0012026 at 6:00 p.m. Um, please join us in a pledge to the flag. 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. All right. Okay, item number two. I'd like to entertain a motion to adopt the agenda as presented. >> So moved. Second. >> Second. Mr. Showers, Ms. Palmer. Any discussion? All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Any abstentions? Motion carries. All right, item number three. I would like to entertain a motion to approve the following minutes. The minutes of the regular Board of Education meeting of March 11th, 2026. So moved. Ms. Tilton. >> Second. Mr. Bourbonniere. Any discussion? All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Any abstentions? Motion carries. The minutes of the
002special meeting of the Plymouth Board of Education Finance and Operations Committee of March 9th, 2026. So moved. Second. Mr. Bourbonniere. Ms. Palmer. Any discussion? All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Any abstentions? Motion carries. And then, finally, the minutes of the special meeting of the Plymouth Board of Education Curriculum and Instruction Committee of March 16th, 2026. So moved. Second. Ms. Tilton, Mr. Foot. Any discussion? All in favor? Aye. Opposed? Abstentions? Motion carries. Okay. Moving on to item number four. We have some new student representatives here with us. We're very excited. Um, from Eli Terry Junior Middle School, we have Julia, can you pronounce your last name for me? Matuzak. >> Matuzak. Is that right? Okay, always correct me if I'm wrong, okay? Julia Matuzak. On behalf of the Eli Terry Junior School Committee, we would like
003to thank Superintendent Falcone and the Board of Education for providing us with this opportunity to represent our school. Our eighth grade basketball players went up against the staff on March 5th. Despite the best efforts of the students, the staff was victorious again. During the game, the student council ran concessions, raising over $600 for the eighth grade dance. Student council also ran a successful halftime show, during which volunteers participated in three different games and won a variety of prizes. Yesterday was the ninth annual Day of Kindness. To celebrate, students and staff at ETJJ wore purple and took part in various activities to practice showing and recognizing kindness. One activity was a scavenger hunt where students looked for a kindness special message to spread around the building to complete their purple kindness key. And this is the
004kindness key. It says, "Kindness is the key to unlocking the best school climate." The completed keys will be on display in the front lobby. We also passed around key necklaces to students and staff who were caught being kind. This is the key necklace. All students also received a be kind keychain as a reminder to choose kindness every day. And then this is the keychain. All ETJMS students will participate in SBAC testing during the week of May 6th and May 13th. This is an opportunity for all students to work hard and show what they have learned throughout the school year. As a fun incentive, students are able to earn different color bracelet every day for showing up prepared and trying their best. Students who earn all their bracelets will get a special reward at the end
005of the testing. Great job, Julia. Thank you, ma'am. We welcome you. We're very happy to have representation from our middle school. Thank you. >> board members have any questions for Julia? You did a great job. >> Yes. Great job, Julia. Thank you so much. >> You weren't even nervous. Not at all. You put pressure on us for doing our work. All right, now our representatives from Terryville High School, Tiana and Fallon. Hi. THS is celebrating Earth Day on the 22nd. Student council sent a message out to all teachers asking what home items they would like to use in their classrooms. We received many requests including magazines, bubble wrap, small boxes for storage, and much more. Earth Day is next Wednesday, but we will be holding a collection for the list of items requested all throughout
006next week. Our goal is to encourage encourage the recycling model of reduce, reuse, recycle. We hope that students and staff will bring in these items from their homes that would have otherwise been thrown out. 11 students went to Europe over April break. They traveled to London, Paris, and Rome over the course of nine jam-packed days of excitement. Some of the amazing things they experienced were riding the London Eye, entering the British Museum, seeing the Mona Lisa at the Louvre, marveling at the Colosseum, and trying world-famous gelato. After their trip, many students have expressed an interest in studying abroad at some point during their college careers. For new Board of Education members, Unified Buddies is a group of regular education and special education students who come together for events and activities and form unique friendships. This
007program has been running for the past four years and has made leaps and bounds in bridging the gap between special and regular regular education students. Before April break, the club took a trip to Thomaston High School for event for an event filled with games and snacks. Students not only got to connect with other Terryville students, but also got the opportunity to meet students from Thomaston. Unified Buddies has a couple more events planned before the end of the year and we can't wait to share with you next meeting. Our club, Future Business Leaders of America, or FBLA for short, attended their annual state conference on March 17th at the Connecticut Convention Center. This year, we have 12 members in the club centered on giving students the opportunity to learn about a wide variety of topics to
008help them in their future careers and overall life. Terryville High School was happy to come home with two awards for Alexa Shimshack and Arya Ralph Parol. Alexa competed in the Introduction to FBLA and won second place, and Arya competed in Journalism and won fourth place. With over 1,000 students who attend this conference each year, we are incredibly proud of these students and their accomplishments. Teacher Appreciation Week is coming up. Student council has planned two things to show our teachers and school staff how much we appreciate them. Student council will continue the tradition of making handmade personalized cards for each staff member. Last year, we organized a T-shirt tie-dye station to give teachers another option to wear on dress-down days. This year, we wanted something from every student. So, we decided to create prompts like, "You've
009helped me grow throughout the year." and "I look forward to your class." On the Wednesday of Teacher Appreciation Week, students will receive the phrases written on slips of paper and will be encouraged to write more if they wish. And they will then give the paper to a teacher or staff member of their choice. The Drama Club is putting on Mean Girls for the spring play. There're about 45 middle school and high schoolers participating in the play. They will be showing off their hard work on Friday, May 1st and Saturday, May 2nd, both at 7:00 p.m. Please come and show your support to our amazing performers and everyone behind the scenes. AP testing season begins on May 4th this year. For roughly two weeks, students who took AP courses will take the respective tests on their
010testing days. Many students have requested Remy, the therapy dog, to come for as many days as possible to calm their nerves before the day's tests. Student council will also be providing a snack table for the first time before the test begins and during breaks to give students the best shot at being successful. The annual Leo Club Harvest Pack was held in the cafeteria on March 19th. Leo Club members, like me and Fallon, got to work together with teachers, community members, and eager students, and we were able to pack 13,000 meals in only a few hours to be sent to the sent to Ghana through the Orphan Grain Train. I don't want to correct our students, but it was 13,560 meals, which is 560 more than last year. Uh, and we want to thank uh, Pastor
011Dick Dill, who helped organize that event and his team. I want to thank Ryan Valentine for you from the high school, and Marty Sanshaw, who helped with the Leos, and all of the students that did show up for that event and the community members. It's really an amazing, amazing thing. And what they do is they pack rice, vegetables, and vitamins into packets. Yes. And then when you add water to it, it makes enough food to feed a family. Yeah, six people. So, that's 13, families you're going to feed. So, nice job. Well, as always, ladies, I know that at least one of you needs to stay for a little bit longer, but you are welcome to stay for the rest of the meeting and you are welcome to also be excused if you need to
012be. >> Thank you so much. Thank you. All right, item number five, we are up to presentation. So, each year we identify two students at the middle school and two students at the high school who stand out as outstanding citizens and students. They not only have high academic standard, but they're also leaders within their school and they're exceptionally kind and respectful to our our our staff and their peers. These students are chosen by their teachers and by their administrators to be the Litchfield County Superintendent Award winners. And this evening I have Ms. Heard from the high school and Mr. Vigliotti from the middle school here to introduce the 2026 winners from their schools. Good evening, members of the board, Superintendent and members of the Litchfield Public School community. It is my distinct honor to be
013here tonight to present the 2025-2026 Superintendent Awards for Eli Terry Junior Middle School. As Superintendent has said, these awards are selected by the staff at the middle school and go to high achieving male and female student in the eighth grade class who demonstrate excellence in the classroom and the wider school community along with impeccable citizenship and kindness towards others. For the past 3 years, from sixth through eighth grade, our two recipients have been the living embodiment of the ETJMS motto. Show up, work hard, be kind. So, first, I'm going to have her stand up. I'm proud to recognize Harper Yanavich. Harper is a student who demonstrates all of the ideal characteristics of an ETJMS bulldog. She's a member of the school volleyball and softball teams, as well as the pep club, Leo club, and yearbook
014club. Whether she is playing the trumpet in our band, competing on our teams, or planning our pep rallies, Harper is an intrinsically motivated leader. Her teachers describe her as an exceptional student with a strong desire to apply her learning to real world situations. Beyond her intellect, however, is a remarkable spirit of service. All of the adults that have worked with Harper speak about kindness as her defining characteristic. She is a student who truly cares about the well-being of others and is always the first to offer a helping hand. Her heart for her peers makes her a pleasure to have in our building, and we are incredibly proud to award this honor to her. CONGRATULATIONS. NEXT, I'M HONORED TO INTRODUCE Jackson Scholl. Jackson is a student who also demonstrates all of the ideal characteristics of an
015ETJMS bulldog. He is a multi-talented musician, playing the clarinet in our band, and I hear he's a drummer at home as well. Um, and he's a long-time student of karate and active member of the Boy Scouts. Jackson is a hard-working, curious, and bright young man whose quick wit and desire to learn actually inspires his teachers to bring fresh, fun ideas to the classroom, and I did not make that up. One of your teachers actually said that about you. You inspire her to bring fresh, fun ideas to the classroom. That's quite a quite a fantastic thing to hear from a teacher. So, um, that was really impressive. Good job, Jackson. His leadership is perhaps best reflected by his peers who selected him to serve as captain for our cross country team, and most recently, although I
016don't I don't think he knows this yet, um, as captain for our upcoming track season as well. Jackson's teachers also specifically note his consistent character, sharing that every day, without fail, he takes the time to say goodbye and have a good day at the end of every class. So, congratulations, Jackson. Students like Harper and Jackson are the standard bearers for Eli Terry Junior Middle School. While their accolades in athletics, music, and academics are impressive, it is their character that has truly left a mark on our community. Over the last 3 years, they have helped shape our school culture into one of both respect and ambition. While we will certainly miss their presence at ETJMS, we send them off to high school with the utmost confidence. We know they will continue to show up, work hard,
017and be kind and achieve incredible success in high school and beyond. Congratulations one more time, HARPER AND JACKSON. NOW, MR. VIGLIOTTI IS KNOWN TO speak for a pretty long time. Uh, and so when I go visit a school, I'm usually there for a good 2 hours. Um, but I I made a bet with Ms. Malou on who would speak longer tonight, Ms. Heard or Mr. Vigliotti. So, let's see who wins this bet. I feel like that's cheating. Yeah. A little bit. We have the same size font, though. Well, congratulations to our Eli students. I hope I get to know you over the coming years. I'm here to present the same award, the Superintendent's Award, to two of our senior students. If you've attended any THS events in the past few years, you've more than likely
018seen them buzzing around and helping. Um, but I'd like to tell you a little more about them. Both of these students are top of their class academically, members of the National Honor Society, class officers, members of the student council, and student athletes. That's just the beginning. Their involvement across clubs and communities is so extensive, I'm not going to stand here cuz then I would lose that bet about time. Um, if you both can come up, it's my honor to introduce Drew Fowler and Fallon Roth Peralt. Good evening. So, Fallon, the board knows well as she's been a student representative for 2 years and reports the happenings of THS with you each month. Fallon is, without question, the most dedicated student council member we've had over the years. She studies the system that is a high
019school, and she brings forward many ideas and recommendations for improvement. And she's literally running track and cross country and indoor track. Um, but she's running here, there, and everywhere before school and meetings after school almost every day. Um, and as the board, you've seen firsthand with Fallon being a student rep, she's a huge advocate for her peers and her community. Next year, she's leaving us. Fallon is attending UConn at Storrs. She's been accepted into the Honors Program and plans to major in political science. CONGRATULATIONS. NEXT, DREW FOWLER. DREW has certainly made his mark on THS. He makes it look easy to balance academics, extracurricular activities, and his social life. Uh, one of my favorite memories, and he kicked off his junior year with this event, was the Drew's Walk for Gold. It was a huge
020event here at the high school and the weekend. There were food trucks, raffles, a huge raffle, games, the flatbed truck where the bands played all day over the track while um people racked up their laps. Um, not a detail was missed and over $16,000 was raised for Connecticut Children's Hospital. My own two children, who were 7 and 8 at the time, still talk about it as their favorite event they've attended here. So, Drew has a really tough decision to make. He's received his college acceptance letters. Will he go to UConn, Boston University, Brown, or Yale? I checked on him this morning, he's still making his pros and cons list. It's okay. He plans to major in mathematics, knowing that it will be a good jumping-off point for maybe a future in financial law. Drew and
021Fallon leave behind big shoes to fill, and we are incredibly proud of all they have accomplished. We look forward to seeing all they will achieve in the years ahead. Please join me in congratulating Drew Fowler and FALLON ROTH PERALT. ARE WE DOING A PICTURE, MR. VIGLIOTTI? >> YES, SO I WAS going to say that these four outstanding students and their parents have been invited to the awards ceremony at the Grand Oakville on May 5th. And so at this time, if the board's okay, if we could take a second and just have the students and their families come up, take a quick picture with us so we could post it on our website to brag a little bit. Thank you. From Terryville High School, Ms. Heard. Hi, good evening. I'll be brief. I'm going to introduce
022who's coming up next. Okay. Still celebrating behind me. One more thing from the high school. I'm going to introduce our Career Center Counselor, Alyssa Glazier, and a few of our students are here, and they're going to share some of the happenings of our very busy career center. Thanks, Jess. Um, good evening and thank you so much for the opportunity to speak tonight. Um, for those of you that I haven't met yet, my name is Alyssa Blazer and I'm the career counselor at the high school. Um, when Mike originally asked me to speak tonight, he told me I had 5 to 10 minutes, which um, I knew was going to be a struggle to try to fit in everything that we do in the career center in that time. So, I'll try to focus on the
023highlights and then I also have some of our wonderful students here to tonight to share out on their experiences. Um, so 4 years ago when I stepped into this role, there wasn't a fully established career center here at the high school and um, through in our early conversations with Brian and Mike, I was given the opportunity to build something that would truly support our students in planning for life after high school. And as we discussed our vision for this new career center, our goal was actually pretty simple. Um, when our students walk across that stage in June on graduation day, that we're not just handing them a diploma, but that they leave with a direction. Um, that they have a clear and confident plan for what comes next and that that plan really aligns with
024who they are, their natural skill set, their interests and their goals and something that they're excited about. So, how do we make that happen? Well, we start really early and every student who comes in, um, freshman year fills out a career center survey and then with that with that information, um, that helps me build up an evolving plan for them as they transition through the program here. Um, the reality is that students do not figure out what they want to do by just reading about it. Um, it really comes down to the experiences that they have. And um, we offer tons of experiences here. I've talked to counselors in other districts and I can tell you that what we offer at Terryville is really exceptional. Um, we started Future Fridays this year. Um, it's pretty
025much every Friday students go out into the community. They visit businesses, colleges, trade programs and careers across a wide range of industries. These are real world, hands-on opportunities that students choose based on their interests. We also bring in professionals for lunch and learns. These are sessions where, um, more of like an informal setting where students have the opportunity to meet with professionals, have lunch with them and ask questions. Um, alongside with those experiences, we also focus heavily on individualized support. So, this is one-on-one counseling and finding out what actually fits them based on their values, their strengths, their goals and the kind of life that they want to build. So, um, also we have the career exploration capstone course, which all juniors are now required to take and in this course, they learn some of
026those like real world skills that um, they need for when they go out into the job they create a resume, they learn how to network, um, they learn how to communicate professionally. Um, actually just yester- I I do these meetings every day and yesterday I had one of my juniors come up and he was meeting with a real estate agent. He was like, "Miss Blazer, is it is it bad that I'm nervous to do this?" And I said, "No, it's completely normal. Like this is, you know, the first time you do it." And um, I said, "But I'll be there and we'll go through it." And he met with her and um, she was from Berkshire Hathaway and she extended the opportunity for him to come out anytime and like shadow her in the field
027and afterwards, um, he was like, "Oh, that was that was actually pretty easy and that worked out really well." And um, I said, I said, "Yeah." And I I was thinking about it afterwards. And we set up these meetings so that the students have an opportunity to learn more about the professions, but it's really about those communication skills that employers are looking for. And so like through those meetings, they're learning how to communicate with professionals. So, it's really double-sided. Um, All right. So, looking at, um, the last 4 years, we have completed over 80 career-related field trips. We've hosted more than 40 in-school guest speakers. We have connected students with well over 300 professionals across all 16 career clusters. And just this year alone, we hosted 25 career exploration trips. Looking at our upcoming senior
028class, um, we have 30% of our seniors attending 4-year colleges. We have 40 45% attending 2-year college and taking advantage of that, um, free tuition at the community college. We have 20% going into trades, 3% going to work and 2% into the military. So, that's over 75 about 75% of our students that are college-bound. Um, within that group, um, this is interesting that 40% are actually pursuing careers in healthcare and medical-related majors. And then with the additional 20% heading into skilled trades, um, that's not by accident. As we look at the future world of work, we're having real conversations with students about the stability, demand and long-term opportunities and the reality is really that many of the most in-demand and future-stable careers are in healthcare and the skilled trades. These are fields that require critical
029thinking, hands-on skill and human connection. These are things that AI cannot replace. And that what's really exciting is that this aligns directly with what we're seeing from our students. They're interested in these fields and they're motivated to explore them. Because of that interest, we've really expanded opportunities into healthcare and the trades, but we're still exposing them to students to a wide wide range of career paths. Um, so at we at this point, I'm going to go really quickly through our slideshow. I would love to sit here and tell you about all the different trips, um, but um, I know I'm trying to keep it in that 10-minute window. So, um, we're going to go through the slides really, really quickly and then I'm going to have the students share out on their experiences. So, um,
030this was a trip to Waterbury Hospital. We did a clinical tour. Students got some actual certifications on that trip. We visited the emergency room. Um, they had a lunch and learn with the CEO of, um, Waterbury Hospital and some of the surgeons that work there. So, they're getting to the opportunity to see the actual room, patient rooms and talk to the actual doctors and professionals. We bridged a partnership with Bristol Hospital this year, um, where we're going to visit different departments, um, in upcoming years. This year we highlighted the radiology department. Students got to sit in, actually see, um, actual patient ultrasounds and one of our students actually sat and had a cardiac ultrasound and the students got to see that firsthand. So, those are opportunities that students I don't think are getting at other
031schools. Um, another hospital trip, Hartford Hospital. We went on top and saw the Life Star helicopter. We had, um, students deliver babies through, um, mannequins, mannequin babies. Good call. But, um, great opportunities. Okay, you can keep going. Um, our PVAC came in and did a a lunch and learn for our students to highlight EMTs and paramedics. This is where I need the clicker. Ben was Ben told me that it'd be easier if I had it and I was like, "No, you do it." Um, all right. So, we do every year we do a STEM Symposium at Southern Connecticut State University. This is more like we have, um, they're like biomedical engineering companies that come in. It's more of like, um, research and the things behind healthcare. So, that's another great opportunity for students to do
032some hands-on activities. Um, for our students interested in animals, we animal healthcare, we went and visited, um, Dr. Emily Elliott at Chippens Hill. She's awesome. We started a medical careers club this year. So, we have the American Health Education Center coming in every other Monday after school for students and, um, they can get some certifications through this club as well. Uh, science fair, STEM career fair. So, it wasn't just a visit to the Science Center, which was fun, but, um, there was tons of companies there, too, in the engineering, technology fields that we got to speak with. And then we always have every year I try to do one cosmetology trip. So, I did highlight a different school every year. This year we went to Paul Mitchell. Um, we visit a couple community colleges. This
033year we visited Tunxis and Naugatuck. This was a cool opportunity, um, for those of you that know the upcoming Nash the Ville that's going to open in a couple weeks. We went back in October. So, as you can see, it was still under construction, but, um, we met with Randy. He talked to us about his entrepreneurial endeavors and then there was a bunch of trade people on site, too. So, we got to talk to masons and we got to talk to electricians and all the different, um, carpenters. So, it was a really, uh, multifaceted trip. Women in business. This was with JP Morgan Chase and the Barney School of Business at University of Hartford highlighting women, um, strong women in business. Bristol Tech, um, we have a great partnership with Bristol Tech. Interestingly enough, when
034I started here in 2022, um, there was only one student enrolled in Bristol Tech. And what's great about Bristol Tech is we still maintain our students here as Terryville students, but they get to go out and get the skills that they need for a for a trade. Um, since then, letting students know about it, bringing students on trips, we have 15 students enrolled this year. Lourdes is right in our backyard. Um, Um, they're always awesome and willing to host us. They have highlight all different professions like manufacturing, graphic design, business, welding, installation. Um, and it's right literally in our backyard. Uh, Lincoln Tech is another trade opportunity. All right, I think at this point, in the interest of time, um, you can always look at the slides afterwards, but I just wanted to highlight some
035of our trips and now I'm going to have our students come up and share. Thank you so much. Hello. My name is Madison McWilliams and next year I will be attending Naugatuck Valley Community College where I plan to pursue career as a cardiac ultrasound technician. Mrs. Glazer has supported me in building meaningful relationships with future professors and guiding me in creating a strong resume. Some of the most impactful experiences I've had include touring Naugatuck Valley Community College and visiting their radiology department. Just recently, I attended a Future Fridays Career Center trip to Bristol Hospital where I had the opportunity to shadow a cardiac sonographer and observe patient care firsthand. That experience truly confirmed for me that this is a path I want to pursue. Since then, I've met with program directors from Yale Hospital's ultrasound
036program and the Hoffman Heart Center at Saint Francis Hospital. These meetings arranged by Mrs. Glazer through the Career Center have helped me clearly understand the steps I need to take to become a strong applicant for these competitive programs. I was also able to network with the directors which will be a strong benefit when it comes time to apply. Thank you. Hi, my name is Marley Moseley and next year I'm going to be attending the University of Delaware on the track of physician assistant. Um, going into high school, I was not sure what I wanted to do. I thought I wanted to be a speech language pathologist and through Miss Glazer at the Career Center, I have learned that I actually do want to be a physician assistant. Um, I attended a lot of information sessions.
037One that stood out to me that Miss Glazer had coordinated for me was a plastic surgery physician assistant at Hartford Hospital. Um, and then I also attended the UConn Hospital Women in Medicine. Um, it's like a day-long field trip and it was on the weekend and I really enjoyed that. I made a lot of friends and it helped me further my passion for medicine. I also attended an information session for the UConn PharmD program and that was very interesting. And then I've done lots of, um, college tours as as you can see. I have gone to Central Connecticut, UConn, Naugatuck Valley and then I also attended the career fair in Hartford which is where I learned about the University of Delaware and decided that that's where I wanted to go. Thank you. Um, hello everyone.
038My name is Marquis Johnson. Going into junior year and senior year, which is now, I really did want to hone into what I want to do. I had a slight interest in like the trades and carpentry, but I didn't want to be like doing the hard work. Like I wanted to find a way to do an in-between between like business and like the actual trades. And I thought, you know, since we have the Career Center and Miss Glazer, I might as well use it. And starting last year, I went to many field trips like the Downs Construction field trip. I went to a career day for construction where I learned about different routes and options that I can go into like school or like even like trade school. I went to I interviewed many people
039like people from the Downs Construction field trip that I met on the field trip where I got to interview them, ask them about different options they thought and even like ways I could get into those routes. And I think the one that helped me the most, which I mentioned, is Downs Construction field trip because there I was able to meet a project manager and he was explaining how through like if you go to college, you can kind of get the best of both worlds where you you'll be like in sight, you'll be able to talk to, you know, the trade people, get to know little stuff while also learning the business side. And if it if it weren't for Miss Glazer and the Career Center, I would have never been able to find that route.
040And now, um, starting next fall, I will be going to Central Connecticut State for construction management where I hope I can, you know, further my goals and career and hopefully, you know, be um, in a construction field and hopefully one day open my own business and it's all thanks to Miss Glazer and the Career Center. So, thank you all. Good evening, everyone. My name is Cooper Geary. I'm a senior here at Terryville High School. Um, I just want to talk about my experience here at the CC. Next year I will be attending the Construction Educational Center in Plainville. Um, my career you know, my career path was unknown coming in. Uh, coming into high school, I really didn't know what I wanted to do. I knew traditional regular college was not for me. Uh, but
041I almost felt pressured into that from, you know, many people. That's kind of the path most people take. Uh, but junior year I took CC. Um, and she showed me that that's not the only way that you have to go. You can go into trades and that's where I discovered what I wanted to do which was carpentry. Um, we went on many trips. Uh, Downs Construction last year I think was my most impactful. We went to they were building a police station and that's where I got to talk to an apprentice, someone who was a carpenter who was making his way to the top. He talked to me a lot. I set up many interviews with him and emails and he really taught me a lot about how the process of getting through it and
042how traditional college is not necessary to live a successful career, but CC also taught me uh, many skills on just talking to people. Um, setting up interviews, helped me get my first job over the summer, helped me build a resume to be able to submit and just gave me basic skills on how to talk to professionals and really how to operate in a professional setting. But, uh, it's still helping me out. I'm still going to many field trips, interviews. Uh, we just recently had one with the owner of Downs Construction set up by Miss Glazer. So, uh, CC has helped me tremendously with getting ready for what's next after high school and showing me that traditional college is not necessary. Thank you. Good evening, everyone. My name is Aljan Sadriu and when I came when
043I came to this school about a year ago, I was quite unsure of what I wanted to do. I was stuck between either going into cybersecurity, computer science or healthcare. However, now through the Career Center, I've made that decision. Uh, one of the most meaningful or like impactful experience that I had in the Career Center is when we went to the Waterbury Hospital trip where there we toured some different departments. However, the one that really stood out to me was the radiology one where I got to talk to some of the workers, ask about their lives, about how what college they went to, how's the pay and everything like that. And another impactful or another thing that the Career Center informed me about was community college and how for the first two years are free
044and actually last month we got a tour of Naugatuck Valley where over there, I actually got to talk to some of the X-ray tech students where they explained to me like how hard the classes are, how everything goes. So, next year I plan on going to CT State Community College and becoming a X-ray technician. The Career Center has also helped me develop my public speaking skills and helped me make a resume, get my first job and overall, uh, set me up for a bright future. So, I want to thank Miss Glazer and I want to thank you everyone here for listening. And have a good night. So, what I'll say is this is what high school's about. Um, as a high school principal, there was one year I was talking to a student who told
045me they didn't know what was going to happen the day after graduation. And that to me made made me as the principal feel like I was failing the students in my school to not know what they're doing when they're walking across that stage at graduation. And it's to give each student some sort of a plan and it doesn't have to be the four-year college as most of you or some of you have spoken about or even a two-year college. It could be going into a trade. And I've worked with Alyssa in the past and, um, when when we got here, uh, Beth and I, it was one of those people that we really wanted to entice to come because this is about connections with kids. This is about making connections with with young adults to
046help find their way. And this morning we were walking out of Rotary, uh, at the Eagle's Nest and we're in the parking lot um, and Alyssa wants to buy a hot dog, uh, but that was what we were talking about and then a student a former student came up to her and started talking about the plan that she helped create for her. And how she's going to community college now and that she's going to end up working at the Honky Tonk for a little bit while she's going to community college to become a nurse and transition and and Alyssa knew who the student was, had that connection and she has that with all of her students. So, we are very fortunate to have her. But for our students, the experience you're getting is unique because
047not every high school does this. And so for Mr. Holtz, Miss Heard to have this here and to to make this a priority with the classes and the graduation requirement you have, it's really just an impressive program and all How many There are four or five of you? I can't tell. But, you guys you guys did an amazing job. You did an amazing job. Thank you. >> And he's notes. I had notes. They had They didn't use notes. And they make us look bad, right? But, great job, guys. Yeah. Thank you. All right. We are on to item number six, which is public comment. We will start with in-person public comment. Please come to the podium, sign your name, state your name and address, and share your thoughts. One more call for public comment. Hi.
048Uh Meredith Batall, 2 Fairview Ave Extension, Terryville. Um I just wanted to commend Alyssa for everything she does in that career center. She is in the business office frequently setting up her trips. Um They They go so many places and when I was a student here, the career center was just kind of coming together and these opportunities were not a thing that we were presented with and we were basically guided, you know, graduate high school and go to a four-year school and get a degree and you can do anything you want. And realistically, that does not work for all of us and I think some of us floundered, some of us were successful. And um it's just really really nice to see that the students now are being given these opportunities and they're being told
049that there are different alternate routes, there are other options that they can do and success does not look the same for everybody, but it's what you what you want to do then and what makes you happy. And it's just really nice to to see that that's a thing for them now. So, thank you. All right. Anyone else for public comment? Seeing none, we will move on to online public comment. No public comment online? All right. That moves us to item number seven, the superintendent's update. So, yesterday evening, the Board of Education met with the Town Council to discuss our 2026-2027 proposed budget um and our capital improvement needs. The meeting provided the Town Council the opportunity to ask some clarifying questions on our budget and to better understand what our budget and capital priorities really
050are moving forward. With that being said, at this point in time, the Board of Finance has reduced the Board of Education's adopted 3.99% budget increase to my original 3.72% budget increase. What that means is it's a $74,750 cut to the adopted Board of Education budget. That equals the two um regular education teacher aids that the board put in and the additional security monitor for one of our schools. Uh if the Town Council passes the 3.72% increase, it will preserve our current school structure the way it is. There'll be no additional positions added or eliminated. We just stay as we are. The final decision with regard to our budget will be made at the tri-board meeting between the Board of Finance, Town Council, and Board of Education. That meeting will take place next Tuesday, April 21st
051at 6:00 in the Town Hall community room. For for our school community, this is the most crucial meeting that we have with regard to our educational budget and I encourage as many members of our school community to attend the meeting and share their thoughts and feelings with regard to the school district's proposed budget. Um And And finally, I have one more thing and it's uh now that April break is done, we once again sent out our school climate study to all four schools. Our goal is to survey our students at all the schools with the exception of Plymouth Center because they're a little too young for that the survey. All of our parents and all of our certified and non-certified staff. We're looking to gather information to help us modify and and adjust our individual
052school climate improvement plans. I plan on taking that information between uh when it the survey closes um and the end of the year and finding the common themes and presenting that to the board before the summer. And that's all I have for this evening. All right. Thank you. All right. That brings us to item number eight, new business. We have a proposed 2027-2028 school year calendar. And that's just an informational item at this point. Yeah. So, I just just so we we usually as a board revise next year's and adopt the year after. So, we're always have a two years of calendars out. But, because we made a couple adjustments with February break last month to the other calendar, we decided to do one calendar at a time and see what the board decided. This
053calendar for the '27-'28 school year mirrors everything that you agreed upon for the 2026-2027, but this is your your first uh look at it and so we'll discuss it at the next meeting. All right. Item number nine, business manager's report and personnel report. So, well, Brian's report was pretty short. Mine is probably going to be pretty long. Uh so, my apologies to the board. Uh so, we've got obviously a lot of Um there's a lot of balls in the air right now. Um so, in no particular order and most of this will be in the report that I provided you in writing, but for the sake of the the public, I want to go over some of those things. So, the Plymouth Center roof project, um um where we stand right now is we have
054had an infrared scan of the roof at Plymouth Center. That was conducted on April 11th. I received the report. Um the purpose of that scan was to determine if there is moisture underneath the roof structure and indeed there is. And it appears to me, based on the report, that it's the whole entire roof is showing signs of moisture. So, next steps. Um Jim Maison had the uh our our roofing company that we're working with right now, um Garland, come out today. They worked the They walked the entire Plymouth Center roof today for 2 hours and I will have a quote, an estimate for roof um replacement. Should I Should have it by Friday and that's what they were discussing with the Town Council. They were hoping I could have those at least some kind of
055a number for them for the Tuesday meeting. Um From there, we would then progress with what that project looks like, where the funding comes from, RFPs, all of those things, but the first steps are being taken so we can get an idea of what Um for the Fisher and Eli roof projects, we're in sort of the same phase, but I've separated them out. Um once we figure out where we are with the Plymouth Center roof, we will do scans of both of those buildings because that becomes the foundation for future projects. Um So, that's where we are with roofs at three different buildings. Um the heating system at um Fisher Elementary, I have an updated quote. Um And it is a bit It's a little bit less than what I I gave you a month
056ago. Uh the new quote is for $253,937. And once you back out the incentives that are we may receive from Eversource of 37,700, the the net cost would be $216,232. Backing out the grant, the drip grant of 98,000 uh $223, that leaves us a balance of about $118,000. And what I presented to the Finance and Operations Committee on Monday was my request for them to move forward to the board to use $120,000 out of the contingency fund account so we can move that project forward, get it on the books, and get it completed over the summer. And that will take care of uh that particular project. Um I'm not going to bleed into the the committee reports. I'm going to give you the facts at this point. So, that is my report That was my
057request of the committees. Um The playground project at Plymouth Center School is moving forward. Uh the order is placed. We should see that equipment here 6 to 8 weeks from now. Um scheduling for the installation is contingent on receiving that and what their schedule looks like. But, uh what I'm hearing is that we should be able to have this done perhaps by the end of the year, but definitely through the summer we'll start the school year with the new um playscape there at Plymouth Center. And I know that Brian is working with uh the mayor to have the town perhaps take to playscape, but if not, he has contingency plans on that. Uh Uh over the break, we replaced the the carpet at Fisher Elementary School. Um much needed. Uh even the installer said to
058us, "Yeah, it was time." Um and we were able to do that at no cost to our operational budget. It was a little over $12,000. Um we were able to do that through our partnership with HES. We have allowances in that contract for building maintenance, supplies, and uh I always forget what the third thing is. But regardless, there was money to to to work with there, and they had agreed to shift some things in their accounts that allow us to do this. So, that's done. Um there is a possibility that we will be able to also take care of the stairs. You I you've heard me talk about the safety issue with the stairs at Eli Terry. Um we may be able to do the same thing this year as well, but we have to
059see where we kind of finish out. Um again, uh creative creative use of how we get things done, and we continue to do that. Um parking lots are a big big conversation here at the schools. Uh I know that we've had board members walking in, and and it's a big topic. First, I want to say thank you to the Public Works Department cuz they did come here to the schools and help remove all of the stuff that was pushed up onto our grass areas. They they took all of the the banged up and beat up curbing out of here so that our staff didn't have to do that. And I do know that the town is working with the contractors to come up with at least some kind of resolution um for how some of
060it's going to get fixed. Um it's a huge undertaking. This winter has been brutal on our grounds. It's not just here um with the parking lots, but it's sidewalks in other buildings, and it's been a it's been a tough winter. Um the nurses' contract negotiations went very well. Um we basically have a deal in place. It'll come to the full board once our insurance um issues are resolved with what we're moving to. And I can't say how amicable both sides were. It was It was very It was very simple process. Um Food services. So, food services made a boatload of money this month, it looks like on paper, but it's because we got a really nice grant. You know, we got a reimbursement from the state for all of our free and reduced breakfast. We
061get that once a year. Um but they still did turn a profit of um $2,800. And again, as I said to you over and over and over again, as long as that program is breaking even, we are really doing a good job. There are uh many districts out there that are in the negative. In fact, uh Mr. Engel commented on that last night um at last night's meeting that he was he was both impressed and surprised that we were we were in that state. Um and then lastly, um for this year's budget, I'm I'm very confident to say that we are going to end the year with somewhere around $100,000 in surplus. Um that sounds like a really big number, right? But it's 0.36% of our um budget, which is a little too close for
062me and Brian. And as I sit here from the time I wrote this to sitting here now, there's already things that are coming through them that are going to impact that. But again, we will end with a surplus, whether it's $100,000 or something less than that. Kind of depends on Beth and her department. >> I knew that was coming. And also, what we are doing for some of these projects that we have out there, right? The scans. The scans were were $5,000. That was not something in my calculation at this point, but it's something we need to do. So, that all impacts how this works out. Um but again, I we're going to end the year in good spot. And as we get to May and June, I will then be making kind of some
063recommendations to what I think that the board should consider with what we do with what that surplus looks like. So, um that's all I have. Trying to keep it short because I know that we're going to review some of it again when you get to your TV reports. So, if you have questions, fire away. I'll do my best to answer them. I have one question for you. >> Yes, sir. Um the solar company do they own uh contract which is probably three or four selling companies from the original solar company that we had? Um were we able to get a contract? I have the contract. We have a contract. I was able to access uh Mike Santagata's account, which had the contract in it. So, I have it. So, we do have the contract. We
064are like 10 years into the contract, so we have about 10 years to go. And you're correct, it's not the contract that exists, but it's not the contract It's not the company that issued it. It's You know, it's kind of like when they sell your mortgage, it's the same thing. Yes, the original company actually went bankrupt, and then they got bought out by somebody. Which company got bought out by somebody? So. Yes. All right. But we do The good thing about it is that we finally have >> a contract. that original contract, so we can ascertain what it's going to actually cost if we have to do any type of work at Plymouth Center because uh in all honesty, when you go to Plymouth Center, when you look up, you see the sky. When you
065take a drone and you look down, well, that entire roof has solar panels on it. It does. So, if we are going to do a whole revision of that roof, all those solar panels have to come off, and there's a cost associated with taking those solar panels off off and then putting them back on, and paying the company for lost energy uh incurred on the whole I can't just do that through the roof. Um Correct. >> Thank you for the information. Greatly appreciate it. Any other questions for Matt? He lets you off easy this week. All right. Um Mr. Falcone, personnel report. >> There's just uh one I guess oversight. Uh it says under Terryville High School on page two for the postings, we have a social studies teacher um hired. We we hired her
066um after we already kind of did this, and we added her last minute. So, we did hire the social studies teacher for the high school. So. All right. That brings us to item number 10. Again, public comment. We will start with in-person public comments. Seeing none, do we have any online public comment? >> We do not. All right. Moving on to committee reports, curriculum instruction, Mrs. Falcone. All right. Yeah. So, we talked about special education programs and pupil personnel services. Um it's really fantastic how everybody works so hard in the district to meet all the diverse needs of our students. There's uh definitely a lot of balls in the air and a lot of needs for the kids, and it's really amazing all the different programs we have in place to make sure every child
067gets what they need to be successful at learning. Um uh also, we looked at some mid-year data. We're showing some fantastic growth, and that is commendable considering the new curriculum that's been put in place. That's a big task for our teachers, so kudos to everyone for getting to know not just when we're done, but the IXL as well. So, great job to everyone on that, and thank you to everybody for all your hard work. You guys are almost done. Keep up the good work. All right. Well, you can continue on with your next committee, ad hoc policy committee. Okey-dokey. Um so, we have a couple of policies. We've talked about them before, um mostly regarding the audit with the school uh audit program. So, those are just, you know, the usual legal stuff. So, you
068guys should be getting those for your first read. We'd like to move them forward for that. All right. And Mr. Brobnire for finance and operations. Okay. On Monday, April 13th at 6:00 p.m., we had a finance and operations uh uh committee meeting. Unfortunately, our um council liaison uh wasn't able to attend due to a flat tire. Actually showed me the receipt last night of what it cost him. Yeah, he tried to pawn it off on me. So, but we had a lot to go through. Um and at the end of my summary, I will also have to uh um bring a motion forward to the uh to the the Board of Education concerning our heat pumps. Okay. So, Plymouth Center walk-through. Um we had four members from the Board of Education who came to that
069walk-through, which is pretty surprising because usually it's myself and Pat, or it's usually just Pat, or it's usually myself. So, Nicole Carr showed up, Dick Foot showed up, and it was myself, Pat, um uh the business manager, Matt, uh Jim Mason was there, and the Excuse me? Mark Lyons. Mark Lyons, who is the head custodian at Plymouth Center. And we walked through the area where um we had significant damage this winter uh with ceiling tiles and leakage through the roof system, and in the area where it actually went through our fire control panel. All All which cost us $21,000 to fix. And some of the uh um the so-called fixes that Jim Mason and his crew maintenance crew came up with to put a bladder where that drain technically was draining into that fire control
070room. Um to show us where they're capturing water. And then as you walk through that hallway too, there were um 55-gallon uh uh trash cans there catching water. You can see the significant damage that was done with missing tiles. Also, um where those barrels were, it was kind of inhibiting the flow of traffic. Not to the point where you couldn't get through, but it it squeezed the uh the corridor down a little bit. And then as we walked through the school, we saw some other um damage that had in some ceiling tiles that probably had been there for years. So, uh over time that roof has been leaking, but not as bad as what it leaked because of this previous winter. The other thing that we went through too is that the sidewalks that are
071at Plymouth Center. If you go to Plymouth Center right now, I think there's more cones than students at the uh at Plymouth Center. Um the sidewalk is heaving. It's been heaving over the years. And we've been putting little band-aids on it uh to uh to correct the problem, but it only lasts a couple of years. At the meeting last night um for us uh presenting our budget to town council, one of the council members asked if we could get them a quote on how much it would cost to uh replace that uh We would have to >> that sidewalk. Okay? There's two options we could do uh we could do concrete or we could do asphalt. Depends on which way. And in all honesty, it's going to be a capital project. That's something that the
072board of ed will not be able to afford to to do. All right? Um heat pumps at Harriett Fisher as uh Matt alluded to, we do have a price. Okay? Um looks like we're going to have to use $120,000 out of our non-lapsing account, and I will address that at the end. Um Conversation concerning damages to Terryville High School and the other schools as far as what happened with winter operations this year. Most of the schools I went through um just broken curb, um a couple of small little things that it does happen in the wintertime when you plow. Uh from my own experiences, I know and I did it for 20 years. Okay? The worst school is Terryville High School. Okay? Um this parking lot has had issues for 20 years. Okay? This is
073a general contractor's problem. All right? The general contractor came here and and put installed this school. Okay? When it came to doing the parking lot, about 2 years after the school was open, there was an area of the parking lot where there was water seeping through the asphalt. So, uh the state came in, took some core samples, and realized that the base was not up to the state specifications when this high school was built. So, technically the base that is under the asphalt here is no good. From my understanding when I was on the board at the time, uh the clerk of the works went bankrupt, and from uh individuals who spoke to me concerning uh the bond, the bond had already lapsed. So, the town had no way of recouping whatever it was going
074to cost to fix that parking lot. So, let's fast forward 20 years. As you go out there today, um as one of my members said the other night at my meeting, we probably could have a pool party out there. All right? It's really, really bad. You can see ripples in the uh in the asphalt where people park because of the weight of the vehicles. This is the way the parking lot goes because where their tires are, there's little mound in the middle. All right? You can also see um catch basins that are I don't know 2 or 3 in higher than the asphalt. That means that the asphalt the catch basin isn't rising. The asphalt is sinking. So, that's something that's at some point in time the town is going to have to address that.
075How are they going to address it? I couldn't tell you. Nurses' contract, I guess evidently went really, really well. Um Yeah, Matt you can correct me if I'm wrong, but I do believe it's 3 years 8% increase. Yep, that's right. Okay. So, 3 years 8% increase, and they're having a conversation right now about health care because right now we're having conversations with every other union because we more than likely will be trying to change our health care uh policy. Um replacement of carpet at Harriett Fisher as Matt alluded to, that was done over April vacation at technically no cost to us because of our HGS contract. Status of the playscape at Plymouth Center, looks like that's going to uh HGS is going to help us with that. We did have to extend our contract another
076couple of years with them, which in all honesty is really, really good because of the fact that they're saving us approximately $70,000 for that playscape. That playscape is coming in at $103,000. And I do believe there was a um I don't know if you can We have an activity account with about $33,000 in there, so All right. So, that'll help, and hopefully by this school year next school year, that'll be in there. Um summary of forecast and budget by end of year as Matt alluded to, um looks like we have at this point in time approximately $100,000. Um and we'll see what happens in after June uh 15th on that board meeting. We'll what we have left and where we're going to allocate that money to. All right. So, back to the non-lapsing account. I
077need to make a motion this evening that we, the Board of Education, allow uh allow our allowing $120,000 to be taken out of non-lapsing account to address the heat pumps at Harriett Fisher. Jerry, you might have to be the Is it the whole thing and then we reimburse with the grant, Matt? No, because we're going to get the grant. So, what what Jerry is is saying is accurate. is okay. Okay. Because we are we are definitely going to get the grant. It That's been confirmed. We're just waiting for the payment to come. All right. Just make a check. We're good. Sorry, Jerry. That's okay. So moved. Because it's coming from committee, do we not need a second? Is that how that works or is it is it That's correct. Okay. So, Jerry made the motion.
078Yeah, Jerry made the motion, so we're all set. Um we're going to do a roll call vote on this. Does anybody have any questions for Jerry or Matt or anything before we do the roll call? One quick question. Matt, when are we getting that money from that grant? That grant They have they said we will get no later than June 30th, 2026, but they expect it to be released earlier. What they're waiting for is all the other districts to send in the paperwork that Brian and I had to send in. The deadline was today. So, once all that money's in, that that once all those paperwork is in that the districts want the money cuz you could turn it down, then it will be issued out. >> And we know that the money is not
079going to change the amount of the >> Money is not going to change the amount of the check. Okay. Any other questions? All right. Mrs. Tilton. Yes. Mr. Showers. >> Yes. Mr. Foot. >> Yes. Mr. Berube Naer. Yes. Mrs. Palmer. Yes. Mrs. Corey. Yes. And Mrs. Allen. Yes. Okay, that is 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 in favor, zero opposed. Motion passes. All right. Now, we will move on to board liaison reports. Um Mrs. Palmer for Plymouth Center School. I apologize. Their meeting was last night, and I was unable to attend as I was at the uh town council meeting. So, I do apologize. I don't have any >> a way to be in both. I apologize. Mrs. Allen for Fisher Elementary. Uh we had the wrestling fundraiser, which I you know, that was
080a it was a scene. It was a scene. Um they had so much fun, and I'm pretty sure they're going to be talking about it for a long time. So, um that was that was great. Right now, we also have a um flower and bulb fundraiser that is going on. So, I believe that one ends the end of April. Then, we also have our school store, which is happening this Friday, and we're in the middle of planning fifth grade celebration and teacher appreciation week. So, a lot of fun things coming up. Okay. Great. All right. Eli Terry Junior Middle School, whoever would like to take that one. Um we I guess had wrestling. We are planning for graduation, and we have a dance next Friday, which is always a good time. And it's a good
081time for the kids. Yeah, for the kids. Yes. Um and then we're planning for the eighth grade dance, we're doing something different this year where there's actually an eighth grade committee that plans their own dance, and then PTA pays for it. Um, so that's going to be a whole different thing. So, other than that, we don't really have much. We have Great in Weight on May 15th, which is always a good day, and yeah, that's about it. Great. Mr. Foot, Terryville High School? The guy. PTSA is getting ready obviously for the after grad party. Several other things are going on. What's coming up is grad signs this month and Mother's Day breakfast Mother's Day flowers. Uh so they're it's it's doing quite well. Getting ready for it. They're reaching their goal? Their fundraising goal? They're
082>> I believe they will. Okay, great. Thank you so much. All right, that brings us to item 13, board comments. Uh, let's start with you, Mr. Showers. Well, I must congratulate all the uh superintendent recognition award winners. That's fantastic what they're doing in the schools, and the um the trades, that's another great thing for students. I was in that one uh back in high school way back when. And I actually did go into the trade that I was uh working in. Nice. In printing. I printed for 20 years. Wow. That's all I got for tonight. Ms. Tilton? He's still on my comment, so I still congratulations to the students. Um, wonderful, great role models for the community. Um, and thanks to Mrs. Glazer. I know I've heard fantastic things about her, and to the teachers,
083you guys are awesome. Keep up the good work. Hope you enjoy some teacher appreciation week and get through that final push to the end of the year. Mr. Foot? I I too am impressed with what we saw here tonight with all the honorees, etc., but I especially uh uh would like to give tribute to the staff for scheduling and organizing these career visitations and such. That's a big job. And then thanks too to the uh agencies and businesses in town that allowed that to happen, cuz they don't have to do it. >> No. Thank you. Mrs. Alton? Uh, again, you know, a great job for the students. Some of the recognition, you know, based off of what we've heard about them is absolutely warranted, so kudos to them. Um, I was you know, I love
084to see what the Career Center is doing, cuz you know, I think it's just as important about, you know, like exposing them to these careers, those other life skills that they're teaching them, how to carry on a conversation in a professional manner, how to speak in public, which we all know is not necessarily easy for everyone. Um, so I'm I'm very happy to see that they're teaching these kinds of skills, resume writing, things like that that are really going to help these kids, you know, once they leave high school. Absolutely. Ms. Corey? Um, I am so stinking proud to see these little kids come up here. They're not even little, they're grown, but like I look at them and hear all of the things that like the teachers and stuff say about them, and I
085like have known a lot of them since they were in kindergarten or younger, and I see them, and I'm like, those really are the kids in our schools that I mean, we should all be really, really proud of the the kinds of kids that we have here in town. Ms. Palmer? Um, I'm really impressed with the middle school presentation that I'm glad that they're able to start coming to our meetings and presenting. That was very insightful. Um, like everybody else said, the Career Center, I was very impressed. Um, and the teachers should be very proud of how she is touching the students. Um, like Brian said, that story, she should be very proud of that, and you know, her work is not going unnoticed in helping our students. Absolutely. Mr. Borbely? Well, I really would
086like to thank Julie Ratusky. She did an awesome job. She really did. And as Fallon and Tatianna Tiana Tiana Tiana were talking, she was totally engrossed. I was watching her, okay? She was she was captivated by every single thing that they were saying. So, shoutout to her, she did a really, really good job. Also, shoutout to the superintendent student recognition award recipients from uh Eli Terry and also from Terryville High School. That's that's a huge acknowledgement for those kids. Okay? Um, also congratulations to uh the Career Center uh bringing those students up to at least enlighten us on how that Career Center has I I can't say it's changed their lives, but it put them in a direction that they probably didn't have when they came to this high school. All right, and um some
087of those kids that are actually taking the trades, okay? Um probably 10, 15 years ago that wouldn't even been on the list of things to do, because everybody was trying to put them into a college career, cuz that's what you do. To go. Um, the other thing that I would like to talk about this evening is about last night and the presentation. All right, I'm going to give you a little bit of information this evening. I'll do it really, really quick. Do you everybody remember the 2% increase here that we got last night? What you need to look at is the negative .51%. That was during Dr. Samuel and Mayor Merchant's tenure. Okay? We got a letter from the state of Connecticut saying that we did not meet our MBR. Which means that when you
088don't meet your MBR, for every dollar you miss, they take $2 away. So, the town had to come up with some money in order not to give back two more dollars. So, just let's say it was $150,000 short, we would have to give them a check for $300,000 and lost that money through ECS grant money. So, next year we would have been $300,000 short. So, when you look at this, this is only from 2010 to 2011. There's a couple of years when Dr. Nastasi was here, we had 0% increases. 4 years. All right? So, we in the school district are doing the best that we possibly can with money that we never, ever were able to get because of 0% increases, and we're paying for it right now. Okay? So, those are the things that
089you need to do. The other thing that you need to understand too is that this town belongs to the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities. Okay? I have an account there. They sent me a little ECS formula grant. Right now, the state since 2013 has only been paying $11,525 per student in per pupil cost since 2013. The state of Massachusetts pays $14,343. All right? $3,000 more than us per pupil. All right? There's 10 districts in the state of Connecticut right now that only have their per pupil costs are associated with $10,343. The state of Connecticut is not doing a great job with education. They just aren't. It's just like what's happening with the pension fund. They don't put any money into those programs, and then when somebody realizes that they need to put money into it, well,
090unfortunately, they're so far behind the eight ball, they can't do it because of the astronomical amount of money that they have to put in. So, just to kind of give you an idea what our per pupil costs are, I have way too much time on my hands. Our per pupil costs as of 2023-2024 are $20,079. In 20 2022-2023, our per pupil costs were $15,777. If you take the discrepancy between our current per pupil costs and what the state is paying us, each student in this town is not getting $8,554. We have approximately 1,239 students. The state owes us since 2013, they owe us $10,598,406. Good luck. But just think, just think where $10 million 10.5 10.6 million dollars could do for this education system right now. Also, just think what it would do to your
091mill rate. Okay? If we got $10 million. Right now, the mill rate as of last night is going to be 28.04. If we had $10 million in there, and if the mill rate approximately $1 million is a one is a one mill increase, we could probably take 10 mills off of that, and it could be 18. These are some of the things that people need to understand. These are what people need to understand. The state legislators, anybody, I don't care what town they're in, what city they're in, they're hurting the education system in in the state of Connecticut. And people wonder why companies like GE leave here. Okay? Why do they go somewhere else? All right? Well, the proof is in the pudding here. That's the way it goes. You know, so people, I can
092tell each and every one of these, um I know I always I go to coffee hours with these uh state reps, but you got to hammer. You really do. The state's going to do something because the onus can no longer be on the local taxpayers, the local business owners that have to pay property taxes because the state will not fulfill their obligations to finance education. That's it for me. Thanks. Mr. Falco? I just wanted to take a second to thank the town council for their time yesterday in sitting with the board and asking really good questions and uh just hearing what our priorities are and where we're struggling. Um they didn't have to do that. They haven't done that in the past. I think that is a a a big piece. Where where one of
093the biggest chunks of of the taxpayer dollars comes comes to education. And the value of education, everyone values it. It's just a matter of there's so many different priorities out there. But I want to thank them for their time. I really do think they heard us and uh they're going to do everything they can for us. And so I do appreciate that. All right. Thank you, everybody. Our next regular meeting of the Plymouth Board of Education is on Wednesday, May 13th, 2026 at 6:00 p.m. in the cafeteria at Terryville High School. I would like to entertain a motion to adjourn at 7:24 p.m. >> So moved. Mr. Showers, Mrs. Palmer, all in favor? Motion carries. Thank you very much, everyone. No, you weren't.