001and I would like to convene this regularly scheduled meeting of the board of education for Monday, August 25th. Please rise for the pledge. >> I pledge algiance 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. John Gavales, Kareem Bika >> here, >> Christine Faressa >> here, >> Amy Quinn >> here, >> Jason Malagoodi >> here, >> Christa Palumba >> here, >> Karen Hosking >> here, >> Cindy Balen here, Elizabeth Lawren >> here. Thank you. >> Board members, you should have received your packets containing the meeting minutes from the board of education meetings on July 7th and July 29th. Does anyone have any questions? Seeing none, do I have a motion to approve the minutes from the
002regularly scheduled board meetings from July 7th? >> Yes, Madam Chair, I move to approve the minutes of the regular board of education meeting on July 7th, 2025. >> Do I have a second? >> I second. >> Any discussion? All those in favor? >> I >> opposed. Abstensions. Motion passes. Did you get the obstension? Okay. Do I have a motion to approve the minutes of the special session board of education meeting on July 29th? >> Yes, Madam Chair. I move to approve the minutes of the special session board of education meeting from July 29th, 2025. >> Do I have a second? >> Yes, I second. >> Any discussion? >> All those in favor? >> I >> opposed. Extensions. >> Motion passes. Moving on to acting superintendent recommendation report. >> Okay. Good evening everybody. Um I'd like
003to take this opportunity to officially welcome everybody back for the 202526 school year. Um this is really an exciting moment when all of the summer preparations kind of come to fruition for us. Um and we get to kind of enact all of the things that we've been planning. So, I wanted to take just a moment to thank um some of our staff that really worked throughout the summer to get our schools ready for our students. So, first is Mr. Valardi and his team. The buildings really do look beautiful. Um they really did a bang-up job getting everything ready. Um really exciting is our food services department this summer. Um we had 16 employees that worked over eight weeks um to provide free meals to families and they delivered over 62,000 meals over that eight weeks
004of time. So, they did 31,000 breakfasts and 31,000 lunches, which is an amazing feat. They came in and worked in the summer and really helped our families that have food insecurity. Um, I'd also like to thank our secretaries. Uh, they worked tirelessly u moving students up, um, finalizing schedules and keeping our principles and our cabinet members organized and sometimes sane. Uh, so thank you to them. Um, and also to our administrative team. I can't tell you how many times I've I've said, you know, kind of unplug and take a little time for yourself to which they didn't unplug. They were often still online even when on vacation. So, um, just thank you to them. Um, and honestly, the same could be said for a lot of our teachers throughout the summer. They're supposed to be
005resting as well, and they're often gathering materials or getting things to decorate their classrooms or or doing prep over the summer. Um, so I'm we're very really fortunate to work in a town where people work so hard. It takes a village and we really have a strong and committed one here in Watertown. Um later on in my updates I have some other details that I could share about opening. Um but I just wanted to take a minute to kind of just thank people for all that they do. Thank you, Lisa. Moving on to public participation. In accordance with policy number 9050, public participants must state their name and address for the record and limit statements to three minutes. The board encourages speakers not to express defamatory comments about Watertown Board of Education personnel or any
006other persons associated with the Watertown Public School System. Would anyone like to come up to the podium? Cindy Murphy, 179 Gilbert Road, Watertown, Connecticut. On June 23rd, 2025, I addressed this board regarding my concerns about implementation of the whole school co-eing model for special education students at Swep Middle School. I had stated that in February, a group of special education teachers met during a PD day to design a co-eing model for our special education students. As I stated then, it would have been a pilot program for the incoming sixth grade students. I also stated that three of us presented the proposal to Shawn Blay, our special education administrator at the secondary level and then to John Anastasio, the assistant principal at Swift Middle School, also an administrative position. I have included copies of Shaun's verification
007of that meeting in an email. So, I did speak to administration and follow the appropriate protocols. What I didn't have the opportunity to elaborate upon was my attempt to share my ideas with Dr. Villain Noeva. Dr. Villanoeva's 2024 2025 mission was to speak to every staff member in the district for 10-minute sessions. On January 28th, I was given my opportunity. At that time, I told her that there were concerns about special education at Swift. She immediately said that special education was of utmost importance to her and asked me if I would be willing to sit with her, Jen Gaelic, and Lisa Fecky to have a more in-depth conversation. I agreed and received an email the next day asking my availability. That meeting never happened and I saw Dr. Villinoeva a variety of times after that
008in which she promised that Mina her secretary would contact me but that never happened either which comes to the reason that I am addressing you tonight. At the July 7th meeting of the board the board chair used her board time to speak as a citizen and I quote to clear up another miscommunication when Cindy came to the podium to address the schedule changes. She mentioned that some teachers got together and came up with a schedule. This was the very first time that administration had heard about the schedule. She implied that I had discussed the plan with no administration. I have provided you with the communications and the two attached documents. This was not a miscommunication. I followed protocol. I provided my immediate administrators with the information, got their okay, and made many attempts to share
009this with central office administration. I just want the minutes to reflect that I did not miscommunicate anything. The ball was dropped but not by me by me. On a more positive note, I would like to thank Christine Feressa for her continued support for our special education students. She has been an exceptional advocate fighting for what's best for all special education students. So, thank you for your extraordinary efforts. Miss Murphy, just so you are aware, we don't typically address from public participants, but I do want to address you. I never implied it was you that dropped the ball. I never implied it was you. I just said this was the first time central administration heard of it. That's all I said. Thank you. [Music] Dan Devito, Pineriidge Drive Extension. Uh good evening all. I wanted to
010speak on a couple topics tonight. I was appalled and disgusted when I saw chair Christopher Palama go on a 12-minute rant at the August 7th meeting, claiming that politics had no place in the board of ed while she politically stumped for herself. She started her tirade with, "I come before you not as the board chair, but as a citizen. If you were coming before the meeting as a citizen, then why didn't you speak during public participation like other citizens must?" And if a citizen tried to speak for 12 minutes about a political topic, would you have let them or would you have stopped it and said it was inappropriate for a meeting? The reality is you did what you would never allow any other citizen to do and that is inexcusable and should be punishable.
011But that will be up to the rest of the board. You made numerous unsubstantiated accusations and claims with no real supportive evidence. You have said numerous times you will bring all the evidence, but to date you have not brought anything I'm aware of. You claimed that Lisa Fecky was a succession plan for two years. Can you please point me in the direction of the meeting where that decision was made? As I have talked to several board members and no one knows what you're talking about. Another falsity you claimed was about your attendance at the RTC meetings. You stated every meeting every month, year after year, when in reality you made it to five out of approximately 32 meetings in two and a half years, none of which were during budget season. But I have to
012say you started showing up during voting season. You talked about the foyer request I submitted which was on April 29th. Yet not one single piece of information has been brought forward to date even after I have filed complaint with the state and they have been in contact with the board of ed. I again reached out to the state for their help on August 17th and still again no documents from the board of ed. The next big topic is the disaster the new schedule has started with. Swiss students have no schedules. Tours are being given to students who don't even know what classrooms or teachers they are going to. It's almost as if Mrs. Feressa warned us this was coming at a meeting where you shut her down for asking questions. And then she warned us
013again via email where you took the steps to censure her for speaking out about it. Rather than listening to the concerns and taking the time to understand the content of what she was putting forward, you used your time and energy to punish her for daring to speak out. Again, disgusting. If that wasn't enough, then came the petition signed by 38 teachers, of which three were teacher of the year award winners. But nope, the push was on to follow the direction of the superintendent who quit us, gave us our biggest budget increase, changed up the schedule, and walked out the door. There wasn't enough changes going on with everything else. This seemed like the opportune time to implement the massive change. I want to be clear, this isn't a failure of the teachers. I'm sure they
014are working diligently, but highlights the lack of leadership on this board to actually listen to the other board members and the teachers. Just a reminder, Mrs. Palumba, you are here for the students, not your power trip. Again, I will respond even though that's not what we normally do. Dan, you may want to stay till the end when I have my chair remarks because it does address your um foyer request. Okay? and I will address it all. And it's Miss Palumba, not Mrs. Thank you. Would anyone else like to come to the podium? Good evening. Katherine Camera, 31 Cottage Place in Oakville. Um, I just want you to know I have a foyer request myself right now and it's for uh text information um from people using their text phone up on the dis. I don't
015know if people are aware that anything that you do on the dis on any um uh device is foil. You you can get it through uh freedom of information. I've been through this before. I've been through it with planning and zoning. It's it's not very pretty. But um I would encourage you all to understand that you really shouldn't do it. You should leave your phones off the dis because it is available through freedom of information and once somebody asks for it, the person should not delete anything. Um and second, I want to say that I got a police report today from Night Out on Main Street. Uh there was an incident at the uh Republicans booth that um I had to actually clarify because the police report was a little bit odd. Said it was
016a Jasmine's, but it was a um booth of the Republican party. Uh by the time the officer got there, I guess heard about it, um it had dispersed, but I am aware of what happened. And it involved um someone on the board here and their spouse and there was a lot of profanity happening and there was a chair thrown at someone and that is assault. Now, I don't know if the person that this happened to is going to come forward or not. I know that there's video of this and I would think that you really need to investigate that because that behavior from someone on the board of ed is really inappropriate and it's kind of frightening to be honest with you and I'm certain I'm hoping that the um the um committee for I'm
017sorry the recreation department I'm going to go to them next to make sure that they look into this. Um anyway I I would hope you will too. Thank you. >> Thank you. Would anyone else like to come up and speak? Moving on to updates. So that's back to me. Um I have a few updates uh mostly about beginning of the year items. Um so faculty returned today kicking off three days of planned activities um learning activities for staff and time to set up their classrooms and time for staff meetings. And we had a number of of awesome trainings that have been planned for staff. Um co-eing sessions with that advanced curriculum planning sessions, trainings on reading instruction, um I ready classroom math safety training, um strategies for maximizing longer instructional blocks, and a preview of
018of a new math assessment for elementary. Um there was also some sessions on school avoidance to support our support staff. Um and then all staff have back to school slides and checklists of policies and required trainings to complete. Um every classroom teacher will have four hours of uninterrupted classroom setup time per their contract. Um and each building administrator will have an opportunity to lead their own professional development and or faculty meetings and they typically have lunchon for their staff. Um I'd like to just take a minute to thank Jen Gayick for her outstanding organization and planning. Um we make a really good team and things really went well I thought today. Um, as a reminder, convocation will be Wednesday at 1:00 in the high school auditorium, followed by an ice cream social in the Watertown
019High School cafeteria and courtyard. Students in preK through 9ine will start Thursday, and then students in 10 through 12. Um, and sorry, WTA also starts on Thursday. And then students in grades 10 through 12 will join on Friday. Thursday and Friday are both um early release days. schools are for kids and we're really excited to have them back into her our halls on Thursday. Um, another quick reminder, um, there were several communications that went out to staff and families, um, that there have been some slight tweaks to the school start and end times. This was mostly to solve some difficulties with bus routes and ensure that kids are being picked up and dropped off at appropriate times and that people aren't having to wait. That includes families and teachers. It's been a long-standing issue and
020we were happy to try to do some cleanup with that. Um, and then there was one clarification that I wanted to put out there and I did respond to parents, but there was some confusion about the elementary hours. Elementary hours have always been exactly the same. Um, so I think that perhaps it was the staggering of the adult times that gave people the impression that the elementary times were different. They're really not. Um, but one of the things that we did do this year was that we um we um played around with the teacher wraparound time at John Trumbull and increase the afternoon time. So that way if parents have to pick up at at either Poke or Judson and John Trumbull, it's a staggered time for teachers. So somebody will be on duty and
021there should be enough time for them to get from both locations. So I just wanted I did put that out in writing, but I just wanted to kind of um put that out as well. Um, buses, just a gentle reminder, um, that the first weeks are always challenging no matter what. Um, and it takes a while for the dust to settle. Um, but once the dust settles, we'll be able to kind of look and see how the school starting end times if they've helped to solve the problem. Um, but I just ask everybody for their patience, even myself, because I'm like, ah, let's can we be on time? But it takes a little while to settle in. And once we do, um, I'm sure that we will be moving along in a steady rhythm. Another
022just quick reminder um is about the chain of communication. Um we're really fully committed to open, timely, responsive communication and we value our partnership with with parents and the community. Um and please I have an open door policy. Anyone is always welcome to call or or come and see me. Um, but it's o also at the beginning of the year a really good time to remind people that if you want a really quick answer, sometimes it's best to start with the person that is mostly directed connected to your question, which is often the classroom teacher. Certainly, it can can go up the communication chain at any point. Um, sometimes teachers will send it up or sometimes parents will will go up the communication chain. Um, but I just encourage people always reach out to your
023teacher first because they're there to help and they often have the answers. I often somebody calls me I'll have to call the teacher and ask them because I'm not sure of the answer of the question. Um so that's just a gentle reminder. Um and then I save the best for last. I'm very excited to share an update on the Watertown Transition Academy. Um I have two core goals that were in my 30 60 90day entry plan. Um one of them is to ensure that all of our students have high quality programming right here in their own hometown so that they can remain a part of their community. That's something I'm very invested in. And then the second piece was about strengthening our district's fiscal responsibility and about identifying new sources of revenue. So this year
024in the spring, um I made the decision to expand the WTA. We actually uh rented a much larger space to accommodate growth. Um, and my vision is to not only expand the WTA to make sure that our kids can stay with us through quality programming, but also to entice people in other communities to send their students to us and pay tuition as a revenue source. Um, I'm super excited to say that we have our first student that is coming from another district and paying us tuition. Um, and we were able to retain some students that might have other been otherwise been outplaced. Um so super exciting and it has turned out to be a sum zero with the rent um just in in those small steps. Um and our plan is to go out and
025to recruit. We're very fortunate other towns don't have this. They don't have a transition program. It's a little gem that we have in Watertown. And um I'm really excited to go out there and recruit and see if some of the surrounding towns would like to send their students to us and pay tuition and we can provide that quality programming for them. Um, so that's just one of the pieces that I'm working on. Um, and I just wanted to share because I think it's a great investment for our community. So, >> yes, it is. >> Thank you everybody. >> Thank you. >> Moving on to the finance report, Miss Kashuba. >> Good evening, everyone. Um, if you could flip over to the monthly finance report tab. Um, tonight I will be presenting uh two reports. The
026first is the fourth quarter finance report or year ending fiscal year 25 followed by the first uh monthly finance report for fiscal year 26. Um I am reporting a little later than usual for the end of year but the summer just the the timing of the meetings I wasn't able to be at I think one of them where I would have presented that. So right after our meeting today if there's no issues I will be forwarding it to um town council like I do along with the July one. Um, okay. So, for fiscal year 25, which is the uh year-to- date 63025, which also serves as the quarter 4 finance report. Um, overall, we closed the year uh essentially on target with um a whopping $600 left unused. Um, still in the positive, folks. Let's
027think positive here. Uh, this was, of course, after a required $2.1 million appropriation to cover catastrophic health insurance claims as no reserve funds were available to offset these costs. Um, I'm not trying to say that we came in on budget, but when you're in a self-insured plan, that is one of the unforeseen and one uncontrollable um, you know, situations. So, in our defense, um, we have insurance there to help our employees when they're ill. This year, we had a catastrophic year with double-digit figures of people who had either autoimmune issues or or cancer or just some some big ticket items. So, um, we never want to have catastrophic losses. We don't want any of our employees sick, but that is what the insurance is there for. So, I'm happy to report that the total amount
028of the appropriation was solely to cover, um, the catastrophic losses um, in the claims for this for that particular year. Um, as regards the other categories, um, just speaking on a very high level, salary and benefits, I'm happy to report report that while we were over budget, um, we were just at about 1%. Obviously, our salaries and our benefits are the biggest chunk of our budget. Um, you know, what what we pay our employees and to cover them with benefits is is the biggest part of our our budget every year. Um, to come in at 1% whether it's over or under is in my opinion um very good. I I also would like to point out that fiscal year 25 was tough because we had four contracts that were under negotiation. And while we do
029our best to project during budget season when it actually comes to fruition, sometimes those numbers are inaccurate. And again, um I'm pleased that it was 1%. Of course, I would have preferred that it was on the positive than the negative. Um we will always obviously try to continue to improve our budgeting um as as we move along. Uh purchase services, uh we had a slight overage in legal counsel. Again, the majority of this was due to um four contracts and uh several of them went a little bit longer than than we probably anticipated it to go. Not a huge number, but still an overage in that area. For facilities, um utilities and repairs came in over budget due primarily to rising rates and costs, which again are beyond our control. Um but I'm happy to
030report that due to the freeze, um it was partially offset by um basically halting any construction projects which are desperately needed. But in an attempt to try to recoup some of the funds, Luigi was able to push out those construction projects. Um, that still need to be done and hopefully we'll will get done eventually. Um, next, our contract of services transportation costs exceeded projections. Uh, I'd like to point out that last year was the first year of the contract. Um, Dr. Villain Wave and I did in fact um, budget for double digits. I thought 11 to 12% was sufficient. I thought that was a really high number actually. Um, lo and behold, the first year contract came in at 16%. So, that is the primary reason why right out of the gate once we the
031contract was finalized and we knew what the amount was that we started in a freeze. Our district has was in a freeze immediately beginning July 1st, which is really difficult because it puts a strain on our educators and our administrators to be able to do what they had hoped to do for the year. Um, but it was part of our responsibility to be fiscally responsible. So, I just wanted to point out that um transportation is one of those volatile areas even though we have a contract. Sometimes out of district um transportation which we has no cap also tends to surprise us at times um especially if we have an influx of new students or coming in or even students that we have to outplace during the year. Um last category I'd like to discuss is
032supplies and equipment. Um instructional supply spending was below budget strictly due to the freeze. teachers were not able to spend what they had hoped to and what we had um okayed initially because of the freeze. Um while custodial supplies rose, we have to clean the buildings. The buildings have to be clean. They have to be sterile. Things need to be done. And of course, these costs continue to rise as well. Um bottom line, we ended the fiscal year 25 essentially at a break even, which reflects the district's consistent fiscal oversight and careful management of resources. Um I'm very proud. But I know that there was constant um literally weekly daily conversations about whether we would come in budget. Um I had always said that my goal was to come in at budget and we continued
033to watch everything on a daily, weekly, monthly basis and we'll continue to do so. Last year was was difficult more so because of the catastrophic losses, but I'm I'm happy to say that um we did what we needed to do and we came in at budget and that makes me very proud. Okay. So, for July um 26, I you know, it's showing a a 20 million $21 million in the plus. Let's be realistic. It's July. I would love to tell you that we're going to come in at 20 million. I'm sure the town would love that, too. Um obviously, it's very early in the fiscal year, so expenditures and balances don't reflect any meaningful trends at this point. Uh most salary lines are encumbered upfront to reflect our our contractual obligations to date. I know
034if you look at the certified line, you're seeing a negative balance of 476. Please know that that is because we have not yet attached anything to um grants. Grants are still coming in being finalized and then I have to meet with whoever's in charge of the special ed grants or whoever's in charge of the um state grants to make sure that we're putting the correct people on those lines. Once we do, we obviously will correct those lines retroactively and then that will you'll start to see that number come down. Um, it's also important, I think I've not I've mentioned this before, uh, most recently, I think last year was the first year we were able prior to that to download anticipated um, based off of, uh, what was encumbered. The, um, state EGMS now requires
035us to actually expend the funds before we can actually download them and reimburse ourselves. So, we're always about a month in a rares on um, wiping out salaries or any any other line items that are of attached to um, a grant. Um operating accounts such as utilities, transportation, tuition are just beginning to see activity. Um monthly monitoring is underway with close attention to areas of known volatility. Uh the good news is is we are not self-insured for insurance this year. Um so that gives me a little bit of relief because obviously while there will be some fluctuation in that, the fluctuation will only be if employees come in or off on or off the plan during the year. Um, I don't anticipate there being anything with the insurance side of it. Um, the areas of
036volatility of course will continue to be special education, tuition and services, transportation again, and utilities and energy costs. Um, early purchase orders for supplies and equipment are being processed to support schools for the start of the year. Our primary objective in the month of July is to get whatever supplies teachers need to get the classrooms up and running by the start of school. So, that's our first priority. And when I tell you all we are doing is inputting order after order after order because every teacher needs a certain set of supplies. So it's a lot of work on the secretar's part. Um we did initiate um I'm going to brag about this a little bit. I met with an Amazon rep um because I felt like central office was um inundated with one purchasing agent
037trying to get all these orders in. Um and we were able to establish uh we had a business account but we were established we were able to establish um a hierarchy if you will. So Jod is our central office purchasing agent but each head secretary at the school now can enter their own Amazon orders once they hit for it to be approved and is approved by their principal. It then goes to Jod at the next level and then she will review it as opposed to having to input every single item. It just expedites it a little bit more. But the best part of this is is for example if we were entering an order and there was a hundred items on it which is very easy to do on a supply for the art department
038let's say um sometimes by the time we were done entering that by the next day supply the supplies um were maybe not available uh inventory had changed or the price could even change because Amazon is changing prices consistently. The good news now is with this um platform the way it's established for schools and for us to use when a head secretary places the order, we have seven days where it locks down the inventory and it also locks down the price. So it gives Jody a time to vet it because we do vet some of the products if we think um we can find something cheaper. But if it's ready to go, Jod hits send and the orders are sent um almost immediately. We all know how Amazon works. So that's one of the orders at
039least that's one of the changes we did with Amazon. Obviously, there are other vendors that we use as well. >> So, Marie, I just wanted to mention to our running list um and that we will share that at an upcoming board meeting, but Marie and I have been going through the budget and identifying times and spaces in there where we can price shop or compare. And we're keeping a running list of all of the things that we've examined and done a deep dive on to see if there could be any savings. And we've had some success with savings. some we've done the research only to find that we did actually already have the best price but we're keeping a running record of those pieces and at some point at an upcoming board meeting we will
040share that out with you so that you could see very specifically the lines that we we looked at to see if we could reap any savings um and Amazon was one of them as well with bulk pricing >> yeah bulk pricing was in addition to the plan that I just told you where the head secretaries can now go in um if we can have an order hit $10,000 for something like toilet paper. I'm going to use as an example. We use a lot of toilet paper in schools. Um once it hits the $10,000 uh uh threshold, Amazon actually sends it out almost like an RFP to their vendors and then the vendors come back and bid and it's almost a guaranteed savings of 10 to 20%. Great >> on any given product. Now the problem
041right now is us trying to come up with a solution of does everyone have the same toilet dispensers in all of the schools. So, it's this year is going to be a year where we will see some savings, but we've got to tweak some things. We've got to just get things I'd like to meet with the group leaders. They know their what they what's needed in their schools better than anyone. So, again, like Lisa said, we're we're tracking everything and we're we're really I think taking it to the next level on some I don't want to say low ticket item things, but you know, my first year here, I was looking at big contracts because I wanted to make sure that we were, you know, the contracts were being honored. Now, we're able to do
042a little deeper dive. Um, and we're going to continue to do so because every penny we find is money that we have that we can use on other resources that hopefully, you know, can produce even more better results for our students and our our staff. >> We released this year 50% of school budgets. One of the things that was really difficult for our administrators last year is they almost lose a sense of efficacy, right? Because they have absolutely no money to spend. And if they want to buy one thing, they really have to obtain approval. So this year what we tried to do is is we released 50% and said don't count in case we need to go into a freeze. Don't count on the fact that you may get your additional 50. So really
043order all your true priorities first. So that way there's some locus of control and some ability to kind of bring back some of the things that you desperately need as as an administrator. And it does something better for the soul just to feel like you have some control there. The only other thing that I wanted to add because I've heard this comment a few times about supplies is that um I've heard people say why why do I see WMason BMason pulling up to the schools? They're super expensive. Well, actually WBMason um there's a contract through the state where things are drastically reduced and WBMason is the provider of that. We very rarely order privately from them. We order through the state contract. So um just as a a point of information um because that's something
044that I've heard kind of floating out there. Yeah, it's through CRE. So, they have the state contract through CRE, which is specialized pricing for all um school supplies. >> Yep. >> Okay. Um let's see, where was I? Okay. And we are also looking into bulk ordering, which I just mentioned. Okay. Uh lastly, I just wanted to point out that state grants including ECS and excess cost obviously find uh follow their standard dispersement schedule and they have not been applied yet. It's too early. This will also obviously affect our budget as we move forward. Federal grants like title and IDA um are also being aligned with program budgets. Again, that's one of the reasons why the salary line currently is over budget because we have not applied any of the um at least the salary lines
045yet. Um and then in in summation, I really have no concerns at this early stage, but it's really too soon for me to make any meaningful um comparisons. So, as we move forward and once I have an idea of how close we are with um finalizing the majority of our incumbrances, then I'll be able to give you guys um an indication if I have any concerns or I'm sure I'm going to have concerns. There's always concerns when we're on such a tight budget. We don't have a lot of room um for any volatility. So, it's always a concern, which is one of the reasons why Lisa and I discussed about changing the parameters of calling it a freeze and really giving the administrators um you know the I would never want to tell an administrator
046what they need in their building. Um that would be like asking them to tell me how to do my job as as a you know, a finance person. Um they're best at knowing what their teachers need first and prioritize. So, I really like that Lisa and I had implemented that and that was uh Lisa's uh suggestion and I I think it's going to work out well. It's been received well so far. Um last, our goal at this stage is just to establish the groundwork rather than draw conclusions from performance trends. The district is on track with contracts, incumbrances, and um early controls. As we move into the fall and winter months, our reports will provide a clearer picture of expenditure patterns and potential areas of concern. Thank you for your time, and I'm happy to
047address any questions if any of you have any at this time. >> I have one question through the chair. You know, I just mentioned this earlier, but just and this doesn't need to be answered now, but I'm just curious and I know some members of the public have asked just moving forward if we could discuss as a board potential on the utility line potential impact for different scenarios with the ongoing water and sewer and where we might need to look at adjusting because we have a lot of school year left. So, I know there's a lot of unknowns, but maybe we can just discuss the like potential um scenarios that might play out moving forward. and Miss Becky and I discussed that today and I think we both were going to reach out to the
048town to see if they could provide any guidance to us. >> That would be great. You know, that's a question. >> Yes. >> First off, thank you for all you're doing. I know it's been challenging. Um just so we can grasp a little better the um catastrophic claims in your previous years serving in this capacity. Was there any average or how many the year before versus the year before? know our >> in my four years here the uh we had an appropriation fiscal year 25 which was strictly for catastrophic claims in 23 we had an appropriation but it was strictly due to special education um I think if I and I don't want to misquote anybody but I know in speaking and Dr. Villaina had uh spoken on this. It we we went self-insured because
049at the time it was a cost saving and we may very well move back to an self-insured. You know, every year we go out to bid on insurance. Um the average is usually 7 to 8 years where you on a self-insured plan where you can usually reap rewards and then it's not unusual to have a catastrophic year. I think the problem is and this has been said before and I'll say it again is that there were no reserve funds. I think if we're going to go back into a self shelf insured plan, um if it's cost savings, you know, if it if it proves to be that that's the way to go, I'm all for that. I wouldn't be a good financial person if I didn't recommend that. Um but I think we need to
050make sure, especially as a board, that we press the issue that there needs to be an established reserve plan and there needs to be transparency with the health fund where we have access to the account as well so that we can um uh reconcile it. Um that wasn't being done. We had started to initiate that with the town, but of course it was during the year of the of the catastrophic losses. So at this point um we had to move. If had we not moved, my prediction was the board event alone would have incurred an additional million dollars in claims. Um by moving 3 months early, I believe that even though there was a an additional cost to um obviously starting a new plan in April instead of July, we still would have seen an
051additional million dollars just on the board of ed side alone. So I I know that we did the right thing. um one of the hardest things I've had to do. It just really kind of set me back on a lot of my other responsibilities. It's not easy to move an insurance plan for a town and for a a district, but I do believe we did the right thing. >> Thank you. >> U Marie, >> sure. >> I do want you guys to look also into the workman's comp. I know we have people on the books for like 25 years. Can you guys do a deep dive into workman's comp? >> Yeah, we I I will say that Dr. Dr. Villain Wea and I had already started doing that. Um Lisa uh on her first day,
052I think as superintendent, I pulled her into a meeting. I said, "You're going to want to sit in this because this one only happens, you know, once a year where we get the the whole reprieve." And she started taking notes and I was just like, "Lisa, you're not going to be able to keep up." You know, like cuz like you said, there was there was a lot. It's very eye opening. We have a lot of old claims that were never settled back in the day. Um I know that Dr. Villain Way and I had already settled some of them. Um, workman's comp is also another area where I believe we're we're self-insured. We do have an excess policy. Um, we did put it out to bid this year, but I think it was a little
053too late in the year um for us to really make a meaningful decision. So, we we have and the town was aware that we we were looking. Um, so we will continue to to follow through. Uh, we've started putting um Melinda, who is our benefits coordinator, is now printing up reports as you know, daily. If there's a change in a report, we want to know. And uh doc uh Lisa and I have already started discussing we might we are hoping to settle a few more this year. But of course to settle a claim requires additional funds that we can't really even budget for. You know what I mean? Because we we we usually just budget what we know is going to be the cost of of workman's comp with maybe a little cushion in there.
054Um it requires us to be very resourceful and to try to figure out where we're going to save in other areas to do that. But it it needs to be chipped away. I'm in complete agreement with that Christa. We will continue to do a detail. have had several meetings too with um with our workers comp provider and um we have updates, reports, etc. And then Marie and I also discussed um once this the dust of the opening settles that we really need a three to fiveyear plan to start to tackle some of the cases um and to really leverage our company to kind of press through with some things. So it's on the radar. >> Thank you. And Marie, one more. Do we have a um or Lisa, do we have um like a supply
055closet or anything? So before anyone goes to order staples, they can go look in the closet first. You know what I mean? In their schools. >> So in the perfect world, Marie would have a building where she could centralize all supplies and I would hand them out one at a time, but we don't have that. So each school is responsible for their own supplies. Um, one of the reasons we haven't been able to bulk order in the past is because if we put in a bulk order, they want to ship it all to one place. What's wonderful about Amazon's bulk ordering is I could place an order and ship it to 20 different places if I want. That was a game changer. So, whoever figured that out at Amazon, you know, kudos to them. They
056deserve a nice little bonus, I think. But, um, that's one of the reasons. But, you know, I know that we do that in our office. If they come in and say to me, "We need clips." I'm like, "I think I saw a box back there. Let's look." And um >> you're not getting any clips. >> No clips. No new clips. Okay. Yeah, we have lots of clips. No, but uh one year I I'm not going to lie, it was so bad at the end of the year where we had a freeze and they were looking uh one of the schools was looking for staples. The staples that go into the copers are not like you know staples that you buy. They're pretty intense and they're not cheap. Like I want to say they're like $250
057a box. I literally was calling around schools like does anybody have a box sitting there and we'll make good on it, you know, after the new that's that's really what it comes down to. All of the schools are responsible for their own supplies. Um, we try to we actually did do a bulk order on copy paper. Um, copy paper, I will say, is not the it's the one item that uh Amazon openly and honestly says, I don't know if we can help you with copy paper. That's the one thing we have not been able to corner the market on. But we still got a great price and we did do bulk ordering because I wanted the the schools to have at least enough to get through December as part of their uh 50% plan um
058to begin with. and we did get a good price. So, um, again, but they needed to be able to store those boxes as did we in central office. And we have very little space in central office. I think I almost gave Jod a heart attack when I told her I wanted to order 20 boxes and she's like, we don't have room for 20. So, >> you know, that's the situation. >> Thank you. >> You're welcome. >> Okay, moving on to items of discussion. So, uh, board members, in your packets, you have, um, the two school the two, um, sorry, the two school climate policies, a sky school climate policy and the restorative practices policy. And today will actually be the third view of those policies. Um, just to kind of jog everybody's u memory, we
059did do two reads of these policies. At this point, I have gone through and kind of taken out um you know, kind of the shipment pieces and and solidified them into clean copies for the board. Um but just as a reminder that uh this was these policies had to be um adopted as written by all public schools across the state and that was statute. Um the policies are highly specific and they directly shape district practices. Um, these two policies will replace the former bullying intervention and prevention policy, which is 5015, um, which will no longer be in effect. And as indicated in previous board meetings, it does not do anything to the student discipline policy 512 and 512R. Um the reason why I say that is because we have the climate policies and our student
060discipline policies and those two um work together very nicely with a comprehensive and balanced approach to addressing student behavioral needs. Um with respect to implementation, I just wanted to give uh the board a little bit of information um should this these policies be adopted tonight. Um over the summer I did create two handbooks. one that um because it is very specific in roles and responsibilities of what admins need to do, of what teachers need to do, etc. Um so I made a um handbook for teachers and administrators that has very clear directions um and processes in them. And then um as is stipulated in the policy, there's a parentf facing policy that really unpacks and tells families what the policy needs and what their roles and responsibilities are. Um should the board adopt these policies
061um tonight the parent one will go right onto the handbook as is part of the statute as well. Um the teacher and admin facing handbook we really unpacked together as an administrative team at ad administrative retreat. Admins were able to give feedback. We made some operational changes to that based upon building needs. Um so those materials are are ready to go. um they have not been released because clearly it's up to the board tonight whether you will pass the policies first before we put out anything about implementation. Um but we are ready to go um and I feel like the materials that we put together are clear and quality. Um and we have uh slides that we've begun to show staff as part of our three days back because that's also part of the statute
062that you have to train staff in in understanding the practices. I'm happy to answer any questions. Both policies are in your binder if you'd like to take a look. Um, so any questions about that? I'm happy to answer >> through the chair. >> Yes. >> Just for point of clarification, the state says that we have to have these in place. >> Correct. >> So truly, do we as a board have an option? I mean, if we were to say no, we don't want to pass them, what happens then? We're out of compliance. >> You're out of compliance. That is correct. >> Thank you. >> And I should clarify too about the bullying. The bullying is captured in the new school climate policy. It's not like there's no longer any um processes to address bullying. It's
063a subset of challenging behavior that is um in the new policy. So, it's still addressed. it just supplants that other policy. There wasn't a lot of wiggle room even in the operationalizing part when we did the handbook, but there were some things that we were able to discuss like what works best in your building or who will assume this role or kind of those things to be as efficient as possible. Um, but there weren't a lot of opportunities for our own authorship of anything related to the policies. >> Any questions? For what it's worth, I do think that the two policies will complement each other nicely. Um, I do think there's some good language in there and I think, you know, we will do our best with implementing them >> and thank you for creating
064the handbook. >> Great. >> Okay, moving on. Communications, Miss Rosa. >> The only communication that came in was a sales pitch on curriculum, which I will forward to Lisa. Okay. Committee reports, curriculum and instruction. Miss Haskin, >> no report at this time. >> Policy and labor. Mr. Melaguti. >> Thank you, Madam Chair. Yes, we had a uh third read of policy 5131, Connecticut school climate policy and policy 5144, restorative practices uh with possible action item to follow tonight to put them into official policy. These were mandated by the state. >> Thank you. Budget and finance, Mr. Gavales. And facilities, Mr. Gavales. No reports. and governance and community engagement. No report. Moving on to action items. Adoption of items would be approved by consent for consideration and acceptance of a gift. Do I have a motion
065to approve the backpacks from the culinarss? >> Yes, madam chair. I move to to approve the donation of backpacks to the Watertown Public Schools with an estimated value of $1,200 from the Colline Insurance Company. >> Do I have a second? >> I second the motion. >> Any discussion? All those in favor? >> I >> opposed abstension. Motion passes. >> By the way, they were so lovely. >> They're wonderful. >> The culinary are lovely people. They had all of the administrators up there. They made lemonade for us. They gave us the backpacks. We took pictures and they were such nice quality and there were so many of them to pass out to kids. It was really >> a very nice time. They're nice people. They're right. >> Um, do I have a motion to approve policy
066number 5131? >> Uh, yes, Madam Chair. I move to approve policy number 5131, Connecticut school climate policy. >> Do I have a second? >> Second. >> Any discussion? All those in favor? >> I. >> Opposed? Abstension? Motion passes. And do I have a motion to approve policy number 5144? >> Yes, madam chair. I move to approve policy number 5144, restorative practices. >> And do I have a second? >> I second. >> Any discussion? All those in favor? >> I >> opposed. Abstension. Motion passes. Moving on to future agenda items and board member comments. Go to any board members have any suggestions or comments? No. Seeing none, moving on to report from the board chair. Students, families, teachers, staff, and community members. I want to extend a warm and heartfelt welcome back to each and every
067one of you. As we begin a new school year, we are filled with excitement, hope, and pride in the incredible work happening across our schools. To our students, welcome back. Whether you're returning or joining us for the first time, this year holds so much potential for growth, learning, and new experiences. We believe in you and we are committed to supporting you every step of the way. Your curiosity, your creativity, and your courage inspire everything we do. To our teachers, staff, and administrators, thank you for the dedication, passion, and resilience you bring into our classrooms and schools every day. Your impact is immeasurable, and we are deeply grateful for your commitment to our students success and well-being. To our families and community partners, we recognize the vital role you play in our students lives and in
068the strength of our school communities. Thank you for your ongoing support, collaboration, and trust. This school year brings with it new opportunities and yes, some challenges, too. But we face them with a shared purpose to ensure that every student receives the highquality education they deserve in a safe, inclusive, and supportive environment. As a board, we remain committed to equity, excellence, and innovation. We look forward to continuing the important work of preparing our students not only for academic success, but for life beyond the classroom. Let's make this year one of growth, connection, and achievement for every learner in every school. Parents, we also have a few reminders. Plea, please use the website and board page for important updates. Please do not rely on word of mouth or opinion pages as your source of news for the
069board of education. Also, please have patience as all schools will be dealing with new bus routes, new schedules, and new teachers and administrators. Also something very important, we have a survey and a focus group that we would love your input on regarding the superintendent search. The information can be found on the uh board website. Um this next piece is directly addressing um the RTC chair. I did um have prepared remarks, but I'm going to go off the coff cuff in some of the things because of things that were brought up that I immediately need to address. One last cleanup item of business. We received another foyer request from the RTC chair. Unfortunately, the request does not rise to the level of a foyer request as it is an email just full of questions which I
070will gladly respond to in an email to Mr. Devito copying the RTC and the town council. As this will be a public document, it is subject to foyer requests. As a reminder, when I sit up here, I am on the record. So when I say Kender Murs and Eric Marowitz tried to bribe a board member with my position as chair. That is true. What is also true is that I spoke with chairwoman Rosa who confirmed what they did and then said she knew about it. She found out about it afterwards. When she confronted them, they told her it was just a joke. I can assure you this was no joke. They did not think they would get caught and expected everyone to keep quiet as I can only assume this has been the practice for
071years. I'm going to now address some of the things. Well, first of all, members of the RTC or town council have no business making such bribes or promises to any board members. Okay. So, couple things you said that you spoke to a few board members regarding the succession plan and you said that they weren't aware of it. That is a lie. Every board member except for Amy who just came on board knew the succession plan. I am not a liar and I am on the record. You also spoke about things that happened in an executive session that you said Miss Faressa told you. >> You did. You spoke of things that were told of in executive session. >> You did. >> That will be addressed. Let's see. Um when you said that I came to
072a handful of meetings, five meetings, that is true. However, I did speak with Janelle, your vice chair, and told her, as well as an email that was sent to you saying, "My life is changing. My kids are in cheer. They're on several cheer teams. I will not be able to make the meetings." However, I kept in touch with Janelle and informed her of any information, as well as having other board members who are Republicans go to the meetings and speak on behalf of the board of education. So this is why I've been saying for years politics does not belong on the board of education. We are a bipartisan entity. RTC and town council with all due respect keep in your water and sewer lane and keep your hands off our students. With that, welcome back
073everyone and let's make it a great year. It is now 7:53. Do I have a motion to adjourn? >> Uh, yes, Madam Chair. I move to adjourn this board of education meeting at 7:53 p.m. >> Do I have a second? >> I second. >> Any discussion? All those in favor? >> I. >> Opposed? Extend.