001I 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. >> Kate, can you please do roll call for us? >> Al. Kate. I'm here. Gladys. >> Here. >> Dr. Cronin. Lauren. Juanita. >> Here. >> Cindy. >> Here. >> Sherry. >> Here. >> Sean. >> Here. >> Minnie. >> Here. >> Louisa. >> Here. >> Madam Chair, we have a couple of uh motions for amendments to tonight's meeting. I will start with a motion to amend this meeting agenda to add an action item to vote to adopt the board's draft statement with re- with regard to the Danbury Charter Revision Proposal as an official statement of the board. >> Okay, motion uh for amendment made by
002Kate. Do I hear a second? >> Seconded by Sean. Any comments, questions on that motion? All in favor? >> I. >> Motion pass. Okay, motion passes. >> I'll make an additional motion to amend agenda item ac- sorry, agenda action item H to reflect a change in policy language that requires the board to consider the policy for first read instead of renewal. >> Motion made by Kate. Do I hear a second? >> Seconded by Minnie. Any comments, questions Seeing none, all in favor? >> I. >> Okay. Thank you. >> That's our second amendment. Now, we'll move on to recognitions. >> Well, good evening, everybody. I would like to welcome everybody to the last Board of Ed meeting for the school year. Um and in particular, I would like to welcome Western Connecticut Academy for International Studies.
003And I will welcome Janine. Please come to the podium. We have something to talk about here. And I would I would welcome all of you to stand behind Janine. >> [applause] [applause] >> So, as AIS walked in the door, it was clear that they called each other, coordinated, and some blue ribbon t-shirts were printed for this very occasion and hopefully for the rest of the year. Um I just want to thank the staff for coming today, especially the school has let out. I know that it's almost sacrosanct to return back after school is out. So, uh I I appreciate that that may have been a little painful for you. Um Janine and AIS staff, uh you have already received your blue ribbon ribbon recognition from the state of Connecticut, but today tonight is about just
004recognizing you in front of our school board and our cabinet and the community who attend tonight to make sure everybody knows how amazing uh of a performance that AIS has been putting in, not just this year, but for many years in a row. Um the school itself is probably one of the best examples of having high expectations for kids. The climate, the culture, the what you ask students to do every day, um is unbelievable. And you feel it, it's palpable in the hallways, your participation, the things that staff volunteer for to do after school that they don't have to do. You do them anyways. You incorporate multiple towns and make them feel connected to a bigger community. And um you're the reason for for success. Every single one of you standing here. Um Janine, you've
005been a breath of fresh air into the school. They're all You can't see your entire staff is shaking their heads. [applause and cheering] Um and reinvigorated the ranks. Okay, I know that they're extremely happy to have you. Um and I just uh what can't say enough that um there is, you know, of six schools chosen to be Connecticut's first round of Blue Ribbon schools, um is especially special. And um the schools that were on that list were schools that I have seen as top performers in the state for for years. And I can't tell you the joy it brought me personally to see our Danbury Elementary School on that list. So, thank you for all that you do. We have a little certificate for you and the school. I'd like to present it to you
006um and the staff. And I'll give you a a moment to think of a few words. >> Well, I was going to come around, but okay. >> [laughter] [laughter] >> Good. Good, Miss Milligan. Oh. Oh, how sweet. >> [laughter] >> They you. Congratulations again. >> [applause] >> I was looking for your curls, Ms. Milligan. Right from you. >> Thank you and congratulations to the incredibly dedicated and talented staff at AIS. Um many of you might know that I had the honor of joining this school on September 12th of this year. And from the very beginning, I've been inspired by the level of commitment that I see throughout the building. In our classrooms, across our building, as Dr. Casemiro said, there's a clear precedence of academic rigor, >> [snorts] >> strong sense of belonging, and a
007genuine passion for teaching and learning. In the end of my year address to staff, I shared that it quickly became clear that my role as a principal was not to show this team the way. Clearly, they already know the way and they have the formula for success. My role as a principal has been to learn from them, to protect it, and to help to continue to grow it. For that reason and countless others, this recognition solely belongs to them. It's a reflection of their dedication, care, and hard work on the behalf of our students and families. Thank you to the Board of Ed. Thank you to Dr. Casemiro for your continued support of our school. And we look forward to many, many years of success at LIA Head. Thank you. >> [applause] >> Thank you.
008Have a great summer, everybody. >> [applause] >> Okay, K, could you read the public participation? >> The Board welcomes public participation and asks that speakers please limit their comments to 3 minutes. Speakers may offer objective comments of school operations and programs that concern them. The board will not permit any expression of personal complaints or defamatory comments about Board of Education personnel and students nor against any person connected with the Danbury public school system. >> Thank you, Kate. I don't have anybody on the list, but there is there anybody in the audience that would like to address the board? >> Hi. Sorry, I got here a little late. Heather Lorenz. Um, I just wanted to take a moment to reach out to all of you. I know that you guys have been working hard at trying
009to decide about whether our district school district should have um, a more formalized dress code than we currently do. Um, and I am although my younger self would probably be like going screaming at me going, "What are you doing?" Um, I'm actually incredibly in favor of it. And the reason why is because of my colleagues. Oh my gosh. I'm so sorry. Um, my colleagues are uh, concerned and fearful often to enforce dress code issues. Um, my male colleagues most especially. Um, they're We're in a day and age where we are uh, teachers are constantly being attacked. Left and right, liberal, conservative, up and down, it doesn't matter. We're being attacked. Um, and I can honestly say having lived through this period, it really started way back in the '90s. Um where teachers just were were
010supposed to be the solution and were also the problem at the same time. Um so, when you put a situation into teachers' hands where you're expecting them to be the front lines of enforcement, we are going to have problems. Um I already know colleagues who I've worked with, not necessarily in this district, but in prior districts, who um did have problems because of enforcing high dress codes. Um so, I am personally in favor of a more formalized um school dress code, whether it be a polo, a shirt, and pair of pants, or shorts, whatever it be, but to make it very specific, especially at the middle school and high school level. I'm not so sure that you need that at all at the elementary, but I'm not an elementary teacher, so I can't say. But
011at the middle and that and the high school level, yes. On top of which, it causes irreparable harm to students' and teachers' relationships when we are the enforcer. Um and so, I would just ask as you're going forward and considering what you're going to do, um that you consider it from the teachers' point of view of how difficult um and scary this might be um to put this on our shoulders and our backs. Um so, I ask you, if you're going to want a further enforcement, you need to create a Did I just get cut off? Okay, never mind. Um you're going to need to or I ask you, I should say. Um I ask you to make it um, very much more specific as to what is expected of our students to wear to
012school. So, that's all. Thank you so much and have a great summer. >> [applause] >> Is there anybody else in the audience that would like to address the board? No? Okay, we will close public session. And we'll move on to the consent calendar. Sherry, can you do the consent calendar for me? >> I make a motion that the Board of Education approve consent calendar exhibits 26-87 through 26-89 in accordance with um, minutes six on 6 10 26, Board of Education regular meeting exhibit 26-87. And on 6 11 26, Policy Committee 26-88 6 16 26, Superintendent Evaluation Committee 26-89. >> Thank you. Motion made by Sherry. Do I hear a second? Seconded by Shawn. Any comments or questions or concerns on the consent calendar? Seeing none, all in favor? >> I. >> Any opposed? Okay, motion
013carries. Do we have anybody from the educational staff representative? No? Okay. Student representatives? No? Okay. Moving right along, we'll get on to presentation. Okay, so we've had a very busy year this year and we unfortunately had to wait all the way to the last Board of Ed meeting to have enough time to make sure that Melissa Hanakwin come on up from the Danbury Collective. Is it going to be here tonight to give a little presentation and talk to us about our youth civic influencers program? And I just want to welcome all the students who came tonight again after school has let out. So I give you a lot of credit for for being here and showing up and it's greatly appreciated. So with that I'll turn it over to our partner Melissa. >> Thank you
014so much. Can everyone hear me if I'm not bending over swooping down a little bit? Okay. Okay. Well, good evening Chairperson Britton, Superintendent Casemiro, esteemed members of the Board of Education and Danbury Public School leaders and community members as well. It's great to be back with you tonight. I am excited even though it is the last meeting of the year. Thank you so much for fitting us into the schedule and I think it's fitting to kind of wrap it up because the program we're going to be talking about today just wrapped up a few weeks ago. It's really great to be back with you tonight. As you'll recall, I last presented to you the board back in January to give a reintroduction to the Danbury Collective, but just in case anyone needs a one-second refresher,
015you might remember that the Danbury Collective is a non-profit place-based cradle-to-career collective impact initiative. We advance equity by learning together and aligning and integrating our actions to achieve systems change. We are led by the community and we work collectively to foster positive, measurable and sustainable life outcomes for children, families and young adults in Danbury. We together envision a Danbury where all children have full and equitable access to opportunities to be successful and thrive in life. Tonight I am very thrilled to be sharing an update on our newest program, which is called the Danbury Collective Youth Civic Influencers. We have some slides up that we'll be going through that have some wonderful pictures and describe a little bit more about what this program is. I'm very excited to be joined tonight by members of our inaugural
016cohort of students who are seated right behind me to my left over here. You guys can raise your hands and to my right we have um 16 students in our inaugural cohort and um almost all of them are able to join us here today and as you said, really wonderful that they're here even after the school year is over and just shows how dedicated they are. They're here to be publicly recognized and for a few of them to present directly to you and as well to observe what a Board of Education meeting is like because we have talked a lot about what these types of processes look like in our community. So, they're here to see it um in real life if they have not been here before, which some of them have. Okay. Okay.
017Um program overview. Okay. So, our Youth Civic Influencers program is a 6-week leadership and civic engagement initiative created by the Danbury Collective to empower young people to become active participants in shaping the future of our community. We launched this program in late April and the program provides a supportive and structured environment for Danbury youth to learn about civics, to explore their interests, and harness the power that they hold as young people. This program also connects to our broader efforts around youth disconnection, chronic absenteeism, civic education and empowerment, and community voice. Through the program, students get to learn how decisions are made in the community, how they can use their voice and power as young people. They're trained in some civic engagement topics and leadership and life skills. Throughout the program, the students engaged in meaningful
018discussions about issues affecting youth and families in Danbury, including topics related to education, mental health, community engagement, and and ideas for creating positive change. The program provides a safe and supportive environment where participants can exchange ideas and experiences and learn from each other. As the first cohort, this group of students are helping to establish a foundation for what will become an ongoing youth leadership initiative that we will run one to two cohorts per year. And so, as the first group, they have really been the first youth ambassadors of the Danbury Collective helping to identify community priorities, elevate youth voices, and create a framework that will allow future students to participate and continue building a stronger Danbury. Um something that we've talked a lot about over our 6-week program is how they are really the architects
019of what it will look like for their peers. And so, they've been doing a lot of work to not only do learning amongst each other, but also to mentor future students as well. Um a quick note, the reason we call them influencers is because it's a little bit of a spin on the role that social media influencers play in our society right now, but instead, our students will influence decisions in the community as well as influence their peers to participate civically in whatever way that feels meaningful to them. As I mentioned, our cohort included 16 Danbury High School students. We received 32 applicants for just 16 seats in this first cohort, and all of the applicants demonstrated that they are involved in the community and interested in civic engagement. Our 16 students are passionate, bright,
020and dedicated to the community and their education. They are leaders in their schools and communities, and they are involved in countless extracurricular activities, leadership opportunities, and community service. I'm going to rattle off a few examples, but this is certainly not an exhaustive list of all the ways they're involved in the community. But some of those examples include Upward Bound, CONNCAP, Connecticut Students for a Dream, Key Club, Orchestra, Band, Sports, Danbury Police Cadets, DECA, NAACP, DHS UNICEF, Academies of Danbury Ambassadors, tutoring, and volunteering at places like local food pantries, the Danbury Library, and community cleanups. And our cohort is also diverse in other ways. They represent both DHS main and DHS west. They are all 11th and 10th graders, but rising 11th and 12th graders. Um they represent several different academies, race, ethnicity, and gender, as
021well as have diverse perspectives and opinions. Oop, I think I'm going the wrong way. Okay. Um just to give a quick overview of what our session topics have been about, we've been really equipping students with information about how systems work and how to identify issues that will move them to advocacy and how they can get involved in civic processes. What we're really doing is giving them the tools and learning from them um and doing that rather than telling them what topics they should be caring about. So we have learned from them what they want to focus on. Our session topics have included the ones that are up on the screen. Um I won't necessarily read all of them, but there's a lot around moving from discussing issues to um advocating. There is um a section
022on power and systems, evidence, voice, and strategy, and how you can use both qualitative and quantitative data to discuss issues in the community. Throughout the six weeks, we have had individual activities, small group discussions, and full group discussions. We welcomed a guest speaker who is a local small business owner and young adult who ran for elected office. And we also did a public hearing simulation where the students played different roles and practiced public speaking as well as preparing for a public hearing. Um also something like speaking at a Board of Education meeting which as I mentioned a few of them will be doing today. >> [clears throat] >> Throughout the 6 weeks as I mentioned, the group identified issues that are important to them and ultimately collaboratively narrowed down to three main issue areas. These
023are up on the screen right now. The first is around opportunities, pathways, and the Career Academy specifically here in Danbury. The second is around mental health and stress. And the third is around youth voice and communication with adults. These topics remain top of mind throughout the series and do also reflect what we've heard through our our work as the Danbury Collective when we interact with other community members, educators, and our community partners. You will hear some of these themes throughout the student remarks shortly. These are also the themes that the students will explore when they lead a youth town hall in a few months which we'll share more information about um over the summer. Uh quickly going through the next two slides, um our students shared that these six um areas were some of the
024most useful components of the program. So public speaking practice and public hearing simulation, um hearing from guest speakers and having group discussions to hear different perspectives, techniques to effectively advocate, and they wrote um I wrote here from their perspective realizing that we, students, have a voice and that we, students, have ideas and learned how to implement solutions. I also asked them on the last day um of our formal sessions what they wanted you all as the Board of Education to know about them and these are some of the highlights. They said they wanted you to know that they were selected through an application process, which as I mentioned was competitive as we were not able to take everyone at this time. Um, they wanted you to know that they're accomplished students. They're part of organizations
025and they're leaders in the schools. They want you to know that this um presentation and this this program is weeks in the making and that they're focused on youth and youth problems in our community. They also said that they're first-hand witnesses and represent diverse opinions and they say, "We're not the last people who will be speaking about this." I want to give a uh one more highlight on this slide before I pass it over to our students and recognize them as well. One component of this program is the ability to connect our influencers to other opportunities in Danbury and beyond. So, I want to take a moment to mention what we've already been able to do and then put the seed out there in case you have ideas that you would like us to pass
026along to these students. Um, we're always willing to do that. So, we have four influencers speaking tonight at the Board of Education meeting. We have four influencers appointed to the Ready CT CBIA Statewide Youth Advisory Council. So, there will will be four students from Danbury who are serving on a two-year youth advisory um board. Two of our influencers will be interning with the School and State Finance Project this summer. All of our influencers will be facilitating a youth town hall and many of our influencers have said that they would like to mentor future influencer cohorts and more to come. At this time, um before I pass it over to the four students who will be speaking, I want to take a moment to read off each of the civic influencers names so they can be
027recognized. Um, students, when I call your name, please stand up or give a wave if you feel comfortable. Um, and uh I'll be going through and some of the students aren't here, so if if no one's standing up, that means that they're not able to join us today. So we have Andrew Cardenas. Bridget Seguenza. >> [applause] >> Christopher Mladen. >> [applause] >> Ella Carlino. Faisal Mahmood. Gabe Marsal. Gregory Lotts. >> [applause] >> Hima Theruvil. Jake Yigwi Kota. >> [applause] >> Janice Reyes. >> [applause] >> Janat Fatima. >> [applause] >> Jordaine Williams. Kaylee Cordova. >> [applause] >> Lindsay Guaman Kishpa P, sorry, Kishpi. Matthew Velapucha. >> [applause] >> And Siam Don. >> [applause] >> I also want to recognize our intern who graduated from WestCon last month and she has been an extreme help to this
028program and has been instrumental in getting off the ground. So Allison Espana, please stand as well and thank you for your support. [applause] So finally and most excitingly, I'm going to now invite the four student speakers to the podium to share their statements. They have about 2 minutes of prepared remarks. These students I want to say are demonstrating incredible courage and leadership by representing the group tonight. And they wrote these remarks entirely on their own and all they did was answer the question prompts that we provided to them. I find them to be extremely impressive and I'm excited for you to hear from them. So I am going to ask all four of you to come up so you can be here to support one another as you speak and Janice will be our first
029speaker. >> [applause] >> Um good evening representatives and educators of Danbury public schools. My name is Janice Reyes and I'm an 11th grader at Danbury High School at the West Campus. At both Main and West Campus, I'm involved with helping the Danbury community in various ways. I volunteer at local food pantries, food banks, community events, community cleanups and much more. I'm also part of the Western Connecticut State Upward Bound program that helps first generation students in their journey to applying to college. Initially, I applied to the Civics Influencers program to gain skills in advocacy so I can make an impact on the community and other global issues. During this program, I've observed and engaged in intricate discussions with my peers on community, social and school issues. Through these discussions, I found that what I really
030care most about are educational problems like the achievement gap, student loss of motivation, teacher and course shortages and the effectiveness of the academy model. By talking through these issues, I was able to explore different viewpoints, strategies and solutions. Meanwhile, I gained skills in advocacy, creative thinking, public speaking and in my confidence to speak for change in the community. This is why I'm here today. To let you know that the Civic Influencers program is a group that opens connections with influential people that have inspired me, opened opportunities for me, and made my voice feel heard as a young student at Danbury. Today, I'd like to use my voice and bring to your attention and advocate for the need to restructure the Career Academy model and provide students with more career counseling, opportunities, and guidance. I appreciate
031the concept of the Academy model and all your support and it's time to bring the academies to their full potential. I hope you know that the Civic Influencers Program is a group of young, intelligent, respectful, and emerging leaders today and are happy to collaborate with you to improve our community, social, and school issues. Thank you for your time and attention. >> [applause] >> Good evening, everyone. My name is Jake Recotta. I'm a rising senior at school and involved in volleyball, Upward Bound, and also several community service organizations. I hope you I I pursue a career in medical and mental health in the future. I applied to the Civic Youth Influence Program because I wanted to become more involved in my community and learn more on how young people can create a meaningful change. I have
032always believed that helping others is important and and always wanted to better understand how advocacy and leadership can make a difference. Through the program, I've gained a greater appreciation on civic engagement, teamwork, and the importance of using your our voices. Working alongside other students who care about improving the community uh showed me that small actions can make a positive impact. I've also learned that leadership is not just about speaking up, but also listening, collaborating, and finding solutions together. One issue that I've deeply cared about is mental health, especially among students. Many young faces uh faces stress, anxiety, and other challenges often unnoticed or unaddressed. I believe that it's important to create a safe, supportive environment where students feel comfortable speaking up and speaking seeking help. Access to mental health resources and opening conversations to make
033a significant difference in someone's life. One specific thing I've asked the Board of Education is to increase the access of school-based mental health support, such as ensuring students can easily connect with specific therapists or mental health professionals during the school day. Having more available approaches support along with career pathways to address it can make a big difference for students and many struggles and don't know where to turn. One thing I want to want the Board of Education to know about the Civic Influence Group is that the students generally want to make a difference. We are not just thinking about ourselves, but we are thinking about the school and our community. We are willing to work together and make them stronger. This program gave us the opportunity to develop our voices and hope that our students
034will have a better chance to participate and experience this in the future. Thank you. >> [applause] >> Salutations, esteemed Board of Education members. I'm Gregory Lutz, now a senior of Danbury High School. I'm decently active within the DHS community as department head for the RTC program, an officer for the Youth NAACP, a member of the theater program, and many more things that would simply just take up time. This Civic Influencer program intrigued me and made me want to reach out due to the fact that I'd be able to scratch just to discuss my frustration and beliefs while connecting with the youth leaders of our Danbury area. Within this program, I've gained more confidence and networked with many worthwhile individuals that I believe will and are deeply interwoven with the future of Danbury and the systems
035in place. This The issue I that I specifically care about most is the academies and certain inequalities within them. West campus has disproportionately higher funding building-wise with more technology and cared for infrastructure such as TVs at every table and air conditioning. Um that is that of which being something that the main campus desperately needed this year. Not just building-based inequalities as even within the same building, there are academies that feel disproportionately more cared for as compared to others. Such as the Professional Public Service Academy and comparing that to the Information Technology and Cybersecurity Academy. That's not saying that the academies are not a good idea or that funding or that funding is not going into them, but rather that we wish for students to feel as though they are not missing out by choosing any
036one academy as as opposed to another. The Civic Influencers group should not just be a one-off thing and should be funded by the school or those that wish to engage with social justice and societal change on a wide scale with groups tackling certain issues that students are passionate about, informing them of local political structures, and how to voice their opinions and thoughts in a meaningful manner. Thank you very much and have a lovely day. >> [applause] >> Good evening, all. My name is Lindsey Gami Kishbi and I'm a rising senior at Danbury High School. I'm proud to be Hispanic and Latino student and my experiences have shaped the way I view education, opportunities, and the importance of having a voice in my community. Outside of school, I'm involved in programs and activities such as Comfort
037Conkacaf Birth Bound and Senior Care Force where I am the manager, the regional manager for each chapter, where I've gained experiences that have helped me grow as a leader and become more connected to my community. I'm also a part-time worker which has helped me build responsibility, communication skills, and a better understanding of the different experiences and challenges people face. Throughout the Civic Influencers program, I have gained a stronger understanding of civil engagement, leadership, and the importance of listening to different perspectives, and I have learned that creating changes does not have does not always have to start with a position or title. It starts with students being willing to speak, collaborate, and take action of what they think of. One issue I care deeply about is ensuring equal opportunities in academies, especially when it comes to
038access and choices for students at Timberline High School. With their school being divided between two campuses, students do not always have the same opportunities to classes, courses, clubs. Sometimes students may not be able to take the classes they're interested in because of what is offered at their assigned campus or because of the scheduling limitations. I believe students should have more opportunities to explore their interests and have a voice in their academic pathways. Making sure all students have equal access to courses and resources allows everyone to have the opportunity to succeed and prepare for their future goals. One thing I want the Board of Education to know about the Civic Influencer group is that we are students who genuinely care about our schools and our community. We come from different backgrounds and different experiences, but we
039share the same goal of making our schools better for current and future students. This program has given us space to learn, grow, and use our voices, and I hope our perspectives continue to be valued. Thank you for this opportunity. >> [applause] >> So, that is the end of our presentation. Um, congratulations to the students who just spoke and did so well, um, and also to all of our students who participated. And thank you for your ongoing support for this worthwhile program. I feel it's worthwhile. Um and just wondering if we could also grab a picture with the board um with our full group if that's appropriate. >> I absolutely. So, students, amazing job. I'm so proud. Um Melissa, this is a phenomenal opportunity for our students. It completely is in line with our portrait of
040the graduate, with our understanding of where we want to go with kids to you know, having agency in the work that they're doing. And um I love all the internships. I want to find out who is on which committees before we leave. Um particularly the career pathway committee. There's some work I'd like to talk about too that's could be forthcoming. So, absolutely, let's take a picture. Yeah. All right. Your hair looks phenomenal. >> [laughter] >> Ready, set, cheese. Thank you again, everybody. >> [applause] >> Okay. Oh, that's It's still heating up. Yeah. >> Um Okay. Yeah, it's back to you. >> It's back to me. Okay, under the superintendent's report, I am pleased to invite and have uh with us tonight Lindsey Jacobs, who's from Sullivan and LeShane. She's been waiting patiently. Lindsey has been
041a great partner in um helping us unpack and digest a very busy legislative session. It was supposed to be a short session. It was short, but I think they packed just as much into that as the other session. So >> I believe they did. Um pass as many bills in a short session as they did in 2025. >> Yeah, which is amazing. So, welcome and uh we look forward to hearing what you have to say. >> Thank you. I will try and keep it brief and high-level and obviously I can take questions as well. Lindsey Jacobs, I'm a lobbyist with Sullivan and LeShane. We are an government affairs firm representing both the city of Danbury and the public schools. We've been a part of the team gosh, for over a dozen years now. Um and
042just brief story, I used to work for Mayor Dean Esposito and prior to that Mayor Mark Boughton. The last time I whoop, there Yep, know how that works. Um last time I was in this building I was wearing a hard hat. Um and before that received the first call from somebody saying, "Hey, I've got this building up on Apple Ridge Road. It's a cardist thing. I'm willing to sell it if you guys might be interested." And I thought it was a fake phone call. Um so, this is incredible to be here and it's a privilege to represent you guys um and the students in the district. Um so, my role is is to work with with Mike and with the superintendent um and with the city to identify opportunities for money um and and anything
043that will really benefit the city from a policy perspective. Um this was a short legislative session. We ran from February 4th to May 6th at midnight. It was a non-budget year. So, we just did some adjustments to the budget. They did not pass a biennial budget. That will be next year. Um hundreds of bills were heard in committee and only 200 were sent to the governor's desk, which is as many as were passed in 2025, which is a ton um for for a short year, but one of the big themes that came up this session was education funding and municipal aid. Despite this being a non-budget year, the governor made a huge push to get something done on that front and then start the process of addressing this long-term. As we all know, ECS funding
044in Connecticut and the way schools are funded in Connecticut fundamentally is a huge problem and is something that that needs to be holistically overturned. So, there was no major piece of education legislation passed. Education was kind of stuck into a bunch of different pieces of legislation. So, I'll walk through that a little bit. Um and I know you guys all have this memo in front of you, but the biennial budget adjustment actually was Senate Bill 1. Um and in it it included an additional $190 million for school funding. Um for Danbury, we got an additional $2.9 million. That is one-time aid that would essentially bring our ECS base up to about $13,000. It didn't change the foundation base for any schools. It just kind of modeled it out for what would that look like if
045we were to go there. Um every school ensure that all towns received about 2% of their 2027 fiscal year 2027 ECS grant allocation. Again, it didn't change the statute. This was just a one-time bucket of money. Um it also expanded student support initiatives. We now have universal free school breakfast through an additional $12 million grant. Um elimination of lunch costs for students eligible for reduced price meals, expansion of behavioral health programs, and a new K-3 literacy coaching initiative. Those are all permanent through the budget. Um but that again, just an adjustment. Next year, 2027 will be the holistic re-looking at passing a biennial budget for the state. Um Senate Bill 427 was also passed, and this is something um that Superintendent Casimiro and Mike were were involved in testifying on and coming to the capital
046and meeting with the chairs of the Higher Ed Committee. Um as well, AK came up too and was there. Um because we saw it as an opportunity to talk about what's going on in this building and the career pathways program, and how Danbury's kind of leading the way in workforce readiness, and and the future of education in the state of Connecticut. Um ultimately, what this bill became was the state is now going to fund a coordinator position at the state level to look at and start tracking all of the different programs that are out there and hopefully start to get some kind of concurrent program running where we can better educate students on what opportunities are available to them. Hopefully start funding some of these things as well. What we testified on and what I
047think our next step is is to start to break these down regionally. And what we hope to push for in the future is that the legislature fund additional positions to coordinate career readiness work at the regional level to make sure that we're meeting the needs of each region in the state and and using the assets that are already existing within each community. So that's going to be something that we continue to work on next year and and I'm sure well into the future and I think you know, as we have some time now between here and January 1st, bringing the higher ed committee down to see what we're doing here in Danbury, [clears throat] working with our legislators that represent the district to to bring some of the folks from SDE here now that we're
048really up and rolling here. We've got kids in programs. It's going to be incredible. Um House Bill 5035 died, which was the governor's proposed ban on cell phones in schools. I know DHS has its own policy and the district has implemented that. But the governor sought to require every municipality and local board of education to develop their own policies. Um passed through the house. Ultimately it failed in the Senate largely because this is one of those bills that we call a talker. This was something that was going to get debated for hours and hours and hours over the idea of local control and in a short legislative session you run out of time to pass legislation and so it was ultimately pulled. Um It's enabling. Every district has the ability to do it now. The
049governor would like to see every district have to do this because of the positive results that many districts have reported out from pulling cell phones out of classrooms when they're not being used for instructional purposes. Um it also from a Board of Education standpoint would have required boards, I guess this is happening in some districts, they're just using social media to communicate with parents and communicate with guardians. Um so would have made that change as well. I anticipate that that will be back next year. Looking forward, um the governor has convened a blue ribbon commission on K-12 education funding and accountability. It's going back to that concept about the ECS formula. Um there is awareness across the board that that needs to change. I think it's gotten so out of control that the governor wants
050everybody to take a top-to-bottom overhaul on what to do here. Um they have started meeting. They will meet until the end of this year where they have to submit recommendations by January 15th, 2027. Legislature convenes the second week in January. So those kind of line up purposefully so that there will be policy proposals that come out of that commission. Um Senator Julie Kushner is actually serving on the commissioner the commission um which is great on behalf of Danbury. So I'm sure she will be able to provide some feedback on what's going on there. All the meetings are public as well. So very excited to see um kind of what comes out of there. It's a broad range of folks from state agencies, SDE, municipal officials, superintendents, teachers, you name it. Um they kind of hit
051every single person on the spectrum that works in the education field um, to try and make some concrete recommendations about how to address this in the next budget cycle, uh, because no matter where you live or how big your schools are, everybody's struggling. Uh, the last bill I wanted to mention is a labor package. And I will preface this by saying I am not a labor lawyer. Um, but HB HB5003, um, was a a huge omnibus package related to labor law, workforce development, employee protections, collective bargaining, and it included they then took all of the teacher labor law and threw it in there as well. Um, it includes enhanced protections, um, compensation benefits for health care providers. It creates a different, more enhanced structure for teacher terminations and and proven cause. Um, it makes some
052conforming changes to federal law for teacher payroll union dues, um, and and also makes changes to reasonable assurance of returning to work for paras. Um, that bill again, that was all heard separately and then pulled together into this large labor package that ran at the end of session. I hate to continue to call it Senator Kushner, but she was the author of this piece of legislation. She is the Senate co-chair of the labor committee. Great resource to ask for any very specific questions on this one and I encourage you certainly to to reach out to her on this piece of legislation, um, because she did a tremendous job of making sure that it got through, um, with bipartisan support, I should add, um, in both chambers. So, those are kind of the big pieces that
053that affected, um, the city of Danbury as well as as, you know, Danbury public schools this legislative session. With it not being a budget year, um, and running short on the clock to make any substantive changes to education policy in the state of Connecticut. I think what comes out of the Blue Ribbon Commission will really guide policy for the next several years. >> I was wondering how are you going to get all this in in a short time. You managed to cover it all. Um there's so much that was in in this session, but we appreciate your guidance um and the dialogue that kind of in ensued during the entire session and and pointing some things out that were um important for us to to weigh in on. And so we thank you very much
054for coming today, driving all the way here, and we look forward to continued collaboration with you in the city. >> Of course. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> [applause] >> Okay. And just um other general updates, um I know that uh this board has already heard this from me earlier in the evening um as we close the year, I would just want to say uh uh have a just a big thank you to the board for the support, um the renewed energy that was that it has been brought to this school system as a result of the collaboration uh and goodwill and the attendance at all the events. Um it's been a it's been a great um school year, and we could really feel the presence and support um from all of the members. And
055I know our school district really appreciates it. Um I'd like to thank the cabinet team. This has been, you know, a push this year uh with the opening of the academy. It's we've already completed one full year. Uh we started the year off under immense pressure to to get things rolling um and then had some opportunities across the year to get a lot of projects done. And uh but you knowing that that created a lot of work for the for the the team as well and everybody um who sits underneath you. So, I just want to thank our cabinet team for the hard work that they've put in. Our principals have done an amazing job of building community and climate and culture in their schools as well this year. They worked really hard at that
056and we're going to continue to work on closing achievement gaps and continuing to bring pride to the Danbury public schools so that everybody who attends school here or works here has a sense of pride and ownership as being a part of this community. So, this is just me kind of signing off for the last board board meeting of the the school year and and and my offering of thanks to everybody involved. And thank you again kids for coming and Melissa as well. >> Okay. Board standing committee reports, do any of our committee chairs have anything they'd like to report at the end of this? No? No? Okay. Oh, okay. All right. >> I'd like to make sure take a moment. This is not on. It's not turned on. >> Here we go. Allison, our associate
057superintendent for teaching and learning, I'd like to wish you the best of luck in your next endeavor as you move on to some bigger things down in Georgia. We appreciate the work that you put in this year and the time and attention and getting to know our district and just as we were getting started. She's off and running to Georgia, but she's off to to be doing some good things. So, we appreciate you. We wish you the best of luck and don't forget about us here. Thank you. >> [applause] >> Okay. All right, let's get on to our action items. Kate, can I ask you to do the motion on the amended item, please? >> I make a motion to amend sorry. Took my paper away. I make a motion to adopt the draft prepared
058by the Board of Education on the subject of the Danbury Charter revision revision proposal as an official statement of the board. >> Motion made by Kate. Do I hear a second? >> Seconded by Minnie. Any comments, questions, concerns? Hearing none, all in favor? I. Any Any opposed? Okay, motion carries. Um, action item A, Cindy. >> Motion that the Board of Education accept the May 2026 financial report as recommended by the Financial Committee in accordance with 26-90. >> Motion made by Cindy. Do I hear a second? >> Seconded by Gladys. Any questions, comments, or concerns? Hearing none, all in favor? >> I. >> Any Any opposed? Okay, motion carries. Sherry. >> I make a motion that the Board of Education approve the use of District Repair and Improvement Project, DRIP, funds in the amount of 573
059million thousand 001.32 to renovate classrooms at Pembroke School in accordance with 26-91. >> Motion made by Sherry. Do I have a second? >> Seconded by Shawn. Any comments, questions, or concerns? Hearing none, all in favor? >> I. Any opposed? Abstentions? Motion carries. Kate, motion C. >> I'll make a motion that the Board of Education accept for first reading policy 3100 budget as recommended by the policy committee and in accordance with exhibit 26-92. >> Motion made by Kay. Is there a second? >> Seconded by Sherry. Any comments, questions, or concerns? Hearing none, all in favor? >> Aye. >> Any opposed? Abstentions? Hearing none, motion passes. Uh action item D, Shawn. >> I make a motion that the Board of Education accept for first reading policy 3160, transfer of funds between categories amendments as recommended by the
060policy committee in accordance with exhibit 26-93. >> Uh motion made by Shawn. Do I hear a second? Seconded by Kate. Any comments, questions, or concerns? Hearing none, all in favor? >> Aye. >> Any opposed? Abstentions? Motion carries. Uh action item E, Minnie. >> I make a motion that the Board of Education accept for the first for first reading policy 3260, sales and disposal of obsolete books, equipments, and supplies as recommended by the policy committee and in accordance with 26-94. >> Uh motion made by Minnie. Do I hear a second? >> Seconded by Gladys. Any um questions, comments, or concerns? Hearing none, all in favor? >> Aye. >> Any opposed? Okay, motion carries. Um action item F, Gladys. >> Policy I policy 32-80, gifts, grants, and requests. I make a motion that the Board of Education
061accept for first reading policy number 3280 gifts, grants, and bequests as recommended by the policy committee in accordance with exhibit 96-26-95. >> Motion made by Gladys. Do I have a second? >> Seconded by Sherry. Any comments, questions, or concerns? Hearing none, all in favor? >> I. >> Any opposed? Any opposed? Okay, motion carries. Action item G, Cindy. >> Motion that the Board of Education renew the policy 3323 selling price bidding requirements as previously approved by Board of Education in June of 2025 as recommended by the policy committee in accordance with 26-96. >> 3323 Is that the one? With the amendment? It's H. >> Oh, it's H. >> Okay. Okay. >> Okay. >> All right. Uh where were we? Uh okay, motion made by Cindy. Um do I hear a second? >> I'll second. >> Seconded
062by Gladys. Any comments, questions, or concerns? Hearing none, all in favor? >> I. >> Any opposed? Okay, motion carries. H, Kate. >> I'll make a motion that the Board of Education accept for first reading policy 3320 3320 purchasing procedures as recommended by the policy committee and in accordance with exhibit 26-97 uh with one language change. >> So I just for clarification, what what should we do? >> Sorry, we just needed a second motion. >> Uh motion made by Kate, is there a second? >> I'll second. >> Seconded by Gladys. Um any comments, questions, or concerns? Go ahead. >> Uh I just for clarification, um it I'm reading policy 3323 on my list under soliciting prices and bidding requirements. And I just want to And it's number three on that policy change. And we're on the
063same Are we on the same page? >> So it's not H? >> I believed it was G. I have it written as G instead of H. >> So it's G? >> So procedurally, we're going to have to um vote to revoke the previous amendment that we issued since it was specific to policy H. And then we'll introduce another amendment on policy G. Uh we already took a vote on policy G. So I'm not clear about whether or not we have to revoke that vote. Yeah, yes, I would re- I >> So to kill the motion, so you want to start from fresh, right? So to kill the motion, you ask each person to take back their motion Who made the motion? And who second the motion? And the motion is dead. >> Okay. Okay, and
064that was for G. We're going back to G. >> So who made the motion? Take it back. Who second it? Take it back. >> Okay. So we can do that for H, which is currently on the floor and open. I will take back the motion for uh action item H. Who do you have for the second there? >> Okay. So, the policy is 3323 and it's G, right? >> you already voted on G. >> We've got a motion open on the floor for H. >> So, I'm revoking I'm revoking my motion. >> Okay. >> And whoever seconded also needs to revoke their second. >> Mhm. And that was the second on that one. >> And I take back my motion. >> Yeah. Okay. >> I will I don't like the word revoke. I take back
065my motion. >> [laughter] >> Okay. Okay. So, now we're going to go back to G. >> So, we also need to >> We have to issue um we have to introduce another amendment to the agenda which will uh replace the previous amendment >> Mhm. >> or amend the previous amendment to reflect a change to the language around the introduction of policy 3323 action item G. >> Okay. >> So, I will make a motion to amend the agenda sorry, to amend the previous amendment made to the agenda to switch it from action item H to action item G in which we will reflect a change in policy language that requires the board to consider the policy for first read instead of renewal and again this is for action item G. >> Yes, I sure hope you
066like this change, but after all that. [laughter] >> Yes. >> So, first that's the motion for the amendment change. >> Okay. So, motion made by Kate. Do I have a second on the motion? Motion by Gladys. All in favor of the amendment change. >> I. >> Any opposed? Okay, so that passes. >> Okay, so now we're going back to G. >> Do we we also need to take a vote to revoke the previous vote >> on G. >> Okay. >> So someone now want to make that motion. >> Is it Yeah, I need a motion. >> For G. To to Yes. >> Action item G. >> I make a motion to revoke the vote on item number G. >> Okay, motion made by Sherry. Do I hear a second? >> Seconded by Shawn. All in
067favor of the motion to revoke the vote on G signified by saying I. I. Any opposed? Okay. You want to make the motion? >> I will make a motion that the Board of Education, except for first reading, policy 3323, soliciting prices {slash} bidding requirements, as previously I'm sorry. As recommended by the policy committee with language changes and in accordance with exhibit 26-96. >> Okay, motion made by Kate. Do I hear a second? Seconded by Minnie. Any comments, questions, or concerns on the motion? Yes. >> Yeah. >> Okay. >> Can I go ahead? >> Yes, go. >> So does somebody What are we doing? We want to We want to say the >> like to let you know what the language changes. >> Okay, thank you. Um okay, so um on policy 3323, which is listed
068under G, this is a policy that the board has already approved previously. We were it was coming up for revision. In our discussion, it just an omission of timing with the timing of the school year. On looking at item number three specifically where it says there are exceptions for the quote and bid process and these exceptions include and there is they're just pretty standard exceptions. One of the items that we'd would like to the language we'd like to include on item three is the inclusion of where it says any item purchased on the approved Connecticut vendor list, we would like to add or through an approved consortium. And our person who would approve the consortium would be my our CFO. And so the consortium is so for example crack marketplace which is a common vetted
069it's already price reduced and we have contracts with them. So I'm would like to add the language in or through an approved consortium and that is the only change. >> Any questions from the board members on that change? >> No, so this is only for first reading, right? >> Mhm. >> Okay. >> Yep. >> No questions? Okay, all in favor? >> I. Okay. Any opposed? Okay, motion passes. So now we're doing H again? All right, back to H. Who had it? Kate. >> I'll make a motion that the Board of Education renew policy 3320 purchasing procedures as previously approved by the Board of Education in June 2025 and as recommended by the policy committee in accordance with exhibit 26-97. >> Thank you Kate. Motion made by Kate, do I hear a second? >> Seconded by
070Minnie. Any comments, questions or concerns? Hearing none, all in favor? I. >> Any opposed? Okay, motion passes. Sherry, I'm going to ask you to do I. >> I. Okay. I make a motion that the Board of Education accept for first reading policy 3326 paying for goods and services as recommended by the policy committee and in accordance with 26-98. >> Motion made by Sherry. Do I hear a second? Seconded by Shawn. Any comments, questions, or concerns? Hearing none, all in favor? >> I. Any opposed? Okay, motion carries. Uh Jay. Cindy, you want to do Jay? >> Motion that the Board of Education is 25 932. >> 9321 time, place, and notice of meeting through June 30th, 2027 to offer a pilot program involving a 5:30 p.m. start time, alternate meeting locations of regular meetings in accordance
071with 26-99. >> Motion made by Cindy. Do I hear a second? >> Seconded by um Minnie. Do any uh questions, comments, or concerns? Hearing none, all in favor? >> I. Any opposed? Okay, motion carries. Uh Shawn, can you do K? >> I motion. I motion that the Board of Education approve the Board of Education regular meeting schedule for 2026-2027 in accordance with exhibit 26100. >> Motion made by Shawn. Do I hear a second? Seconded by Sherry. Any comments, questions, or concerns? Hearing none, all in favor? >> I. >> And >> Any opposed? Motion carries. Uh Minnie, can you do L, please? >> L. What you say? Oh, sure. Okay. Yeah. Go ahead. So yeah, please. Can you somebody take L? Gladys Gladys is going to Do you want to do L and M? Do you
072want to do both the last two? >> L. Danbury Public Schools operating budget. I move that Danbury Board of Education adopt FY 2026-2027 Danbury Public School operating budget in the amount of 175,000 dollars in accordance with 26-101. Did I read the numbers wrong? >> 175 million. >> [laughter] >> Millions. I'm sorry. My glasses. >> [laughter] >> I'll correct it. 175 million dollars. >> [laughter] >> You said I never heard of million in my head. Spoken like a true politician. >> Thank you, Gladys. Do I hear a second? Seconded by Kate. Any comments, questions, or concerns? Hearing none, all in favor? >> Aye. Motion passes. Gladys, last one's for you. >> Okay. M. Superintendent's contract. I move that Danbury Board of Education accept the Superintendent's contract and salary for the year 2026-27 as recommended. >> Gladys
073Motion made by Gladys. Do I hear a second? Seconded by Shawn. Any comments, questions, or concerns? Hearing none, all in favor? >> Aye. >> Any opposed? Motion passes. Congratulations. You're welcome. Um okay. Um we're just going to move on real quick to chairperson's report. Um, few things. I just want to say we've had uh we had an amazing uh last 2 weeks with some uh great events, graduations, and some great attendance by my board members. I have to say it was just so much fun to be around everybody as we met at all these different events, sometimes multiple times a day. Um, so having to be at all these places and actually enjoying to be around the people you're with just makes it all the better. So, um just want to put that out there.
074It was It was really great. Um it made it a little bit easier to be driving all over the city. Um, uh I attended the summer reading kickoff at the library. Um, and I uh I signed up for my summer reading, so I am, you know, encouraging everybody to go online and register. Be nice to see some board members participating and getting our reading done. We can't just talk the talk, we got to walk the walk, too. So, um I also, you know, I want to just take a minute as we're kind of ending our um school year to just congratulate us on beginning this journey together um and really working together to move this board forward. Um I can't do it alone, Cara can't do it alone. The only way we're going to do
075it is to do it together. So, um we're not done. Uh we are just beginning and I'm I'm I'm just really excited to see where we're going to go uh come the fall. Um I also want to take a minute to just say how proud I am of this group and how we work through challenges. You know, the last couple of weeks have been you know, we've been you know, thrown some, you know, rocks and stuff and, you know, together we've worked through it. You know, we've listened to each other. We've we've we've just we've put it out there. We've talked it through and and at the end we've we've come together. I spent out, you know, a lot of hours on the phone with with many of my board members just listening and I
076think that's really important. So, I just want to say, you know, I'm really really proud of how we worked through a lot of that stuff. So, it's it's it's very good. Good stuff. Um but in closing I just want to tell everybody please take time this summer to enjoy your families. Take some walks, read books, take in the sunshine, do whatever you need to do to find your peace because you need to re-energize. Come September we're going to hit the road fast and hard. We're going to get moving. So, I need everybody like full steam ahead. Um and I just want to wish my board, superintendent, and the extended cabinet a beautiful, wonderful summer. Thank you. Okay. Does the board have anything they'd like to say as we close out the evening? >> Yeah, I
077would like to say something because uh I really as a board member and over the years I want to give a great shout-out to Mr. LaRosa who have always done an excellent job in trying to put the graduation together and especially me since I couldn't walk down. He was always very kind, very nice. And also Mr. Anderson who was always there in the last 10 years. Miss Cooper, are you ready to go? You know, and he would take me down and I really want to say thank you, thank you, thank you. And I know he's not here and I hope somebody tell him that I said it. And I also like uh to thank Mr. Donovan. I call him the big guy cuz we have that relationship, you know. Mr. Donovan is a very nice
078guy. He's always been respectable to me and I really appreciate that. Lastly, Elena from Beaver Brook who retired. When I used to come to Beaver Brook, she always had a smile to greet you, hello, and do whatever she could to help you. And I want to say as she retired from the system and she moves away, that I wish her the best and her family. And I really have appreciated all the years that I came to Beaver Brook and I didn't know what I was doing and where I was going and she would take me Miss Cooper go down here. And I really appreciate that. So, thank you to all. >> Thank you, Gladys. Anybody else have anything to say? Comment? Anything? >> Go ahead. >> Well, as a new board member, I was first
079I was very overwhelmed. A, we had to be here every day. >> [laughter] [gasps] >> So, um you know, I still have high school kids, so you know, and his sports. So, I made it here and um it was a lot of fun in the midst of everything else. So, um thanks for getting us on board, helping us understand how this works, and um looking forward to this, you know. B, I joined midway, so I was not quite sure about it, but thank you. >> Okay. Well, if I hear nothing else, I'm going to ask for a motion to adjourn. Do I have a motion to adjourn? Go ahead, Sherry. Do I hear a second? to adjourn? Oh. >> Second. Seconded by Sherry. All in favor? >> Aye.