0017:00 p.m. Please rise to 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. Please call the roll. John Gavallas. Cindy Famularo. Here. Karen Hoskin. Here. Christine Breslin. Here. Jason Malagutti. Here. Mary Bellica. Here. Mindy Davidson. Here. Elizabeth Walton. Here. Sherry Martino. >> Here. Board members should have received the meeting packet which includes the minutes from our meeting dated February 25th. Do board members have any questions regarding the minutes? Seeing none, do I have a motion to approve the minutes? Yes, Mr. Chairman. I make a motion to approve the minutes of the special Board of Education meeting minutes from February 25th, 2026 as presented. [snorts] Do I have a second?
002Second. All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? Abstentions? Motion carries. Moving on to item E, Watertown High School theater performance. Tonight, the students from Watertown High School will present a short theatrical production of Sister Act. This uplifting musical comedy features music by Alan Menken. The story follows Deloris Van Cartier, a nightclub singer who is placed in protective custody at a convent after witnessing a crime. While there, she transforms the struggling choir into a vibrant, joyful ensemble. Filled with humor, heart, and high-energy music, Sister Act celebrates friendship, courage, and the power of coming together as a community. The performances will take place on Thursday, March 19th at 7:00 p.m., Friday, March 20th at 7:00 p.m., and Saturday, March 21st at 2:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. Thank you to the production staff of Mr. Foster Evans Reese as
003the director and choreographer, Watertown High School [clears throat] teachers Donna Palquin as choral music director and Tom Solziki as a student pick director, and Mindy Davidson as the producer. >> [music] [music] [singing] [music] [singing] [music] [singing] [music] [music and singing] [music] [singing and music] [music] [singing] [singing and music] [music and singing] [music] [singing] [music and singing] [music] [singing] [music] [singing] [music] [singing] [music] [singing] [music] [music and singing] [music] [music and singing] [music] [singing] [music] [singing] [music] [applause] >> Thank you. Thank you all very much. That was very impressive, uplifting. Thank you. [applause] GREAT JOB. >> [applause] >> WHAT A PERFORMANCE. NO, THEY WERE AWESOME. >> [laughter] >> MOVING on to item F, student recognition, music students, music in our schools month. >> [clears throat] >> The following students have been recognized this year for being
004accepted into music festivals through Connecticut Music Association of music teachers. Um, for elementary honors festival, Julian Pelosi, grade six viola. You can COME ON UP. CORIANA DEFAZIO, GRADE SIX VIOLA. AIDAN ALEXANDRE, GRADE SIX TRUMPET. RHEA DUCAS, GRADE SIX mallet percussion. >> [applause] >> FOR THE NORTHERN REGION MIDDLE SCHOOL FESTIVAL, Jaden Alexandre, GRADE SIX TROMBONE. >> [applause] >> JOCELYN MOREIRA, GRADE SEVEN VIOLIN. >> [applause] >> FROM WATERTOWN HIGH SCHOOL, THE FOLLOWING students were accepted into the Northern Region High School Festival. Aidan Benjamin, grade 10 bass. >> [applause] >> KAMAR CORNWALL, GRADE 11 TENOR. ADRIAN LABELLE, GRADE 10, BASS. >> [applause] >> CHASE MARCHAND, GRADE 12, MALLETS. LOGAN MOUNTS, GRADE 11, TENOR. ALEX TAYLOR, GRADE 12, TENOR. DANIEL VIACAVA, GRADE 11, BASS. OLIVIA WILLIAMS, GRADE 12, EUPHONIUM. >> [applause] >> AND AT THE HIGH SCHOOL LEVEL, THE
005STUDENTS HAVE THE opportunity to audition for All-State. Aidan and Kamar have were also accepted into THE ALL-STATE FESTIVAL. CONGRATULATIONS, GUYS. >> [laughter] [laughter] >> CONGRATULATIONS. >> [clears throat] >> MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC ARE FREE TO LEAVE at this time if they so please. Not trying to kick you guys out, but it's your chance to get out. >> [laughter] >> You know where the cool kids at? Moving on to item G, recognition of board members, Board of Education Recognition Month. And that comes to me. Um I'd like to take a moment to recognize uh our Board of Education for Board of Education Appreciation Month. Um I'd like to express my heartfelt gratitude to each of our board members. Your commitment to our schools and community is truly remarkable. You volunteer countless hours, often behind the scenes,
006reviewing budgets, policies, and plans to shape our students' daily experience. I'm especially thankful for the collaborative and bipartisan spirit that you bring to this work. Our board embraces multiple perspectives, engages in robust and honest conversations, and always grounds discussions and decisions in what is best for the town and for the schools that we love. I would also like to take this opportunity to represent our two student representatives that are on the board, which by the way were both recognized as two of our top 10 students this week. Very fancy and well deserved. Um so to our student representatives, your professionalism, your poise, and your insight continue to impress us all. Balancing a schedule as full of your as yours, especially senior year, it takes a lot of dedication. Your voices bring a vital student perspective
007to our meetings, and you bring genuine sunshine to us. So thank you for being with us. So thank you all for your service, your partnership, and your unwavering commitment to our students and community. Thank you, Board of Education. You're much appreciated. MOVING ON TO ITEM H, Student Council report. Hunter Nicole, please. So for John Trumbull John Trumbull Primary School, curriculum and instruction, reading classes are focusing on comprehension strategies, fluency, responding to texts, and exploring a variety of different materials. In writing classes, students are organizing their ideas, then adding details, and strengthening sentence structure. Math students continue to focus on problem solving, number sense, and applying strategies to real-world situations. Across all classrooms, practice, collaboration, and curiosity remain the focus of instruction. For school community, JTPS celebrated Read Across America Week with the principals continuing the
008tradition of dressing up as Thing One and Thing Two from Dr. Seuss books, bringing out minute amounts of playful mischief. In particular, they visited classrooms, shared laughs with students, and encouraged further reading. As for upcoming events, on March 11th, there is a Board of Education tour. Uh the office hours start at 8:00 a.m. On March 13th, it is Lucky Charms spirit day. On March 14th, there there is the Shamrock Shuffle. On March 17th, there is a March Madness rock, paper, scissors event, and it is the last day for the canned food drive. On March 18th, there is a faculty meeting at 7:45 a.m. On March 19th, kindergarten screener event. On March 26th, there is a multicultural night. On March 30th, WLHS visits to teach a lesson to grade two classes. And on April 9th, there
009is a math night {slash} book fair family night. As for Judson, under curriculum and instruction, art classes have been expanding their focus on different aspects of given mediums. Third graders are focusing on texture, creating colorful heart-shaped boxes of chocolates with crinkly wrappers, scratched oil pastel toppings, and vibrant marker painted backgrounds. Fourth graders have been studying shape and form by designing lively lava lamp artworks featuring dynamic backgrounds made with shaving cream, paint, and squeegees while experimenting with organic forms, highlights, and shadows. Fifth graders are concluding their disco ball paintings using shades, tints, and tones to show value and capture reflective glow. Midyear conferences were held throughout February, providing educators time to communicate with parents. These meetings provided a critical opportunity to reflect on professional goals, celebrate success, and discuss plans for continued growth. It is purposeful
010in its assurance that all faculty and students are prepared for the second half of the year. The first professional learning community cycle has finished, during which teams of teachers explored self-selected topics to deepen their learning and inform instructional decisions. Grade three focused on best practices for vocabulary instruction and integration, while grade four analyzed their IAB data and explored tools for teachers to guide instruction. Grade five further investigated Fast Lane resources, and our special education team began a book study of Overcoming Dyslexia. The cycle concluded with each team sharing their findings and tangible takeaways with colleagues at a staff meeting on February 26th, bolstering professional growth and collaboration for faculty around the school. Under school community, fifth graders from Judson and Polk did an excellent job representing Watertown at the 47th annual St. Jude Tim Driscoll
011Telethon. Their enthusiasm and teamwork was quite evident as they took part in this community event. Watertown Public Schools overall raised $5,136.02 to support the life-saving work of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. Ms. Borbas and Ms. Samitas both should be especially thanked for bringing WPS students to this community event and supporting them. March's main theme is inclusivity, with students celebrating what it means to be valued and welcomed. The building students are focused on showing kindness, appreciating differences, and ensuring that each member of the school community feels a sense of belonging. By promoting inclusivity within the classroom, the program is promoting the culture that makes the building so successful. For upcoming events, on March 17th, there is a PTO book fair. On March 18th, there is a PTO family night in the continued PTO book fair. On
012March 19th, there it is a early release day. On March 27th, there is the Stars Assembly. For Polk School, under curriculum and instruction, Polk celebrated Read Across America Week on Monday, March 2nd, whereby students discovered the creative power of reading. Students began by exploring books in their classroom libraries while completing a genre scavenger hunt. Soon after, students began participating in a reading Olympic marathon with a chosen book. Polk's aptly named Booklets read or listen to books in order to improve their reading stamina and endurance. Students were encouraged to dress comfortably for this event. For school community, parent-teacher conferences occurred on March 3rd and March 5th, providing opportunities for families to connect with educators about student progress, strengths, and next steps for growth. These conversations support our commitment to strong home-school partnerships and shared responsibility for
013student success. These meetings were only meaningful through parent interaction and teacher planning. As for upcoming events, on March 9th, there is an invention convention judging session. On March 10th, there is also an invention convention judging session. March 20th, the Polk PTO has the glow down spring dance. On March 24th, Polk PTO is running the glow run fundraiser. On March 25th, there is the grade five choral and instrumental concert at 7:00 p.m. in the WHS auditorium. And on March 27th, there is the PAWS assembly. Now for Swift Middle School under curriculum and instruction, Swift students and staff have been engaging in restorative circles and restorative conversations to work through conflict and build strong relationships. This has been led through the school counseling department and has continued to build momentum within the school community. Seventh grade students
014have been developing their claim, evidence, and reasoning writing skills as they participate in detective style investigation involving the missing the missing the case of a missing dog, Mr. Peebles. Students analyzed suspects and clues and used evidence to craft claims and support them with reasoning. This use This unit concluded with a debate where students defended their conclusion and discussed motives. This activity demonstrated students' understanding of how evidence and reasoning supports a strong claim. The goal of this unit is to help students recognize the well-supported claims come from multiple sources of evidence connected clearly throughout reasoning. Under school community, student recognition, Swift enjoyed an outdoor winter activities and had an old-fashioned fun playing in the snow. Congrats to Ellie Lubitsky, the winner of Swift's snow sculpture contest Sorry, sponsored by the PTSO. Ellie created a Swift snow
015eagle sculpture. For student support, eighth grade students worked with counselors from Swift and Watertown High School to select courses for their ninth grade year. Course selection information was sent home to parents last week so families could discuss options with their parents. Lastly, there's a shout-out goes to Swift staff who raised $645 in support of St. Jude's. Some upcoming events is Thursday, March 12th, there's picture day and Wednesday, March 31st and Thursday, April 1st is NGSS testing for eighth grade. Watertown High School curriculum and instruction. This year, Watertown High School has embedded extension time into the daily schedule to better meet the needs of all learners. This initiative supports the school's continued focus on the warrior way and strong instructional practices. Extension time allows teachers to provide targeted support for students who need additional time with
016core concepts. It also offers meaningful enrichment opportunities for students who are ready to advance their learning. During extension time, these teachers provide focused support for students still developing mastery of skills and provide more challenging task and emphasis of critical thinking and problem solving for students ready for enrichment. Ms. Guerra's math classes and Mr. Cooker's English classes demonstrate a strong example of the instructional approach in actions, which videos are available on the school's website and social media. The structure helps both create a responsive student-centered learning environment where students are both supported and challenged. Course selection and academic planning. The course selection for 2026-2027 school year has begun and the portal opened on February 27th for students to begin their making their selections. Students in grades 9 through 11 will meet with their school counselor during the
017last two weeks of March to review their course selection. School counselors visited Swift on March 9th to assist incoming ninth grade students with making course requests. Counselors are continuing individual grade level meetings with students and have begun junior post-secondary planning meetings. Parents and guardians are encouraged to attend these meetings with their students to support future planning. School community, Watertown High School top 10 students. On Friday, March 6th, 2026, Watertown High School announced the top 10 students of the class of 2026 during a surprise celebration held in the Watertown High School lecture hall. This event recognized students for their academic achievements, dedication to learning, and contributing to the school community. Our valedictorian was Sara Deschnica and our salutatorian was Hunter Panzak. The top 10 students in alphabetical order, besides the valedictorian and salutatorian, was Andrea Larsson,
018Lola Gaudino, Maya Gauthier, Jayce Kiernan, Eleanor Mackerowitz, myself, Nicole Ramirez, Julia Samois, and Olivia Williams. These students will be formally recognized at an upcoming Board of Education meeting later this month. Their accomplishments represented the best of Watertown High School and the school community is incredibly proud of their achievements. Congrats Congratulations are extended to the students, their families, and the educators who supported them through this journey. I did not write that. That was Mr. Guerra. That wasn't me. That wasn't >> [laughter] >> Um Lastly, the district-wide coffeehouse concert. The district-wide coffeehouse concert was a great success. Our music teachers from across the district collaborated to showcase students assembly representing each school. The event welcomed more than 600 attendees demonstrating strong community support for the arts. The concert celebrated students' musical talent and dedication of the district's
019music staff. Thank you to everyone who contributed to making this event such a success. Thank you both and congratulations again. We'll finish up with you. All right, moving on to item L, acting superintendent's recommendations, report, and updates. Yes, so mine's a little impromptu because I was struck so much um by tonight, the musical performance and then the music awards and then [snorts] all of the things that Hunter and Nicole um reported. And I'm just struck by how many different things that we have for students to participate in. We've seen highlighted today the highest of academic awards, high music awards, amazing performances. Um I'm not going to spill the beans because our board chair will talk a little bit about how our successful our athletics teams are doing, but we've had several teams uh do well
020in states. Um and it's just something to be proud of as a as a community. And then also, I am a forgot to say all the community service that is taking place with the St. Jude's telethon. Um and it just goes to show um how well-rounded we are as as a school community and that there is something for everybody in our district. Um also evidence in this is um we've had our some school walk-throughs. We did Swift today. It was amazing. We've also done Polk and Watertown High School and we have John Trumbull and Judson coming. Um and it really has been lovely to walk through our schools and and see all the wonderful things that are happening. And I appreciate the board's time and um town council member that was able to come to
021some of them. It's really very much appreciated appreciated for you to come and spend your time to see all of the wonderful things happening. Um and then finally, I would just like to say it was very lovely to drive here in the daylight and to see well, gray brown, but sort of green grass, but a green turf with kids running on it. Luigi called me before the meeting and said, "Can I open up the doors because there's kids wanting to get in there cuz it's so beautiful." I'm like, "Open it up." Um so that was a a very lovely thing to drive into today to see something other than snow. And that's it for me this evening. Awesome. And hopefully the snow stays away. Yes. That'd be nice. >> [cough] >> Moving on [clears throat]
022to item J, public participation. In accordance with policy number 9050, participants must state their name and address for the record and limit comments to three minutes. The board encourages speakers to refrain from making defamatory remarks about staff members or individuals associated with Watertown Public Schools. Please note that questions or issues raised during public comment are not typically addressed during the meeting. However, a member of the board or administration will follow up or respond as appropriate. Do we have anybody from [snorts] the public who'd like to speak? Please. Hi, good evening. Thank you for everything that you guys bring to the community. Um I'm here today to bring >> can you just say your name and address? >> Michelle Latif, Olena Drive in Watertown. Um I wanted to bring attention to uh a proposed bill, HB
0235468. Um I am a resident of Watertown, a mom of a Watertown High Schooler, and two home school daughters. And I want to bring attention to House Bill 5468, which is currently under consideration in the Connecticut legislature. A public hearing on this bill is scheduled for this coming Wednesday, so it's important that municipalities and local education leaders are aware of potential implications. Although much of the public discussion has focused on homeschooling families, the language of the bill applies to any student withdrawing from the public school for educational reasons. This could include families transitioning to homeschooling, enrolling in parochial or private schools, choosing other non-public education options, or even relocating. Because of this, the scope of the proposal may affect far more more families than many initially realized. A primary concern is that the bill could
024create an unfunded mandate for local school districts. Districts may may be required to process additional withdrawal documentation, track students who are no longer enrolled, maintain records, and manage compliance procedures. These responsibilities would require staff time, administrative systems, and resources that many towns may not have budgeted for, potentially draining already limited district resources. The proposal will also create significant administrative challenges for school districts. Managing new documentation and oversight responsibilities for students who are no longer enrolled could place additional strain on administrative teams. In some cases, families withdrawing for private or parochial education may also be required to appear in person or obtain approval before completing a withdrawal, adding further workload for district staff. Additionally, the bill proposes that the names of students whose families request withdrawal from the public school system be forwarded to the Connecticut
025State Department of Education, which would then transmit those names to the Connecticut Department of Children and Families, DCF, for review and approval. Local school districts would be responsible for submitting this information to them within a limit a limited 2-day time frame established by the bill, creating a new reporting responsibility that does not currently exist. Concerns have also been raised about the withdrawal timelines and approval process. The proposed procedures could delay a family's ability to withdraw a student, potentially resulting in students being marked absent while waiting for approval or processing. This could create unnecessary gaps in learning during a transition to another educational setting. There are also questions about compliance with federal student privacy laws, the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, FERPA, requiring districts to collect or transmit personal information about students without parental consent
026who are no longer enrolled may raise privacy concerns. Errors or misinterpretation of these requirements could expose districts to legal challenges or risk federal funding implications. Testimony, SB 6, Section 5. Could you wrap up your thought, please? So, this this bill could lead to a lot of strain on the town, resources, uh the school, the budget. Um there's a lot of this bill is is kind of vague about the implications of what it could cause, like the strain for the school system. So, I just um I would recommend that everybody just look into it. Um this Wednesday is the hearing, and Tuesday this Tuesday at 3:00 p.m. is the deadline for testimony. So, I just look into it. Thank you. Of course. And before you sit down, did have you emailed um your [cough] testimony over?
027Yes. All right. Yes, I've indeed emailed. Thank you. Is there anybody else in the public who'd like to speak? Seeing [clears throat] none, moving on to Item K, Watertown High School Program of Studies for the FY 2026 and 2027 academic year. I'd like to welcome up our WHS team. More specifically, Um before I begin, I just want to say Nicole was totally standing over my shoulder while I typed that, telling me >> [laughter] >> Nicole, you know that's true. The truth comes out. I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding. Nicole is awesome. Okay. Um good evening, Acting Superintendent Fekete, um Watertown Public Schools Board of Education Chairman Belica, members of the Board of Education, and members of the district cabinet. For those of you that do not know me, I'm Gianni Perugini, Principal of Watertown High
028School, and tonight I would like to present an update on the Watertown High School Program of Studies for the '26-'27 school year. Um this evening's presentation highlights are um our high school and how it continues to expand opportunities for all students, strengthen the career and college pathways, and align our programs with state expectations and student post-secondary goals. Uh building from our strengths, at the heart of the Program of Studies are the guiding principles that drive the work here Watertown Public Schools, and these documents include the Vision of the Graduate, the Core Values and Beliefs, the District Improvement Plan along with the um Acting Superintendent's Priorities. Our goal is to ensure that Watertown High School continues to be a rigorous, but yet accepting place for all students to learn. Next. All right. Uh the Program of
029Studies design. So, before I present the specific changes or the updates, I want to briefly acknowledge uh something special. Um every year that I've been here, I've asked students to design the cover uh and the art that goes along with it. And this year, for the '26-'27 Program of Studies, um it was designed by a Grade 12 student, Tyler Levasseur, and uh in Miss um Langlois' uh ECE, which is UConn's Early College Experience Graphics class. Um the artwork throughout the document is also created by Watertown High School Grade 11 students, David Goncalves and Sammy Sadersi. And Sammy gave me some practice on saying that today, so I hope I said it right. Sammy, if you're listening, Sadersi. All right. Uh this is a great example of the talent of our students and how we incorporate
030it into our academic programs. Okay. The goals of the Programs of Study. Um our primary goal is for students to focus on uh you know, engagement, opportunities, and preparation for the future. So, first, we work to develop strong academic trajectories that promote student choice uh because basically, when students have choice in in what they're learning, they're more engaged. Second, we ensure that our program aligns with legislative mandates and graduation requirements set by the Board of Education. Uh and third, we aim to provide interesting and meaningful elective courses that allow students to explore careers or their passions. Finally, we continue to build partnerships with colleges and universities, expanding those opportunities for those students to earn college credit while still in high school. And this not only saves families money, saves families time and money, but it
031also gives students access to more challenging, higher-level coursework while here at Watertown High School. Okay. The graduation requirements at Watertown High School, we continue to follow the framework established by Connecticut State Law and the Board of Education. As you can see on this slide, students must earn 26 credits in areas of humanities, STEM, physical education and health, world language and other electives. Uh students also complete several important experiences beyond coursework, and that includes a senior capstone project, 20 hours of community service, and also um the beginning with the Class of of 2025, the FAFSA FAFSA needs to be completed or the state waiver form in place of the the FAFSA. And this structure ensures students graduate with both academic preparation and uh meaningful uh real real-world experiences. All right. The recommended courses for college admission.
032So, while colleges and universities each have their own admission requirements, and that's something that our school counselors, as you heard in the upcoming uh meetings that the school counselors will have with families as they choose, uh they they make families and students aware of making sure that they're uh um not only uh hitting the requirements for uh graduation here, but also working towards their post-secondary goals. Um but the general recommendations that guide our counseling course selection process are recommendations that come from feedback we get from from the universities and colleges. Um so, most colleges typically recommend 4 years of English, which is what we have, 4 years of mathematics, including Algebra 2, uh 3 to 4 years of science, 3 to 4 years of social studies, and at least 3 years of world language at
033the high school level. No significant adjustments were made this year with regards to this. The only clarification was the removal of the wording geometry in this section um since geometry is already required uh in order for students to progress to Algebra 2. So, we just removed in that section up there where it says math um including geometry and algebra. Ooh, that's actually the old uh one. The new That's from last year's. Sorry. But the new one doesn't have that right there where it says including geometry. It just says 4 years of math and Algebra 2. All right. Moving on. Okay. Program of Studies. This is my favorite slide in the entire presentation. If there's nothing else you listen to, please listen to this I look at this slide. Uh one of the most exciting things
034in the 2026-27 Program of Studies is the continued growth of classes that we are offering across all departments. We've added an additional 23 courses since last year. Students now have more opportunities across areas such as CTE, Arts and Humanities, and Unified Learning Experiences. Um again, this growth allows students to explore interests that align with our graduation requirements. >> [snorts] >> Um just the dual enrollment opportunities is one column I'd like to highlight. We have over when I started here in '23-'24, we had two dual enrollment courses. We are currently over 20, and that list keeps growing. And that includes ECE, CT State, um and Post University as well. So, I'm really really proud of that. Um and that's all to the to the great work of the of our our teachers that are are applying
035for those certifications to offer that to our students and families. All right. Uh the CTE education, you'll you'll notice that um our CTE program now includes over 50 courses total. Uh we're providing students with hands-on experiences connected to real-world careers, and some of those uh courses include Robotics and Engineering Design, Graphic Arts and Digital Media, Woodworking and Design, Culinary Arts and Entrepreneurship, Medical Careers, including the CNA pathway, uh and then Business, Marketing, and Finance. Again, these programs give or these give students the opportunity to to build real-world skills and uh explore career interests. Um Sorry. All right. Uh moving on. The new course additions. On this slide, I have the new courses listed. Several new courses or expanded courses have been added this year. Um Design and Innovation, 3D Model Printing, Expanded Robotics Programming, Baking
036and Pastry Arts, Global Street Food, Enterprise Culinary Arts, Personal Financial Literacy 2. Uh we've also expanded Graphic Arts and Portfolio Development courses. This helps ensure that students uh interested in that area uh begin to build their professional work portfolio in those courses. And in addition, like I mentioned before, we expanded our our dual enrollment opportunities. New options now include UConn's ECE Graphic Arts and Publishing, uh as well as CT State dual enrollment courses in Biology, Chemistry, Music, Mathematics, and um English, which is still going through the certification process with CT state. So, that's not a English is not official yet, but we're we're on the way there. Okay. Some of the unified programming. Another area of growth is our unified programming. So, unified courses bring together students with and without disabilities in an inclusive learning
037environment. We now offer unified experiences across several subject areas, including art, civics, science, and other opportunities as you see there, foods, PE, 3D design, and video classes as well. And these courses help build collaboration, empathy, also create a song a strong sense of belonging for our students, which aligns directly with our school's values and our commitment to maintaining an inclusive school environment. All right, some of our dual enrollment opportunities. This continues to be a strong area for Watertown High School. Students can now earn college credit through partnerships with the University of Connecticut, the CT State Community College, Post University, and at Advances CCA, College and Career Accelerator. I'd like to mention that last year Watertown High School was recognized by Yukon as one of the top 10 schools in Connecticut for the largest increase in
038ECE enrollment. We I think we were four. We were part of the top 10 list, but officially I think we were number four in the state. Our our participation increased 214% from the 23 to 24 school year, which is an incredible accomplishment like I mentioned before for our students and our staff. And again, as I as I mentioned earlier as well, that one of the major benefits of these dual enrollment courses is that they allow students to earn college credit while still in high school. And I continue to hold meetings with our higher education partners to expand some of these opportunities. I'm still in in in some I actually have a meeting this week with Post to look at expanding maybe in creating a business pathway. But creating or increasing access to these college-level courses
039is one of my main goals since becoming principal. We currently have about 14% of our students enrolled in in a a dual enrollment or actually sorry, I'm going to take that back. We have about 14%, which is 100 students total. We have about 100 [snorts] and the last official count was 707, I think, right? Students 707. It's been fluctuating at the around the low 700 mark, but yeah, last last official count was 707. We have about 101 students enrolled in Yukon ECE courses. That doesn't include all the CT State courses that we offer, so it's not all of the dual enrollment courses, but just the Yukon ECE courses alone. We have about 14% of our students enrolled in those courses, which is is fantastic. Another, oops, sorry. Another that last bullet there, the College and
040Career Accelerator is also another pathway that I'm very very proud of that we've created here at Watertown High School. And this program offers students structured pathways in areas such as manufacturing and engineering, education, health care, public safety, and also soon EMT certification. The program is designed with flexible entry points, allowing students access to different tiers depending on their grade level and their goals. Students can earn anywhere between a or anywhere from a certification a basic certification in any one of those areas to all the way to an associate's degree by the time that they graduate from Watertown High School. So, students can participate in one full year in the College and Career Accelerator or all four years of high school. And one of the ways it was described to me was almost like being on
041a highway on and off ramps, you know, you can you can be on it for as long as you like and then and then step off and you're still on your path to graduation, which is awesome. >> Mr. Perugini, could you mention that Nicole is graduating with I was just going to pick on Nicole again, yes, and say that Nicole Well, it feels like I'm never coming back. >> [laughter] >> She Nicole Ramirez, lovely Nicole, will be graduating from Post University with an associate's degree in accounting a month before she graduates from Watertown High School, which I THINK IS AWESOME. AND YOU KNOW ME AND I ALREADY TOLD NICOLE THIS, WE'LL BE MAKING A video and we'll be putting it out on [laughter] social media and we'll be celebrating that, Nicole. All right. Awesome. All
042right. Man, that threw me off. Where am I? Closing. All right, here we go. >> [laughter] >> Okay. All this talk of Nicole threw me off. All right, closing. In all these initiatives, Watertown High School it's is preparing its students for whichever path that that they choose next after graduation. Whether they're going into the college, career training, the workforce, the military, they leave our school with a strong academic foundation, practical skills, and meaningful experiences. So, the 2026-2027 program of studies reflects not only our commitment to growth, opportunity, and student success. Thank you so much for your ongoing support of our students and our staff. And at this time I'd be happy to answer any questions if there are any. Are there any questions? Through the chair. Mr. Perugini, thank you so much for having such
043an incredible offering of unified arts programs. I think it's so important for our students to have those types of opportunities on all levels. My question is, how readily do these classes fill up? Oh, good question. So, we offer at least multiple sections. They're usually semester courses. I know for example, art, we had woodworking, um, health and PE, our social studies have all been been full when we've offered them in the last year. So, I can I can I don't know the numbers off my head, but yes, they do fill. It's not and they're more than and when I say fill, we have we have around 12 to 15 students in them. Um, yeah, which which is fantastic. >> ever fills up, would you ever have another offering of the same? Or would just be that
044would be that would be it. >> We would. We would if if we're able to based on if if we have the availability with teachers, but also students. What we we tend to run them semester-wise, so then that way we can offer them again if we needed to. If we offered the first semester and then we see that there's more students that want it, then we'll run it again second semester. But it it's all like a big, you know, puzzle piece. It's a piece of a big puzzle that we all have to have to have to work together. But yeah, the only one we have not run yet is that we have in the program of studies is I believe science, the unified science class. But we've done the unified horticulture, which is which is
045yeah, the science. Yeah. Yep. Yeah, I'm very proud of the unified courses that we have as you can see up there, all of the the unified courses that we offer. It's fantastic. Yeah. Thank you. Any other questions? Any other questions? No. All right. Thank you so much. >> [clears throat] >> Moving on to item L, communication sector. Yes, Mr. Chair, we received an email from Miss Michelle Latif regarding the Connecticut House Bill 5468, which is currently under consideration in the Connecticut legislature. She also read that email to us tonight. Um, her concerns are regarding the strain it will place on families, school districts, and additional unfunded mandates, and the challenges districts will have with the additional items in the bill. She encourages the Board of Education to read the legislation and provided links to testify.
046Thank you. Moving on to item M, report from the board chair. I'm going to pass this off actually to my vice chair to talk about the athletics. Oh, thank you, Mr. Bleeka. I just want to start off this evening resonating with Miss Feckety said. I don't think any of us are going to miss a winter after that one that we had. [laughter] I know we all talked about the winters of old there, but this one definitely gave us a run for our money, so nice to see the sunshine and the gates open and springing ahead. The grass, I think I saw 70° on the thermometer when I was driving. I think it's going to be warmer tomorrow, so it's very nice. And with that, we have a lot of positive things happening in the district
047today. Mr. A and Mr. Naulty hosted us at the school. Over at Swift. It was a wonderful visit. Thank you both very much. Your staff, everybody was incredible, the students, the volunteers. It was really nice for us as a board to tour the school because there are rooms there I have never been into. It was nice to see even the cafeteria, too, and all the upbeat things going on, so keep it up. It was a really good visit there. We appreciate you doing that. And all the schools that have done that. We've already been to the high school in Polk. We have a few more to go. So, they're just a great moment for all of us to get in there and actually [snorts] see, as I've said before, what's going on with the schools,
048what's happening, and it's the the best part is seeing students that know you and they they like go, "What are you doing here?" Give you that look. So, keeps us smiling. And yeah, the athletics are doing wonderful. I know our basketball team is experiencing some success. Track and field's been doing well. And today I had the privilege of witnessing the Watertown High School swim team at the states. Proud to say that they came in second place. And three more records fell, the 100-yard fly was broken by Anthony Mascolo, 200-yard free broken by Anthony Mascolo, 200-yard free relay broken by Anthony Mascolo, Joey Joey Nascimento, Brendan Baker, and Cole Demond. Thrilled for the team, the students, and that is a very passionate program that they have. You know, you have Miss Murphy, you have Corrine, you
049have Coach Tom. My kids participated in it and it's wonderful that they have or they're enjoying success success cuz it's well deserved. Going to be having them in next week. And that's it. Yeah, it's nice to see us all springing ahead together. Thank you all. Thank you, Jason. Moving on to item N, monthly finance report. Mr. Kuba. Hi, everyone. How are you all doing? Um, so if you look at the agenda for today, I believe it was noted that I would be presenting the year-to-date budget for January 31st, 2026. Um, we are a little late in presenting January, but it was because budget was seen to be our primary focus last last month. But I'm happy to report that I actually have two finance reports in there for you. I was able to get February
05028th completed over the weekend and I thought best to just get caught up so that we can provide the reports to the town. [snorts] I don't ever want them to think that we're um behind the eight ball. So I was able to reduce it. So I'm actually going to give you a rundown on both months. Some changes between the lines but we'll discuss those. So this evening I'll be presenting the year-to-date financial reports for both January 31st and February 28th, 2026. As we move further into the second half of the fiscal year, spending trends continue to stabilize and the district's overall financial position remains steady. Similar to prior monthly reports, I'll briefly walk through the major budget categories and highlight any notable activity within the related subcategories. So under the salaries and benefits category, in
051the January report salaries and benefits continue to track generally in line with expectations with certified salaries slightly over budget and non-certified salaries showing a favorable variance. In the February report, however, non-certified salaries has shifted to a negative variance due to the encumbrance of substitute salaries following the transition to utilizing an outside vendor to support substitute teachers and paraprofessionals. Previously, substitute costs for those categories were processed through payroll and recorded only after hours were worked. But under the new vendor models, I'm able to encumber what I'm anticipating the total expenses to be. So does that make sense? So when it's through payroll, because they're hourly employees, they don't actually hit the books until their time comes in in the two-week period. But because it's an outside vendor, we actually encumber it because we want it on
052the books of what the anticipated expense is going to be. So it moves from being available to being booked on the books for for use by the vendor. Okay. Employee benefits showed a positive variance in both January and February because these costs are not pre-encumbered and are posted gradually through bi-weekly payrolls. Again, with benefits I can't pre-encumber them but we do watch them closely and for the most part I don't anticipate any um you know, major fluctuations in there. So we're looking strong and steady there as well. Under purchased services, in the January report professional technical services were progressing largely as expected while legal counsel costs were trending above budget due to primarily to due to contractual personnel related matters. In the February report, this category continued to follow a similar pattern with legal services
053remaining slightly elevated but consistent with ongoing operational needs. Again, not an area that I tend to see a big improvement on or big, you know, um addition to the variable. We just want to make sure that we always encumber very conservatively for any cost that we think might hit the books. Better to be over encumbered than under encumbered although we try to make it as close as possible. Under facilities, in the January report utilities remained close to budget expectations for this point in the fiscal year. In February report, in the February report the variance increased slightly as winter heating demands and seasonal energy usage began to impact monthly utility costs. Overall facilities related expenditures are stable with seasonal fluctuations in utilities and the continued transition of our phone system accounting >> [snorts] >> for most
054of the current variances within this category. Under contracted services in the January report, transportation and special education continued to show the largest negative variances because these accounts are fully and cautiously encumbered early in the fiscal year to capture all anticipated unanticipated and unanticipated costs. In the February report, I'm happy to report these variances decreased significantly after applying the first installment of the excess cost grant totaling $1,194,000 and I'm sorry, $1,194,764,000 which helped bring the expenditure lines closer to their expected levels. We are still showing negative variances on those but remember we've only received approximately 80% of the budget. Of course that second payment can fluctuate based off of if the state falls short but we are expecting an additional amount so that will also help to capture some of the amounts still on those lines.
055Always nice when February rolls around and I can take that number down. I start to sleep a little bit better. Under report custodial supplies began showing a higher negative variance [snorts] when compared to December and this trend continued into February. This is largely largely due to the unusually heavy snowfall this winter which required additional snow removal supplies such as salt and ice melt and probably some more shovels along with increased interior cleaning supplies to address the mud, salt and debris being tracked into the buildings. I think we all know that that was we couldn't eliminate that in any way, shape or form this year. So those numbers are a little higher than we anticipated. In closing, overall as we move further into the second half of the fiscal year, the district's financial position remains stable
056and well managed. While we continue to see some pressures and some pressure points in areas such as transportation, special education tuition, utilities and seasonal custodial supplies, many of these variances are expected for this point of year and are either and are tied strongly to operational needs. The application of the first excess cost installment, as I mentioned, has already helped bring transportation and tuition closer to anticipated levels and we will continue to monitor all budget areas closely as the year progresses. At this time I can say I remain confident in our ability to manage expenditures within the adopted budget while continuing to support the operational needs of the district. It's still going to be a tight race to the end. We know that because there's always little things that can come in and we're not going
057to have a huge return by any means but I'm certainly hoping that we're not going to be in the negative. So as, you know, you're seeing less fluctuation, everything that we know of for most parts are already encumbered. It's just as invoices are coming, we're adjusting things as needed. So that's all I have to report but I'm feeling good after running both these reports and again, like I said, excess cost maybe. Very happy. I'm happy to answer any questions or address any concerns that any of you might have. Do we have any questions? Thank you. Thank you. Moving on to item O, committee reports. Curriculum and instruction, Ms. Haskins. No report at this time although I would like to thank the high school for um presenting the the program of studies tonight. It's phenomenal to
058see the growth and to know that you know, we're working from the bottom always up and all and see the high school as our our flagship. And so to be able to look to see and to see our students and I won't name names to >> [laughter] >> further embarrass but or not, I shouldn't say embarrass, to recognize but you know, so no official committee report but a whole lot shared tonight. A lot of thanks. [snorts] Moving on to policy and labor, Mr. Malaguti. No report at this time. Budget and finance, Ms. Davidson. Yes, Mr. Chair. On Wednesday, March 4th, the budget and finance subcommittee met with the superintendent, Ms. Galik and Ms. Kasuba, to get a more detailed itemized spreadsheet of the superintendent's proposed 2026-2027 budget. We were able to ask specific detailed questions
059and get answers to them and we look to approve this budget in our action items tonight. Thank you. Moving on to facilities, Ms. Martino. I have a meeting coming up this week with our facilities director. Um And we're going to just go over what you've accomplished since last time you told us um about our buildings and and thank you for all helping so much with the snow removal and all your hard working team. Appreciate it. Yeah. Now, Luigi's a great guy. Don't worry, he doesn't bite. >> [laughter] >> Moving on to governance community engagement, Ms. Lawton. Yep, I have a few updates at this time. As has been previously mentioned, the board has continued building tours and has a couple more to go. We do have a meeting set up jointly with town manager Mr.
060Raimo at the senior center to connect with the seniors, provide some information about budget season and have a Q&A. You may have seen a survey go out, a Google form for the superintendent's advisory group which is being kicked off and anticipated to meet in early April. That's open not only to parents but to wider community members and the goal is really to we share a lot of information out but to get some information and to help shape shape district initiatives and give other viewpoints. And Ms. Galik also just shared this week a district-wide essay contest for all grade levels for a women's history month essay. So we look forward to honoring the essay contest winners next month at some point for that and seeing what creative you know, creative feedback they get about important women
061in their lives. Awesome. Thank you. Moving on [clears throat] to item P, items for discussion. Superintendent's proposed 2026-2027 budget. So Board of Education members, thank you so much for going through 1,030 lines at the subcommittee meeting. I'm sure it was fun time for everybody. But in all seriousness, I don't know if anybody had any questions that came to you after the meeting. So you've seen the budget presentation, it's posted online and then we did go through the itemized list of expenditures. Happy to answer any questions that might be outstanding related to the budget. Do we have any questions? Seeing none. Okay. Next item for discussion is the draft revision of the 2025-2026 school year calendar. If you look in um your packet, it's the one that's a cream color. Since we're doing two calendars tonight,
062I thought it would be if we colored it, it would be easier to determine which one's 2026-2027 and which one's 2025-2026. So we're looking at the cream-colored calendar at this point. Um so, what as we all know has occurred is we've had seven lovely snow days this year, which has been I can't remember last time we had so many. Um so, when the calendar was originally written um last year, the original intent was that if we had um a lot of snow days that we would remove them from April vacation. And I think upon having such a challenging winter this year, when we started to really think about the logistics in that, um we had a lot of concerns about absenteeism for April. Um and even though it was noted on the calendar, I think
063it's it's customary for um a lot of families and teachers to plan vacations during that April time. Um to so to avoid, you know, that, we kind of looked at other um options, which we discussed at the last board meeting. And so, where we have left things at this juncture, um we decided to remove we originally had 181 days. We're only required by law to [snorts] have 180. So, we did decided to remove the 181st day from the calendar. Um and then what we have what I'm proposing this evening is that we actually make June 10th um a day of school. And just for clarification purposes, June 10th is not a federal holiday, it's actually a state holiday. Um and boards of education have discretion um as to whether they would like to hold school
064on June 10th. Um some school districts have school, some school districts do not have school. Um but what is required legally is that um just as if we were to ever have school on Veterans Day, what's required that which is another um state um holiday, you are responsible for making sure that you are providing education about the holiday itself. So, observing it in that way. Um truthfully, I think sometimes that almost makes more sense than having a day off without people really realizing what the day off is for. So, it might provide us with a nice opportunity um you know, to to get some learning in as to what the point of that particular day is. Um so, the uh secretarial union, I have to acknowledge um they were lovely. They worked with me and
065agreed to take a floating holiday and come in in June 10th because it was in their contract. Um so, that's very much appreciative appreciated. Um and what this does is it allows us to have graduation and project graduation on on the 19th of June, which is a Friday, providing there's no more snow days, um which does kind of wrap up the year nicely. When we move into talking about the 26-27 calendar, um you will see some adjusted adjustments made to that calendar by lessons learned from this calendar, which I will turn over to Ms. Gaylic when we get to that point. Um any questions on the 25-26 calendar? Should this be adopted, I will push this out to families by tomorrow morning. I have a question I would have to do the chair. Um just
066for sake of having the conversation is I I'm not necessarily opposed. I don't have personal stake in any of the, you know, April break or the other holidays that are coming up, but I kind of asked around to teachers and parents and teachers who are parents or other input. Um and I know different dates have have different significance for different people. And there was a fair amount of, I guess, teachers who gave feedback about wanting a half day for Good Friday. Just for sake of conversation and again not that I'm opposed, but just is there was that a consideration cuz it seems to be some feedback I Um not at this time and and to be truthful, I don't know. Typically, when we develop a calendar at at the onset, we put out surveys and
067really try to do our due diligence to collect feedback around that. And I believe when we met last time as a board, part of our conversation was a concern about that weekend and people traveling as well that weekend. Um So, I think when it was a toss-up between the Easter weekend and June 10th, I think that is I don't want to speak for the board, so others can say, but part of our conversation as I recalled it was that it made more sense to come in on that day than to do something with Good Friday given that a lot of people seem to travel that weekend. Okay. I just asked cuz there were some that said uh a half day that Friday. Who's the chair? Um so, if I remember correctly from the new legislation
068maybe a year or two ago, if we set graduation tonight as the 19th, and God forbid we get another snow day, our high school graduation still stays the 19th. Yes. But Swift, unfortunately, will have to go to whatever next day. All the schools would, including the high school. Right, but the seniors, do they have to come back? Technically, yes. Okay. But the graduation for Swift would happen a second day, so there'd be two graduations or could they both happen the 19th? >> I I they they probably can both Okay. potentially happen on the 19th. And I mean, that would be a detail should we get there, hopefully not, um that we would probably talk to Mr. Velardi about because especially if it's going we always try to have it outside. The breaking down and the
069setting up over the course of the weekend is is not really prudent. So, we would likely I don't want to speak for you, Mr. Velardi, but I would imagine we'd have them both on the same day. Okay. And I think it does very much, even if we did have a snow day, even though it's a little unorthodox, have graduation still on the Friday because that also has implications for project graduation, um which is which is huge. It just makes >> helps them tonight, too, to plan because they once we get that date set, they can start on the project grad and families can plan and everything else. So, So, I think tonight that's another motion on the table is to set the graduation date for the 19th. Are there any other questions or comments? Who's
070the chair? Uh you know what, the other thing I'm sorry, Liz, sometimes I think of things after the fact. I would also have to seriously look because I believe that Good Friday is in all of our bargaining units as a day off. And June 10th was only in two of our bargaining units, the custodial group and the secretarial group. Um and the secretarial group very nicely worked with me to take a floating holiday for that. So, that's just another thing I would have to really look into. Yeah, Jen can look it up, but um that that's another piece. I'm pretty certain that that's in all of our contracts. I think you're right. Um and particularly the custodial union, um it's in their contract that we unless custodians are present, we cannot hold school. So, that's
071just another piece of the puzzle. Who's the chair on the next one? Oh, okay. So, if everybody's okay with 25-26, I'm gladly going to kick it over to Ms. Gaylic to discuss the process for the development of the 26-27 calendar and some of the rationale. I did send Board of Education members um some information just so that you would have it ahead to look at and a copy of the calendar. And so, now I'll I'll kick it over to Jen, who will give us the detail. So, because nothing is ever final, um the copy that's in your binders is already old. Um and you have a new copy um yes, in front of you. The only difference between the copy that you received from Ms. Speckety and the one in your binder and today's version
072is the change in the John Trumbull open house date. So, it's a very small change. Um so, just to review for probably the last five or six years, um as part of the calendar development process, a survey has gone out to district staff eliciting their input. Um this year, I think we had perhaps our largest response to date. We had 317 responses. Um so, probably about three quarters, a little bit more than three quarters of our faculty responded, which was fantastic to hear. Um I also reviewed um staff have a chance to tell us the town that they live in so that we can review that calendar because as much as possible, we'd like to try to align. Um so, I reviewed 33 of the 36 different towns that staff live in. The other three
073[snorts] I didn't review because they weren't yet published. Um and then we reviewed 10 additional calendars for the other districts that are in um our DRG as well, just again to look at alignment. Um I think we hit it out of the park with this year's calendar. We had a 97% satisfaction rate, which I think is huge. Um and so, I'm hoping that next year it'll inch even a little bit higher. Um a couple of just key points when we look at the calendar we have really positive feedback from staff about having the day before Thanksgiving off. Um so, that is something that we do try to continue to keep. Um similarly, staff prefer to have a long winter weekend versus an entire week off in February. Less and less districts continue to do that.
074Um and all we always strive to have the same April break as other towns. Um and this year, we are actually currently we are all on the same page. So, all but one town has the same April break this year. So, that actually worked out beautifully. Yeah, it's difficult from year to year and just for some context, um several years ago, the state put out regional calendars and the original intent was that if you lived in a particular region, that you would follow the regional calendar. And then the state came out and said, "Well, no, you don't really have to do that. You could just consult it." So, then what happens is dependent on the placement of Easter, it it is often a moving target. Some years, it works out and we do very much
075try cuz we know it's a hardship for people. Um it if you're you live in Watertown and you teach someplace else or if you teach in Watertown and you're live someplace else, it it's it's very challenging. So, we do really I give Ms. Gaylic her due diligence for looking at 33 calendars. >> [laughter] >> I was just really grateful that everybody got the week that I wanted for April. And I apologize for the people in Thompson. >> [laughter] >> Yeah, that was the Um so, the rest of us are all together. Um one change to the calendar that's proposed for next year from this year is you will see um a slight change to the early release professional development days. Um so, traditionally, we have had one day per month. Um this year, and I
076think we did this two years ago, um we looked at shifting some of the days around so that in some months we have two professional development early release days and then in other months we don't have any. And the rationale for that is as the board is aware we have a significant amount of curriculum work that needs to be done in district and a couple of years ago when we had that time we found that we were able to gain some real traction. There are also a number of initiatives at each building that they really like to have that dedicated time with their staff to complete and in years where only have one day per month or I think it ends up being six days across the year. It's a competition between the district initiatives
077and the building initiatives. So our thinking for this calendar is that one day per month would be a building based day and then one day per month would be a district day and that would allow sometimes for there also to be carryover between those two days if there's a task that we're engaging in that really is a little bit meatier and we need additional time. So we tried to balance it by not adding too many additional days. I believe this year there are 10 instead of six so it's only a shift of four additional and then to balance that a little bit in the spring we sometimes do a full day for conferences and then a half day early release. This year instead we are proposing to do two early release days so that we
078will get the kids back in school a little bit more as well. I will happily entertain questions if anybody has any. Oh and then to Miss Galic's point we did wise up a little bit and so you'll notice that there are grade boxes to June 25th though we ordered no snow for next year as a balance to this year but that way we don't bump into the same issues with April break. I think the only other change Miss Galic is on page two of the calendar. Yes. Again just always being considerate of our our students and families. Did you want to speak to that how we put the disclaimer at the bottom and about Ramadan? So we again for the last number of years have outlined special observances and religious holidays that are important to
079the families in our community and we did make a note at the bottom that a number of those holidays start the evening before so just a reminder for staff when we're planning assessments and um activities things like that to be mindful that for some of our families they'll be starting that celebration the evening before. So for example we don't want to schedule large scale assessments that day. We actually try to be very mindful of that during certain months of the year as well so such as for Ramadan just to be supportive of our kids. Mr. Chair, Miss Galic first of all thank you. I know I worked with you on this last year and I'm glad I didn't have to find 33 calendars. >> [laughter] >> I love the fact that we're starting school on
080a Monday. I think that is amazing that that we're not going in on a Thursday and Friday. I love that. And just I'm curious in your Google Doc that you sent out did you question the staff whether or not they wanted to come in on Veteran's Day? So you know sir our districts around us that do? There are a number so it's not a direct question that's asked because it hasn't ever been something that I felt like we were really at that point for. There are a fair number of comments from staff every year that do question why we don't come to school on Veteran's Day so that we can teach about it and hold celebrations on that day. So there's always a fair amount of comments and support for it. Okay. Similar the other
081piece of it is similar to what Liz was asking about Good Friday. I think it's in in almost every contract. So I I understand too like it would be very nice cuz we do do a lot of celebrations in our school for Veteran's Day that are lovely but if we were able to ever come to school on that day we really could do a beautiful nice due diligence of good programming but the complication again is that it's it's written in that would have to either be negotiated out at some point or supplanted with with a floating holiday of some sort. But we that has come up many many times from from people. And then there there are other people that really feel in our community that that should remain a day off so that's the
082other tricky part of it. But it would be nice to have that day just to to teach about veterans. It would would be quite lovely. I also think because truthfully from another perspective November is also a month that's that feels a little bit choppy with parent teacher conferences and the like Thanksgiving break. So I think whenever we can kind of have a little bit more consistency it is nice as well. So I think from multiple perspectives it would be nice to look at that in the future. Mr. Chair. Yes. Just one other question December 23rd I noticed is a totally non-school day which historically it's been a half day leading into break. Was that also based on staff feedback or? Yeah so I was going to say I think this year was one of our
083many snow days. So we ended up with a large number of comments about how nice it was to have that additional day. Also the last couple of calendars winter break just the way that the holidays have naturally fallen have been longer and this one would have been a little bit shorter. So we did look at that. We also looked at what other districts around us were doing. There are some who are having it as a half day. There are also some who actually have the 21st and 22nd off district different districts have structured it different ways but we thought that that was just kind of like a nice balance. Mr. Chair. Yes. >> [clears throat] >> I probably have as much to do with and I didn't think of it at the time when we
084were talking about this year's calendar but I did have a question raised about making up snow days. Are there a certain number of days that can be half days per the state or can snow days be made up as half days? So it's a good question. What the state requires is a certain amount of hours across the year and you have to meet that requirement. And those times are submitted by schools for the October 1st state report. So the short answer to the question is yes if we're still able to meet those hours certainly. So in other words if we please I hope not. If we have a lot of snow days next June and we're into that week of the the 21st I think that that would behoove us at that point to revisit
085our total number of school hours and determine if we if we wanted to do something of that nature where we came in for additional half days. So no there's no state requirement like you could only have so many half days. The requirement is about the total number of instructional hours across the year. Any other comments or questions? I mean that was it. Okay. We have two action items. We want consideration of the approval of the superintendent's proposed 2026-2027 budget. It is recommended that the board approve the superintendent's proposed 2026-2027 budget. Do I have a motion? Yes Mr. Chair I make a motion to approve the superintendent's proposed budget for school year 2026 through 2027. Do I have a second? I second that motion. All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? Abstentions? Or scares? >> [snorts] >>
086Moving on to Q2 consideration of the approval of the proposed 2026-2027 program of studies for Watertown High School. It is recommended that the board approve the proposed programs of studies for Watertown High School for the 2026-2027 school year. Do I have a motion? Yes Mr. Chair I make a motion to approve the proposed 2026-2027 2027 program of studies for Watertown High School. Do I have a second? I second. All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? Abstentions? Or scares? >> [snorts] >> Moving on to Q3 consideration of the approval of the revised 2025-2026 SY calendar. It is recommended that the board approve the revised 2025-2026 SY calendar. Do I have a motion? Yes Mr. Chairman I make a motion to approve the revised 2025-2026 school year calendar. Do I have a second? I second. All those in
087favor? Aye. Opposed? Abstentions? Or scares? Moving on to Q4 consideration of the approval of the proposed 2025-2026 date for graduation. It is recommended that the board approve the proposed graduation date of June 19th for the 2025-2026 school year. Do I have a motion? Yes Mr. Chairman I make a motion to approve the proposed 2025-2026 date for graduation. Do I have a second? I second. All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? Abstentions? Or scares? Moving on to Q5 consideration of the approval of the proposed 2026-2027 SY calendar. It is recommended that the board approve the proposed 2026-2027 SY calendar. Do I have a motion? Yes Mr. Chair I make a motion to approve the proposed 2026-2027 school year calendar. Do I have a second? Second. All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? Abstentions? Or scares? Moving on to
088Q6 consideration of approval of an overnight field trip to Hartford, CT. Stephanie Polak a teacher at Watertown High School requests an overnight field trip to Hartford, Connecticut for March 26th through March 28th, 2026 for two Watertown High School students for the All-State Festival. It is recommended that the board approve the overnight field trip to Hartford, Connecticut for March 26th [snorts] through March 28th, 2026 for two Watertown High School students for the All-State Festival. Do I have a motion? Yes Mr. Chair I make a motion to approve an overnight field trip to Hartford, Connecticut for two Watertown High School students for the All-State Festival. Do I have a second? I second. All those in favor? I. Opposed? Abstentions? Or scares? All right. Moving on to item R, future agenda items and board member comments. Through the
089chair? >> Yes. Happy birthday to uh Gianni Carigini over there. >> [laughter] >> I forgot to mention it before, but uh thank you for all you do, sir. Hope you enjoy your birthday. Hopefully uh get a little bit of downtime to yourself here after the meeting. Of course. You're welcome. >> [snorts] >> Are there any other comments or future agenda items? No. Okay. Moving on to item S, executive session, discussion concerning the performance and employment of a district employee. Do I have a motion to enter executive session? Yes, Mr. Chairman. I make a motion to go into executive session for a discussion regarding the performance and employment of a district employee. Attending the executive session are Cindy Failon, Karen Hoskin, Christine Foressa, Rene Belica, Mindy Davidson, Liz Lawton, Sherry Martino, Acting Superintendent Lisa Faggerty, Jennifer
090Galick, and myself, Jason Malaguti. Do I have a second? Second. All those in favor? I. Opposed? Abstentions?