001I'd like to convene this regularly scheduled meeting of the Watertown Board of Education at 7 p.m. Please stand for the pledge of allegiance. I [clears throat] 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. >> Roll call, please. >> Cindy Failen here. Karen Hosking >> here. >> John Gavales >> here. >> Christine Fessa >> here. Jason Malagudi >> here. >> Karine Bellica >> here. >> Mindy Davidson >> here. >> Elizabeth Lawton here. >> Sher Martino >> here. >> Okay. Board members should have received the meeting packet which includes the minutes from our meeting dated January 12th. Do board members have any questions regarding the minutes? Do I have a motion to approve the
002minutes from January 12th? >> Yes, Mr. Chair. I make a motion to approve the minutes of the regular board of education meeting from January 12th, 2026 as presented. >> Do I have a second? >> Second. All those in favor? >> I >> opposed. Abstensions. Motion carries. Student council report. So as for John Trumbull Primary School under curriculum and instruction, uh JT JTPS is completing their winter assessments and will conduct data review meetings to discuss progress and make plans for students requiring academic and behavioral interventions. under school community. John Trumbull is so proud of their students who continue to show the three Rs at JTPS. One of the rewards that students can choose is to call home to tell someone they are great. They have recently called home for 17 students. Under Pulk Elementary School under
003curriculum and instruction, grade three, third grade is completing the CKLA astronomy unit. Students are comparing and contrastingformational texts, writingformational pieces, and taking notes from videos about life aboard the International Space Station. In math, students are exploring area and perimeter using graph paper. Students have been creating their names with unit squares and calculating the area and perimeter of each letter. As for grade four, fourth grade recently completed a geology unit, and they are now beginning a new unit on the American Revolution. They are anticipating an Ever Wonder presentation in early February aligned to the geology unit. For grade 5, fifth grade is preparing for their unit 2 math assessment. Unit 2 focuses on adding and subtracting decimals and fractions with unlike denominators. Upcoming instruction will include multiplying and dividing fractions and decimals. For Judson Elementary School
004under curriculum and instruction, the final round of Judsonmies will begin on February 6th. Students selected their top academy choices last week. This session includes a mix of new offerings and returning favorites. Highlighted include line dancing, snap circuits, hoops and hops, paint by number. Each academy is designed to promote curiosity, creativity, and teamwork. Miss Boehner partnered with Special Olympics to create a unified academy bringing together students from New Horizons and peer models for an inclusive learning experience. under school community. For student recognition, on January 13th, members of the student council executive board attended a leadership conference hosted by the Connecticut Association of Schools at Husatana Community College. Students Jackson Cavalo, Juliana Cavalo, Emmaro, Sophia Huko, and Nyla Stallings accompanied by Miss Khibi Schromer participated in workshops focused on teamwork, communication, and leadership. Students returned energized and
005eager to apply their leadership learning within the school community, family, community, and partnerships. On Friday, January 23rd, Judson welcomed Miss Lauren Theresa, inclusive together, and Miss Christine Fessa, Sun, Moon, and Stars. Presentations focused on autism awareness, inclusivity, kindness, empathy, and friendship. Each grade level participated in engaging discussions. In preparation for the visit, Miss Raymond read A Day with No Words by Tiffany Haymon as a schoolwide read aloud, providing background knowledge and context for meaningful conversations about understanding and celebrating differences. As for Swift, under curriculum and instruction, grade six students are wrapping up a unit on ratios. Students during this unit made equivalent ratios using tape diagrams, double number lines, and tables. This understanding of ratios will be utilized to find unit rates. also using double number lines and tables. The students will use these rates
006in real life scenarios, interpreting what they mean and their implications. Once finished with rates, students will utilize tape diagrams, double number lines, and tables in order to find percentages of a whole or a whole of a given percentage. ELA, [clears throat] math, and special ed teachers participated in professional development in order to enhance the co-eing model of instruction. Under school community, 96th sixth graders, 127 7th 7th graders, and 92 eighth graders attended the Swift Winter Festival dances, which tallied in more than half of the student body attending. Upcoming events. January 29th to 8th. Oh, sorry. January 29th to 8th gradeformational Watertown High School meeting at 7 p.m. in the Swift Middle School auditorium where families will be able to learn about the opportunities available at WHS. Under [snorts] WHS itself, for curriculum and instruction, midterm
007exams will be held from January 23rd to January 30th, 2026. under school community. National Law Enforcement Appreciation Day was January 9th, 2026. And it is critical that we thank re school resource officer Zachary Buer for his continued dedication and positive influence on the high school. His contributions to keeping the building safe, his welcoming nature, his connections with students and staff, and his helpful personality all improved WHS. Students in the music department participated in the Northern Region Music Festival on Friday, January 16th and Saturday, January 17th. Several of these students will be auditioning for the allstate festival on February 7th. The students include Alex Taylor, Kamar Cornwall, Logan Mounts, Adrien Label, Daniel Vico, Aiden Benjamin, Olivia Williams, and Chase Marshall. Upcoming events on January 23rd, it is the end of the marketing period to on the
00828th, there is a PTO meeting at 6 p.m. in the WHS library. On the 29th of January, there is a WHS Tech Honor Society Wayback Burger fundraiser from 4 to 8:00 p.m. And on February 2nd up to the 6th, there is a Carnation sale by the WHS Tech Honor Society. On the 10th of February, there is a college and career accelerator information night at 5:30 p.m. in the WHS lecture hall. And on the 25th of February, there is a district coffee house at 5:30 p.m. in the WHS gym, auditorium, lecture hall, and main hallway. There is also a PTO meeting at 6 p.m. in the WHS library on the 25th of February. >> Thank you. >> Moving [clears throat] on to item F, acting superintendent recommendations, report, and updates. >> Y um so thank you,
009Hunter. You do a very nice job and um I'm always struck by all of the amazing events that are happening at our school. There really are lots of things going on. Um so tonight I do have a few things um to share with the board. Um first and foremost uh there's a two-page full punched document for the board. Um I thought I would take an opportunity with it being January to give you an update on my 30 60 90day entry plan. Um so I'm not going to go through this entire document. It's really there for um for the board to just kind of see. Um, but what I did do, um, is prepare a little bit of information about each of these main categories of the future work. A lot of the items on a
010on an entry plan are really things that you kind of you do in those time frames like 30, 60, and 90 days, but there were also some long range goals and and things on that plan. So, I'll just very quickly highlight those things um just so that you're aware of future work. Um, so under district vision and alignment, I'm happy to report that we really started work uh at the administrative level on that strategic plan and we will be getting out there and collecting stakeholder input um on what parents and students and community would like to see added as part of that. And my goal is to have that up and ready to go for the 2627 school year. Um, for district operations, as you know, we're in budget season. We have been working together
011to develop a draft list of priorities and projects that we know need to get completed. Um and we will try to start to kind of layer those in in a long range plan. Um so that is in process. Um transparent communication and stakeholder engagement. Um other than you know my office hours and trying to put out newsletters and such. One of the things I did want to share is that we are looking into a new platform for the district website. We're looking into Parent Square. Um, I do feel that our website is a place that we can kind of become a little bit more robust and parent friendly and I think it will be a really nice addition um to our ability to communicate with parents and and have a nice place for people to
012go for information um under leadership alignment development and data-driven decision-m these things um go a little bit handinand I'm very happy to report that we are working um in admin counsel uh we're really engaged in some high level work and we're rolling out practice ices for how we can have um a common process across all of our schools for how we can use data to drive instructional decisionm um it's very exciting work um and it and every time we have admin counsel it it just feels like rejuvenation I feel for all of us it's been a a great time [snorts] and then finally for um resources and fiscal development as you know we're in the throws of budget season um I've shared with the board on previous occasions and I will continue to kind of
013put out there in the ether when sharing budget information that I developed a three-prong system for um putting the budget together this year with a new system for budget creation, identifying cost-saving opportunities, and then rethinking some revenue sources. And I'm looking forward to um having my bud budget presentation to share with you in the upcoming weeks so I could specifically highlight some of the things in those three areas. Um, so those are some highlights of longer range plans. And then the double-sided page that the board has are really kind of some of the tickoff um list things that um were part of my original plan. I don't know if anybody has questions on that or if something comes to you, you always know. You can reach out and I'd be happy to answer. Okay. In
014keeping with resources and fiscal um development, I just wanted to mention two things that I'll hope I'd be able to give a little bit more information about when we get to budget presentation. Um but there are two cost-saving um ventures that I'm currently exploring. One of them is um the purchase of a van for the WTA. Um, I believe we if the costbenefit analysis comes through the way I'm hoping that it does, I think not only will it be a way for us to save on some transportation costs, I think it's also a way to make that program even more robust so that they have a lot of flexibility when they want to go out into the community or field trips. Um, sometimes we're limited by the budget restraints of transportation. So, this will really
015widen that. Um, I'm also hoping that that van could be used for some of our smaller athletic teams, like say the golf team. So that van could also be purposed after school. Um so we're in the process of doing a costbenefit analysis for that as a cost-saving measure. Um the second thing I wanted to report is that we're going out to RFP for solar just to collect more information. But one of the things that we're really looking at are carport canopy um and perhaps even canopies for over the bleachers on the field so that it would also provide shade but then also reap the benefit of some cost savings through solar. So, we're going to go out to RFP and see what we get back. Certainly, there will be no decision made until we bring
016that information back to the the board for further input. Um, but we're at least getting the ball rolling. There are some savings that we can have through Eversource. Um, if we have a relatively quick turnaround, I think, Miss Kosuba, it's March, correct? Like, we have to have >> I think it's April, but we're shooting for March because we don't want it. I think it's due early April. >> Um, so we're at the very least getting the ball rolling. Um, and I think it would serve dual purposes, as you could see from the snow that we just had. It would be nice to have some cover from the snow in our parking lots, um, while getting the benefit of the solar. Um, so just a little, um, update on some cost-saving measures. Um, next, I'd like
017to just mention, um, the angel fund. Again, just another um, piece to share. So, for those of you who are not, because this came up recently, have had some questions. For those of you who are not familiar with the Angel Fund, this was a fund that was established in 2023 to help families that have negative lunch balances. Um, last year the district actually budgeted $40,000 to support families who didn't qualify for free and reduced lunch. So, the bar for acquire qualifying for free and reduced lunch. Um, free meals is uh for a family of four is an income of $41,000 a year. And reduced meals is an income for a family of four of $59,000. Um, when you think about it, there are many, many families that don't meet that benchmark, but are still food
018insecure. So, we were very fortunate to be able to include um some funds to support those families that applied for free and reduced lunch but didn't meet that that amount. Um unfortunately, all but a small amount was cut from the budget this year. Um but we do have what's called an angel fund and it operates in two ways just for the public's awareness and the board's awareness. So, families can donate unused lunch account balances at the end of the year or when you leave our district. So, you could either get reimbursed or you can say, "I'm happy to to donate whatever's left in that account and move it into the angel fund to use for families that struggle." Um, the other way that the angel fund um can reap some revenue is through local families,
019businesses, and charitable organizations that can make direct donations and any of those direct donations go right back to those negative lunch balances. Um, I'd like to just give a shout out to Cassagril because they recent recently reached out to us and said, "We'd like to donate to your angel fund." So, I put them together with Emily um and and it's very kind and thoughtful of them um and they will work with Emily to see if they can donate and and that would be very helpful to some of our families that are struggling. So, anybody that's interested in donating to the angel fund would just need to contact food services and they will give more information. Um in keeping with the theme of generosity um Oh, sure. Service. >> Sorry, I should one quick question. Is
020there any like advertisement or anything for the fund there where we could get it out to the community? There's very easy to share these things on the Facebook page or >> Yep. So, I believe Emily has something out on the website if I'm not from food services does have some something out on on the website um about that, but I can certainly provide a link and and if that could get pushed out, that would be great. Wonderful. Um we had many many families last year that took advantage of that those funds that we were able to provide for um for the food service. >> Thank you. >> Um keeping with generosity the theme of Thank you, Mrs. Faressa. I >> Oh my god. It was mentioned. I'm sorry. >> What? [laughter] Why do Mr. Fessa
021have a question? >> No, no, no, no, no. I'm sorry. I just I missed I missed >> Oh, that's okay. I wanted to thank Mrs. Fessa for connecting Judson with the autism awareness program. Um, and in general, I just wanted to make mention, you'll see later in the agenda tonight that we have had several very, very generous donations. We're very fortunate to live in a community where people really give. Um, so you will see later in the donate on in the agenda. Um, the Swift uh, PTSO donated a PA system, Scholastic Books, and fitness equipment. If you get a chance or when we do some walkthroughs of the buildings, please go see the fitness center at Swift. It is unbelievable. Um, and we were able to achieve something so wonderful through donations from our community.
022Um, we also have a gentleman named Mr. Gerald Raker. I don't know if I'm saying that name correctly, but he donated $25,000 worth of woodworking tools that were in pristine shape. When I tell you that the CTE department, I think, is still jumping up and down. Um, they are, but what an amazing, you know, he could have sold them, put them on marketplace, but he donated them to our CTE department. Um, and the Water Oak Circle of Sports donated a softball fence. Um, which again is amazing. And I do have a little personal connection because I have a daughter that played softball and there were many occasion where she was chasing a softball out into the parking lot because there was no fence on the edge of the softball field. So again, Circle of Sports
023is always such a great supporter um of us. So I just thought I would mention um that it's so appreciative what our community does for us. Um, and then in keeping with that, I I would be remiss if I did not acknowledge our custodian maintenance, the highway department, and parks and wreck for the snow removal. My husband, I don't know if for people that don't know, works for parks and wreck and snow removal. He was literally gone for 48 hours. They don't sleep. Um, and and I drove through the schools this morning because I of course always panic with the snow calls. They're very difficult to make and I always want to make sure that that students are safe. So, I drove through the parking lots with the amount of snow we had, how clear
024our lots were, and the amount of salt and the job that they did was unbelievable. And um you know, I the highway department 4:00 in the morning were on we're were on text. I mean, they're they're really amazing and they work very hard. Um so, I would be remiss if I didn't thank them. Um we were able to come to school today, although I'm sure some people would have liked another snow day, but we were able to come to school today because of the amazing work that they did to clear that amount of snow. So, I just wanted to give a shout out to them. Um, and that's it for me, unless anybody had any additional questions. >> Anybody have any questions for Miss Becky? [clears throat] >> No, I just like to add that
025the uh the students come spring, well, I guess early summer will be thanking us that they don't have an additional day of school. >> Yes, we do only have two days until we start the what the calendar says is that it will then apply towards April vacation. So, if we do have additional snow days, that'll be a conversation as a board that we'll probably have to have of how we want to tackle that. So, and it looks like potentially some snow Sunday, although Mrs. Davidson thinks it's going out to sea. She's already shared. [laughter] Um, so hopefully not. I think we're all done with snow, but [clears throat] we'll see. >> All right, moving on to item G, public participation. In accordance with policy number 9050, participants must state their name and address for the
026record and limit comments to three minutes. The board encourages speakers to refrain from making defamatory remarks about staff members or individuals associated with the 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. Seeing none, moving on to item H, communication secretary. >> No communications. >> Sweet. Moving on to item I, committee reports, curriculum and instruction. Miss Oski, >> no report at this time. >> Policy and labor. Mr. Malagoodi. >> Yes, Mr. Chair. We had a policy and labor subcommittee meeting uh just prior to our regularly scheduled meeting this evening. uh we started going over after the uh audit that Miss Cody performed for us and we are very thankful
027for all the policies that need to be updated and we are focusing on the federal for now and we're also going to get some uh movement ahead on getting some of these new policies enacted there which just had minor clarification changes to them. Focusing on the ones that uh are a little more in depth and also getting something with facilities and maintenance scheduled in the not too distant future. Just want to thank all the board members that were there in attendance. I know it was a lot, but we got this collectively and we'll get it done. Thank you. [clears throat] >> Budget and finance, Mr. Gavales. >> No report, Mr. Chairman. >> Facilities, Miss Davidson. >> No report tonight, Mr. Chair. >> Governance, Miss Lton. >> Yep. We had a subcommittee meeting tonight to brainstorm
028and jumpst start some work with the community to really um use this subcommittee to build trust, communication, and collaboration not just with those involved in the schools directly, but larger community stakeholders and community groups that are doing a lot of great work. >> Awesome. Thank you. Item J, report from the board chair. Um, I don't really have anything too pertinent, but I would just like to wish good luck to all of our students at Watertown High School taking their midterms and hoping that they do well. [clears throat] Moving on to item K, quarter two, monthly finance report. Miss Kashuba. >> Hi everyone. Okay, so if you flip over to the monthly financial report tab, you'll see the uh typical format that I provide you every month with the financial report. Um, this is act obviously
029as of uh December 31st, which also serves as the quarter 2 report. And every time I report on a quarter, I'm always amazed that we've already hit a quarter. Like we're halfway through the year. I don't know. Time's flying. Um, so there's not a substantial change in um any of the areas that we have been monitoring closely. Um, obviously you do see that we're now down. We still have 2.9 um 2.9 million um I'm going to say unaccounted for. That's truly not account unaccounted. um that number is decreasing obviously as our employee benefits start to hit and and reframe. But I'm going to go ahead and read through um my notes uh and then I'll open it up to any questions that you may have. So again, um for overall the the district's financial position
030remains stable with several known pre uh pressure areas continue continuing to be closely monitored. Um a review of the categories is as follows. So the first category we break this uh report down into is salaries and benefits. Um, as was reported in prior months, certified staff um remained slightly over budget. Uh, 1.21% which is actually not bad, but of course it is $300,000. We continue to monitor that closely and we keep applying um grant monies as they become available because against it's it's a reimburseable type um situation. Uh and then let's see, non-certified um salaries or other salaries are trending close to budget with only a modest variance. Um employee benefits again they continue to show a large positive variance. This is expected because uh benefit costs are not pre-incumbered [snorts] um and post as
031payroll is processed. Um there are some incumbrances on that line that would be for um salaried employees because obviously we know that's a fixed amount what they're salaried and then Medicare and social security would obviously be you know we know what those amounts are going to be but it's the hourly employees or any extra duty work and overtime that hits as we go in addition to the insurance contributions um we do not get applied until the actual payroll hits. So that's why you see those funds being shifted from the balance where it's showing 4.4 over to encumbered and or expensed. Um overall salaries and benefits remain predictable and aligned with our budget expectations at the halfway point of the year. Next category purchase services. Um so professional technical services are tracking appropriately with most annual
032contracts already encumbered and steadily drawing down. Legal counsel um on the other hand continues to exceed budget reflecting um carryovers of finalizing uh the numerous uh labor negotiation um that we had uh ending in fiscal year 25. Some personnel matters and then of course uh typical contract related work. And on occasion if we have a situation that arises that we don't feel very or new contracts, we always run them by legal just to make sure especially if we're entering into a new contract with a new um vendor of any sort, we we want legal eyes on there because there's just language that we need to leave it to the professionals to see. Um we're still closely monitoring this and again um I always budget conservatively hoping that there always going to be something at the
033end that we'll find. Now that we're at the halfway mark, usually in January and February, well it is almost January is almost over, but the snow hasn't helped. um we'll start to look at the POS individually and start to to you know close the loop on them to see if there's any um areas of uh where we can either sometimes we have to add but nine times out of 10 because I budget conservatively we might be able to recapture some of those funds. I'll continue to report on that. Um category number three facilities um utilities and repairs and maintenance remain close to budget expectations for this time of year and basically just reflect the seasonal operational demands. Um the one category in this area that uh is tending to trend high is te telephones and
034software. It's still showing a negative variance due to front-loaded annual licensing renewals and the transition um to the new uh district phone contract. Um our legacy Frontier accounts um Michael Mr. Dalton and I have been working very closely with Frontier. uh we have been in constant communication with them and we're just trying to make sure that we're not turning off lines that are needed in certain areas, but we can't close out the bills or um the incumbrances until I know that they're actually what the actual final figures are. I did draw them down a little bit because I don't anticipate this to go much further than maybe another month or two before we can close the loop on those amounts. So, we'll continue to track that as well. And then, um I'd like to mention
035that uh facilities projects, Mr. Ardi, of course, as I've reported before, continues to delay discretionary projects, although several prioritized projects are expected to begin moving forward as available balances become clearer. Um, we we meet regularly. We we know that there are projects that need to be done, and now that we're getting closer to knowing where he's coming in on budget, he's going to start moving forward with some of those projects that are very much needed. Um, so if hopefully we'll be able to maintain um that line and get some things done. Um, next category is contracted services. This category continues to represent the largest budget variances with the most volatility at midyear. Transportation [clears throat] remains over budget at this stage of the year. Um, refle and basically reflects conservative earlier encumbrances. This [clears throat]
036this line as well as tuition is one of the lines where we literally pulled poss. And now um I actually had them pulled today because I wanted to see if we were behind with invoices. um some of our out of district tuition uh vendors or schools that we deal with um aren't very good about getting us invoices regularly. Um I've made a push with Miss Alyssa um Olive and uh Rose Razani to kind of start poking them and saying look it we we can't wait four months for a bill. We need it now because it makes it very difficult for us to make sure that we're not over in underring. So um that is a high priority list for us in the next few weeks. So, I'm hoping I'll be able to uh report something
037hopefully on the positive side for us on that. Um, special education tuition continues to trend over budget as well due to confirmed out of district placements and programmatic service needs. Both of these lines when you're looking at these amounts which are trending close to well 860,000 for transportation and a million for tuition. Please remember that right off the bat at minimum we're going to be able to apply 1.2 million as soon as excess cost hits. we should receive 75% of that in February. Um and then the other 25% um shortly after in April, end of April. Um so as soon as we get that, I know I start to breathe um you know, a little easier because I just I want to know what that 75% mark is. They give us a target number, but
038I never believe it until I see it, if that makes any sense. And I do tend to budget that conservatively. Um every year I've budgeted, you know, 1.1 1.2. we tend to get a little bit more. But again, I always tend to I I try to have a little surprise at the end as opposed to finding out that it didn't come in where we needed, then we have to come up with more. So hopefully by the time I report at the end of next February, excess cost, the first payment will have hit and we'll have a little better idea of where we are with that. And then we should have some um information like I said after going through the POS for the first goound. Um okay, so okay, last category. Sorry, I lost my
039place. Supplies and equipment. Instructional supplies and equipment reflect normal mid-year purchasing patterns tied to classroom needs and technology refresh cycles. Custodial supplies remain slightly elevated due to replenishment needs. And I have to believe that after I get all of the salt bills for this month, it might even go up a little bit more to be expected because we can't control the weather. So again, we will monitor this line. Overall spending in this category remains controlled and aligned with our operational needs. In closing, as we close the second quarter of fifth fiscal year um 26, the district's overall financial position remains stable. I'm confident um that transportation, special education, tuition, legal services, technology costs continue to be our primary monitoring needs. Um with continued oversight in the upcoming excess cost reimbursements later this year, we expect
040several of these variances to normalize. Um nothing new really to report. It's the same categories that we're always kind of um you know worried about and uh we'll just continue to monitor them and I'll continue to report on them. If you guys have any questions or if you'd like me to provide any additional information at any point, please just let me know and I I'd be happy to do so going forward. >> Any questions >> through the chair? >> Yes, >> we talked about in the past um meetings the unfunded mandates that the state um gives to us and we talked about fiscal year that we're in now that will be ending in June and the new fiscal year coming up. Do we have any idea of what type of mandates we're going to have?
041>> No. I know that Miss Gay and I started to put a list together. Um I don't think we have any new uh unfunded mandates that I know of, but they're recurring. So there's always things that we need to come up with money for that, you know, that are required by the state, but that unfortunately most districts, I know our district, you know, we tend to cringe because they're big asks and um you know, we're not a district that has all this excess funding. I don't think a lot of schools have excess funding, but I think, you know, I I I I can't say that I I can say for certain that I don't know of any new um Lisa, I don't know if you know, you would. Yeah, because we we would have brought
042that to your attention if we did, but I do know that the last time this was brought up, we had started a list um to try to, you know, um like almost bullet them out for you guys and and attach some sort of figure to that. I'll follow up to see if Miss Gaelic and I can complete that. Honestly, for me, and I'm just being honest, I'm not um this is the most busy season because in addition to the annual town audit, which is still going on, um I have the EFS audit, which needs to be closed out by the 31st, and then where we have budget, and of course, Miss Becky and I have um we have a new process in place for budget, which I think is is going to be wonderful, and
043I can't wait for her to report on it. But anytime you make a change, it takes a little bit longer to get things done because you're trying to pull numbers from people who were used to doing it one way and we're doing it a different way. So, it's just a really crazy time. But we will get that information, not a problem. >> Thank you. >> Any other questions? Okay, moving on to item L, items for discussion. >> I think that's me as well. >> Yes, >> it's all you tonight, Miss. >> Thanks, Lisa. >> You're [snorts] welcome. So, uh, Miss Beckett and I just, uh, in in trying to just completely be transparent and obviously, um, we prefer to kind of put things out in the, you know, in the in the atmosphere sooner than
044later. [snorts] We're definitely in the throws of budget. And I'm constantly running into her and saying, "Oh my god, guess what? I just found out. Oh my god, just guess what I just found out." And she feels very strongly these are things we should be communicating regularly. And I agree with her. So, basically, as regards the fiscal year 27 um budget development process, uh we wanted to proactively bring a few key cost drivers to the board's attention. These three drivers are utilities, health insurance, and transportation. Um and the reason I'd like to bring them to your attention is because these areas are showing uh potential higher than normal increases um which could possibly have a notable impact on the overall budget. As regards utilities, um we wanted to bring to the board's attention that utilities,
045particularly the electric supply, um are projecting up to a 20% increase for fiscal year 27. So just last week, um uh Miss Becky and I met with uh Mr. Ramo and uh the town finance and a gentleman from um RDA who I I think I've mentioned before the electricity is the one area where we don't actually go out to bid for our supplier directly. The town has always done it. um you know combining us both and probably because there's a benefit to that I'm sure. So the the supplier rate which we have which is a very good rate at this point is coming up for renewal. Um I thought it was coming up for renewal in June. I was misinformed. It actually doesn't come up until December but either way I was hoping to get
046some numbers and I had started asking questions like when are we going to do this? When are we going to do this because I need to budget. So last week they brought in Mr. Dupant who in the past has done the uh bid process for the town with RDA and we did meet and he gave us some a whole pamphlet of information which I thought was wonderful because I'm always trying to learn more about it and basically had told us that um we're looking at anywhere from 15 to 20%. Um the the semi good news is that our rate that we current currently have will hold until December. So for 6 months I can possibly hold it. Although this is just the supply rate, not the actual cost of the electricity. This is just the
047supply portion of the bill. Um but then for the remaining six months, um we have agreed that we're going to go with the 20% budgeted figure for the um the final six months of next fiscal year 27. And then of course we can adjust that if needed once um you know we know what the final figure will be. But we are in the process of working with the town to get um a figure and a percentage. um with health insurance. Uh Miss Becky and I actually just had our meeting today. Um I have sat through uh the first um state um meeting regarding the insurance renewals and initially I think it was uh a month or two ago when we met they had said that to expect anywhere from 12 to 15% um increase. So
048I immediately had told Miss Becky I'm going with 15 and and then I had also said oh my gosh is this going to be one of those years where we have to move. I will say that while that figure is high and it seems high um most of the most of the districts I know Miss Becketty has spoken to some people and I of course have some contacts as well those who are self-insured are seeing double digits higher than that some in the 20%. So that doesn't necessarily mean um you know that it's not great news it's 15 you know 12 to 15 is a lot. today's meeting where we met with them, uh, we met with our brokers. They actually said it's looking to be at about 12.5, but we will not have our
049final number until, um, late March, um, early April. Um, I've said before and I'll say again, unless suddenly there, you know, when they come in with bids from other carriers for self-insured, again, unless it's much less than that or at least equal to or less, uh, at this stage of the game, I prefer the nonvolatility of staying fully insured. And I I'm saying that not that that would be a reason to stay. I'm just in preference of that because we have enough volatility and um you know we we already absorb so much risk factors um in our budget that so we're looking at probably 12.5%. >> And when they come with in in March to confirm the actual number they'll bring um competitive bids in in the market analysis. So at that point we can
050look and see >> and make an intelligent decision. But for right now I'm going to go ahead and budget with um 12. >> Oh I'm sorry. Do do we know why this is increasing as much as it is? Is this normal? >> Um I I think right now this year it is and I'm going to tell you a lot of it is pharmaceutical driven the GLP-1 drugs and um that comes up every time when we're discussing it. Uh I think unfortunately that um the medical field is one that I I mean if you've ever gotten sick and even with good insurance, you know what what the costs are. Um we have I believe um I think the town the numbers that I saw they had seven um large claim claimants and we have nine. Um
051that's actually better than what we had in prior years and I believe Lisa correct me if I'm wrong but they did show us what um what our claims were trending and we we are trending under 100% thank goodness. Um but of course that doesn't mean anything because we're in a fully insured plan now. But everyone who's in the state plan obviously is is you know um pulled together to arrive. So we we might be doing okay in claims others are not. But um >> what they did um explain today which I thought was super interesting and it was new learning for me. They talked about how um the percentage of of what we pay, what of that goes towards our claims and what of that goes towards profit. and we were at a really [snorts]
052solid number, meaning that it was worth it for us at this point to stick with the PO because it's an appropriate amount that we're putting towards our claims. So, in other words, if we were if we had claims and only 20% or say say it's a dollar, if 20 cents to the dollar is going towards our claims and 80% is going to somebody else for profit, that's a case where you' probably be better off. Selfinsured. Um, but our percentages to me looked very well in alignment. Like it's an appropriate amount that is going towards our claim. Like in other words, it's a good deal for us. Like if we were self-insured, we might be in worse trouble. Um, but as always, we will do our due diligence. They'll [clears throat] come back with the final
053number and then we'll see what they have to say with the market. Um, and go from there. Um, so >> yes, Miss >> just a question. I know in the past [clears throat] people have presented to us in terms of um you know numbers and projections and if they're coming to you with an analysis or other um options out there will they who will they present to I mean will that be a board presentation or >> so they don't really they weren't we certainly could and we're happy to bring back the information or or have them come if that's something that the board's interested in. It's [snorts] not really a presentation. They'll share with us at that point um just what our final percentage came in at and then they'll share the market value of
054of other um options and more than happy to bring that to the board or have them bring that to the board to share that information. It's good to just put out in in public anyways to show >> I I I think we're going to find that the state plan is the way to go just the way the other ones are are coming in. Again, uh, every year when we meet with the brokers, it's they go out to bit, so they bring us the self, they bring three different carriers. Um, this year it'll be three different carriers plus the state plan to compare to because in the past, we couldn't even get, you know, us to consider the state plan, but then the catastrophic year, we were able to do that. And again, they even last
055year they did that. So, the four years that I've sat through these, we've always had at least three different carriers that have come in um and in bid, if you will, for for our our health insurance business. Um and of course that also covers dental and um life insurance. All of all of that is is is presented by the broker. Yeah, they do a very good job and we certainly can you know if you wanted a presentation or if not we can certainly even provide the documentation that they give us. It's not anything that you know we wouldn't want to share. So that's not a problem. >> Thank you. >> And then transportation just throw it out there. [laughter] So for transportation, we know already obviously with our contract that the ind district contract increase
056with first student is 8% which is actually down the first two years were were higher because it was a 5-year contract. So I believe this current year that we're in it was 11% um increase. 8% is still a high number. That's just uh what the contract is for year three of our contract with um for student. Obviously what comes into the question is the transportation when we use uh for our out of district students and or our um med medical students who require specialty transportation um by ambulance companies or whatever the case may be. We have no control over the amounts obviously um that are um pro given to us by the the private um vendors that we use. We are still in the consortium with ed advance and I will say that I still
057think that that has worked to our benefit. Um, they have already given us the rates. I would love to sit here and say to you, oh, it's a 5% increase. The reason I can't say that I I could give you a percentage if I were to add up all the rates. Um, Mindy can speak on this because she used to handle transportation when she was employed with us is they give us a rate of what it would what's what it's going to cost for a van to go to take our um special ed student from their home to whatever school whether it be you know I don't know ACES anywhere any of the schools that they attend. Um the problem is is that the rate they give [snorts] me is if there was just one
058student on that van. The benefit of being in the consortium is because we're in with four other districts and there might be six now, but I know that there's at least five total of us. Um they will pick up our student in Watertown and then on the way they'll pick up a BETHL student or wherever these students are. So then we share the cost of van. The problem is is while I know what the cost of the van is and it has gone up a little since last year until we know the students and where they're going and and the routes are set up, I can't really say, "Oh, we're looking for a huge there's going to be an increase because the rates are going up." Is it, you know, astronomical? No. But it is
059it is an increase. I will also say that I've always been very impressed when I've met with um when I've sat through the the the regular meetings that we have with that advance there. They've actually just uh been awarded a huge grant. So, we're going to look at some electric vehicles. Um, and while that's not going to happen necessarily [clears throat] for this next year, those are things where they're very proactive and working towards and that we should start seeing some cost savings with that. Um, again, I think when we went into the consortium, it was one of um a better decisions that we made. I think the first year we saw right off the bat, I think $30 to $50,000 in what we estimated to be in savings. And I have to believe that
060we're doing the same um and possibly more. But um I just always like to present to you because obviously and and then as far as the medical student the medical transportation those rates are just I mean they are what they are. I mean you can imagine you know so um it's just another area where we'd like to bring to your attention that we don't have a lot of control over this area. We are anticipating that. Right. But if you connect the cost savings that we're looking into, the solar and then starting with one van um and seeing how that goes and doing the cost benefit analysis, like >> those are the we can't control what this comes in at, but we can look at other creative ways to try to combat the >> at least
061make some revenue to offset some of the uh >> the volatility on those on those areas. >> Um that's that's all I have on that. >> So a few questions. Um, did you say we were in year two of that contract for transportation or? >> Uh, we're actually going into year three. So, I think the first year I want to say it was like >> 13% and then this year was 11 and then the next this the next three years are 8% across the board. >> Okay. >> For first student >> and then for the potential um I think you're talking about electric vehicles. Um, does that account for the grants that come with it from Eversource or >> um No, those that's not contracts for us. I'm saying the at advance who we are
062in the consortium, they provide the transportation for our special ed students who are going out of district, they were awarded a very large um >> okay >> grant. And so what I'm saying is those of us who are in the consortium should start to see a benefit of that because uh there's a lot of incentives for it. And of course, you know, um but it's not something that's going to happen right away for for next year. Um but they've been talking about it very actively and did mention that the grant was awarded and that they were in the throws of starting to purchase the vehicle. So it'll be I'll be excited to see what comes of that >> because if they save money, we save money. So yeah, >> it's a good thing. >> Mr.
063Chair, >> I'm not sure how I want to ask this. So we're in year three of a five-year contract. So >> fiscal year 27 will be year three. >> Okay. Okay. Sorry. >> That's what I mean. We're going into we're budgeting for looking at that. >> If there are other creative ways that we're looking at things, how much leeway or leverage or flexibility do we have within that contract? And I know that doesn't account. I mean that's just our transportation. That's not special ed. But if we were, it's a it's a question that comes up budget time all the time about how outrageous it is, how empty the buses are, like you know, you know, everybody sitting here knows the the the story. >> I mean, can is there wiggle room within that contract if
064other >> options were? I think in particular when we have vehicles for special education that were not that are not a part of that contract that are like the private vehicles that are very costly. Those are also good places to start if we can start to infuse our own vehicles and drivers. Um again we're just in the preliminary stage where we're kind of looking looking into it. Um with respect to the buses I will say that I did look into again the idea of the waiver. Um and I've had some conversation with colleagues. I actually had some conversation in a class and sought some advice um from some professors and other people in my cohort. Um and the opinion was that you have to by law hold a seat for every child. If you do
065a waiver and you cut the buses and there's an emergency and you have to put kids on buses, now you don't have a seat for them. And so you run the risk like for the one time that that happens that you need to put everybody on a bus and now you no longer have a seat because you rol rolled the dice so to speak. So it's really difficult because it's it's statute and I wish that there was a way to get that information out to the public so that they understand that it's a family's choice about writership and and not about us being um not fiscally responsible with our money. We're following the the statute. Um, so I don't know if that answers your question, but >> well, I just know that previously one of
066the things that, you know, I I asked and again using a different district where they are able to creatively >> put and again that doesn't account for if there's an emergency >> and whatnot. Um, >> they're rolling the dice basically. >> Correct. a and all. Um, [clears throat] but I just didn't know like if if there was a creative way that now we run 30 bus routes and we somehow were able to run like >> is the contract with the bus company for a certain number of route like how does like what's the flexibility within that contract? >> So the well they charge us per bus per day. Um so and then we obviously try to maximize the number of students you know that we can correct and the roots >> um the roots are
067planned out by first student. We have discussed possibly considering seeing if we could bring somebody in to do our own route planning. >> I don't know I don't know that we would find anything you know with that but um >> the the issue is I think the last time I did a costbenefit analysis to add one bus would be $60,000 additional per year >> when you look at the daily rate of you know anywhere from $300 to $400. I don't know the rate off the top of my head. So, you know, if anything, we're always trying to make sure that we're >> the routes are effective and efficient and, you know, and obviously you can't have students on buses for longer than an hour. There's so many different things, you know, and which is why
068again and at the beginning of the year even when parents call up and they're like, well, the bus is going by, can't they just stop? No, one stop adds three minutes and we're already at a 50-minute mark, you know, you can't we can't do doortodoor service. All these things come up every year with with the bus situation. So there's flexibility in the sense that obviously they charge [cough and clears throat] us by day per bus, but you need so many buses and I think we we did cut one bus. >> Correct. And I will say that Michelle Panella from First Student is a very good partner. Um and we have a nice relationship and I do very much feel like when we've had conversation about like, oh Michelle, we really can't add another van. We
069can't afford that. Like could we look at the roots? She always does. So, um it's it's just, you know, worth mentioning that she she's been a very good partner in that way. Um and and when we eventually go out to bid again, I mean, the last time I know that that was another misunderstanding in the public that we just went with one company. We you go out to RFP, you can't control if other people don't bid. We had one bid. So, then that's who you go with. I I think we're at a bit of a disadvantage here in town because there's these other bus companies while they would probably want to bid, we don't own the property, >> right? >> Where are they going to, you know, we can't even, you know, we actually as
070part of our fueling, just to give you an example, because the first student lot where they I believe they own the lot and they're situated, um because it's considered wetlands, we can't even have a tank there to fuel the buses. So part of the contract that we have is um you know we do pay for the fuels for the buses. First student actually absorbs the cost of what we call wet fueling which means they need to bring a tanker in and fill the buses. >> They do it three times a week. Um you know so our setup here in town isn't >> the best either for us to be able to draw other companies to >> you know possibly bid on um I'm learning this as I go [clears throat] because this comes up every
071year. So we our hands are a little tied with that. I mean we would love we would love for bids are always the way to go. I mean we would love in everything we do we try to put it up to because it's to our benefit. >> I mean certainly not because we don't have for a student but you know it's nice to have competitive pricing. >> The competitive pricing that's exactly it. So >> thank you. >> You're welcome through the chair. >> Any questions? >> Yeah transport two transportation questions quickly. We a while ago this had said come up. Do you know um transportation that we're providing for holy disciples? Are those separate buses or they incorporated on our they're part of our tiers, right? >> They're they're part of our So what'll happen
072is most of our buses go out three times or four times, right? Like they'll they'll pick up and do John well whatever the order is the high school and then the middle school and then the primary schools and [snorts] then there's usually buses that will also so it's one day charge but the buses will run multiple routes. Um but there is in fact I think there's multiple buses for um the prochios and then but that we also have to provide for um nanowag uh we have you know choice magnet schools that we provide transportation to but they're all part of the total number of >> number I think there's one bus that goes to the if I'm not mistaken so don't quote me one bus and I think it's on the middle school tier if
073I'm not mistaken >> I was just curious if it needed to be separated or like I know when I took the bus here we made a stop at St. we were all on the same bus. It wasn't separate buses. We had a stop at St. John. >> We do track everything by by whether it's, you know, for us the parochial schools, the magnet schools or whatever. We do track the expenses that way just so we can always monitor it. Um but uh it technically is the same bus, but it runs multiple routes. >> Okay. >> Um >> yeah, I don't know if necessarily there are students from Holy Disciple riding with, you know, Swift Middle School that I don't know. It might be a bus just for their students. >> Okay. I was just curious
074that would be that savings. Yeah. Um my other the medical transportation is that something that is reimbursed through Medicaid commercial insurance are we getting? >> It is but of course it's not as fruitful as you think because obviously it needs to hit you know 4.5 times whatever the per pupil is. And so you know if we're spending you know $100,000 maybe we're getting you know 20,000 if not. >> Commercial payers do they reimburse if the child has commercial insurance? Um this may be a question too for you Kareem. Is there do we know is there any legislation that's ever come out or pending to cap what seems like maybe predatory medical transport for that is required for students that that it's just >> I think for all things sped people are pushing to get mandates
075because even for instance when um Miss Oliver and I uh met to discuss her first go round on the budget um the out of school district uh tuition for example um I had said to her look I I really can't help you with this and she is actually more knowledgeable than me and she said, "Well, there is I believe I don't know if it's a statute or some something that says they cannot increase it by more than 5%." Well, what do you think the percentage is that they increase every year? >> I've never had one not come in under 5%. You know what I mean? So, immediately that's what she did because we don't have the contracts in hand yet. >> Um, so that's what we use. So, it's we're again, we're not the only
076district that's facing this. It's an ongoing problem. Um, we were talking about non, you know, unfunded mandates, but to me that's a bigger ticket item all the time. like it's uh >> the rising cost of what these um you know out of district placement facilities and and you know I I don't know what it costs to run an out of district uh facility but I'm just saying that something's got to happen because the rates are just I don't know how how people can keep up with that. We're we're struggling just like everyone else. >> I just wanted to comment on that for one second. Um, when I was working and doing the transportation for the district, one of the biggest things that we had was finding vendors that did do medical transports. And we're finding
077that many of them are just backing out of it because of the insurance costs, >> the fact that they have to have um the certification to transport oxygen or whatever it is um that a student might need and because they have to keep up their ALS and CPR certifications and anyone that's in that band also has to do that. So so many of them have backed out of that and finding one is amazing. And the fact that a lot of them are on the shoreline and don't necessarily want to come up to us and transport from us back down to the shoreline or back over to another part of the state. It's I understand why the rates are high because there's just they have a niche in [clears throat and snorts] the market. >> So
078it's it's just hard. There's so there's not a lot of vendors out there to choose from anymore. >> I haven't personally heard anything, Liz. Um, but that is something that we can definitely discuss with our state rep and state senator to see if they can get us more information on that or kind of what the legislative cycle is looking like. I know because it's short session this year that >> we really only have committee bills coming out now. So, there's not really too much control or really a lot of work that happens this year. Um but again if they hear anything or if there's anything they can bring uh from us to the committees uh in relation to education or special education uh we can definitely have that conversation >> through the chair. >> Yes.
079>> There is some special education um legislation that did pass in the last session. So they are looking at um controlling and there is a time frame for it but looking at um a sliding scale for rates um for transportation and out of district school. So they are looking at all those things that have gone through session. So, >> um, I don't have the details on it, but I can get you the the bill. >> Okay, please. Thank you. >> Y, >> any other questions? >> All right, moving on to L2, tuition, right? >> Okay. And so, um, typically, uh, we we go through this process every year where we have to set the tuition rates for what we would want to charge if we had, um, out of district students attending our school or
080in situations where if someone is found to be in our schools and we prove out that they're not a resident, we do have the right to go back and possibly try to recoup some of the tuition costs. Um we used to do this in February but then uh in the past year we were encouraged by the sped team who oversees preschool especially [clears throat] to move the rate development earlier because in February believe it or not we already start putting out our information so that families can start planning their um you know where they're going to send their children. And uh and again I'd like to remind everyone that last year was the first year that we this year was the first year that we offered the full day um 4-day uh preschool if you
081will. So again, we have to provide um preschool services because we have children who need to start school early and they're usually referred to us by birth to three and um what's the other one? I [snorts] birth to three and >> child find. Yes, thank you. So um this is something that we need to provide and basically we need to have peers in there to to go alongside the children who need the services and it is those uh general education students that will pay um to attend our preschool. Um, so the first thing that I do is always, uh, the way it was explained to me and the way I understand and the way I process this is to come up with the tuition rate of what it costs to send a student here to,
082um, Watertown Public Schools, not preschool, but just Watertown Public Schools is you basically want what the cost is for general education only. So in essence, in short, I take the budgeted amount for the year for two uh for our entire budget and I pull out the total sped cost. By total, I mean it's not the sped budget, it's the sped budget plus any employees, their benefits and whatnot. So that runs at about 15 million. So if you pull 15 million from our full budget amount, um then you take that number and you divide it by the the number of students in district students only. And that gives us a general PPE of what it costs us per student. So last year um we had uh voted after I did that to well we had not
083voted we had elected to go with the 5% increase. And I'm happy to report that using the 5% increase that we did last year that put our um tuition rate and I'm going to refer to the high school one at 16,807. And the way our budget this year is trending out, it looks like the actual uh PPE is going to come in at $16,870. So, we're only off by about $60 um if you wanted to do that. So, the goal is always to try to, you know, figure out what we think that PPE number is going to be and then have it come in right around that figure. Um if you look, I did give you uh 5 years worth of information and we have been since 22 at about 4.75%. 23 24 we went
084up 3%. um 24 to 25 we went up uh 4% and then this current school year we decided to go up 5%. I am again going to recommend a 5% increase because even with just estimating a small percentage increase in our budget from this current year to next year um because we had the appropriation this year, it kind of drives um the PPE up. So um I'm estimating that our PPE next year is probably going to come in closer to $17,700. And you can see if I put at 5% we'd be coming in at about 17,647. If we were to find out that next year that the PPE number is a little bit lower than the following year we consider we can consider to drop it a little bit more. Um it's important for me
085to point out that this tuition rate needs to be set but we don't really use it too often. I don't know of of and many students if any that are paying tuition right now. I don't know of any out of district students that are attending here and paying tuition, but we still need to have it there and in place. And it's also important to have in place too if we run into a situation where there's um you know situations where we have students that were in our school system that shouldn't been here or if we had somebody that we wanted to build another district for, this is what we would do. Like if it was a a DCF place situation or what not, we could charge the tuition plus sped costs on top of that.
086And at this point, any residency cases that we have, we have not um reached back out to families and asked them to pay the back tuition, but that is something that is an option for us. So having the figure is important on multiple levels. Um so normally we would apply the percentage increase uh pretty much across the board and that would include preschool. Um, but for preschool, when I was talking to Miss Gaelic, um, and Miss Olive, again, this was the first year that we had, um, you know, the first, uh, four-year-old full day. Um, obviously, uh, this is one of those, I guess you could say, unfunded mandates, right? We have to provide preschool for these students. Um, I don't think people understand like because we charge these other general education students a fee
087to come here, we by no means cover the cost of what it costs to run a preschool. So, but it is an offset. Sometimes we were able to offset one a teacher and maybe an aids um you know salary amounts just you know as a revenue source. We were able to wipe that off the books with the revenue that we generated. Um but the preschool because we need to have these students here and we want to approach it. We kind of need to look at it as what are our neighbors doing because obviously they parents have a choice where they can send their child to preschool. So, uh, in discussions with Miss Fecky and, um, the rest of our cabinet team that was looking at this, we actually decided to keep it at 2.5% because
088we really only have one year's worth of in we don't even have a full year's worth of information to see. But we want to make sure that we remain competitive so that um, parents choose our our preschool if they're looking for a a great source to send their child um, for preschool, you know, as opposed to sending them to a private vendor. Um, and in looking at the rates, we don't know everyone's rates. We're assuming everyone is going to have an increase. There's very little things that haven't gone up in price, but we wanted to keep it at 2.5% and then reassess the situation after next year to see if we needed to increase that more going forward. So, my recommendation um for the fiscal year uh 27 um tuition rates would be to use
0895% for K through um 12 and then 2.5% for uh the preschool for the reasons that I mentioned um today. And uh I am happy to answer any questions and you guys could discuss and let me know what we're doing. >> Yes. Go ahead. >> Does this include uh the WTA? >> Uh the WTA is completely separate from this because the WTA when we have a student coming in from out of district, we actually price that based off of the students needs. So yes, we would start with the normal tuition and then add to that whatever their needs are in terms of oneto ones, what services they require. So, but yes, that would be the baseline that we would start with, but that's not the price that we charge that student. >> So, increase. >>
090Exactly. Yes. Okay. >> Interesting. >> Through the chair, um, is there I know we we've done residency checks and so on. Um, have we found anyone that's so is there a reason why we're not charging tuition to these families that have been egregiously >> living here? I do you remember the I have the list. >> We have found um several this year. Um it I think you have to look at it on a case by case basis. So sometimes it's a case of where the parents were living here and then they moved and they just you know and then they just haven't >> shifted their kids yet for whatever reason. So >> you know I think I know personally I I can only speak for myself. If I thought someone was really trying to be
091egregious and kind of pull the wool over rice I think we would probably have that discussion. Um there's also the situation where if you go to charge a parent, you don't know if you're actually going to be able to >> collect it. Uh you know, not that I'm saying that we shouldn't, but um I just think like again, and honestly, this year, last starting last year and this year was the year where we started to really kind of push and start to drill down to make sure that our residency process was um you know, really being looked at carefully and being held consistently from school to school. And um I'm happy that we have because we did feel like there was probably areas that we could have improved on and they it's proved proven. >>
092I think in my last board update I sent some numbers and I can send them out to the board again. And I do think that that's a piece of it like >> at this point I think if if we continue to find people and it's long amounts of time that it might be worth going down that path. Um but I think you have to weigh >> whether you know what you will spend to try to collect those funds will sure be worth it. Um, and again, we would love people to join us, but they do have to be a resident. >> Yes. >> No, absolutely. I'm just just point is perhaps if we did charge some people for doing that, maybe it would dissuade people from doing it in the first place. >> Well, and
093I think the most important thing is really just to kind of have a good process in place, right? Because one of the things I feel very strongly is is, you know, if people don't think you're you're doing the process, then it kind of opens up the door. And that was one of the things that, you know, I had discussed last year with Dr. Villaina and Lisa was just that, you know, there's nothing wrong with us going above and beyond to do our due diligence because I feel very strongly like we want students in our classroom. We want our students in our classroom obviously and you know um for obvious reasons, >> you know, every child is going to be educated based off of where they live. That's just the thing, right? Your child is going
094to be educated if if and and then the bigger scenario is if they're saying they're our resident and we're placing them out of district, right? Because that's a whole other ball game. Not so many situations like that, thank goodness, but it it could happen. So, I I do think it's important that we just communicate that we we are being rigorous. We need to be rigorous. We wouldn't be fiscally responsible if we weren't. So, I'm glad that we've started to just make this a little bit more of a priority. And I think at some point it's going to, you know, teeter out because I I don't think we have hundreds of students in here that don't know, you know, but like again, like you all said, I think if we put it out there and then
095people know that we can go after them for tuition, um it's good to know. We do put that on our forms on the Yeah, it's on the waiver. It's on the, you know, the affidavit that they find like where it clearly states, you know, if you're caught lying, we we could come after >> for tuition and whatnot. But, um, yeah, in cases where, um, a student is actually actually moves and records are moved and whatnot, we can charge the school districts. And so, we've done that. >> Yeah, we have done that. We have done that where if that's been the case, um, it's it's when we have, like I said, we have to look at each case individually because I don't think there's ill intent on a lot of them. >> Okay. Thank you. through
096the chair. Is it challenging just to get out a simple letter requesting it? I think, you know, I'm a landlord, so I I know that it's the expenses are incurred once you get into legal there, but you may get somebody out of the good faith that's like, "Hey, I'll write you a check to just pay for that, uh, versus having an attorney have to represent you and actually really try to pursue it in court." >> I suppose I think sometimes we also don't know. We find out that there's a residency issue, but we don't know when that started. >> Good point. >> Right. So, but yes, I mean certainly it's worth it's worth going down that path and looking into >> that part of the process. >> That's awesome. >> I just have a a
097curiosity or a logistical question. So, for a student who pays tuition, how is it broken down? Like, do they come up with that money at certain point? Like, is there billing? Like, what? >> We don't know because we've never >> No, but even preschool [laughter] kids. I'm just I don't >> Yeah, preschool's monthly. >> Pre preschool's monthly. Um you know, we we >> Thank you. >> We actually even um opened up uh you know the ability to pay by credit card. We try to make it as easy for parents >> as we can and uh we would do the same. If somebody owed us for tuition for whatever reason, we certainly would work with them. That's not a problem. >> Um you know, it takes time and it takes effort and you know, it's like
098>> filling a vendor, you know. So, but we'll we do what we need to do. But yeah, there's nothing actually etched in stone. Technically, if we it was something that we could build a district for, I usually send them the full bill. Let me know if you need to work something out, but obviously because we try to close the books uh in the fiscal year that the costs are incurred and they understand that we've been on the receiving end where we've gotten bills from schools when they you know, so I I we don't do anything different than any other district does. >> Thank you. Thank you. >> I have a question. What is the forecast if you were to know? I I'm not entirely sure how this, you know, process is compiled together, but what
099does the forecast look like for the years to come? Because I know we did 5% last year, you're recommending 5% this year. >> Is it looking like with years to come that's going to be in this four to 5% area or >> you know what I don't think there's any way that I could tell you that it makes any sense because again it has to do with our budget costs going up our you know everything is going up. I mean I don't know about anybody else but this is probably the most difficult two years. I mean, even in my own household, I can't believe how much like just food bills have gone up. So, really, I think it's just driven by >> the rate of inflation and, you know, the cost of everything going up.
100And, um, and again, that's why we try to just tie it into what a general education PPE would be. >> Um, and that's not even, you know, 100% accurate. It's the best way to do it, right? You take your total budget and you pull out all the sped expenses that you know of and then you divide it by the number of students. And that number can change daily based off of where we are in right like student the student numbers go up and down when students are coming not by a lot but still so um I I don't know I think I think I think on one of the reports I also looked at what the um because uh per pupil is also set by uh the Connecticut State Department of Education but that of
101course is our total amount that includes the sped costs and I know that the number just came out for uh fiscal year 25 and that's looking to trend at about 22 um76. So, if you think about it, it's probably an additional $5,000 per student when we throw in, you know, the special ed costs if you were to to break that over. So, um I think our number makes sense, but I don't think there's any way to really forecast that any better than, you know, there there was a big jump in the state PPE, and again, that was because of the $2 million appropriation we got, right? It drives up our total budget number. when you split that by, you know, which is why an MBR is always of concern to all parties because we know
102that that drives up the PPP. >> Any other questions? >> Um, through the chair, I'd like to know how do we know our enrollment? We come September, we know how many students are enrolled that would affect our buses if you think about, you know, what we need. >> So, two things. One, we um can project based upon everybody rolling up. The moving target number is always kindergarten. Okay. >> Um and a little bit eighth to 9th, but for the most part we're able to predict that. So like everybody rolls up, >> but then kindergarten is always the moving target and we try to like >> kindergarten registration is complete. >> We have a general sense, but people register right up through August >> day one. Um but we do have a a company that does
103long r that has done long range projection for us and our enrollment um is projected to be very steady to what it is now and it has been [snorts] steady. >> It has. Um, >> so it it's like this. I mean, there are some districts that have big drops or big >> we have some bubble years, but for the most part, our enrollment is very very stable. I forget how I have it. I actually have it on my desk. Um, I forget how many years it's projected out, but [snorts] >> it's 10 years on. >> Okay. All right. >> It's a 10-year pro and it's NASDAQ that does >> NESD. Yep. [snorts] >> Presentations for projections. >> Okay. It's really on the website. >> Oh, I think the next one that we board had members
104of Little. So, yeah, one more question just to make it clear when we find that there's a student that's >> attending Watertown Schools that does not live in in town. >> It's going back to Bill, I I can understand that that's a hard situation, but how do we address that at that point? Do we >> Yep. We have board policy and a process that we follow. Um, and [clears throat] it entails, you know, we let them I should just let Kathy answer because she does [laughter] I mean I mean besides proof that maybe there's proof that they are living here obviously. >> So that's the first step they we have to see if they can provide it's very specific documents. It's all in the policy that they have to >> if they don't then they're
105not to attend any longer. >> They have a certain amount of time we issue something in writing to them. Okay, >> families have a certain amount of time to disenroll or to request a hearing and then if they request a hearing, we we would have uh if it got that far, we would have a hearing officer and we have had hearings this year and every hearing has ruled in our favor so far. >> Okay. All right. >> Thank you. >> All right. So, are [clears throat] there any other questions before we move on? Okay. >> So, I think we we'll put that on an action item for next board meeting just so that the board has a little time to look at those tuition rates in case you have any questions and we can make
106that an action item >> um next week >> or next board meeting rather. Yep. >> And then there's only one more quick one there. >> Yes. >> I like what you recommended for the rate there. I just want to get that out there with the 5% and I think that you we did a good job of forecasting that last year. So my my personal opinion I like the five five and the 2.5 that >> I did give you what the other percentages would and that could be anything. I gave you like two three four and five but it could be you know 1.5. It could be whatever you know you guys go. I just I went with the five because it rolled up right around where I'm estimating that our PPP would be after with
107budget. No problem. >> Thank you. Moving on to L3 uh board of education building visits. >> Yep. So I um we just wanted to kind of put it out there that we're um hoping to do those walkthroughs and we could even start with the board if people are interested and I believe that Kareem and Jason said that at some point they they would um we thought that maybe the liaison for each building could work with the principal to determine a date and then if board members are able to come we can just do some simple building walkthroughs and building visits. >> Can we can we invite town council to those with us jointly? Okay. >> Yep. And I will reach out to the admins, although they're all probably watching. Um, just to let them let
108them know that at you'll be reaching out at some point at a PTO meeting, like you'll grab them and say, "Hey, let's like get a date on the books." And then we can put them out. >> Yeah. I know we discussed it at the uh the beginning of um well I [snorts] should say near the end of November and it's been you know quite a busy season with the holidays and all the prep work but >> you know I really think it's imperative that you know the board itself and including town council members if they're available to be able to go in and see you know the work that happens in our schools see what our kids are learning see you know every the magic that essentially happens in in in our schools and to
109see you know maybe some of the things that you know are maybe a little bit difficult for our educators and our staff and some of the things that are going really [snorts] well and you know to have a better understanding when we sit here and make you know decisions moving forward as as a board as a collective. Um and you know same thing from the town council's point of view >> there days of loveliness when you do get into I wish I got in more often >> through the chair. >> Yes. >> I have another logistical question. Is there I mean are you looking at a projected number of people to be at each walkth through or like how? >> So we discussed it. We felt that the best way to do is to leave
110it open just in case you know people want to go to all of them or you know be a select few depending on what their schedule is. So that that was the decision. >> Thank you. >> No problem. Any other questions? >> Okay. Moving on to M action items. Consideration to approve donations. Swift Middle School PTSO purchased and donated a PA system in books from Scholastic for Swiff Middle School with a value of $3,500. Do I have a motion to accept the donation? >> Yes, Mr. Chairman. I make a motion to accept the donation of a PA system and books from Scholastic Fort Swift Middle School from the Swift Middle School PTSO with a value of $3,500 and that a letter of appreciation be sent to the donor. >> Do I have a second? >>
111I second. >> All those in favor? I >> I >> opposed. Abstension. Motion carries. >> Swift Middle School PTSO purchased and donated a rowing machine, kettle bells, dumbbells, a speaker, and bosall. I believe that's how you say it for Swift Middle School with a value of $1,628.33. Do I have a motion to accept the donation? >> Yes, Mr. Chairman. I make a motion to accept the donation of a rowing machine, kettle bells, dumbbells, a speaker, and a Bosu ball for Swift Middle School with a value of [snorts] $1,628.33 donated by the Swift Middle School PTSO and that a letter of appreciation be sent to the donor. >> Do I have a second? >> I second. >> All those in favor? >> I wish carries. >> Okay, Mr. >> Gerald Reacher or Raker, I'm not sure.
112Mr. Gerald, Mr. Gerald Reker of Watertown has donated woodworking tools to Watertown High School with an estimated value of $25,000. Do I have a motion to accept the donation? >> Yes, Mr. Chairbid. I make a motion to accept the donation of woodworking tools donated to Watertown High School by Mr. Gerald Breaker with an estimated value of >> is it $25,000? Okay. >> Um, [snorts] sorry. And that a letter of appreciation be sent to the donor. Do I have a second? >> Second. >> All those in favor? >> I I opposed abstensions. Motion carries. [snorts] >> The Water [clears throat] Oak Circle of Sports has donated a softball fence to Watertown High School with an estimated value of $4,500. Do I have a motion to accept the donation? >> Yes, Mr. Chair. I make a motion
113to accept the donation of a softball fence to Watertown High School by the Water Oak Circle of Sports valued at $4,500 and that a letter of appreciation be sent to the donor. Do >> I have a second? >> I second the motion. All those in favor? I opposed. Abstensions. Motion carries. Moving on to item N, future agenda items in board member comments. I would be remiss since we had a parent meeting tonight. So, I'm just going to put it all out there. Sister Act is coming up the uh weekend of March 19th through the 21st. Um, tickets will go on sale in about two weeks. So, we all can attend. Of course, our students do a great work. >> Yes, Mr. President. >> Um, yes. I'd like to make a shout out if I could
114um to the Swift cheerleading team. Coach, um, Frankie Fitzgerald reached out to me to host an inclusive cheer clinic which we held this past Saturday at Swift Middle School. It was an incredible afternoon. Um, the girls that participated were all smiles and the joy that it brought to families to see their girls participate in the cheer clinic was just astonishing. the Swift cheerleading team was extraordinary. Um the excitement, the patience, the enthusiasm, all the things. I just want to say thank you to them all personally once again because it was an incredible experience and it really has been a wonderful show of inclusivity um at Swift. So, thank you. >> Lovely. >> You're awesome. >> Anybody else? I'm just going to second a shout out that um Lisa made earlier to have been able to
115open schools today. Mhm. >> Um, and I know, you know, there's a buzz on you either make some people happy and others not >> and all and I understand that it's the state that said we could do up to a three-hour >> um delay, but to look around at towns and cities by us that made the and I know you said in your reach out I'm [snorts] going to say three hours, but if something changes, >> y >> I know the number of systems that scrambled this morning. >> I know a system that the buses went out and said, "Hey," or went to clean them and said, "We're not running." And school was, you know, changed at 8 this morning. And so I know how uncomfortable you are with the whole snow thing, >> but
116and I know what our guys um you know did to to make that happen. But it was nice to have Watertown with a little woohoo. We did it. So thank [laughter] you for that. >> We did. Any other comments? Okay, moving on to item O, adjournment. Do I have a motion to adjourn the meeting at 8:21 p.m.? >> Yes, I motion to adjurnn at 8:21 p.m. >> Have a second. >> I second. >> All those in favor? I >> opposed. Obsession.