school at the same time. We do have a plan that we just need to talk with the mayor first to make sure that he's comfortable. And we need to know if if the town council plans on on giving us that that money in a leeway as well. So. >> And Mr. Pitcher, just let the town council know if they need any information from us, we are >> I will. >> open to the communication. >> But, don't forget the town was also granted $135,084 in addition to the education money. >> Yeah. >> Uh my question and it's more than likely going to be to Matt. Um with this additional funding, if it does come to the Board of Ed, which would technically increase our budget, would it that going to hold us to a new level

053with the MBR? >> It's grant money, Jerry. It doesn't It doesn't go into our budget. It doesn't impact the approved budget. >> They made it a grant so it won't impact MBR. >> Okay. >> So. >> All right, cuz we've had issues in the past um, with not meeting MBR. >> Yep. >> And that's So, that was one of the clarifications that I wanted to get. Um, the other clarification that I got and I've been doing some interesting reading on what's on the on the um, state website. And you really should go into it, especially yourself, Ron. Go in there. I mean, I can give you the Yes, I can give you the website after the meeting, but it's it's really discerning on what ends up happening with with the upper the towns that are

054um, let's say uh, like the Harfords, the Bridgeports, the New Havens, the Meridens, the New Britains, the Waterburys. When you look at the disparity of how much money they're getting and then you look at the towns that are getting $500,000 or less um, in this grant money, a majority of those towns that are getting $500,000 or less is all small town Connecticut. And I hate to tell you when you go on that website and you look at what some of these small towns are getting, it's like you might not even get 2% of that $170 million. And it's it's mind-blowing on how the state legislature Yes, they did take care of the big cities and some of the medium-size cities, but small town Connecticut we do we just got the crumbs. That's basically it. So,

055but Ronald gets you that after after the meeting. >> All right, anything else on this item? All right, great. So, we're going to move on to unfinished business. We have the 2027-2028 school year calendar. Everybody should have had that in their packet. We can make our motion and then we can discuss if there's any questions about it. I'd like to entertain a motion to approve the 2027-2028 school year calendar as presented. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Ms. Tilton, Mr. Putt. And now we will open it up for discussion. Anyone have any questions about the calendar? Any concerns, comments? >> I would have just realized I'm going to have to go back to school in 2 years on my birthday for the first day of school. >> Well, we should change it then. All right,

056I guess seeing none, all those in favor. >> Aye. >> Opposed? Abstentions? Motion carries. All right, that brings us to B. Second read and possible approval of the following revised policies. Okay, so you should have those policies as well. Um, I'd like to entertain a motion to approve the following revised policies as presented. >> So moved. >> Series 3000 business and series 5000 students. So, Kelly? >> I. >> That's okay. I have a second? Mr. Showers? All right, any discussion on those policies now? You're quiet tonight. Wow. All right, all in favor? >> Aye. >> Opposed? Abstentions? Motion carries. All right, and that brings us to the adoption of the assigned budget. Just like Mr. Falcone says, we're kind of just doing what we were originally going to do, and we'll make some changes later

057if we need to. I'd like to entertain a motion for the Plymouth Board of Education to adopt the assigned budget of 28 million 703,423, which is a 4.08 increase. Do I Mr. Showers? >> Second. >> Mr. Foot. Discussion on the motion. >> What happened to the 200 million? What are we going to do with >> that was a typo. >> Well, that's what it gave me. I don't >> Yeah. >> Okay. >> I'm pretty sure we're not getting 200 million. >> Well, that's what it said. >> Any other discussion? All right, all in favor. >> Aye. >> Opposed? Abstentions? Motion carries. And then, there is one more item. Review of the Plymouth Board of Education five-year strategic plan. >> So, I don't know if you recall, but when we started working on the strategic plan,

058we decided to wait till after the budget was approved to revisit it. Um all the changes that we discussed, and all the changes that happened within the budget are reflective in this new document that was revised as of as of today's as of today's date. Um I don't know how the board wants to move forward with this. So, I I I'm sorry. In blue is the things that are aligned to budget. In yellow are the changes that we made. Um but it's a matter of how the board wants to move forward. I don't know if you want to put it ad hoc Uh committee together, if you want to run it through curriculum instruction to kind of uh go through the draft and fine tune it. Um it's really up to the board of where

059we go with this. This is reflective of this school year. So, if it's a 5-year plan, we would just add the year at the end and we would just keep going and that work should be be done um with the board at the board level. So, that's up to you. >> Any thoughts? Any subcommittees want to take it on? >> I was going to say I'm fine running it through curriculum if that makes it so we don't have to put together a whole another team and then anybody who's not on curriculum that wants to hop on for those meetings to have input maybe instead of starting a whole another commitment for people. I'm fine with putting that on to our agenda. >> I think I'm fine with that as long as it is open to

060other people. I don't think that it should just be limited to curriculum. >> Right. Yeah, but you know, that way we're not starting a whole another extra meeting. >> Yeah. Any Any board member can go to any meeting and then >> But can you be recognized as a board >> on it necessarily at that time. >> I I I am always comfortable with people contributing at the curriculum meetings. I'm not sure if that's against the rules or not. >> pretty open for people to share. Again, there is no decisions that are made in that meeting. We're not voting on it. The The vote will come here, but I think my goal with this and it should be kind of your goal is that when we come back in August we have a solid draft to

061present to the board um that has been revised and edited so that the board, if not ready to adopt in in September, maybe October, we're good to go with our five-year plan, and we kind of get on that cycle of revising this as we go. And maybe we'll do it a little sooner next year. Um, but that's where it is. So, it might take the committee might have to meet possibly different times than just the ones that we have scheduled a little more often, but I think that should be their goal is that when we come back in August for our first meeting, it's the discussion and the presentation that we might do. >> So, you wanted to do the revisions before the end of this year, or in between August and whatever deadline >>

062That's up to you. It could be this year for next year. So, when we come back in August, we could present, or we could start in August, and then in September, we could present it. That's up to you as a board what you would like to do. >> Well, one of the things that's going to help us out tremendously is when the town decides on how they're going to use that extra grant money um, that the state is a lot a lot. So, the the quicker we find out how they're going to utilize that how they're going to utilize that money for uh, for whatever purposes, which would help the board of education, that will I'm not going to say it's going to drastically change this draft, but they'll they'll influence it to the point

063where some of the things that may be 2 years down the road could be taken care of. You know? >> So, maybe Kelly, it might be best to wait until we hear >> Right. Well, that's why I was saying maybe it's not >> Yeah. >> for the end of this year, unless we hear a decision like tomorrow, but there's so many >> We're getting pretty close to the end of >> And we should talk and I Listen, I'm here in the summer. So, if we do it in the summer, that's fine. Just because the board doesn't meet until August, it mean that we can't meet in July. So, well, we can work that out after. I mean, I just want I wanted to get that to everyone the most updated revised copy of what we

064are working for or towards and have some sort of a plan of how we would get it to the next level. >> And if anybody has a chance to think about it after this meeting and you have some strong thoughts or concerns about it, please feel free to email Brian, myself. You know, we're happy to hear from you. All right. So, that brings us to item number nine, business manager's report and personnel report. Mr. Chenza. >> So, I'm not going to belabor things that we've talked about kind of over and over for the last couple of uh um meetings. But, I'll just touch on a couple of things. Um the first is the official heat pumps. Um we're good to go with that and we are tentatively scheduled to start on June 23rd, which is

065the day after school. And we anticipate the contractor anticipates that it'll take us probably 2 weeks to get that complete. Um so, that's just an update on that. Uh the sidewalk project at Plymouth Center School uh it's just kind of twofold. The first is we need to learn from the town how they want to handle the project itself, whether they're going to take care of the project or if they're going to just shift the money over to us and we'll oversee the project and we're good either way. It all depends on how the town wants to do that. Um but, more importantly, is we got to we've got a couple other estimates and one of them came in significantly less than the money that the town gave us. Um and that number is $38,200. So,

066it's about a $26,000 lower number. So, there's a couple of things obviously we can have conversation with the town and say you allocated this um and with this 26,000 we can do other concrete projects along the line or we simply do the one and the town does the rest with their rates their capital. So, um, but we, you know, we continue to try to narrow down the cost so that we're we're cost containing if you will. >> Um, I'm assuming you're comfortable with that that lower numbers company? >> Yeah, it's actually I I I because we're not there I can't tell you which company but I'm comfortable with who the contractor >> I wouldn't know who they were anyway, so it doesn't >> comfortable with who the contractor is. Um, and then, um, finally, um,

067yeah, I'm very confident that we will will end the year somewhere around $100,000 in surplus. Um, and on June 10th at our next meeting, I will bring with with Brian and Beth kind of recommendations that we think you should consider and of course then you have the opportunity to do whatever else with that surplus. But I I'm pretty confident that's where we're going to be. Give me a plus or minus 10,000, I would appreciate it, but um, >> Of course. >> that's what we're looking at. So, I turn it back to you with any questions. >> Okay. Questions for Mr. Denzel. Given that we've spent so much money out of the sinking fund on projects, if we do have a surplus, would it be wise to allocate a small portion because I believe the numbers

068that we put out for replacement for curriculum is a little higher than what we currently have in there. Is that something that we should >> would be part of the recommendation that we come to you with. Yes. Really, on the 10th you're going to get kind of three paths from me. Is you're going to get here are some projects that could be taken care of or expenses that could be taken care of. Here is what I recommend that would go into the sinking fund, and here is what you should consider if you wanted to give back to the town. Like that's the three kind of forks that I would apply to you. >> Anyone else? All right, sounds great. That brings us to the personnel report, Mr. Falcone. >> The only thing I'd like to

069point out is really the the certified postings that we have right now. We have a third-grade position, first-grade position, and an art teacher. And those are just based on um you know, our our they're all in the budget, but those are the only positions and uh none of knock on wood uh all three of those positions are not areas of need uh or so we should be able to fill those positions um pretty soon. >> All right. Any questions for Mr. Falcone about the personnel report? All right. We are back to public comment. In-person public comment, please join us at podium. >> It's quiet tonight. >> Any public comment? Okay. Uh remote public comment. >> Not at all. I'm a little nervous how quiet it's been, I'm being honest. All right, moving on. Item 11,

070committee reports, curriculum instruction, Ms. Tilton. >> Okay. >> Yep, we're hanging. >> All right, so we covered quite a few topics to come close to wrapping up the school year with the addition of those uh half-days for professional development. Uh Mr. Falcone and the administrative team have put together a tentative schedule to make sure that they are providing opportunities for staff to um have a balance of district-wide school-level things, and things that they need for their own individual learning. It looks like they have a pretty good plan in place for that. We covered the certified faculty technology lease plan for their personal devices, which is up this year to try to find the best way to make sure that teachers have devices that work and that's fiscally responsible. So, that looks like a good plan.

071There was an AI curriculum that was brought up uh to help staff with lesson planning. Um they're getting Did you have that presentation, Pia? >> We Yeah, we actually did and it went really, really well. >> Okay. >> Um we haven't made any decisions yet. We're still working, but uh they they We had a presentation of um curriculum writing with curriculum writing is a very It's a tedious task. And by the time you finish, the curriculum's outdated and you have to start over. And it almost feels like it's never done. And now that we have AI, it does help to tighten that up where you can finish curriculum um a lot faster and it could all align and align to the standards. And the second program that we saw showed us that better than the

072first program. And so, we don't know where we're going with it yet. Uh we've been in discussion, but it was a very impressive presentation. >> Um and then we also discussed general education summer school. Um Brian worked really hard to look at numbers and to think about uh getting that into place for our students who are in need of tier two and tier three intervention, just to provide an opportunity to close some of those gaps and make sure they don't have learning losses over the summer. I don't think we made a full decision on whether or not we can get it off the ground for this year. That was our hope. >> Depends on what we're doing with the the budget this year. >> A lot of balls up in the air while they're making

073that decision. So, we did talk about that and it really does seem like a great opportunity for our students who could use a little more um extra support um to get prepared for next year. And then the elementary anticipated class size was that preschool. And they know I just as a teacher and as somebody who did teach preschool, especially when you're working with students who have very significant needs, yes, we can cover our bases by putting a para into the classroom, but ideally it would be better to have smaller class sizes with a certified teacher. Just my personal and professional opinion on that take. So, fingers crossed that um the town will see that that is a genuine need for our community and for our youngest students that the better we can prepare them for

074future, that will make their entire school career hopefully a little better. So, again, have to wait and see how we can use those funds best. So, yep. That's I think I got everything. Thanks, Karen. >> All right, finance and operations. >> I have a question. >> Oh, sorry. >> Yeah, question away. >> Um D, general education summer school, is there What What's the cost associated with >> When we ran it through COVID, um it was prior to to myself getting here and Matt getting here. And Matt was here for I think >> A few months. And when they used the COVID relief money, it was the it was really really high. It was over I think $50,000. Uh we were able to break it down and really structure it up. >> You want the number?

075Um so >> 15, right? >> to run six classes entering from K up to six uh 15, 476, 80 was the total number and that would be What did we say? 80 up to >> It would be It would be >> I I'm just trying to look. 16 students per grade for six grades. >> Yeah. Kids going in from kindergarten to First grade to second grade. So, those summer months is where we would hit them up until sixth grade. And then you would have 16 kids in a room invite-only tier two and tier three students, which are the ones that are getting the extra assistance they might need academically um uh it to try to to help them not have that summer slide um in coming back to school and uh the total was under

076$16,000 to answer your question, Jerry. >> Okay. >> Yeah, we part we we looked at it very closely. It was like an amazing bang for the buck kind of deal with what you would get for that. And being able to be invite-only is kind of a nice addition to that, too, because you know you're going to get the learners who probably are really going to benefit most from it. >> So, when does that decision need to be made for it to take place this summer? >> Uh now. >> That's what I mean. >> To take because it would it would We would have to figure out what's going to go in our budget to put that in. So, for example uh right now the the town gave us 68 They gave us $30,000 for supplies

077and it has to go towards supplies. Like I in good faith we we you know, I think that's that's appropriate. They also restored $68,000 into our budget for salaries and with the expectation it would go towards the general education teacher aides and the unarmed building security monitor. Now, I think there's an understanding that the town council can't tell us where to put the money. Um so, the question is would we want that $68,000 to go towards I believe the unarmed security person was one of the main reasons why they did that and keep that in place. Would we want to do something else with the general education teacher aides? Would we want to put in summer school with some of those funds and or offset the cost for the library media specialist at Fisher. Or

078would we want to stick with the two teachers aides? Or would we want to one teachers aide and the unarmed? Or do we want to hold because we have a pre-K problem and we might have to use those positions to put in the paraprofessionals into those pre-K. So, but the longer we wait, the less possible it is to run summer school this summer. >> My question is does the summer school come out of this year's budget because it's or does it come out of next year's budget? >> It's all out of next year's budget. >> And we cannot use any of that possible $100,000 that's left over. >> Nope, because it's cuz summer school's basically all salary. >> So, we can't I mean just go into a little more detail, Matt. Like at the end

079of the year, we have to zero out our budget. So, there we can encumber money. >> And but you cannot encumber salary. >> Exactly. But what can you encumber? Just so everyone >> You can encumber supply supplies. You can encumber the supplies that are needed for the summer. It's basically buying them in advance. Um >> You can encumber you could have encumbered like legal services things like that. >> Say that again. >> It was pretty legal services and PD and things like that that we have bills for that. >> The things I cannot encumber for is salaries and benefits. Anything else you can encumber. Um >> Is a stipend considered a salary though? >> It is. >> Okay. >> It was a >> But also encumbering stuff that after the first time >> Blow now.

080What was it? >> I I estimated at about $1,200. >> $200 per class. >> We could possibly use that. >> Out of 100 to get this try to take some money from >> Yeah, $1,000. Yeah. So Um But again, these are these are board decisions. We're in a tough spot. We're kind of in limbo right now until the town makes that decision and we know what we're working with. We could literally be in a situation where we have a $196,000 hole in our budget if one decision's made in Acer plan. We could be in a situation where um we might have the funds to put in a pre-K and have to work in the next 2 years to build that into our budget. I mean we are we're all over the place. >> Is it

081worth putting in the summer school program now for this summer knowing that it's already halfway through May? How soon would those letters or those invitations to those kids be able to go out for parents who probably have already made summer camp and >> Yeah, we have to we have to post the positions and things like that. It's just a matter of where when we're talking about $16,000, where's it coming from? >> But like is there even a is there even a point to do it for this year or should we just work it into the 2027-28 budget? >> That it would probably be won't be as I think, if we do it that way. We can inform people, but there was a good point that was made at our curriculum meeting as well, though, that

082you need to start somewhere. And the numbers might not be good in the first year, but it has to build. >> I'm the one that was pushing for the summer school, so >> Yeah. But >> I understand. >> It's the matter of right now, something has to go in order to put that in place, and then we have a lot of work to do to get that up and running for probably right after the 4th of July. I mean, we have I have the financial structure together. We have to put together in the actual structure of the summer school. >> constant iterations at my job. You know, I'm expected to put out small increments of things. Small increments or pilots of things is one thing, but putting it out rushed is never going to be

083a good idea. >> I think we should hold off until next year, and because we have big decisions coming up based on pre-K. Pre-K But >> a it's a small amount, but I think you're going to get way more bang for your buck if you take the time to plan it. >> yeah, and the other piece, too, is we were talking in in our meeting about like the aftercare piece, because it's not a full-day program, it's a 3-hour program. And where would the kids go? And we'd have to work with Parker. I mean, there is a lot of legwork that would have to go into this. >> I I think instead of throwing it out as like I said >> I also think that >> the rush >> you have to consider you'll need to

084find staff for it, and at this late point in time those that are looking for the summer kind of work, that stuff's already out there, and they may be in other districts, they could be elsewhere. It could be a challenge to find that. Um and the invitation to the students, most families already have their summer planned. >> Well, not only that, it's like trying to spring that on a kid that is not anticipating going to summer camp, and then being being like, "Haha, you're going to go to summer school for the next four weeks and it's like okay they're going to be thrilled to be there. It's going to be really great for the first for four weeks. >> Plus even if if it's you know even next year it as a as a first

085year of a program you're always going to have kinks and that's fine. But if it has kinks and has even extra kinks because it was rushed you might put a really bad taste in some of those parents mouths that their kid really could benefit from it but they sent them this year and we have rushed it through and maybe then the next year they're like nah we're not doing that again. >> Fair enough. Sounds good. So we'll hold off on that for possibly next summer. All right anything else for curriculum and instruction? All right Mr. Burbine. >> Okay finance and operation meeting was this previous Monday. Uh Matt went through just about everything on the list. Um except for um some additional items that came up in that meeting. Um Plummer Center School roof right

086now uh we all know that right now we're looking at $2.2 million right now um and more than likely taking the solar panels off going to be somewhere between 2 and 300,000 but that does not include lost energy. Okay so that could be even more. Okay and as everybody needs to know we can't bond money the town has to do it and in order for the town to do it they have to make sure that they have that money available uh so that um uh the bond can go through and also the state's going to want that money up front too because they pay you on the back end and according to the contract to that um Matt was working with the state would give us $0.68 out of a dollar for that project depending

087on the cost. So, uh you're probably looking at 68% of that project would be paid for by the state of Connecticut. >> I have a question. >> We have state specifications. >> Do Did we have to get Do we have to get multiple votes for the group? >> So, the way this works is we basically would be working with a general contractor and they would put the >> the other bid package and they would put all that up. >> Okay. >> So, there would be multiple So, we have an idea of what it's going to cost so that we can go to the town and capital say what it's going to cost, but then when it comes right down to it there would be an RFP >> Okay. >> bidding that that whole thing. Um

088and the state requires that. Although, the state does have numerous state-approved contractors that bypasses that project project that process. Um but I think with something of this magnitude they require that. Um it also um just for a clarification is the 2.2 2 plus I'm going to leave the solar panels off the conversation. Is the 2 plus 2 number working with the state will be a higher cost because the state has coding requirements that will have to be met. Um which will increase the cost of the project, but the return with $0.68 on the dollar are still usually, depending on what is needed, makes it still a viable project and below the estimate of this other thing. It's just there's many more hoops to to jump through. It's just clarification of what you know, Jerry was

089talking about. >> Mhm. >> Okay. Also, um the other two schools that have issues Fisher and um Eli Terry. Okay. Um We we kind of threw it around that we would probably like to do the same exact type of um evaluation that we did with Lemons Terrace. >> Have them do the infrared scan. >> Yeah. Have that company come in do that infrared scan on both schools so that we have a general idea uh an updated idea rather of how much it would cost to um uh do those two schools. So then if we had to go to capitals we would have an exact number as of that date of what the contractor assume assumes would be the cost to fix those roofs. But then as if you go back to what we talked about

090because of the fact that there are different building codes now compared to when there were building codes 60 years ago, we may have to upgrade those roofs to the building codes that are up now, which could enhance the cost of the project. But those are things that we're going to that we're going to try to do in order that if we have to go to capitals we have a bonafide answer for them of the approximate cost what they're going to need to more than likely bond in order to fix the roof situations. The other conversation was about Terryville High School. But we're only about into year 20 or 21 with the roofs right now. Um more than likely as we all know most roofs are guaranteed for 30. So right now it would probably be

091in the best interest of us as a as a board to kind of hold that off to maybe about five more years to kind of have an idea of what we're going to need to do. One of the areas of big concern is that I think it's over where the gymnasium is there that's roof shingles. So when they install that, what was the guarantee on those shingles? Were they 25 year? Now, you can get shingles on your roof 30, 35, 40 year guaranteed. So, you know, we that we'd have to ascertain. More than likely it's probably in the 20 to 25 year range. So, uh that would get put off there. Um And really that was it. We didn't really talk too much about general questions with finance because as Matt said in his pro-

092in his uh synopsis is that we're looking at about $100,000 a year. Give or take some unforeseen bills that may come in at some point in time, but that was it in a nutshell. >> What's the cost of the scan? >> So, for Plymouth Center School was about 5,000. To do the other two is going to be 12, I think. >> Total for both? >> 12 for the both. >> Both for both? >> Yeah. >> But, we're not going to do the high school. >> We're not going to scan the high school at this point. >> I don't think it'd be worth it, you know? Molly's here. That's that's that's what I was wondering is that when I read it You know, I I >> I think we're I think to scan it now, Pat,

093if we're going to be out 5 to 10 years, then the data is is obsolete. We're going to have to do it again. So, like in my opinion, then we're going to pay for something only to have to do it anyway, why why would we want to spend that now? >> Right. >> We do know there's a need at the other two schools. We have to get those done. >> Oh, definitely. Definitely. >> And then when this school is kind of up like at this point, this school should be in the 10-year plan. And I'll add it to our 10 years, but it's going to be all the way out at the end with a big question mark on estimate. But, it'll be on the list, but we will have to start to look at

094it. >> No, I'm just wondering when I read it. that have much time when I came home, but I saw it. I said, "I don't know why they're doing the ice cubes, but now I understand. Okay. No problem." >> What does the infrared tell us other than like where the spots are? I mean, is it going to give us is it breaking it down so that way is it total replacement? Is it a repair? >> Yeah, it's it's basically a diagnostic tool that will tell us A all of all of the weak spots in the roof. It'll also tell us if the insulation below it is wet or damp because that impacts what has to be done. If they have to strip all the way down and replace all the insulation, that obviously increase cost,

095but it basically becomes the foundation for the rest of the project design. >> Okay. Does that come off the top if we use them? Like you know, when you take your car for a diagnostic, you know, they charge you $1,000. >> It's an It's a It's a It's It's an outside company. So, it's It's a good question, but no, it doesn't It doesn't help. >> But it could kind of give you an idea of We had this done at Plymouth Center school like many, many years ago. And then when the company came back and said, "Okay, so this is the A area of the of the roof. This is the B area of the roof, and this is the C area of the roof." So, you have to ascertain if you're going to put a

096band-aid on, where you putting the band-aid. So, normally and at the time when we did Plymouth Center at that time, remember the path we just took the C area too. You would part that too. We just took the C areas because we figured that the A's and B's were good, you know, per the consultants that you don't really need, but the C's is what you need to take care of. >> I'm just asking because if it's a matter of like, you know, if the roof is 50 years old, do we really need to pay money to figure out that it needs to be replaced? >> It becomes the foundation of how >> Now that you've explained that it's also talking about like sub layers and things like that. Figure out the exact estimate then that's

097fine. I just want to make sure it wasn't all like, "Yeah, you need a new roof." It's like, "Well, duh. I could have walked up there and figured that out." >> We told We looked at it. It's like, "There's water in here." >> Yeah, that's like, "There's water coming in." We know. >> That's the sign. >> All right. Anything else for finance and operations? >> Yeah, Jerry, we do have a staircase here at high school. >> Oh, yes. Probably forgot about that. Okay. So, as everybody knows, does everybody know where the staircase to nowhere goes? You know where it is? >> A staircase for what? >> The staircase to nowhere. Do you have any idea where it is? It's in between the entrance of here walking down to the entrance where the Board of Ed

098office is. There's like three stairs there, which is even before the Board of Ed office was put over there. It was a staircase to nowhere. Cuz it really didn't. So, what they've decided is that it's going to cost some pretty good amount of money to fix those stairs. So, and it's cost going to cost them less money to remove those stairs and increase the landscape, the little bank that's over there just It was It'll be less expensive to do that. So, in that more than likely it'll probably get done. >> Oh, outside stairs. I was thinking inside stairs. And I think everybody's face was saying the same thing I was like >> The secret stairs. The secret stairs. The out- The outside stairs. >> No, when you when you first outside the school, I've actually

099walked down those stairs before, just saying. But yeah, they don't really go anywhere though. >> To fix those stairs, I think the cost was like $15,000, Matt. >> Yeah, he told us it was going to be between 12 and 14. >> Okay. >> And we're going to have them removed removed and re-landscaped for I think it's 7,500. So, >> it's sort of a >> With two flowers on it. >> just keep falling. They're just They gradually gotten even worse. It was a small patch. Now it's the entire section is dynamite. It's crumbling. So. >> All right. Thank you for that, Greg. And you know. All right. Well, I'm good. Anything else? All right. Moving on to board liaison reports. Mrs. Palmer, Plymouth Center School. >> So, Plymouth Center this Friday is having their first someone

100special dance for the second graders. It's a glow themed dance. Um they have a pretty good um RSVP count for it. The kids are really excited for it. Um so, that's going to be fun. Something new for them. And they're just wrapping stuff up for the end of the year. Getting ready for a field day and um the end of the year. So, that's pretty much it. >> All right. Mrs. Allen, Fischer Elementary. >> Uh meeting is next week for the PTA. We just wrapped up um an exhausting teacher appreciation week. So, we had It was a huge success. The staff was um so happy with everything that was done for them. Um we hope that they uh understood how much they are appreciated. So. Um work is now underway for field day. Um fifth

101grade celebration uh is going as well. And then just a lot of, you know, last minute stuff. And we're already planning for next year. >> Okay. Mrs. Tilton and Mrs. Corey for Eli Terry Junior Middle School. >> Uh we had our elections for the board for next year for the PTA, which was good. Um cuz we're all leaving. So, there's going to be a whole new group of us. >> You got some new recruits. >> Yeah. >> Excellent. >> you know, find them somewhere under >> Yep. >> Um dig them out. Um Great and wet again was supposed to be on Friday but it's going to rain so it'll be on Tuesday which if you guys haven't driven past the field when Great and Wet is out there it literally is my favorite day every

102year. I love it. Danielle comes too and the kids run around and it's a really good time and the kids talk about it. Getting them to understand the process of it is really fun. They the first year didn't realize that it wasn't the first people to win. It was how fast you do it so the team that crossed finish line first was really mad that they did not win the t-shirts for it. So that was a little humbling for them. So that's fun. The 8th grade dance is coming up so we've been for the first year trying to help plan that which the kids have their own committee to plan the 8th grade dance which has been interesting to say the least. Yeah, but other than that we're just kind of rolling to the end

103of the year. Mr. Foot, Terryville High School. >> Yeah. PTSA uh donations are coming in kind of slow for senior night. Uh it has to do I imagine with the economy. They have had some business letter donations have gone out. I did present a letter last night to the Lions Club and asked them for additional donations so we'll see what happens. >> You're welcome. Thank you for that. Moving on to item 13, board comments. Mr. Showers. >> Great presentation. I still love it that the kids are reading at this age. That's what got me going. I read two or four books a month no problem. I love it. I love to see it in the kids. >> Yep. Absolutely. Ms. Shelton. Yeah, it It great to have all of our student reps here. I continue

104to be impressed and amazed by how confident they are and the little ones sharing and the excitement. I think it's a very different environment at Plymouth Center than in the past. So, it's really exciting to see Mrs. Kaylor bringing in so many new staffs and so many new things. And I am really looking forward and also stressing about all of the funny senior events this year. We're just going to pretend like I don't have a child that I'm feeding and I'm not at all stressed out about that. But, um I hope all the teachers appreciate a teacher appreciation week and 20 What are we up to? 26, 27 days? We're almost there. It's really close. I have 26, so you guys probably have 27. >> I don't count. >> You don't, but your teachers are.

105>> Mr. Foot? >> Kelly and I uh uh were stopped in our tracks on the way into There's a beautiful art display. And I It's been 6 years since I substituted in Watertown High School to admire the artwork that those kids did. These are just as good as some beautiful stuff out there. >> Absolutely. Is there anyone? >> Uh I really enjoyed the presentation. It sounds like what they're doing at Plymouth Center is really engaging the kids. That it sounds like it's been a lot of fun. So, you know, I can't wait to see what they come up with next. >> Ms. Corey? >> Um same. I love seeing all those I love them. Little kids come in. They're like the cutest little things ever. Um I'm really excited about the Quick Willow partnership. It's

106going to be really great for all of the kids. I have so many of them already like asking and talking about it and excited to do something different and have different job opportunities like in town. In in the board package I saw that we're going to have the ASL which I am also very excited about and the kids are also very excited about. Um yeah, I'm excited to see what the kids are going to have for opportunities next year. >> Nicole, did you say that this goes out tomorrow now that the board approved it? So that should go home by the high school tomorrow once it's sent it out. >> Ms. Palmer. Um I want to thank everybody for the presentation. Um being a parent of a Plymouth Center kid, those 6 weeks every day

107it was something different. It started off with Paige actually crying that Coco went missing and she didn't understand why somebody would steal something so precious. So it it really was fun and to watch her speak tonight was amazing. So thank you for Ms. Kayla picking her. Um and the CogWheelo I'm really happy that that this is coming to fruition. I'm hoping down the road that we can do more programs like that maybe like EMS with EMTs or something along those lines. So I'd like to see the things that we're doing that are going on. >> Mr. Pierogino. >> The presentation was just outstanding. It really was. I see them young kids up there speaking like that. I don't think I ever did that until I was probably in high school if then. But also uh

108I'd like to thank the Board of Finance and the Town Council for the budget. Uh it's been many many years since we've seen an increase like that and both of them worked very hard and I know they're thankless jobs. I always said that about the Board of Finance. It's a thankless job. You guys get a thankless job on the Council. But uh again uh thank you very much for what you did. We really I really appreciate it. I know the board it Thank you. Oh and by the way, can we get these board packets smaller? No, this this is getting unreal. Look at this. >> They tried to do it electronically, Pat, but certain people wouldn't do it. >> You're right. >> And I think you might have been one of them. >> You could

109save paper. >> Yeah. >> But >> You should buy binder clips. The whole time I'm opening it, I'm like, "God, how much did this cost?" >> What, we're going to have to raise our budget on the on the paper? That's all. >> It starts out with just a notebook. I don't like binder covers. >> Mr. Burbine? >> All right. Um what Pat said, thank you very much, Town Council. Thank you to the Board of Finance. I know it was pretty contentious that evening. You know, and I get it. And in all honesty, you know, I've been around advocating for education in this town for 25 years. And it was the first time that I ever seen the Town Council actually move and move some money and bring the budget up. Um sometimes they say, you

110know, first time's the charm. Hopefully it continues that way. Because in all honesty, um if you look at other budgets, other school budgets are going 4, 5, 6%, and we usually stay in and around the 3% range. You know, and it's kind of hard to bring things in into perspective into a school system. Because in all honesty, I can't um deny a school uh anybody who any child that goes to a small school district, why can't that um student have the same opportunities as a student that goes to a like Darien, a Darien school system. Or goes to a Cheshire school system. Or goes to and you know, Greenwich. Any of those school systems that put money into their education, why can't a kid from Hartford have that opportunity? A kid from New Britain. A

111kid that's in small town Connecticut. You know, so hopefully we can move forward and hopefully the state, and all honesty comes from the state. Also, um Mrs. Caile a great job. You know, most of us have been on board in the education know that since it went to a K uh pre-K through two school parents have been advocating for more and more stuff at Columbus School. Okay, so this is one thing that came in that probably brought students together to look for Cocoa. Also, I think what we need to do is we have a presentation those kids we have to need to get a smaller podium. You know, it's kind of hard >> Yeah, little steps stool or something. >> But so that we can so we can at least at least see the kids

112faces when they're reading. Okay, and not only that that would be good for the parents that are standing over there trying to take pictures of their kids video taping on what they're doing. So, that would be really really good. Um The other thing is is that we as a board and I'm sure other boards have to we have to start understanding what's going on at the state capital. We really do because this two-year plan is only two years. What's going to happen after that? Hopefully the legislature decides that this isn't just not two years it has to go on and they have to help education costs. And that's it for me. >> All right. I just want to give a shout out to all the teachers and students who are in the testing grades. This

113is a stressful time of year for some of us and uh very exhausting. So, appreciate your teachers even more this week and the following weeks to come. Um and students finish strong. You can do it. Uh our next board Sorry. >> I have one other thing. >> Yes. >> Did anybody see the governor today on Brian Jackson's show? >> Can't say that I did. >> is proposing blue ribbon blue ribbon panel headed and powered. He wants to regionalize special education. >> Okay. Interesting. >> That's one of the things he's pushing for. >> Okay. >> Because he says the towns can't afford it anymore. >> Yeah. Okay. >> So, we've got to wait and see what happens. >> Yeah. >> That would be amazing. >> Be interesting to see what happens. >> Well, I thought something

114was out of it. >> Yeah. All right, our next Our next board meeting, the next regular meeting of the Plymouth Board of Education is on Wednesday, June 10th at 6:00 p.m. in the cafeteria at Terryville High School. Next up brings us to our first executive session and we will be discussing an agreement between the Plymouth Board of Education and the Plymouth School Nurses Association and the UAW contract negotiation. Do I have a motion to enter Do I have a motion to enter into our first executive session? >> So moved. >> Second. >> So, Who was the first I'm sorry. >> Mr. Flowers and Mr. Perugino. >> All in favor? >> Aye. Aye. >> Any opposed? Abstentions? Motion carries. All right, we'll take a minute to clear the room and we will be in executive session.

115>> Are we going to stay here, Madam Chairman? >> Yes, we're going to stay here for the All right, I would like to resume regular session at 8:22 p.m. And we are going to entertain a motion to approve the agreement between the Plymouth Board of Education and the Plymouth School Nurses Association as discussed in executive session. >> So moved. >> Mr. Perugino, Mr. Berardinaire. All right, I'm going to do a roll roll call vote. Mr. Showers. >> Yes. >> Ms. Tilton. >> Yes. >> Mr. Foot. >> Yes. >> Mr. Bubba Nair. >> Yes. >> Mr. Perugino. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Palmer. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Corey. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Allen. >> Yes. >> Okay. That is 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 eight yeses and zero nos. Motion carries. And there is no

116action being taken on our second topic. All right, so I would like to entertain a motion to enter a second executive session at 8:23 p.m. to discuss the following. Inviting Mr. Falcone, superintendent, a retreat for the Plymouth Board of Education evaluation packet, a Plymouth Board of Education self-evaluation, superintendent evaluation, and extension of the contract for the superintendent of schools. Discussion and possible action. Do I have a motion? >> So moved. >> Second. >> Mr. Showers, Mr. Perugino. All in favor? >> Aye. >> Anyone opposed? Any abstentions? Motion carries. All right, we're in our second executive session. All right, I would like to resume regular session at 9:47 p.m. Um we have no action taken on the first two um items we discussed. And the last item that we discussed, the extension of the contract for

117the superintendent of schools, um I would like to entertain a motion to approve the extension of the contract for the superintendent of schools as discussed in executive session. >> So moved. Second. >> Mr. Showers, Mr. Peregino. I will do a roll vote. Mr. Showers. >> Yes. >> Ms. Tilton. >> Yes. >> Mr. Foot. >> Yes. >> Mr. Boubounelle. >> Yes. >> Mr. Peregino. >> Yes, please. >> Mrs. Palmer. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Corey. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Allen. That is eight yeses, zero noes. That is a unanimous decision to keep our superintendent here. All right. >> Motion to adjourn. >> Second. >> At 9:48 p.m., we have a motion by Mr. Boubounelle and a second by Mr. Peregino. All in favor. Motion carries. Thank you very much, everybody, for your hard work. All things that

118we discussed will be in motion. >> Thank you. Thank you, guys, very much. We really appreciate it. >> You keep getting out of your car.