001Well, the in the the interface has changed a little bit. Things look different right now. Yeah. >> My screen. >> Yeah. >> It's driving me nuts. Okay. I'll call this meeting to order. Um at 602 on Monday, January 26th of the Windsor Southeast Supervisory uh SU meeting. Um >> any changes in additions to the agenda? I have one bill that's um >> after uh D on items for discussion resignation we are um proposing a new hire. >> Okay. >> So have to crack the whip through the policies then. >> Yeah. Okay. Any other um additions, changes or additions? Okay. Um, public comment is not Am I in the right place? No. Approval of the minutes. I'm like, yeah, that doesn't seem quite right. Um, I will take a motion to approve the minutes of December
00215, 2025. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Any comments? >> Thank you. They were awful. >> They're getting really truncated. >> The the minutes. >> Yeah, there were mistakes. There were uh uh they wrote Albert Bridge something else. It was terrible. Someone has to go over those um and change everything that's wrong. >> Yeah. And I I believe Elizabeth, you had some uh you kind of had said the same thing during the Moscotty meeting >> just um yeah it is a um public facing document. So um and and generally I'm quite pleased with it. Um but as a dyslexic I know uh if anything I'm publishing out it's always a good idea for me to have someone else read it. Um, I don't know if we put in the some sort of procedure that Lori
003reviews it or does she already or >> Okay, >> I will I will I will get on that. >> Yes, there are so many mistakes. So many. >> That's unusual for her. So, >> well, they were they weren't hers. They were the AI meeting minutes. >> Are you talking about the AI minutes or the >> Yes, I'm talking about the >> Okay. No. Okay. I was going to say I'm looking through this and it looks fine. >> Okay, >> I've been trying to figure out what we're talking about here. >> Thank you. Again, dyslexic. If Nancy says there's spelling issues, I'm not sure I'm the guy to check them or but no, I didn't see any real issues with with the grammar. It's just things are getting shorter. Well, I just think there it might
004be nice, especially for the more important topics to put some in one or two intent sentences in there. >> Okay, >> not necessarily for, you know, most of the stuff is perfect, but when you get to um really important discussions like we've had um in a scuttney in the SU meeting the last couple months, then I think that would be good. Okay. Thank you for clarifying, Nancy, because I was gonna take your word for it about the mistakes. >> I'm talking about the ones that were >> Yeah. No, those are Yeah, you could. We when we're discussing approval minutes, we're ignoring those. This is not about that. >> Okay. Any other comments on these? >> Okay. All in favor of approving the minutes of December 15th, please say I. >> I. I. >> I. Hi.
005>> I an I um any abstensions? >> Me? I wasn't there. >> Beth. >> Yes. Any nays? >> Okay. Now, public participation, the part I usually try to jump to too soon. Uh public comment is not legally required, but we believe it is crucial for us to hear from our community members about their concerns over issues. Through these meetings, our board models for our students how to conduct public discourse and that the board and members of our community can approach controversial issues in a civil and constructive manner and can demonstrate mutual respect. Having said that, please note that the board is here to listen. The public comment period is not designed for discussion. Please start by identifying yourself and what town you reside in because I have no idea if we have public tonight. >>
006Uh we have one teacher from Windsor. >> Exciting. Um any announcements? I had a snow day today. Um, okay. Moving on. Thank you. Um, public policy discussions followed by no noted motions. There shouldn't be any motions tonight. Um, and these are all we should be able to whip through these fairly quickly. Uh, starting off with instructional practice and access to curriculum materials. Um, I hope everyone has a chance to read this. This is pretty in-depth. I I I like um I wasn't I was on the fence about listing out the the the A through H, but the more I read over it and process the fact that this is a public facing policy, um I like that it's in the policy. Um, has uh Bridget I don't sorry to drag you into this but I'm
007wondering if you can hear me. Have you looked over this list? >> Yeah, I actually work with Christine on the changes for this policy. >> Okay. >> And uh we Mountain View, which is one of the ones we looked at, does get into very specifics. Um I don't know if they've updated with the new education quality standards, but given that there were new um the new EQs, we felt like it was important to list them in there. >> Okay. So, um I'm going to make a suggestion or it may just be a request. Um, I I think at some point, um, Bridget and Christine, if if if you could kind of go over these A through H's with us, um, I think it would be important for the rest of the board members. Um, nothing
008long. >> Okay. >> I have to Is March. Okay? I have to present anyway in March. Does that feel okay, Bill? >> Yeah, we have a hope. I I think that would be perfect. Um, we have a rather long list of polishes we're working on anyway, so we could pull this one off the list for a third reading. >> Any other comments from anybody? Thank you, Bridget. >> Yeah. want to thank the uh administration for working on this. Hey, special education um D24. Is it my imagination that the only changes is that it went from D7 to D24 and they put the manual is no longer found on the website, which I wouldn't trust the AOE website to have anything on it that So, I think any kind of um any policy should not have
009any reference to looking at the Vermont AY's website. Elizabeth, >> I I believe the Agency of Education was supposed to come out with a brand new recommended policy on January 1st. So, do you think we should be uh adopting this policy right now or should we wait for the model policy to come out from AOE? Well, we're not adopting any policy tonight. Um, >> I'm just saying, shouldn't we shouldn't we just hold off on this until we >> I agree with you was there. You know, if we're expecting a new policy recommendation from the >> Yep. Yep. It was part of 73. >> Okay. Does anyone else have an opinion on that? >> Would would Yeah. I mean, if there's a new policy coming out, um, should we do a motion to table this one
010and then just >> Well, I don't think we need a motion. I just have to approve putting it on a where where um where it goes on the agenda. >> I will I will add that that policy has to go through approval by the state board of education. Um, and I'm not sure what their deadline is. I can look it up while we talk. Um, but it's not like even though they've may or may not have come up, even if they came out with their policy before January 1, it still has another process to go through before we can adopt it. But Davis, >> yeah, I think I think even if that process takes some time, the the changes to this are so minimal that like it makes just as much sense for me to
011pull it and then wait for the new one to come out so we're not adding another line item to our agendas for a couple months, you know. >> Anyone else have some input on this for or against it? Okay. So, I agree with Elizabeth and Davis. And so, let's uh pull this one for >> the foreseeable future. >> Okay. Uh E21, distribution of non-school sponsors literature in schools. Um I read this in much more detail. Um, this is not really a first amendment issue because this excludes students. This is not about students sharing information. Um, it's about other people sharing information. And basically the way this policy is written out, it's really up to the superintendent and the administrator to approve or deny it. Um, and it's laid out quite clearly follows the law. >>
012Yes, Christine. >> A question question, Bill. So, under the part under part two where uh part 2C shall prohibit the distribution of literature that uh primarily seeks to advertise for sale products or services. I do get um I do get flyers for like summer camps and dance classes for kids and those are um certainly advertising services where people do make money. Um I I I think they're good for kids. Um so I wanted your kind of direction on that. Elizabeth, you do do you have something to add to this before I >> Yeah, go ahead. >> Will that the reason that we I don't know about this version of the policy, but the reason that we had this policy in the first place started with West Windsor School Board um before we even merged into
013Mount Scutney. And it had to do with a couple of entities coming into Albert Bridge School and posting notices or advertisements on the walls, not outside on the on the bulletin board, but inside on the walls and uh uh they they took advantage of the um community use of the building policy. M >> so this was in response to that to stop that from happening because uh it it didn't go through any kind of approval. >> Okay, >> anybody in the building. >> So Christine, my take on it that this read through >> um it's up to you. >> Okay. >> Yeah, it's it's this is really gives you the power and the procedure and so right >> you know create a procedure in which um >> it that works in Okay. >> Um the
014thing about um interesting about sales of advertisement space um it it >> the reason that's in there is that if you sell advertising space at like on the athletic field that doesn't mean it's a um that doesn't make it a uh something public form. It doesn't make it a public forum. I mean that's so that in other words so that you know in a public forum space people can come and give things around and preach. >> Right. Right. Y >> and just because you sell space for advertisers that doesn't necessarily mean that it's a traditional public forum. Thank you. Uh Davis. >> Um yeah, I mean my I think my only recommendation on this just to keep it from being confusing I guess, right? Is do we want to just strike the primarily seeks to
015advertise for sale product sales product or services? Because if we're saying that if we're saying that you know there might be student programming that would run a foul of that in policy. Um, I mean, we we have the ability to just strike that line. >> Maybe it's, you know, um, primarily seeks to advertise for sales products or services that do not benefit our our student body, right? Or something like that. I don't know. >> Or or maybe that don't fall under under maybe that don't fall under categories A through F from under one A through F. because that's I think that if we clarify that then it would create the the space that we need for that kind of stuff because it's kind of the same with fundraising, right? Like there might be civic or
016community organizations that like understandably would fund raise in the school setting and you have the ability to approve them. >> But I just think I think we need some clarity there or else those two things kind of might might seem to be in conflict. >> Yeah. I mean, when you're talking about, you know, that that that pamphlet comes under F, you know, literature regarding private academic tutoring, music lessons, or non school sponsored athletics. >> And so, >> right, like a dance class or >> like a dance class like that. Yeah. Yeah, that makes sense. >> Yeah. For fundraising or something, right? Like that kind of stuff. >> Yeah. >> Okay. Thank you. But just to make clear like the superintendent is not having to make every decision around what goes in and out of a
017newsletter or something. Correct. >> No. No. But >> just making sure making sure that's right because that seems >> crazy. >> The power goes through the superintendent and her agents. And so if you create a procedure, the procedure could be principal >> principles. Yeah. would first, you know, if any issues then Yeah. So, you're right, Beth. Yeah. Um Okay. Um board superintendent relationships code A24. So, the only thing in this I mean, I've read through this and it's pretty standard. It I don't think this is a new policy. It just we're adding at least annually. >> Yes. >> Okay. Any other comments? >> What was it? >> I think it was just annually. >> It was just annually. So, I guess why don't we want just annually in there? Why is it? >> Well, because
018we may want to have it more than once. >> Yeah. But having it annually doesn't mean you can't have it more than once. >> It does infer it does infer that. I think this takes out that um um to allow someone to um infer that that it's only an annual meeting. I don't know. I think we've all experienced individuals who tend to take things to the extreme. I think this is a pretty Yeah. Anyone other comments? Okay. B3 uh alcohol and drug-free workplace. Um all this changes is all this changes actually what it changes it makes the um uh the employee volunteer what can happen that cleaned it up makes it it it clarifies it at the bottom simplifies it. Any comments on this? Okay. HHB policy discussion and uh looking at a moder policy
019demands from impacted families. Where is this from? This is from a group of so it comes from a a large swath of uh organizations that are concerned about hazing, harassment and bullying which once again today the HHP advisory council was supposed to meet and for the fourth month uh could not get a for fourth fourth consecutive month could not get a um a quorum. Um, and so, uh, I told this group of people that includes, um, uh, uh, Education Justice Coalition, but also, um, up for learning and, uh, Visar, Vermont Student Anti-Racism Network, but also, uh, there there are like 10 different organizations that worked on this these um, These suggestions were brought to the uh HHB advisory council. um or they were they have been planning this group of students has been planning to
020bring these suggestions to the HHB advisory council uh for the last four months and um uh I having worked with them um to get ready to present them to the HHB advisory council uh I told them that I would um try to bring to our board a robust discussion of what their suggestions were because I think they are actually a lot of them um are uh they're holistic and they are uh they're sensible, they're not complicated and um they include students. Um but most importantly a lot of them are um preventative and um I think that's really important. So it it asks where is it? It asks that students be where where is it? Um it asks to have a a robust restorative justice. Um it and and so when it says policy connection and
021model policy that relates to the new uh agency of education model policy which has been uh which was proposed now a year and a half ago um but they cannot get a quorum on the um advisory council to approve the new policy. So they went ahead and came forward with these suggestions. these suggestions actually also apply to our current HHB policy. Um and uh so it seems to me that things like mandatory intervention bullying policy um is is sensible and that youth training um is goes a long way in uh prevention. And so I I just wanted to and whistleblower blower protection, transparency, and communication. These are all things that um I think any uh outside of a you know boilerplated HH policy that these are things that we should be considering and discussing whether
022we adopt it or not just having a having a discussion about it. So that's why I brought it. I don't know if anyone else realized that u really the model policy is the link at the top. That correct Elizabeth? >> Hang on. Let me look. Uh >> as you click that, it opens an actual Yeah. Okay. >> That is the new uh suggested policy. the um sorry I can't see you when I open the things up so I'm trying to make sure that I can see you um that is the model policy that's been discussed by the agency of education they took a lot of comments on it for about 6 months um the policy that it's linked to does not include any of the um suggestions that were made by the for example human
023rights commission which is now the top of the pile for um for uh uh the our civil rights inside an inside schools for example because now there is no um uh OCR office of civil rights at the um the prior to last January we had the office of civil rights at the department of education that has now been shut down. So, it is incumbent upon us to um not just ensure that student civil rights are upheld, but also that we do things to educate students and adults to prevent hazing, harassment, and bullying from happening in the first place. that was part of the impetus for um moving towards this AOE policy revision, but as it had it was supposed to be implemented for this school year to give you an idea of how remarkably slowly
024it this process is going. And uh I I don't want to get on a huge soapbox, but a little soapbox, which is Christine heard me say this earlier, but in these times, it's you know, it's really hard to make a case in favor of public education if we are not protecting our students in every possible way um in uh both physically, emotionally, and and uh otherwise. And so I think anything that we can do um to improve and prevent HH I think is really crucial right now. So after this link, Elizabeth, are these the suggestions from that student group or >> So the the link at the top is the model AOE policy that has not yet been approved. >> Okay. And what's below? What's below is um these are policies that have been suggested
025by students who were and are bullied. These are what so there were a number of a number of listening sessions. I can give you a report that this is based upon, but there were a number of listening sessions where they took input from students and asked students what would make things better and then it sort of went through a you know professional educator um uh group of I don't I think it's like 10 different organizations and this is what they um what they >> came up with. And what I like about this is the um there's some really clear language on prevention. >> There's clear language on prevention. There's also um clear language on uh >> on uh uh accountability. >> Yeah. >> Which is sometimes missing. >> Thank you, Elizabeth. Any other comments? I
026mean, I don't Elizabeth, what do you foresee our next steps on this? Are we just going to wait for the agency to review the suggested? Well, I I my thought was >> have to >> my thought was no that we don't wait for the agency to um review the suggested because they are like the next meeting that the AOE has or not AOE the HH advisory council has um will not include a review of these. It will not include a review of the policy. they're not anywhere near um taking into account the public comments that have been made for the last like 18 months. Um they're they're not there and and the the fact is that these these things could help students as soon as a policy is updated. These things actually >> could start
027helping right away. And uh uh so the thought being why wait? Um and uh and then hopefully that AOE will incorporate these into its model policy. Um but they're they're like healthy policies. Um and I really was just trying to start a conversation about whether any of these or all of these or which of these should be included in our our own HH policy as it already exists. Davis. >> Yeah, thanks for sharing this, Elizabeth, and giving some context around kind of how it was um how it was generated. Um in looking through it, I mean, I think these are all really solid proposals um for integration into our policies. I wonder I wonder if a good next step to take would be to I mean even if we're waiting for the model policy at
028the state level like do do we incorporate this into any current policy and see where we can update it or just are we working into the kind of anticipated review schedule? I mean I think to your point there's stuff we could do before the state policy comes out. I'm just not uh I'm not sure what the the most kind of efficient way of doing that is. >> Yeah. Thank you, Elizabeth. It it it it took me a second to wrap my head around the fact that what the state is creating is a model policy. It's not a it's not legislature. And so >> that's right. >> Take a step back and oh, it's a model policy. It doesn't mean that we have to wait. I went to meet with Secretary Saunders um right before Thanksgiving
029to tell her that she has the power to change the way we approach HHB without the legislature doing anything like you have the power, you can do this. Um and uh so I'm trying to spread that power around all the places that it can grow because um we have the power to improve things. We as a board could do this. I and again I'm really just trying to start a conversation about um what any of us thinks about each individual thing or all of the things together or any you know which I would think that the next step would be to take it and see whether it fits into our current HH our own current HHB policy. Um but I felt that this bringing it to the board was the first step before that. >>
030Yeah. Well, looking at and I don't know if we want to create a committee to do this, not necessarily tonight, but it's the next step. It may be because it a board meeting isn't the place to do this. the the board meeting would not be its first um would I don't feel would be the first place that we would tackle this. I think in the board meeting we can decide how we're going to tackle it but looking at you know um what is already in the policy and does what's in the policy for an example around staff and school training which is number two here um does what's currently in the policy um create is there a better way to um should that be changed to fit more with what is in here? Um >>
031that is exactly the question, Bill. >> Right. So Christine, >> um thank you Elizabeth for all of your work on this. I know you've attended a ton of meetings and um bring us updates. So I really appreciate that. Um, I'm wondering if um I like your idea of a committee. Uh, I was wondering if it would be okay if I brought I haven't brought this to the administrators yet. We have meetings weekly. I'd love to run it by them and see what their thoughts are and potentially have one of them serve on the committee. That works. >> Yeah. Thank you, Christine. >> Yep. So, I think I Does anyone have any uh other comments? Thank you, Elizabeth. I I think that >> Yes, Amy. >> Yes, Bill. I one of the things that we hear
032over and over again from families of students who have experienced being bullied or harassed is feeling that they haven't been heard or that the person who has been doing the bullying or harassment has not been held accountable. And I think anything that we can do to strengthen our policy and to have training so that victims feel heard and that there's some sort of reparation, meaningful response for the people so that they don't feel that they have to actually leave our school district because they're not feeling safe. >> Yeah. >> So, thank you, Elizabeth, for bringing this. >> Thank you, Amy Pickle. Anybody else? Okay, thank you. Administrative report. Christine, >> wait. Yes. Are we are we not are we not gonna are we going to have a committee? Are we gonna are we going to
033have a >> Christine is going to talk to the administrators first to see if anyone wants to be on that committee and then um does anyone else want to be on it? But so do we need I guess the question I have Elizabeth in Davis and anybody else who knows about do we need to vote on this having a committee? I think so because the committee would be also for sure >> the committee would be a public body. >> Okay. >> Yeah. I think we would need to vote on it. just just to give it the um the appropriate authority to make decisions or to bring something to the full board. >> Okay. Davis, >> does it make sense to vote on it after uh the administration's been reached out to maybe at our next
034meeting so we'll kind of have people ready to go and can get started from that point? What do people think? I I'm I'm kind of on the fence on that. And if our intention to is to create a committee, I don't think we need to wait. Um, but Elizabeth, >> my understanding of bringing it to the administration was not necessarily to ask the administration whether there should be a committee. >> Um, but whether somebody would like to join the committee and my concern is that if we wait, it'll it'll the work will be delayed. Um, and again stressing that in times we need to ensure >> I'm happy to put it to a vote and then if we vote no then we wait till next month. And so I will take a motion to uh
035create a a committee to review um view I don't think review a committee to look at and um work on uh harassment hazing and bullying of students. >> So moved. Amy, >> do I have a second? >> Second, Davis. Okay. Um, I will take a roll call vote. Um, Beth, how do you vote? >> I, >> Amy, >> I. >> Elizabeth, >> I. >> Sarah, >> I >> Davis. >> Hi, >> Heather. >> Hi, >> Heather. I >> um is that it? I >> Marie, sorry. Yeah. >> And Nancy I >> I called on you. Okay. And I'm an I. Okay. Did I miss anybody? I closed my uh meeting list. Is John here? >> No. >> Okay. >> No, he isn't going to be here tonight. He had a select board meeting. uh to
036attend. >> Okay. Okay. So, it passes. We have a committee and I'm actually tempted tempted to be on it, but uh um just because this is this is a area of weakness for me. Um Christine, >> yeah, I was wondering if there if you wanted to gather uh who who from the board might be interested in being on the committee. Do we need to know that to set up meetings? >> I don't think we need to know that right now, but I I I will encourage people to speak out. Um this is an area of weakness of me and and I don't mean that I don't agree with uh HHB, but I don't have a lot of background in it. So, um, I'd be willing to serve on this committee to to, you know, broaden
037my knowledge of it because it is an extremely important subject. Um, >> I would also be willing to serve on it. >> Okay. Okay. And uh okay, that that's what we have so far. And maybe we can get an administrator and the rest of you can can think about it if we create a schedule and maybe someone else could join us. >> I could I could also invite one of the um kids who was involved to come and present what the you know the um suggested updates are. I mean, one reason I'm I'm excited about it because um I have found um I gave a couple tasks to the Harford High School. Um they have a student committee there and um you what they produced was outstanding. was a student committee, student group, equity, a
038student equity group at the high school and and what they created was outstanding. And so anything that student I I find things that student create tend to be uh more insightful than what my old mind can create. So okay, thank you Elizabeth again. Any other comments? Christine, it's all you. >> All right, let me get my Here it comes. There it is. All right. Okay, I've got some uh I'm going to start with some exciting stuff that's been going on at our schools around our um student engagement and and student success. So, the picture uh the pictures on this slide are um of our students when they returned from break. Our Windsor Middle and High School students uh they were definitely ready to shine and they did at a at a concert that was postponed
039before the holiday break. Um so, it happened in early January. It was a wonderful evening of music and community. There was a large crowd to cheer the students on and they really did a phenomenal job. Um, and I was really impressed with the um, difficulty of some of the numbers that they presented to us and they definitely had a lot of passion. You could see it in their performance. So, just wanted to shout them out since I couldn't do it before the break. And there were and and it feels like uh Kate and Colleen aren't here, but feels like our band and coral numbers are growing, which is which is one of the goals for the school, which is great. Um the next uh photos, these photos are H Heartland Middle School Science Fair students,
040and they had another successful event um at the school. This was the first science fair that this particular science teacher has done and so he was pretty proud. Uh it went off without a hitch. Students were engaged. Their projects were pretty interesting and they did a really nice job articulating uh what they'd learned. So shout out to JD at Hartland and all the students. Uh this is another um event from Hartland that was last week. Uh these H heartland students became uh global ambassadors at a recent geography fair and they shared fascinating insights into the countries they researched. They had everything from maps to delicious cultural cuisine that everybody got to got to sample. So it was really a wonderful ex experience to share with them. So um really exciting studentled things going on in
041our SEO. This is the science fair, the high school science fair, which was also last week. It's been a busy month. And our high school scientists took center stage at the W high school Windsor science fair, which Kate always says is the best in the state. Um the it was in the gym on the on the catwalk around the gym and the gym was buzzing with energy as students shared their impressive research on a variety of topics. And so we were really I was and everyone that I spoke with was really proud of their professional delivery and the confident way they explained their learning to judges and visitors. So it was a really um excellent science fair. So there's some I couldn't put them all on but there's a few um students sharing their projects
042in the pictures. Um and the last picture slide, this is our this is our high school um student lighthouse leadership team. And this year they've partnered with Up for Learning. So Up for Learning has come in and worked with this group of students uh over the course of the year. And they took them through an activity to identify what the students hopes and dreams are for their school. And they had to answer questions about what their strengths are, what the concerns are about the school. And now the students are going to take that activity to a staff meeting and engage the staff in the same questions and they're taking um the same activity to each swarm. So they're going to be duplicating this across their across their school. They've also created a student and a
043staff survey that they will be um administering and then they come back together in February and they're going to look at those results. So pretty exciting um things happening in the high school. Uh we have partnered with the Vermont Agency of Education and they are um piloting this program called Read Vermont Literacy Institute and we jumped on. It was late uh it came out it came out late from the AOE. So it was it was a rush to be able to make it happen but with the help of um Bridget and the principles we are on board and have started our work with the Vermont Read Vermont Literacy Institute. So they provide a meaningful journey of structured learning practice and reflection designed to support schoolwide instructional change and uh especially around early literacy. We have
044all three of our districts participating. Uh grades two and three across the SU staff and administrators involved uh will be able to engage in three coaching cycles from now. They just started January to June. And then this partnership can continue next year if we find it really beneficial. Uh we can we can spread it to other classrooms with within the supervisory union. >> Christine. >> Yes. Elizabeth here is Elizabeth. >> Is it all four schools? >> It's all three districts right now. So, we could only have three schools participate. Um that's all the space they had. >> So, our hope is to spread it next fall across um all all schools, different grade levels. >> So, Albert Bridge is not able to participate. they're not able to participate in this round of the of the
045coaching cycles. >> Thanks. Yeah, it's it's it's tricky to um you know, we're still working um with Jennifer on multi-age classrooms and how to support that work as well. So, um this this will get to them, but not not this cycle. Uh I don't know if you watch the news. So, I'm not going to play it here, but we did make the news. Uh, the Vermont Agency of Education and Zoe Saunders approved the VT, that's the Vermont Learning Collab, articles of agreement that legally establish VTVLC as Vermont's first board of cooperative education services or BOSIES. So, that was exciting news that came um this month and um this was in the statement. And I think I shared it with all of you. The purpose of the Boseies and the goals that it will be measured
046by by the agency to improve the educational access and outcomes of children with disabilities in the least restrictive environment through regionally located highquality and cost-effective therapeutic programs and services to offer a variety of highquality professional development opportunities to educators in order to build regional expertise and capacity. to support regional supervisory union and district staffing needs by creating a pool of experts in a in specific disciplines and providing staffing services which can be shared regionally which I know is already being done and offer responsive programs and services to members in a cost-effective manner. So we're pretty excited about that. I know that um Jill, who you all met, the director um has been has been uh has been and will be testifying um during the next couple of weeks in the legislature with questions about um
047educational service agencies. Um uh we have an early release day coming up in a couple of weeks. So our plan, I just want to share what we're working on. We will be having a variety of offerings for staff to engage in. Support staff will engage in executive functioning training. Uh Jen Hulse has set that up and has a trainer coming in to support um that work. Teachers uh will be completing they have to complete a VTCAP training before they can administer VTCAP. So we're going to give them some time to do that work. um and they'll be engaged in data dives from the um star and dibbles testing that is happening this month. Uh our social emotional interventionists will be working with outright Vermont and our BCBAS are working with our prek staff so people
048are spread around um engaged in work that's meaningful for for them. A couple of quick legislative updates. They're back in session from what I've heard and I' I've been trying to watch testimony and attend what I can. Um, but have heard that PCB is a topic that is uh has the full attention of the House Education Committee and we had I think four superintendent that have been impacted by PCBs testify last week. Uh, I'm sure you all heard the governor's proposed a property tax buyown. Again, we think that it will probably go through or it looks that way or maybe Elizabeth has insider information, but it seems that way from the outside. Uh the Secretary of Education has proposed redistricting maps. So, she on January 15th put out a proposal. Within that proposal, um the
049state is divided into uh VC V I'm sorry, VSBA regions is one map. One map is a regional high school district uh map and one is a hybrid between the two of those and I can send that to you if you haven't seen it. Um other things going on uh winter star and mclass dibble sessions are underway this month and the teachers are going to look at that data in February and complete some um new goals. Our fourth and eighth graders uh will take uh NAPE assessments January through March. I think that's all four of our schools. Correct. Bridget. Bridget's still here. >> Yeah, that is correct. Yeah. >> Okay. >> And >> yeah, they they've really up the number of schools they're testing even Harford. >> And the change is the big change is
050that they won't be bringing equipment. >> Interesting. >> Yeah, >> we have to use our own computers. Kids have to use their own computers. >> With that, though, Mike's been great. It's not a big deal, but it's >> Yeah, they used to come in with their bins of computers. Yeah. >> Uh VTCAP testing will start at the end of the at the end of March. We have our schedules ready to go. So, each school um has their own schedule when the testing will happen. And then planning for summer programming is underway and Jen is going to share a little bit about that in her report uh later after mine. And then the last thing I have is quarterly financials which Larry's gonna report on. Larry, I will click on them and open them for you.
051>> Okay. >> And this tab instead. There you go. >> So this will not be too surprising. Um when we saw how FY25 ended and as we prepared the FY27 budgets um we talked a lot about the deficit in uh special ed and you will see that deficit um reflected here again in FY26. we were able to uh use some fund balance uh to make sure that uh we didn't have to come back to the local districts and reassess um to meet that deficit in FY25 and FY26. We won't know for sure uh where we're going to be there. So, um again, it's really early. We're halfway through the school year. We expect to get a lot more revenue from the state because most of the increase in the deficit in special ed is because
052of um tuition which we get reimbured for at a certain dollar amount over what we call uh intensive needs. So uh there that's a pool of money. We expect to get a lot of that money if you click on the slide too. >> Sure. Yeah. There you go. So the expenditures um non-special ed is showing a small you know surplus projection and if you scroll down um yeah we're looking at 1.6 but again it's early we had a number of 1.2 two at this time last fiscal year. And if you remember as we uh finished the year, we ended with a small deficit that after all the revenue was taken into account from the state that our fund balance was able to wash away without coming back to the districts to reassess. So we are
053in the same boat this year. This is why um as I know everybody on this phone call uh remembers um when we built the SU budget for FI27 knowing what we knew in FI2526 we took care of that but again we are still living with that in FI26. >> What page >> better news the fourth well no you can you can go all the way down the bottom if you want. Uh this is just more detail of everything I just told you. Um >> and this is the >> and uh this one. >> Yeah. So >> hopefully I'll have better news for you in the fourth quarter like I did in FY25. And again the books aren't really close to August September. So it won't really be I don't really report out on the fourth
054quarter until August seep. That's when the auditors come in. >> Okay. All right. Any questions for Larry? >> Yes, Elizabeth. >> It's not about this. I just wondered whether uh you, Larry, had a chance to watch the Fazbo um testimony in the House Ways and Means Committee because it was very good. >> I have not had a chance. Uh we talked about it at the previous bill meeting. Um, when was the committee? Was it today? >> It was LA No, it was last week. I I'll send I'll email you a link to it. >> Yeah, it's it's on YouTube. I can find it. It's right there. Everything's on YouTube, right? >> Yep. >> All right. I'll find it. Yeah, I um I heard about it and I didn't watch it. And uh and we have
055sort of a Vasbbo group chat where people come and go. So, um obviously we'll I'll be in the loop, but thank you. I will listen to testimony. >> All right, that concludes my report. Bill, I can turn it back to you and give Jen the floor. >> Uh, let's give Jen the floor. >> Hi. Can you guys hear me? Okay, >> great. Yes. All right. Um, so I've put together a few slides here. Um, and what I want to do um, in talking about the WESU special ed landscape is I'd also like to share some data from the state. Uh while we're um in the process of talking about special education in the WESU, um some uh data I've pulled from a couple of different um reports from the state. Um the first uh section
056here um talking about uh student enrollment having decreased. Um yet this number of students um with IEPs has risen. Um the state has also experienced growth in a number of students qualifying for extraordinary expenses and those are students um who are um exceeding their services programs placements are exceeding um 67,446 a year um and we get a reimbursement of that. Um this rise in students um requiring extraordinary um costs of extraordinary expenses is indicating not only that more students are being identified but that the intensity and complexity of their needs um are increasing. Uh rising extra extraordinary costs particularly in the categories of tuition and transportation reflect both the growing severity and complexity of students needs and the fact that many districts lack the in-house capacity, staffing and specialized resources to respond effectively. some additional
057data from the ACT 73 uh report of the uh special ed delivery report, sorry. Compared to other states and national averages, Vermont serves a larger number of students in either more inclusive classrooms or separate schools, particularly in the disability categories of autism and emotional disturbance. In Vermont, almost 82% of students with IEPs spend 80% or more of their day in a regular classroom, while a little over 5% are in separate schools. Nationally, about 67% of students with IEPs are in the regular classroom, 80% or more of the day, and a little over 2% are in separate schools. Although Vermont is inclusive for many students, qualitative data indicate a continued challenge with general and special education practices that can manifest in an over reliance on pair educators to access general instruction and a lack of shared
058ownership of the educational outcomes for students with IEPs. As of the 23 24 school year, there were 16,152 students in the state of Vermont eligible uh for special education ages 3 through 21. And as I had mentioned earlier, there's an ongoing trend of increasing numbers of students with disabilities. The percentage of students with IEPs in Vermont has increased from the n from from 17.9% to 19.6 reflective of the 2324 school year. In comparison between 2019 and 20 and 22 23 the proportion of students with IEPs nationally increased from 14.4 to 15.2%. again suggesting the rate of identification of students requiring IPS is increasing faster in Vermont than the rest of the country. Some interesting data I wanted to share with you. Vermont for many years has been known to have a particularly high percentage rate
059of students uh labeled as emotionally disturbed. And as you can see here, um, this data came from, uh, FY23. Um, the percent of students identified in Vermont with an emotional disturbance is 15%. Nationally, that, uh, number is 4 and a.5%. Specific learning disability remains the most common disability category and the count has stayed relatively stable. The shift away from the discrepancy model in 23 toward a new model based on students response to scientific research-based interventions was intended to allow for earlier intervention and may also lead hopefully to a decrease in the number of students identified with specific learning disabilities. However, the success of this new model hinges on the quality of the entire system from universal instructions to the fidelity of targeted interventions. So here is our WESU child count. Uh please note that the
06025 child count is not yet verified by the agency. These collections um go into the agency on December 1st of each year. Um I've highlighted the uh the areas of disability that have shown increase developmental delay, other health impairment, and specific learning disability. Um, as you can see, uh, we've gone from 284 child count in 24 to 296, uh, in 25. We have a 22% um, eligibility rate in the WESU, and the state average is 19.6. Here I've broken it down for you by grade and you can see where the numbers increase significantly um for eligibility is in second grade and fourth grade. Um and then weirdly we had an increase of about six kids in high school which doesn't typically happen very often because those students have typically been identified before then. I've also
061broken down um our child count by town. There was a question about this a few meetings ago. Um, so you can see the child count from 24 to 25 for town. And then I've also included our out of district placements. We've went from 17 and the 24 child count to 18 in the 25 child count. I've also broken it down by male and female. I think this is interesting data. Um as you can see um year-over-year here um males are identified uh with disabilities uh far more than females are. I also included our graduation rate and this is data from the state and this is the most recent data that they had for us. So the 22 23 school year our graduation rate for students with disabilities is 75%. The state's target is 81% and
062we obviously did not meet that mark. Similarly, the 22 23 school year um our dropout rate was 25% and the state target is 17%. So we also did not meet that target. Some systems changes that we put into place this year. Um we have uh alternate classrooms in Hartland, Windsor Middle School, WSOR High School. We've now created process and um purpose purpose um statements for these classrooms as well as um actual referral forms and these are up on our website for people to see in our student services. We've also put in place a onetoone protocol uh that IEP teams are required to follow when considering um implementation of a onetoone pair educator, a one-toone behavior interventionist or an out of district placement. And those also come with an independence plan because we always want to
063fade those supports. We're implementing a model um of rate of improvement under response to intervention for identification of specific learning disability. were u proceduralizing this um and we are working with specialized working with the intervention team um and we also had a training with Dr. Tim Rangi a national expert and he'll be doing a follow-up training with uh WCSU specifically to ensure that we are putting appropriate benchmarks in place um to make this new system work. Uh we've created a PAR educator guide book um and that is up on the website. We've also created a rubric to better define the roles between our SEIS, our BIS, and our paras. And before Christmas break, I sent out an inclusion survey to all teachers, general and special ed, across the district um to help drive professional development
064in the future. The goals for the WCSSU special ed department are um as follows. uh to ensure that all special education staff become fluent in special education regulation to implement a procedure of ROI which I just spoke of to provide training and structured literacy programs such as OG Wilson and youthly to staff who've not received training or need more training to improve their instructional toolbox. want to work to continue and define and refine the alternate classroom opportunities and potentially add a classroom for grades three to f three to five and explore appropriate curricula for those classrooms. Going to continue to work to mitigate costs while ensuring adherence to federal and state law and continue to work to improve support staff professional development with stakeholder in involvement. Any questions before I go on to the summer
065academy revamp? Yes, Elizabeth. >> Thank you. Uh, I wondered whether um what is the impact of the Olmstead decision on um any of your thoughts and plans and goals or the current state of affairs um regarding uh alternate classrooms and alternate placements. Thanks. So, my I've had a longstanding philosophy around um alternate classrooms and therapeutic settings. Um I uh in particular alternate classrooms within our own districts. I don't like to have our students segregated. I feel it's important for students with disabilities to engage with their peers as often as possible. um so that they have uh modeling by their typically developing peers. That said, every student needs something different. And so the model of the alternate classrooms this year has changed significantly. They're those students are not just in their alternate classroom all day with
066just those students. They are accessing specials with their typically developing students at the high school alternate classroom. We've actually had general ed teachers going in to help support that curriculum. And moving forward, we're looking to further opportunities to engage students outside the alternate classroom, understanding that those students need something very specific and different than the typical population. Um, so that's I don't know if that's helped answer your question, Elizabeth, but that's where I come. That's my stance. I I really was also asking about um when earlier in your presentation when you were talking about uh the rise in cost of special education being partly attributed to um the uh lack of capacity leading to alternate placements. Um I'm a little bit concerned about that with regards to the Olmstead decision. So I think there's a
067couple of reasons I think that we um struggle. I think that there is a need to really have um more informed training um and also an understanding that a student with an IEP is not a special ed student. It's a general ed student that's on a plan. And so I think it takes a lot of work with both general ed and special ed coming together to really figure out programming and placement for kids so that we can get more creative um within our within our own district and think about how we can support kids um better at home. That said, we have young people whose needs are such that we're just not able to educate them in the public school setting and they require a therapeutic rack where they can get all the pieces that
068they need in order to have receive a fate. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Sure, >> Larry. >> Yeah. I just think it's important for everybody to understand as Jen's going through her presentation and she's going over the increased IEP count, child count, the increased uh percentages, etc., etc., that since the census block grant has come to Windsor Southeast SU, it's gone down every year. So, when I just checked the numbers in fiscal year 23, the census block grant for us was 3.5 million. I'm forecasting for FY27 to be 3.1 million. So, that's a difference of $400,000 that is grant state money that we don't see that uh has to be picked up from somewhere. And that's assuming if IEP counts were going down and they're not. So, I just want to make sure everybody on
069the board is aware that the census block grant um all it is doing is passing those costs that will be borne on to the local assessments and therefore the local school districts. Thank you, Larry. And a reminder also that the landscape of increased uh special ed needs is not just within the WSCSU. It's statewide. Um so I want to touch uh on the summer academy revamp. So Bridget and I have had a lot of conversations about summer academy and I am new to this district this year. So, I've had conversations with Bridget um my staff um and Bridget's had conversations with staff and we are looking at our data and this is um regardless of the special ed count of students. We're looking at data of students who have not yet been identified and our
070data is not great. Um the data in in ELA and math indicate a need for more structured academic focused summer program. Um and so that's what we're proposing. We're going to be looking at um developing a benchmark of students that we want to um invite to summer academy. Um and those are the students that are in the red and the low yellow. We want to pull themies back to each um school. So each school will host the academy. Um the staff that work in and the one of the reasons for this is the staff that work in those schools know those kids are going to be referred or invited to summer academy. they've already worked with them. They understand their assessments. Um, staff appear to be more interested in working within their own buildings. Um,
071we're proposing that the academy run the month of July, three days per week, 8 to 12, all academic. Um, snacks, you know, food will certainly be provided. And then students would be able to potentially access building based opportunities in the afternoon such as base camp, steam, uh, the BTG, which is a non-school district program. um the wreck program at H Heartland which is also not part of the school. Um Bridget, I don't know if you want to add to that. >> I think that you you you've got I think we're we really need a little bit more targeted work. And the other thing that um we we really look forward to is a little tighter on progress monitoring. that means pre-mid and post assessments so that we can see uh if we need to adjust
072instruction. So we've just got the the students that are in the certainly the lower 20% that just just need that targeted support, you know, with with caring with a caring community. Um but um we know we've got folks out there that are very good at intervention work and um we we really want to bring it back um to a much more targeted approach. Um, any questions about any of that? Okay, >> thank you. Thank you all. If there aren't any questions, I will stop sharing my document. >> Thank you, Jennifer. Okay, items four, discussion. Uh, right off the bat, draft calendar. Um, Christina, are you looking to get the calendar approved? Yes. >> Okay. >> And I can I can share my screen. It's in your packet as well, I believe. >> But I'll pull
073it up. One second. >> So, this is a draft of the faculty um staff calendar. Lori does a a um public facing one as well. Um we spent a Let me just make sure you can see it and that it's big enough. Um, we spent, I think, two months with our uh our union leadership uh talking through this calendar and trying to um make it the best calendar for for kids and meet the needs of um the professional development that we anticipate uh presenting next year. So, know you want me to scroll through it, Bill? What's the best? >> Can't see the whole You can't see the whole thing. >> Well, I mean, if anyone want you to scroll through it. I mean, I've got it up on my screen. >> Um, >> probably makes
074sense to to people to look at look at it on yourself. It's actually on the >> it's it it's on the agenda. >> Um, >> yeah. Okay. It's linked on the agenda, too. Um, >> it's linked on the agenda. I should just preface that the um regional superintendent got together uh as you know that part of um act 73 that I think is a statewide calendar but we do have um consistency I believe across the I I want to say state for the um vacations. So the big the February and April vacations I think are all the same across the state. start dates um vary a little bit and and that is due to some language in some um collective agreements for some for some districts, but across our region, our start dates for students
075line up, ours lines up with the tech center. Our our vacations uh we work pretty closely with the Hartford Tech Center to align our calendars as closely as we can. >> So happy to >> Yeah, I I compared and contrast the two. I actually have early access. Um so uh the only big difference is uh the Hartford has um two days of inservice. Only big difference is this, uh two Hartford has two days of inservice in March. And so >> yep, >> that's pretty minor. Um just got to make plans for those HATC students, >> right, >> on those two days. Um, so but yeah, I'm I'm the only two issues I have is you know to make sure that it aligns closely with HACTC and that uh you know we got to cut down
076on those early release. It's just I don't know why we've kind of we were at six, we're at five. I'd like to get down to four, but that's just >> okay. >> The one I'd like to get rid of is a contract issue. I don't know if it's in there. It's the It's the day before Christmas. That just annoys me. That's just really annoys me, but I'll let it go for now. >> Thank you, Bill. I know. Yeah, that one's a I I understand why. Um Heather had a chat question. >> Okay. >> Or question in the chat. >> Heather, go ahead. >> All I asked was about November 4th in the professional development. Sorry, my children are screaming in the background. >> November. Do you mean September, Heather? >> September 4th. Um that one
077was a request from the um the staff because we pull the staff, we send out the draft calendar, they give feedback and it was I'm looking at the days. Uh they find that it it start um a a slow start of 3 days, 4 days it for the past several years it's been three days, three student days, four student days, five student days really helps students adjust to the schedule. Um, this year because of when things start, uh, they asked if we could move one of our upfront PD days to September 4th to give families a long was that Labor Day weekend and then to create that slow roll into um, five days a week. So that's the rationale behind it. >> I like it. I mean, that sort of splits stuff up. >> Yeah.
078>> And especially for when you're clumping a bunch of staff development days at the beginning of the school year, teachers don't really have their heads in that >> right >> position, right? They're thinking about >> Yeah. They're thinking about um the 26. That's really all they're thinking about, right? >> At least that's what I did. You're like, I need to do X, Y, and Z. Oh, someone else is talking. Yeah, but I need to do X, Y, and Z. himself. >> Yes, that is exactly um part of the rationale. >> Yeah, but good question, Heather. >> Yeah. >> Okay. So, um any other comments? So, are you looking to get this approved tonight, Christine? >> Yes. Yes. Um hoping to get it approved tonight. Um >> Okay. I will take a motion if this Well,
079let's get a motion, then we get some discussion in. I'll take a motion to approve the draft Windsor Southeast Supervisor Union 2026 2027 school year calendar for faculty and staff. >> So moved. Davis >> second. Amy, >> thank you. Um, any discussion? Elizabeth, >> can we can you just scroll down so we can see the rest? You can't. >> I sure can. Let me get to the right tab. Okay, so that was August, September, October. Here's November, December, January, February, March, April. I can't see what you're saying. Yes. Okay, I got that right. And yellow is uh >> yellow is inservice. Those are the inservice days, professional development days. Okay. >> And and they're not all professional development. I'm sorry. April 16th is a parent teacher conference day and the one in October 30th is
080a parent teacher conference day. >> Okay. >> So, I have one request for next year. >> Sure. >> Is for you to get together with Katie. >> Yep. And um you guys display the calendar opposite >> um you guys display it >> horizontally August, September, October. Marford displays it. >> I'm working on it. >> August, September. >> It makes it it makes it really difficult to compare and contrast the two. >> Okay. affects me and you. I don't think really. >> We can work on that. Lori Lor's good at stuff like that. >> Um I know that's just my thing because I actually go through both of them with a fine tooth comb to >> to to look at them. Okay. Any other discussion? >> No. >> Okay. Um, I I will take a voice
081vote on this. I think we're all pretty All All in favor of uh approving the um draft calendar for 2026 2027, please say I. >> I. >> Thank you. >> I'm an I. Um any abstensions? Anyone vote nay? Okay, there we go. My agenda. Um, update on school choice tuition from the legislature. >> I think that was uh Elizabeth. Were you going to do that? Uh well the update is that they are still in the in the heat of discussing it. >> So >> okay >> that's the update. >> Okay. Thank you. letter in support of Wooki um school district. Um Harford and Katie Sutton sent uh um out this letter for the um to support the students and families and uh from the uh federal immigration authorities. Um and I think the point of
082uh bringing it for discussion here is to see if anyone would like to uh anyone feels we should do the same. >> Davis. >> Uh yeah, Bill, thanks. Um I I would certainly be in favor of signing on to this letter. Amy, >> I am also in favor. >> Okay, Elizabeth. >> I am also in favor. Thank you. >> Okay. Um I am as well. Um Beth gave a thumbs up. I will take a motion to um to create a draft a a a copy of the uh um or a our own version of a letter of support for the Wusi school district um and have Lori send it out and have us all sign it. >> Okay. Um, do I have a motion? >> I've got a question first. >> Is it your intention?
083>> I'm intention to actually vote on it. >> Is it your intention for us to sign as a board or as individuals be before we have a motion? >> Okay. Um Okay. Um, I'll withdraw my motion. Thank you, Davis. >> Sorry. >> Um I >> or both >> I would um I would prefer to have it from the board and have us all sign it. I think that would be the most powerful thing to do. >> Thanks. Okay. Okay. Uh so that's uh I will uh entertain a a letter for the board and individual signatures uh for letter of support for the Wooki school district. >> So moved. >> This Amy second. >> Second. >> Okay. Um so Davis and Amy, all in favor? Oh, any discussion? Okay. All in favor, please say I. >>
084I. Any oppose? Say nay. Okay. It is unanimous. >> Okay. >> I'll have Lori send it through. We'll do a copy and have it sent through Docu Sign. So, >> thank you. >> Yeah. >> Um, Christine resignation. >> Yes. Let me just find it. I do have it here at least. Okay, so we have a resignation. I will read it to you. Um, please accept this letter as formal notice of my resignation from my position as special educator effective uh February 4th, 2026. After careful consideration, I've made the decision due to the significant stress of the role and its impact on my mental and physical health. At this time, I need to prioritize my well-being in order to address these health concerns responsibly. responsibly. I also feel it would be unfair to the students if
085I were to return while unable to give my full 100% support they need and deserve. I'm very grateful for the opportunity to have worked with such dedicated colleagues and students and I appreciate the support I've received during my time at Weathersfield School. And that is coming from Paul Doron if I said that right. I never get his last name right. Um, so he has resigned for some reason stated and uh so we're bringing it to the board for your approval. >> Nancy, >> is that effective immediately or at the end of the school year? >> It's effective February 4th. >> Thank you. >> Which is about immediately. Yeah, it's it is actually uh he sent it on January 6, so we've had it. We're just waiting for the meeting. >> Excuse me. Um Christine, do
086you have any uh background to share that would be more appropriate for um >> executive session? >> I I have a little bit that I can share in executive session. Sure. >> Okay. I I would I'm gonna say we should do that just because >> Yep. >> I'd like some more background. Amarie, >> just wondering if we have what our plans are to fill his position. Do we have someone that we can slide in there or do we need to >> That That's our That's our next um item on the agenda. We do have a new hire to bring to you tonight to fill that position. >> Great. Thanks. >> Yeah. Okay. Okay. Um I don't I don't see an executive session on here. Usually there is on the agenda. >> Well, we only put
087it now if we anticipate one. And sorry, that's excuse me, that's new in the um statute. >> Okay. So, >> does it mean we can't go into executive session? >> No, it doesn't. It just >> Okay. Um I'm I'm going to make that call. Um so, >> let's go into executive session and then um >> let me stop >> come out of executive session and um vote >> on your new hire as well afterwards. >> Okay. Okay. Let me just stop the recording. >> So, wait. Before we go into recording, I make a motion to go into executive session. Um, >> God, I wish I had my paper here. Uh, to discuss a uh staff issue. >> So, >> I think it would be uh one. Do you want me to say it, Bill? So,
088you have the correct language. one BSA 313A1 and you're going in under contracts. >> Okay. >> So moved. >> Thank you, Nancy. Do I have a second? >> Second, Davis. >> Okay. All in favor say I. >> I. All oppose say nay. >> Okay. Thank you, Christine. You can shut off the recording now. Um, Larry and uh Jennifer.