001United States of America. Welcome, welcome everyone this evening. Um, we'll start with comments from the audience. Is there anyone who has a public comment to make this evening? Looks like we're all here to celebrate excellence. So, I'll now turn things over to superintendent to >> Thank you very much. Good evening everybody. I'd like to invite Mr. GR up to the podium to introduce a robotics team who uh in a short while will be going to compete and represent Bolton public schools in the world competition. >> So we're going to have them come up front center right now. Charlie Flick, Tanner Sullivan, and Liam B Oliver Battles. And Mrs. Moore, you have to come up too. You can hide back there. So I'm gonna read a little bit and then they are going to do a
002little exhibition with their robots. So guys, you can get set up while I'm talking. >> Tremendous accomplishments. So the 2025 2026 VEX IQ Robotics season was filled with teamwork, creativity, and remarkable achievements from all of our Bolton Bulldog teams. Our standout performers this year were our sixth grade teams competing in the elementary division. All three of our elementary teams qualified for the Connecticut State Championship held in February, which is an impressive accomplishment. Each Bolton Bulldogs team had something to celebrate this season. Team 1227K earned the Innovate Award at an earlier tournament. Team 1227A was the only team to score over 100 points in a match at the state championship while also tying for second place in teamwork champions. There's no way I was going to remember all of this, so I'm reading it. Tonight, we
003are excited to recognize team 1227D, which was made of Charlie, Tanner, and Oliver. Earlier in the season at the AOH tournament, this team won a design award, which recognizes excellence in engineering design process team interview, game strategy, and robot development. At the state championship, 1227D stood out as the only team to take on the extra challenge of handling the beam to score points. In an alliance with partner team 1227A, they tied for second place teamwork champions. Tremendous job, guys. The highlight of their season came during the skills competition at the state championship where their strong driving and programming earned them third place. Because of this outstanding performance, team 1227D became one of the only three teams in elementary division to earn an invitation to the 2026 VEX IQ World Championships. Almost done. They will compete
004at the World Championships in St. Louis, Missouri from April 28th to the 30th. Congratulations and good luck. Cool. So, you can I can narrate while you guys go if you want. Um, so this is their robot and um they have the pins. So, they're trying to score the pins into the beam and then they lift up the beam on other things and >> and they build it from pieces. So, they just get a pile of pieces and then they have to brainstorm and develop their robot design. the edge of the ticket. Um, and then they are able to there's more components on the field that they can score and goals that they pledge into. It's a very cool game because it's a cooperative event. So, they're working with the teams that they're matched with um
005to score as many points as possible. So, there's a whole strategy in how you score and where you move the game elements. And how much time in preparation has gone into like planning for like start to finish since May of the year? And >> well uh we start in uh September. Well, we start the teams actually in May. Um and then in September they really start building and uh we meet after school once a week but they can take home their materials. And these guys come every single day for study hall at this point. Now even when I have classes they go into the shop to work because they have to code autonomous too. So they have a whole program. So the robot will score on its own and do all of this without them
006using a controller. Um so it's hours and hours and they take it home now at night to practice. So it becomes muscle memory. Every second counts. >> You guys want to add anything? >> Oh, talk about your team name and your shirts. That's cool. Great job, guys. Good luck. >> Good job, guys. really neat to watch these guys compete and work together, uh, communicate with each other, um, you know, problem solve, all the transferable skills we're trying to teach them in school. Um, they were strengthening without even knowing it. So, we tricked them into learning. >> Thank you. I'll share the links to the live stream with their match times. You get have a really great live stream that's like married. They have a Z with it too. So it's really nothing. All right. Nice
007way to get our celebration of excellence underway. Next up, we have the CAD Student Leadership Awards Program. The Cave Student Leadership Awards Program is designed to honor Connecticut High School and Middle School students who exhibit exemplary leadership skills. Two students from each school in a CAB member district are eligible to receive the CAB student leadership award. These students exhibit leadership skills based on the criteria below. Willingness to take on challenges. Capability to make difficult decisions. Concern for others. Ability to understand issues clearly. Ability to work with others. Willingness to commit to a project. Diplomacy. Ability to honor a commitment. Cape is Connecticut Association of Boards of Education. If anybody's wondering what Cape is. Cape's first award recipient is Grace Irwin. The eighth grade team is proud to select Grace Irwin as a recipient of this
008year's Cave Award. Grace is a kind-hearted, hard-working, and responsible student. In school, Grace demonstrates her leadership skills in the classroom by being a collaborator, giving her best effort, and being a reliable friend and student. Grace is a member of the BCS Jazzband, yearbook club, book club, and spelling team. She specifically showcases her leadership skills being the co-president of this year's student council, helping to organize school dances, food drives, and spirit weeks. Outside of school, Grace has been an active member of the Girl Scouts for many years. Participates in competitive Irish dance, even becoming a student teacher and reciting the Gettysburg Address at the Memorial Day parade. Grace exemplifies what it means to be a leader and encourage those around. Congratulations, Grace. At the end we'll do a picture with uh board of ed chair Mr.
009Bony. >> The second BCS cave recipient is Penelopey or Patelli. Penelopey has been selected by the eighth grade team as a deserving recipient of this year's cave award. A bright, hard-working, and responsible student, Penelopey approaches every challenge with a willingness to give her best effort. What truly sets her apart is her kindness. She is consistently inclusive and supportive, making her a wonderful collaborator both in and out of the classroom. Penelopey leads by example, demonstrating a strong ability to work with others. In addition to being a consistent, high honor role student, she is a dedicated member of multiple sports teams and captain of the cross country team, an active participant in student council and a longtime girl scout. Through all these activities, she exemplifies both teamwork and service to others. Penelopey's leadership is reflected not only
010in her many accomplishments, but in the positive impact she has on those around her. Congratulations, Penel. The Bolton High School Cave Leadership Award. The first one goes to Grace Osborne. Grace excels academically and has enveloped herself in every aspect of Bolton High School. She has worked tirelessly to balance a rigorous course load, is a reliable and consistent participant in many clubs and activities. Not only has Grace served as a student representative for the board of education for the past two years, but she has served as captain of the volleyball team, treasure treasurer of student council, student leader of bigs and littles, and many more. Grace has been an active choir student who generously shares her talent by performing the national anthem at different events and holding a key role in the play for over the
011past four years. Congratulations, Grace. Best of luck and The second Bolton High School Cade Leadership Award is Kian Kelsey. Kian is a dedicated, hardworking student who has challenged himself academically through a rigorous course load while remaining deeply involved in the life of the school community. Recognized as American Legion boy state recipient, he has demonstrated strong character, leadership, and civic responsibility. Kian is also a respected leader on both the hockey and soccer teams where he models teamwork, perseverance, and sportsmanship. In addition, his involvement in the National Honor Society and the Bigs and Littles program reflects his commitment to service and mentorship as he consistently works to support and uplift younger students. Congratulations, Kian, and good luck next year in college. Where would you like us? The students say come on up. I'm not in this picture.
012>> Come on up here. >> The table is the background. >> Yeah, that's good. That looks good. Right. The next recognition is the CAPS award. Connecticut association of public school superintendent award is presented annually to students from the gradu graduating from both the center school and both in high school. The award is presented to those students who so show a strong commitment to academics and a strong commitment to their school community. The first BCS CAPS award winner is Isabella Corzinowski. The eighth grade team is proud to award the CAPS award to Isabella Corsinowski. Isabella's leadership and service to the community is outstanding. She has been involved in the BCS student council for two years and is currently co-president. She had been leading the charge in the BCS middle school dances, spirit weeks, eighth grade assemblies,
013and food drives for the Bolton Senior Center. The student council, which is made up of 30, seventh, and eighth graders, respect her leadership and guidance. Outside of BCS, Isabelle is very involved in her Polish community, both volunteering at charity events such as food and clothing drives, church services, and cultural performances where she embraces her heritage and language. She embodies the leadership qualities of the CAPS award day in and day out. Congratulations, Ismael. The second BCS CAPS award winner is Charlotte Allenson. The eighth grade team is also proud to award the CAPS award to Charlotte Allenson. Charlotte's leadership and service throughout BCS and the community can be seen through her involvement with the BCS student council as well as her being an active member of the Girl Scouts of America since fourth grade. As a member
014of the student council, Charlotte helped spearhead a food drive in the fall to benefit the local food pantry in Bolton. Additionally, as a Girl Scout, aside from donating baked cakes to local poo shelter, putting on a princess tea party for younger scouts, Charlotte earned her bronze award in Girl Scouts after spending close to 20 hours with a fellow scout building a bookshelf for a teacher. Within the classroom, she is always willing to help a peer or teacher in need. We are so proud of Charlotte and can't wait to see all the good things she will do in her future. Congratulations, Charlotte. Bolton High School Caps Award winner, Allison Hartsog exemplifies the qualities recognized by the Caps Award through her strong commitment to both academics and the Bolton High School community. Throughout her four years, she
015has challenged herself with a rigorous course load while remaining deeply involved in the arts. A dedicated member and leader in the band program, she has contributed greatly to the musical life of the school. In addition, her involvement in the drama program has been remarkable, taking on key roles in productions over the past four years and demonstrating creativity, responsibility, and teamwork. Through her dedication, talent, and school spirit, Ally has made a lasting impact on the Bolton High School community. Ally plans to continue her education next year at a four-year college. Congratulations to you and your family. The second Bolton High School Caps Award winner is Dominic Lombardo and unfortunately he cannot attend this evening. Um he's probably out running around town or winning a race somewhere. >> A hardworking student in and out of the classroom,
016he has consistently challenged himself while balancing a wide range of commitments. As a member of the cross country and track teams, he has distinguished himself as both a strong competitor and a respected leader, serving as a positive role model who encourages and supports his teammates. In addition, through his involvement in student council, he has played an active role in promoting schoolwide events and strengthening school spirit. Through his leadership, work ethic, and commitment to his school community, Dominic has made a meaningful and lasting impact at Pton High School. Dominic plans on studying exercise science in college next year. Congratulations to Dominic and his >> SP please. What does that say? What's that? Okay, this is ready. Yeah, whenever you're ready, right? All right. Congratulations. Um, that concludes our celebration of excellence tonight. We're going to go
017on to our regular part of our meeting. If you are so inclined, you can join us or if you have to get home and do homework and all these kind of things, now is a great time to excuse yourselves. >> Thank you. >> Please feel free to say All right, on to BHS student representative reports. >> So, our spring sports are in full swing. Many many teams have had their first games, matches, and meets. We are all looking forward to highly competitive seasons and are excited to be having such good starts to our seasons. We have 85 BHS students participating in sports this season and that's 42% of student body which is huge. Uh last Thursday was the culmination of our second battle of the classes and our spring cup rally. Seniors took home the
018win this time with a winning tiebreaker dodgeball game day sophomores. And then tomorrow the VHS art and music students will be going on the Boston trip to visit the Museum of Fine Arts and the Boston Opera House to watch the Outsiders. We are all super excited to go on this trip and spend time with friends while being immersed in art and music. We leave at around 9:00 a.m. and return about 1:00 a.m. on Saturday mornings. It'll be a long day, but we're excited to have it be filled with many friends. >> Last Wednesday, Bolton High School Jasmine and the Middle School Jasmine performed together at the first ever Bulletton Jazz. The night was a great experience for both ensemble, giving opportunities for high schoolers to help the middle schoolers and for middle schoolers to learn
019from the high schoolers. Their set list consisted of a few songs separate and ended the night playing two songs together. Overall, it was an excellent night and the musicians and the audience had blast. 26 BCS students joined the BHS Seattle Band for this concert. Last week, students in ECE and early enrollment classes visited Eastern Connecticut University. The students that attended were able to learn about the college experience and spend the day on campus. They love being able to have this experience and grow their learning. ECSU even wrote an article about the subject he saw on BHS social media. As an extra treat, some of the college students that presented were BHS alumni and additional BHS alums joined us for lunch. We are currently in our annual spring break spirit week. We are loving seeing so
020much school spirit throughout the school. >> All right. Thank you very much. the same invitation to stay or >> right additions to the agenda. Do we have any of those? >> Um, on to routine business and the approval of minutes. Could we have a motion to approve the minutes of the March 12, 2026 board of education business meeting? >> I'll second. >> Does anyone have any questions, comments, or edits on any of these? >> There is just a quick one on uh three for the community report from the PTA. It's not blaze powder blaze. That's all. >> They're not going to be there with the toy shape that we're using. >> Um, anyone else have any edits? Right. All those in favor, please say I. >> I. >> Opposed. On to we have a motion,
021please, to approve the minutes of the March 30th, 2026 board of education special meeting. So >> second. >> Does anyone have any questions, comments, or edits for these minutes? >> All those in favor, please say I. >> I. I. >> Opposed oraining. >> All righty. On to board of ed committee reports and finance. >> Yeah. So, we met this morning uh with our finance committee, actually this afternoon, early this afternoon. Um we are 65% expended with our budget, which is consistent with where we were at this point last year. Uh major spending across um budget items is stable. Uh we do have two reclasses that we're going to talk about. Um we also are going to talk about something that is in your budget thing, uh your budget packet. uh regarding food services. We have
022a a small shortfall that we're going to uh hear a little bit more about um coming up. And we also talked to an extent about and wanted to kind of get it on record that um you know in our estimation it's better to maybe overestimate the budget and have potential money to give back at the end of the budget cycle rather than be short with money and have to go to the town asking for money. Uh we had a a lengthy discussion uh regarding that and we kind of viewed it among our committee that we are being um financially responsible by having money to give back every year and that the budget represents uh all of the positions that we have. But sometimes there are vacancies and sometimes there are people who don't take insuranceances
023and that's why we have uh money to give back and we view that as responsible stewardship. That is really it. All right. Thank you very much. We can we have a motion to approve the two reclass transfers uh for March. >> Second. >> Um anybody have any questions about these? very low. Um, all those in favor, please say I. >> I. >> Anyone opposed? >> We're stating. Okay. Um, to curriculum now. >> Yes. The curriculum committee met and we was we reviewed two new course proposals. The first is ECE music in our world is presented by Mr. as a dual enrollment opportunity in partnership with Eastern Connecticut State University. This course would allow students to earn college credit with a modest cost of approximately $550 for required textbooks and would be offered based on student
024interest. The second proposal is bake shop 2 is presented by Mr. Jones to address address strong student demand for advanced baking instruction. Current enrollment in bake shop courses is high and the course would provide an opportunity for students to further develop their skills would be offered based on enrollment with no significant additional costs anticipated. We're asking for the approval of the board to move forward with these adding these courses to the BHS program of studies for the 2026 2027 school year. >> Excellent. Thank you very much. And on to community meeting reports. Is there anyone who has any meetings to report on? I see here. >> I saw Diana D. So she gave me some a BPA update. >> Thank you. >> All right. Um so the PTA has recently funded um a student and
025parent online safety presentations. Those were given to the students. There was one also for parents um in the evenings. They just had an author visit from my curado. Uh they had helped fund some field trips um for first, second, and third grade. They paid for the spelling bee shirts and pizza parties. Um they paid for some March Madness books and Nutmeg awardwinning books. And uh they funded some robotics programming. And I believe robotics also received some grant funding recently. Um and then for upcoming events, um we have Superintendent Fuso's board of ed budget presentation at their PTA meeting on April 21st. Um they have the spring gala at Urban Lodge on May 2nd and there is tickets on sale online. Um they have the spring art show, also a BOGO book fair and that is
026May 12th. Um they have the yard goats game May 30th. Family night of STEM Magic. Um that's new. That's going to be June 9th. And then they have the Marley fundraiser on June 1st, which is always very popular. Um they're also doing their staff appreciation week. They're having Flower Girl catering one day. Um they're taking donations for travel and tons coffee truck another day. And um they're doing room service another day. Thank you. >> All right. Yeah. A lot. Busy spring. >> Yeah. >> Thank you very much. Anyone else? Do >> nobody's on the scholarship, right? >> I am. >> Oh, did you? >> Yeah. So, >> it was a few weeks ago now. Um it was the same night as the phonathon which is in the process of looking for a revamp something new
027and going to try something new next year with that. What that will be is still being investigated um because people just don't use their phones or answer their phones as much as people used to. But now the scholarship for this year opened April 1st. So, any Bolton resident or Bolton grad is eligible to apply for a scholarship. >> Excellent. >> Thank you very much. Now, we'll turn things over to Superintendent Caruso for tonight's superintendent report. >> Thank you. Um, as you heard from the students and from PTA, uh, there's a lot of things going on around the district right now. Uh recently I attended the BCS spelling bee as well as a VCS poetry slam. Really impressed with uh the kids preparation, their their bravery and their composure on stage in front of all their
028peers and a lot of adults. Um they did an awesome job representing themselves very very well. That was exciting. Uh I was going to mention the BCS and VHS jazz concert combo. Um that was also excellent. It was great to see so many BCS students involved in that. Um it was a fun night. Um the girls were correct. People in the audience really really loved it. I thought it was a really enjoyable evening. Wrapped up my student chats with the last group of seniors yesterday. Um was interesting because I've been doing those for the course of the year and I started them in the fall when they were new seniors and now they're in the spring of senior year. So the conversations um definitely have shifted a little bit as their perspectives and experiences have
029shifted. Um, what was really nice is I asked them some questions about their learning experiences in the classrooms and what types of learning experiences they enjoy the most, which ones they would tweak if they could. Um, and they had some really good insight uh that really align to the discussion we've been having in our strategic planning meeting. Um, so I know that our our new strategic plan is going to hit on some of the things they talked about yesterday, such as student empowerment, looking for opportunities to uh increase student voice. And I know that's something that we want to do at both schools. So, it was nice to hear the seniors talk about that and and looking forward to um you know, I think they appreciated that the venue yesterday they had to share their
030thoughts and opinions. And so, um I think we're going to work next year and see if we can incorporate a little more of that into our regular routine. So, we're hearing from our students more often. They have awesome things to say. They have great perspectives and ultimately it's their school experience. So, we want to hear from them what is working for them and what is not. uh strategic planning committee. We had our unofficial last meeting together and uh we really put a lot of the finishing touches on the concepts of the strategic plan. Uh between now and the next meeting, uh the leadership team and I are going to work on kind of refining that in um making it look a little more like a finished product and then bringing uh that draft back to
031the committee in miday uh and hopefully finalizing that. So we're excited about that work and and again a lot of the work that is in the strategic plan are things that um were identified by the group things that are currently happening that we want to strengthen and some things that are currently happening but we want to spend a little more time and and and intention on moving forward. Uh little update on the budget as indicated before in the finance meeting in case you attended that. Uh interest rates did come in a little bit lower than we projected. So there was a little bit of cost savings to the board um of $54,767 for our budget. Um and that decreased our original ask from 5.1% down to 4.84%. We have a budget we have a finance
032meeting following this meeting this evening. And then we have two public hearings this year. We encourage everybody to attend and share your perspectives, your thoughts, your ideas. They'll be at the town hall at 7:15 at night on April 21st and April 28th. U we received a lot of good feedback from the community at the coffee and conversations and hopefully uh that trend will continue at the public meetings. Couple facilities updates. Um unfortunately we had a little bit of an issue with water the other day at Bolton High School. They were able to get in and rectify it temporarily. Unfortunately, the the weld booster drives uh are obsolete and we can no longer get parts for them. So, we can't repair them anymore. They have to be replaced. So, we'll be replacing those. Um John Butchovics
033is on it. Um and he's going to get those done uh in short order. And then moving forward, just to put it on our radar again, we'll be needing to replace the wireless access points next year, which is going to be uh a significant cost. So, we're planning uh planning for that that upcoming cost. >> Does anyone have any questions? >> I was hoping somebody would ask what a well booster drive is. >> Um it is um >> yes the drive. It's in the well. Do you want do you actually want an answer? Okay. So, like your house as well as out back that goes into a large system that to provide the pressure to the big building. There's the booster pumps, big motors that that run at different speeds depending on what's called for
034and the digital electronics to control those speeds. They're called drives. We had a similar failure a two years ago >> on one of the heating system is the same technology. It's end of life and that's what it >> Thank you. >> You're welcome. >> Thanks, Mr. We think that we have the money in John's budget for that. >> Yes. >> Hope to >> just a quick question. >> Sorry. Do we have an expected life expectancy of these devices such as the >> 16 years old originally built? >> Is that good or bad? I know on the HVAC ones it was kind of with the expectancy because they run not 247 but you know 12 15 hours a day. So for the every drop of water that come through is pushed by those booster pumps. So
035I I'm actually not surprised. We actually had a failure for parts. This is what the superintendent was referring to uh back in 2018 and at that point we could repair replace just some components and that we can't do this time because it's end. >> All right, any other questions? All right, on to unfinished business. And we have one thing which is the second read of our economic textbook. And we are looking for a motion, please, to approve the purchase of the economics principles and action book published by Sabis. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Does anyone have any questions or comments? all been down to bruise it in the last month. I'm sure all those in favor of the motion, please say I. >> I oppose abstaining and on to our new business and food
036service presentation. >> Yes, I'd like to invite Christine up. Um, as you know, we're working with Witson's this year for our food service and we would just want to provide the board with an update of how that's going, some of the major things that uh they're working on. We have some data to share and uh just give you an update on how things are going with their food service. >> Get this up and running. Good evening, Nessa. My name is Christine Wallace. I'm a a food service consultant and the food service director for Bolton Public Schools. I'm the liaison between the district itself and the food service management company that oversees and has the day-to-day responsibilities for um the the ongoing operation of feeding our kids every day. These are some of the things that
037have have changed since last year when there was no food service management company and this year with a food service management company. Uh, one of the major changes probably I don't need the microphone. Okay, thank you. um is that the Witson what previously were Bolton food service employees are now Witson employees with the exception of oh everyone you're right everyone now is a Witson employee um that means there's an HR issue that has now been lifted off of the district that becomes the responsibility for benefits operational discipline issues should they arise are all dealt with by the food service management company. Um, this is also important. We're trying to write a ship here, if you will. And very similar to your household budget, there's two considerations in in trying to write that shift. One is
038to um reduce your expenses. For us, that's primarily food and labor. And uh labor uh wits in is keeping the operation going with slightly less staffing hours than were on the books for last year. So, that's a savings. Um the other one is food, which you'll see uh in a minute. And then um again, raising revenue, and for us, that's the number of meals we serve. So, we're always trying to increase our participation and get as many kids involved in the program as we can. Uh, Witson is a very large company all over New England. They have much better buying power than we had last year in our much smaller buying cooperative. So, there's an automatic savings in food cost also in addition to the labor. Um, we are now actually offering more options every
039day at both grade levels. I apologize. I'm having cataract surgery next month and my vision isn't the best right now. U menu options. They are offering at breakfast and at lunch more options than we were able to offer them last year. >> Uh, Witson's has a lot of resources at their disposal. one of which is a professional chef that goes from account to account. He has been here once and will be here at the end of this month for a second uh special theme day where we roll out, you know, a very fancy dish that then becomes part of our menu um rotations. >> Is it quick enough working? Is your >> probably Yeah, I was trying to fix it. >> Yeah. Okay. Allar items. Um >> Go back a slide. >> Oh, you want
040Yeah. Well, allear items are anything other than the fine five main food groups. >> Yep. >> Um at breakfast or lunch. You can leave it here for just one second. Yeah. Um we are selling those now and we have not done that in the past since co um so we were slow coming out of co there was an oversight transition in leadership for the food service that was previously being overseen by eastcon kind of disintegrated I started a year and a half ago with them um so that's an additional source of revenue But I want to reassure everyone, HSC is healthy food certified. We go in Bolton above and beyond USDA's nutritional standards for anything outside of a vegetable or a fruit or a grain. Um, and so our nutrition standards for those extra items,
041if you will, or snack items meet those additional higher Connecticut standards. It's still not So, I'm not sure if I need to do something different. So, we're going to be talking about different kinds of numbers. Reimbursements is the amount that um primarily the federal government, but also there's some state reimbursement to help um assist us in putting out these meals. number of meals served. Participation figures, what percent of an eligible pool of kids are actually taking advantage of our programs, staffing levels. Again, I mentioned we're work we're doing the same amount or more with fewer labor hours. Um, special incentive funding and the bottom line progress that we're making. Um, the reimbursement rates are right here. And what a paideligible full price student is paying is here. So I just wanted to highlight for every
042free lunch if a student who is free eligible comes through and gets a lunch this is what we receive. When a paid student comes through this is what we receive. So there's a mechanism in place and we have to conduct specific mathematical calculations in about another month and a half or so based on a calculating tool provided by USDA to make sure that our paid prices are as high as they need to be so that our free and reduced reimbursements are not subsidizing um full paid students. So again, I'm just going to highlight a few things right here. Participation comparison at center school from October without the management company. October with the management company. Keep in mind they've been rolling about 60 days calendar days only. So the important things are the participation levels that
043corrects for drops in enrollment um number of school days in any one particular month etc. So we're working our free kids. We were serving 57% of them here. Is that 67? So that's a good thing. Reduced. We're holding even and paid. Paid is our is our really tough area in this district. Dropped a little bit there. Total participation districtwide for all groups is up slightly even though there was a drop in enrollment. This is at the high school again. We're working at 47 up to 57 for free kids. 23 23 holding even because the reduced numbers are so small. It takes a lot more difference to actually move that particular number. And then again, we're you can see we're kind of struggling here. Paids are really our challenge. Overall participation down by word. These are
044the things that we've been uh researching and addressing with different interventions um throughout this year at the high school. We brought in a hot chocolate bar. We have a lot of photographs in just one moment to support what you're seeing in in words here. Um continued expanded choices at all levels and making sure that there's hot sandwiches every day at center school. again hot choices every day and smoothies and parfets which are very popular. Um Witson's company policy is unlimited fruits and vegetables at all grade levels and selfs serve. That's one way they've been able to cut back on the labor somewhat is there are certain items in certain sections of the serving line where the students serve themselves. By the way, that's that's a great uh intervention. When students self- select, they are much
045more likely to actually consume that food when they sit down. And that actually is the overall goal. At the high school, by the way, there's up to eight different options, hot and cold, that they can select from every day. And you'll see some photographs of that. This is the hot chocolate bar at the high school. This is the salad bar at the high school. This is what the first chef's visit. And the menu um special menu that day was a ramen bowl. That's the finished product that was up as a display to let the kids know what they could expect when they moved their way down through the line. These are the assortment of toppings they could choose from. And they include proteins and vegetables. And by the way, um right up here, that's tofu.
046So even our vegans and vegetarians were able to participate in this thing. Coming again at the end of this month is an asai. Say yeah. Asai bowls. Um yogurt at the bottom. Fruit. The asai brilli style steak on flatbread. This is part of the breakfast kiosk cart that is out in the lobby at center school. Each morning the kids come through, make their selections, create a breakfast, bag it, and head to their classrooms for consumption. Um, and right here are the parfets and smoothies. This is a selection of fruits, canned and fresh. These are the regions at the high school with um chef salads, pre-made wraps. These are parfets on that actually. So we looked at when Winston's had about two months under their belt. Now these are March as in last month l March
047figures as a comparison. And again free surge for lunch last year is 62. We're at 71 now at center school. Even the reduced went up. And again we're still struggling with our cakes but we're working on. Overall participation is holding even. And I just want to point out again, we're struggling. Every year the enrollments go down. That's our customer pool. We have fewer and fewer to to try to entice in. This is at center school. Here's the high school. 57. We dropped in three, doubled and reduced and dropped again in dropped overall. Um, as you can see, I think we are targeting most of our efforts and interventions at the high school because that's the that's our tough cell right there. So, what are we looking for for next year? Uh there is state money
048available. It's called Connecticut Fresh Egg. And it must be used to purchase locally Connecticut grown or processed items, cider, maple syrup, fruits and vegetables, etc. And Bolton has been awarded $3,38. That helps with food cost. It supports local growers. In the governor's governor's budget currently is funding for universal breakfast. That means any student regardless of whether they're paid, reduced, or free, can get a breakfast at no charge and we are reimbursed for the free rate, which is a wonderful thing. So, everyone say what you can to your elected officials. Cross your fingers. We don't want that to get cut from the governor's budget. And that is similar to the mechanism that was used during COVID, by the way. And we hope to continue that progress towards toward creating a food service program that is sustainable
049and feeding our kids on the bottom line. In summary, we do have an advisory board at um both schools which is made up of parents, teachers, food service staff, administrators, and students. Did I say students? And that provides us important input and shaping what we do with the menus and the changes that will make. Any questions? >> I have a question. Yes, >> that's all really interesting information. I'm wondering how our food waste has changed with the new program. >> We've done no food waste studies. Um it's interesting. Uh I know the the RUD center uh which is now housed at Yukon. They have a lot of students, college students to do plate plate studies, plate waist studies. um the fact that there's unlimited service and we do participate in what's called offer versus serve.
050As long as a student has a minimum assortment of vegetable, fruit, milk, >> of meat, meat alternate or protein and a grain, as long as they have a proper, they don't have to take everything on the menu that day. >> So that automatically helps reduce waste. and excuse me with selfs served hot items at um both schools besides served and unlimited fruits and vegetables. I would think that would help minimize food waste, but that would be an interesting thing is to do a plate waist study. >> So in that regard, I know that kids are required to take from each of the food groups, but we know some of our kids are picky eaters and are not going to eat it. Is there a place in each of the cafeterias where they can donate it
051or do they get trashed? >> There are share tables, what are called share tables. >> In order for a student to have their lunch rung into a register for us to get the money back, we have to offer five different food groups. >> They have to have at least three so they can decline one or two of those as long as one of these is a fruit or a vegetable. So when I say that's the offer versus serve mechanism. So hopefully that prevents kids. I know we all see it. Breaks my heart. We all see them leave the serving line and >> go right to a trash barrel. Although I think there's far less of that. Um because we're doing offer versus serve because there's far more self selection for the students. >> I think
052the share tables are pretty well utilized. I know at the center school I've seen it pretty well utilized at the center school. We also do a lot of scratch cooking. So like we cook in waves. So if we're low on something, we cook more. We don't cook everything all at once. We can keep an eye on where we are. So there really isn't a lot of waste. And a lot of stuff we can repurpose into something else the next day. >> I was going to say like can you take some of those things from the share table and >> so the share table I normally the share table is like milk or like a bagged apple. We don't let them anything that's open because you know >> it has to be aseptic. >> A lot
053of like and most kids do if somebody puts something in it they someone else is taking it. So I'm really not getting a lot from our from our earlier meeting this morning. Um I and I had asked in that meeting there the shortfall that we have projected how it would impact the potential monies that we've committed to give back to the town that would not have any impact on the 75,000 that we've already committed um on the actual service and the menus. My daughters have both been very heavy participants this year and they both think that it's much better options this year. instead of just the hot lunch, there's always alternate options. There's there's seems to be more, let's say, more pizza days, but just more options for things that they like, and they're picky
054eaters. I I grant that, but uh they they said that um it's much preferred this year, and they're eating at school much more often this year than they have in the past. >> That's good news to hear. Um kids today are very sophisticated diners. Um they just are. Uh Food Network, um everybody watches those cooking shows. um if they eat our paid kids might eat out a lot. They're used to uh a lot of different restaurant menus. So, it's a challenge, but we have spent a lot of time this year working on menu, student input, and we will be looking at data out of our POSOS, our electronic POS system. Um, oh, I did want to mention the ramen noodle day, which was publicized and we had a professional chef there with the chef coat
055and everything on a lot of hoopla. That was the second highest participation um a number on that day. Um, second only to are you ready? I can't brunch day. I I don't know what it is, but at at both levels, brunch tends to be one of the highest >> participation days. I don't Mom's I guess we're not making hot breakfast at home enough anymore. >> Sure. >> Okay, that >> Thank you. Okay, we have a couple more things to do. Um, one is to approve the bake shop 2 class. Somebody >> I'll make a motion to approve the new bake shop 2 course. Um, is there a second? >> Second. >> Uh, I guess my question, this one was the circling back to your curriculum. This, this was the one that was projected to be
056heavily. >> There are students who are currently interested. Yes, >> there was a group coming out of big shop one that's would like this to be authored. waiting list >> and our teacher is ready to go and see a minimal cost heard that's always the questions. How much are we adding? >> Anyone have any other questions or comments about bake shop 2? All those in favor of the motion please say I. One opposed for abstaining. And now we are looking for a motion to approve the ECE music in your world class through ECSU. >> So moved. I'll second. >> Any questions, comments? Um, is this this is a uh college credit class that is >> Yeah. very eastern. Do we have people that are interested in listening? >> And the thought was that this may
057not be just like kids who are in the band or kids who just have an interest in >> and it would and we'd only offer it if there was interest, >> right? Yeah. >> So they they suspect it might alternate with some other semester long courses like guitar. >> No. Anyone else have any questions or comments about this course? >> All those in favor of the motion, please say I. >> Okay. >> Anyone opposed or abstaining? Do we have any future business? Thanks so for a motion to move. >> I'll second. There you go. >> Questions, comments? All those in favor, please say I. I. I >> opposed abstaining. Have a nice break, everyone.