001I don't have it in front of good evening this is an inperson special meeting of the B the bridgport Board of Education um it's Tuesday February 25th and it's 6:30 pm. we're at Aqua aquaculture I'm gonna get this right guys aquaculture school um today do we have any student reps online we're gonna skip that over that um we don't have anybody signed up for public comment so we're going to approval of meeting minutes um let me take roll call oh we have plge on sorry yeah um I'll do roll call we have um or Mr benan you can do roll call that's thank you Christine M spis Aamir maraa Jimenez is said williamina here Miss Jennifer Paris here Mr Joseph s Mr Rober tror Mr Andre wson say I Mr benam presid sorry okay we
002have a quorum um the first item is approval of meeting minutes from the special meeting January 15 2025 moved by Mr benan is there second second by Mr Dina any debate on that all in favor of approving the Mee minutes the I any opposed any extensions stain Mr cvix abstains next item is special meeting approval of the special meeting on January 29th 2025 some move move by Mr benan second I'll second by Mr sakovic any discussion all in favor say I I I any opposed any extenstions okay two eyes sorry okay Mr sakovic stains um approval of meeting minutes from the special meeting of February 1st 2025 so move moved by Mr benan is0 second second by Mr Medina all any debate or discussion all in favor say I I I any opposed any extensions
003abstain from Mr svic uh the last one is approval meeting minutes from the special meeting on February 11 2025 so move move by Mr benan second by Mr Medina any debate all in favor say I I any opposed any extensions Mr saal obtains Mr Woods joined online all right uh the next item is the chairperson's report um I think all I have to report is that we have agreed on some training dates for um this the state's um mandated training that we're um going through we'll be meeting on March 31st as for a second training um at which time uh we will go over a board self- evaluation that remember will complete by the week prior the 24th um April 7th is the 3r meeting April 21st the 4th May 19th the fifth meeting and
004the sixth meeting is June 6 16 um we'll report uh all our meetings to the state and um I'll follow up with them on attendance to the meetings and um just the discussions that we've had U so last night's meeting was just uh overview of board the board's role and how to operate a meeting um and how to conduct a meeting so we'll leave it there I guess um is there any questions for me about that Mr svic no but I've also got I've got some questions about something else about the respectfully to Dr Avery and the board um superintendent search it's been 75 days since Dr Levy David has resigned and we have not really started the search in force it's not fair to Dr Avery nor the community it's not fair to the
005board as we under State Statute there are currently 21 districts look for superintendence in the state of Connecticut right now we need to get ahead of the game we need to move fast we've got our we've got our team in place we already got the structure all we need to do is meet have them put out the application and get the process started Dr Avery of course is welcome to apply and this has no issues with him but we need to get the community to decide because the community has not yet been able to weigh in on any of this yet thank you any other question okay we'll move on committee reports uh finance committee uh the finance committee did not meet me interent um I believe Mr Uno is almost ready to present the
006budget is that correct Dr Avery it's correct is it do you think he'll be ready this week because I'd like to schedule a meeting this week next week next week possibly yes if you can get the potential date that we that you're thinking about it let's go ahead and see what we could get get that on in the books okay I'll send you the date after confirm what my committee members thank you um instruction any questions or referrals for the finance committee instruction and support service committee Mr trabber is um away tonight but he wanted me to let you all know that the next committee I had it down I'm sorry um is it the fourth or the sixth 6 Thursday Thursday the 6th he would have met this week but he's away so he
007pushed it to next week um are there any referrals for him I can drop down and send to his way uh yeah I'll email him I'll email him as well uh the special ed report update I know he's intending to put it on there but like to see which direction we're moving in uh as far as all the metrics that we had compl open complaints uh compensatory hours Ed if we're moving up or down in that that's all I got for that okay just follow up with an email to him all right the next one is the policy and Personnel committee thank you madam chair um policy and person has that me as a thing but we're looking uh forward right now I send the entire board uh five uh policies that I'm looking for
008everyone to read and possibly move to the full board uh with a um suggestion to bypass uh the bylaws for the second read because they're all mandates from the state and I'm looking to have uh that being presented in a special meeting hopefully uh for March 4th as I'm going to be working with Miss Danel okay any referrals March 4th we have a information session I believe for do we facilities and update uh Master didn't have that in my calendar I just checked but okay that's be that's gonna be uh presented by dry today right no problem I'll coordinate with with uh Miss Danielle and and Mr Mr a Dr Avery and uh we it's a special meeting so once we lock it in we'll make sure we don't bump into Heads next week sometime
009yeah all right um any referrals Mr yeah I just want to referr I know we're under a lot of a lot of things going on right now but um we go we definitely got to get started with this committee and meeting and stop bumping up against so many things perhaps we're stretching ourselves a little too thin across the district and we need to get our work done at the committee level the state is watching us one of the things that they brought up is policy not not not the amount of community fors we were having but we need to get this work done we need to make sure we need to check with the check in with the committee chairs make sure they don't have a meeting planned for the dates where planning around we're
010not planning around multiple multiple things that we have no control over definitely with that being said also the regular meeting that is scheduled will be also on March 12 so definitely there'll be a regular meeting as mine say the second Wednesday of every month so they will definitely be having one without a doubt because no one should be stepping on those toes uh on March 12th a regular second Wednesday of the month thank you all right thank you any further yeah yes go ahead I want to make sure that the board is aware that the state I'm going to talk a little bit about that in my super report there's a lot of different moving parts right now going on with meetings and forums and the community is asking to be heard so we need
011to be able to kind of know work with the community and and have those touch points with them about things were happening sometimes you know like this like tomorrow um I didn't have a meeting this week but due to due to the fact that we had an issue at Tisdale I needed to reach out and touch the community so we we ended up having a meeting so there's going to be a lot of that that happening and yes there we've been meeting every single day pretty much the last couple of weeks and so we understand that as a staff and we we're going to try to accommodate and do the work but the state is also wanting to have a little input in what we're doing and how we're doing how in the frequency of
012that so I have my first meeting with them on next Tuesday uh they will be in the district uh and then we're going to try to map things out a little bit clear for you so that we can have a little bit of you know when we're going to do things and you know we have two meetings a month so we have a beginning of the month board meeting and the middle of the month board meeting and then we're having to fit everything else in between that so it's a it's a juggling act and so hopefully we're going to be able to you know get some of these things off the plate so we're not meeting so frequently uh but that's just part of right now we're going to have to do and we're moving
013things we're counseling things we're we're modifying and and rescheduling things and that's part of the process right now because we're we're working through trying to make sure that we work through these things and they're also going to be having meetings uh that they're going to want it to engage not only my staff but teachers and principes and parents and so they're doing some things too right alongside of what we're doing so it's it's a juggling act a balancing act so we'll we'll do our due dilig to help that out um I will say that I want to make sure committee chairs make sure we're sticking to the dates of our committees um if there is a need to change we'll we'll we'll change our dates if if there no we won't change our dates our
014dates are are what they are that's what I meant to say if you the need to add additional dates because something urgent is coming up we can accommodate that as well but make sure we're sticking to the dates that we have set um meetings um yeah to that to that event um so many things could be combined like Facilities Review information session for the public could be combined with a facilities meeting we could have the facilities meeting it doesn't have to be doesn't have to be right here it doesn't have to be just the facilities review for the committee it could be a committee meeting committee the Facilities Review and they review it in front of them and have our meeting afterwards on the same day I mean we we got a lot of work
015to do none of the facilities things can move through none of the finance things can move through none of the policies can move through none of nothing can move through without a board vote so that that actually that's planned we're planning all that's all planned out for next we're gonna cover that um any other questions for personnel all right the facilities committee will meet March 5th um we're gonna have a nutrition update and um some other things um uh so that's going to be March 5th um any referrals to that committee M chair yes nutrition is gonna be on that we're nutrition report Nutrition Des time um I don't know if it's you or Mr tror about um kbe I know last year you know we was approved and you know to the board to
016give $100,000 to give a receipt from U Mr Tores uh report so I don't know it's you or Mr Mr TR okay I know he's not here so just let him know oh email him so all right thank you all right um any other referrals all right um I don't have any updates for the cave report I guess um there is a the the day of the Hill it's the 11th yes March 11th uh it's a Tuesday I believe it's a Tuesday um but you can sign up board members sign up Dr a if you want to sign up you can also sign up um just let Danielle know because there is a fee attached but she can get it wave for some folks can uh members of of the cabinet go to that as
017well I believe so the staff can go too yeah oh the 12 okay 12 March 12th you're right okay is that a Wednesday I'm sorry Dan in the hill is also yeah it's 3:12 at 9:00 am bushill aor just send um send Danielle if you want to go she'll sign you up yeah and Dr yeah def definitely staff is welcome it's also welcome if as as many people as we could get behind richport okay there's power numbers there's Community people that would would like to participate in that so maybe we can put a blast out Tim and D Carlo that the dayra for yeah it registers for us but then there's there's usually a March they're not I don't think they're doing the March they're not doing the March this year okay I didn't see
018anything about it either so scratch that until we find all the information okay we'll come back I'll agre with you but staff can still sign up the staff yeah Olivia got she's gonna take care of us um all right so moving on Dr ry's report thank you madam chair uh I want to the superintendent report you know based on my um last night we had a a a meeting with cave where the board had training and one of the things I think we're going to do moving forward is uh really making sure that I give the board uh my super report prior to the board meeting uh in addition to really focusing in on you know uh Department updates academic updates District updates uh and datadriven reports that's going to drive the conversation with the
019board uh and so starting next month we're going to do do my superintendent report a little bit different uh and so I think it will be help helpful uh for the board uh with the recommendation of cave I think that's important that we take some of that learning that we get and that we apply it to some of the things that we're doing and maybe changing some of the practices that we do so so I'm going to again change my report in order to be a little bit more datadriven to make sure that we can recognize staff recognize students within the superintendent report that will be a little bit more meaningful for the board so I would love to do a couple of months and get some feedback from the board members moving forward but
020for today I'm going to just highlight a few things um again um my my executive well members of my executive team I met with uh the commissioner Russell Tucker and the the new uh technical assistance team uh at the state capitol uh on Monday uh there's really to to Really emphasize uh you know expectations moving forward how they're going to engage with the district and administrative staff uh and and really making sure that uh the district understands that the state's going to be you know an oversight of the things things that are happening within the district and so it's important for the community to uh to be aware that she is getting ready to reach out to the Bridgeport community uh she's going to be sending a letter out to the community I think she
021said by Friday uh there's something going to be uh send out you know uh through her through the district to get out to the families in the district uh really making sure that they're clear about what's happening the technical assistance team will be in the district next week uh you know for the first initial meeting with myself and my staff uh that's going to be March the 4th at 8:00 a uh the other the other aspect of of the of my report is that you know the last couple of weeks we rolled out the my six month uh plan for engagement for the with the with the community and really trying to have a focal point of the things that we're going to be uh really focusing in on for the next six months uh
022and this technical assistance team is going to help drive those those focal areas and make them a little bit more robust uh being able to look at you know um you know the funding aspect of things what are we doing with our money what are some of the internal protocols that we that we utilizing or not utilizing in the district uh to make sure that we're we we hold ourselves and you know and the state holding is accountable for the utilization of those dollars that be grant funding or just uh operational dollars that we're using to um to help move this District forward and and really looking at you know the return on those Investments so as we're adding those dollars to the budget of the district how does that relate to the progress that
023the kids are making within the district so there's a there's a true correlation there uh and they really want us to take a deeper dive and understanding what that is uh again the second area of focus of that uh five-point plan of rebuilding and stronger bridgeboard talks talks about teachers and administrators uh and that Rel that relationships of what what what does it take for teachers and administrators to collaborate together at the campus level to impact you know student you know outcomes and I think it's really you know time for our district to really look at that because it's the quality of the staff that we have in front of our kids kid that's going to maximize the growth uh academically for for the children of bridport public schools again the third area is is
024special education that has been a a huge void in the district uh you know there's a lot of dollars going into uh special education across the district and so we need to again looking at that return of the investment and how we're going to do business in the area of supporting special need children uh throughout the district and that that even includes our bilingual children as well I think we really need to kind of blend those two things together to work through uh number four we've been talking a little bit about that just at the beginning of this meeting the transparency uh the the community is hungry for transparency uh and accountability uh in community involvement and so I'm G to I'm going to do my due diligence to try to make sure that the
025community is involved with everything we do they have a voice uh and we have different Avenues in order for us to take in that voice from the community uh moving forward as well so that's going to be a work in progress I think that's something we're gonna have to try new things do new do new things and involve new people uh in this um uh this this new in invigorating process of rebuilding a new stronger Bridge Port we have we have the necessary you know components of it you know we have the people that want do it we have the students that are eager to learn we have administrators Teachers Community so let's just now bring it all together uh and show the state of commun uh the state of Connecticut that Bridgeport is is
026ready to to collaborate together to move the needle a little bit on what we do in this district and then the last thing uh number five is the academic achievement and student growth uh that's what we're here for every day is to to really make sure that we showcase the things that we do and if we take baby steps to to that academic growth and student growth I'm okay with that uh but we have to keep showing growth uh and we have to unite it and and when we do not show growth we need to make sure that we understand why we're not showing growth uh and and again really working through that and understanding that a little bit as well um the third thing is um myself and my fellow board members we had
027an opportunity uh last week to uh testify uh regarding you know advocating for additional dollars for the district and uh there's going to be many many more opportunities that we love for more members and there was a lot of community members as well I was I was very pleased that a lot of community members you know stayed up late hours to Comm to um uh to uh to advocate for those funds and and really put the voice of uh the importance of making sure that bridgport not left behind when it comes to those additional dollars and so uh the advocacy is is is one of the best things ever that we can do to kind of work from there uh and the last thing on on my report is uh and I'm going to I'm
028not going to still is thunder so uh Mr Garcia and his team is gonna talk a little bit about the facility study and how that was all orchestrated uh way before the state came into this District uh we wanted to make sure that we did the business different from what we did last year uh we rolled out a plan of doing some things things with our facilities last year that the that the community did not receive very well so we me and my team has we we've we've we've stood you know very strongly with this about making sure the community is involved in this this go around and so we finished the reports all the board members have a copy of the report the City of Bridgeport has a copy of the report the delegation
029has a copy of the report board now it's time to engage we're going to we're going to we have a couple of different things that we're going to talk about and I'm going to let Mr Garcia in his report give you a little bit detail about that and how that plan is going to be rolled out uh and then we're have dates for community in you know input it's done strategically guys and it's it's time to be able to to put it out there and let the community decide what goes on and and and take a deeper dive and deeper look into Bridgeport Public Schools facilities in order for them to have a little weigh in about what should happen if anything to facilities of brdb public school so that's important so uh that's the
030the end of my report and I'll take any questions are there any questions Mr s that's a couple questions and a couple of comments um very good report Dr Avery um as far as the state senator oston said it better said it best you cannot maximize what you don't have and I would like to point out to anybody from the state that's watching right now how are we going to spend money we get the first thing we're going to do is cover our deficit and try to maintain the services we have today we cannot add one single service unless we get over 2627 million so let's make that clear let's make the narrative clear we cannot add Services when you ask us where the money's going the first $26 million is going to maintain what
031we have today so let's keep that clear that's second thing I'd like to second thing I would like to make clear is that while the state is here in an advisory advisory cap capacity we as the board are still driving the decisions of this District the state may have a suggestion for us to that go contrary to what our community believes we got 169 districts that the state overseas we are like want to six or seven urban districts a lot of their values and things they're directed towards the more wealthier districts because that's the state of Connecticut mostly wealthy sub suburbs and as I've spoken before about the tayor to Connecticut what works in Greenwich might not work in Bridgeport we are yes we were we're here to carry out the educational mandates of the
032state but we're also here to carry out those mandates as directed by the voters of the City of Bridgeport and the taxpayers that support this system thank you Mr Woodson oh yes I just I I I just like to remind Joe that we're in front we're we're in front of the the state and we could be removed you know for not doing our job so I just wanted to remind Jo that and um in charge um you know I just I want to remind you know I don't know if Dr Avery uh know is aware but you know in the past we have listened to the community community told us to keep the schools open we need the schools and it it's gotten us in a $40 million hole so you know although you know
033I you know I I love to hear from the community I love to have them involved in you know making the decisions they do pay taxes stuff like that you know they they they have got they are part of the reason why we are where we are so just want to Dr Avery to you know hear that and um I would love to hear uh you know your your report Dr Avery to talk more about you know a detail reports on you know the attendance how how we're doing with attendance because that's been a um a major focus on from you know from the state how we're doing with our multilangual Learners cuz that was one of the focuses how we're doing in Reading how we're doing in math and how we're doing in special
034ed you know I think those are those are big big key um elements of what we what we come here to do and we need to be updated on on that at least once a month thank you sir I think I think you you're spot on with that and I think that's kind of you know the the focal point that I'll be moving forward really concentrating in on some of those things uh in order for us to be very transparent uh in our our deficiencies and very transparent on on the things we're doing very well so thank you for uh for that reminder I I took a lot of those same suggestions from the training last night so I think that moving forward you're going to see a lot more of that I think that's
035important thank you Mr Cal yeah I just want to make a point of clarification about the numbers and the $40 million deficit it was not because of the not closing the schools even had we immediately closed all six schools laid off every single employee we would still be $16 million in debt after closing those six schools without adding a single program that was Pro that was proposed at that time that would be laying off everybody and mothballing all the schools all right milon well well no it's a it's very important that these numbers are accurate and the narrative is accurate this is not why we are in a deficit we are in a deficit because of chronic underfunding by the state who is trying to manage the money that we don't have and local government
036who hasn't funded our schools thank you Mr K anybody else for the superintendence report Mr venan yeah um first of all before everything thank you Dr yes than for everything you do it's not easy for the short time a lot of things people see what's going on in the front but they don't know what's going on behind curtain they don't know what's going on behind um C they don't know what's going on behind doors you know as a board member as a leader as a baser as a parent I know what you do and I challenge anyone anyone they say something negative from Dr ay I challenge because I know what he's doing not not including him us as as a board member we working all the cabinet is working so the state and whoever
037we're not doing nothing welcome we going to talk we're going to sit down you want to see what we're doing because this gentleman here in the cabinet they working I'm sorry I talking like that because it make me upset because they think bridport it's like at the other time like at U my colleague said this is bridport we have almost 20,000 students you know and they give up less money we got almost 5,000 staff we got a you know big huge you know it's the big city we have in Connecticut they think this a Happ then you know water B new heaven stuff like that no they can handle you know with little small you know people they don't the city know that too so I challenge anyone they come to say negative in our
038B but you guys the people from the state that they know they're watching good very welcome I'm very glad we got tech training last night I love it I enjoy it and I hope you keep guys coming to help us you know do not come to say and point and you not come to help us we need help we not say we don't need help yes we need help but I say thank you that for everything you do I know it's not easy you have a lot of thing in in your plate and you try and especially I like to say thank you when parents come to you and talk to you you have your agenda so full that you twist it to see you can help that family to help that staff to help
039that Community they don't see that I see that that's what I say I challenge anyone but I really appreciate that but also um I'm very glad that this the state they're going to come and when they want to know where's the money go I'm waiting for you guys we're going to be here sitting for you we're going to give you everything you want and trust me when the as the board Dr ay or the cabinet they will give you the information you need an extra so you can know what we doing but we need hope you very welcome we not say no but I want people understand that we're not playing we're not here joking where's the money you you know I'm very glad you you're going to know where's the money you're going to
040see what each department for brisport public school they do it's a lot of Department we have it's a lot of people here there's a lot of staff and I hope all the staff all your cabinet they give it the extra information to the state and they can see let me see I want to hear they can handle because we can handle and we're not going to give up thank you Madame chair all right any further questions for Dr Avery all right we're g we're g to move on to um discussing a possible action on some contracts the first one being Fairchild Willers School HVAC project good evening hello uh so this evening we're gonna ask for approval on several contracts Jamie is going to go through those contracts that were approve that committee followed by
041a a quick update on facilities Master good evening um we'll be presenting I think six um contracts projects tonight all of these projects are capital funded so they were approved by the city council and mayor the first project a under um seven is Fairchild Wheeler School HVAC project this is a project we have about 400 coils or some call them pipes that um occasionally or frequently now are leaking it was a poor design um we have 400 of them this um contract is to replace 200 coils um they are $2,000 each it's $200,000 the contractor is mckin mechanical they are on the city oil trades bid and we also use them as a qualified purchase because they have been the contractor replacing these coils and they um have the most experience at this School individually
042or individually so it was 200,000 total yeah yeah mic my question is be the same for for all microphone sorry microphone thank you I apologize um my question is probably gonna be the same for everyone um this one's a qualified purchase with State vender that's fine um are all the rest qualified purchases or there or did and or did they go out to bid and the lowest provider selected um each contract I'll go through this one was the contractor that was on the all trades bid and also we used them as a qualified purchase so the way the all trades bid works is you have to go to each of the um contractors and get a quote but in this case we only went to this contractor because they are the most experienced at this
043school with these types of pipes and coils thank you Mr Medina no I thought you had your hand all right is there a motion motion to approve the ageac contract F oh I'm sorry yes Miss are any of these contracts associated with energized Connecticut getting incentives or anything like that no none of these are okay thank you oh Madam chair yes Mr Medina um you mentioned that there's 400 and we're only replacing 200 correct we've replaced um when we um found the issue we replaced I believe 56 under Esser funding and then we requested each year you'll see um in this year's Capital we requested another 100 to be replaced so what we do is um we try to get head of the problem but we also use this purchase order if it's approved to
044um work on any emergencies that pop up that we're not aware of because they are hidden pipes so you don't always know which one's going to so you you mentioned if I believe and I quote that it wasn't properly done before so now these being replaced are they're using a different one or what different material go ahead George yeah so so what we're doing now is um the design was the be child Willer was one of the buildings that was a lead gold the first lead gold building in the City of Bridgeport highly efficient issue is that some of the designs don't lend themselves well for this part of the region that building being a chilled beam um so what we're doing is we're we're straight line piping uh these these unions for better flow
045and less fa so what ends up happening it's it's a single point of failure for us currently and this will reduce that for us so uh last week as a matter of fact we had a pipe fail cost us right around $10,000 to uh soak up Glide call we had to bring an outside agency in to clean up all of the glycol and all of the repairs ceiling tows carpeting everything else so this is why we need to do this because we're having leaks throughout the building um our goal is that we're requesting $200,000 a year from the city council through capital and over five years we'll be able to remedy this whole entire issue thank you right there's been a motion by Mr actually wasn't finished didn't finished midd um make a motion to
046approve the agac project as presented for fair child wheeler campus and seconded by Mr Medina any further debate I've got one more question um Mr Medina's fault he may me think of it as far as the F the funding from the city capital plan are we still going at the third round third round of HB back from the state is there any monies available to us there that we're going after so the third round for the AG HV vac Grant I think the state is uh pulling that back so there is currently no third round for HVAC but um you know we're working closely with the ca currently to see if there's any opportunity there there's around $50 million I believe or $150 million of uh HVAC money up at the State uh so we're
047trying to find different ways to Advocate to sort of bring some of those dollars in um you know we have shovel ready projects we've done a lot of analysis on what we have in the district we've done a complete audit of all of our HVAC throughout the whole entire District so we know along with the facilities assessment study we are primed and ready so um you know let's Advocate thank you take a vote all in favor to approve I I any opposed any extensions that one passes the next one is the JFK Miss camir has joined the meeting let Rec reflect that um the next um item is a JFK Administrative Building elevator project currently the JFK elevator in this area of the building the admin area is um decommissioned it is not working at
048the time so we have a quote and contract for $31,800 to replace the elevator it is through con elevator it includes the cost of bonds this contract con elevator is the contractor that maintains all of the elevators in the district for us and this is through a Cooperative purchase so we get one of the best prices going through this type of purchase is there a motion question you have a question for it Cooperative purchase I not sure I'm familiar with that that one can you explain what a Cooperative purchase is so a Cooperative purchases are similar but different to State contracts so sometimes we'll you we'll piggy back off of the state contract this is piggy backing off of a Cooperative purchase that might be Nationwide that con elevator is on okay thank you this
049is through the Omnia Cooperative purchase is there a motion make a motion to approve the contract to place the elevator at uh JFK campus as presented is there a second any further debate on that all in favor say I I any opposed any extensions that one passes next one is the Dunbar School elevator project this is the same contractor and same Cooperative purchase this um project with the price of bonds included is $339,000 22 and it will be replacing a Antiquated elevator at dumbar school that we can can no longer find parts for any questions on that is there a motion chair make a motion to approve uh the contract as stated for the Dumar School elevator project as presented the motion's been made by Mr Medina do a second I'll second seconded by Mr
050talovic any further discussion on that all in favor say I I any opposed any extensions that one passes Discovery School playground project this project and the one after it the JFK campus playground project are both um were using the contractor compan and they are also on a Cooperative uh purchase they are a vendor that the city and the district has used in the past we have also used other vendors on this cooperative and on the state contract so we try to give opportunities to different um vendors depending on the type of playground we are looking for at the school so Discovery School playground project is actually an outdoor educational classroom it is 84,3 158 that includes the cost of bonds this is in a new area because the Pro the playground that is there now
051is um a safety issue with the trees um the limbs falling and the location it's in any questions yes so if I'm understanding what you just mention is that that playground is going to be eliminated and then this classroom is going to take its place I believe so yes so the the current Outdoor Classroom will be eliminated and this Norm will be put in a different location but that area will be cleared out from the current where Outdoor Classroom is currently so it's not a playground in that site there's another classroom outoor classroom yes got so there's a playscape and then the Outdoor Classroom um yes um cover is only it's one it's one of our newer buildings do all of our buildings have a outdoor space or play space or outdoor classrooms that could
052have them or R doing Discovery so I'm not trying to pick on Discovery I talk but when we say new schools they're 13 years old so uh you know there's that they are the newest schools that we have but they are starting to get dated so there are needs um this being one of them um we have outdoor classrooms at blackham high Horizons J both the J K campus has two Marin has one and blackham has one in the courtyard and um Discover it highly used they schedule them because they're so used we're trying to get children outside different environment to learn um but it's it's it's a need at at uh discovery due to the safety issues thank you is there a motion I'll make the motion for Discovery to approve the contract for
053Discovery School playground is there a second so move seconded by Mr benan is there any further debate on it okay um all in favor say I I any opposed uh I'm G I'm gonna vote no with the F an explanation yeah I I think we've got more pressing needs than an outdoor classroom so I'm just gonna vote no but congratulations at Discovery forg it I don't prr you for it any abstentions all right that one passes next one is the JFK campus playground project so this playground is actually adding on to an existing Antiquated um playground there's only a few structures out there now so what we will do is we will put um the rubber surfacing under those older structures to keep it safe and then we will add a playground next to the
054older playground it is $237,700 and that includes the cost of BU any questions on the JFK campus playground is there a motion motion to approve the JFK campus playgrounds there a second moved by Mr cic seconded by Mr Medina any further debate all in favor say I I any opposed any extensions that one passes next one is the Marin School ceiling tile project I will apologize in advance but for bringing this late to um your attention we just had the scope review meeting with the lowest bidder and we wanted to be sure that that was the contractor we were moving forward with before we presented it but we also wanted to present it tonight because the contractor once we get all the paperwork in can complete the project in the week of April break so
055this project is the Marin School ceiling tiles they will be replacing removing the old tiles cleaning the grids and then replacing them with new tiles on the first floor second floor and cafeteria this went out to bid using the new bidding um portal through the city purchasing department called open go we used to use big syn now we use open gov we required a mandatory walkthrough for this prior to bidding so we had seven contractors through open goov come to the walkth through and two two of those contractors responded we did a scope review meeting with the lowest most responsible contractor and their bid came in at 98,6 190 this is a new contractor to our department we haven't used them before but um they've been used in other cities such as the New Haven
056School District um throughout Connecticut their name is mcgilla Construction and they are a minority contractor certified through the state you any questions on this one Mr scovic no okay wa in there is there a motion motion to approve the ceiling tile project for Marin as presented is there a second seconded by Mr benan is there any further debate on this one and sure yes can I I um at request of you guys when those projects are completed if you can kind of do a photo op of of what that is and bring that back to the board and the community to see the finished product the elevators the playground I mean all that i' love to kind of see the ceiling Towes you know um AB as well at Morin yep so uh typically what
057we do on our shutdowns we take advantage of shutdowns in the summer as you know we have a very finite window to get a lot of projects done um if you go on our website currently we have PowerPoints of all the projects that we've done and all the shutdowns this will fall suit and we'll bring this back to the board to do the facilities committee to share with everyone perfect thank you thank you we'll take a vote all in favor to approve the Marin School ceiling tile say I I any opposed any extensions that one passes thank you Jamie Mr Garcia the facilities Master Plan update good evening so I'm here with a very brief update on the facilities plan is want to take the thunder away from Thursday night um we're excited to be
058at the point we are to finally have completed this long journey that we've been on many of you know we've been chasing after trying to get this done for some time years uh so here we are finally um I want to start by thanking the staff and everyone that was part of this journey uh it was a lot of work that went into this uh data management has done a tremendous job of making sure we had all of the data uh it I mean the the list goes on and on teach principles um you know board members we've all worked together we've come together as one big family to achieve this Monumental go um George I'm gonna interrup you so here we are uh third so the 21st everyone's given the full report uh the
05924 I mean on Thursday evening you'll be uh there'll be a forum where this information will go out to everyone so everyone's on the same page in term of what where we are um in terms of the facilities assessment study the demographic study which compile compiled together is the facilities master plan this is the data that we really need to start making informed decisions for this District on how we move forward not only on our facilities you know we see that number 700 million and you know you sort of you sit so how are we going to get there we're going to get there we're going to get there strategically working together as a team making sure that the community is involved because they're a catalyst to all of this and making sure that every
060everyone understands where our pinch points are and where we need to make those strategic Investments we've started that process through Esser we've also done that through Capital we've also done that through grants so we we have a foundation that we haven't had in the past um you know the projects that we're talking about for us to be able to start talk about Playgrounds ceiling Tils and and direct piping at JFK we we we were struggling to get to that point you know but as we start to build out and we're able to show that return on investment on the Investments made in this District it's going to be easier for us to go ahead and access the dollars we truly need um so what does the future look like for us with the facilities B
061to plan uh Thursday night is uh the Forum to roll this information out um the fourth we'll be coming back to you with the recommendations that were compiled as part of this uh the recommendations are strategic in nature and exactly what this District needs um there's the short short term there's the longterm you know there's a lot of decisions that have to be made um you know we we've used thought exchange to make sure that we've captured the voice of the community the voice of board members the voice of of everyone that's that's bridgeboard um so we're excited about that we're going to continue to use that as part of the process and then once we get that recommendation set out to you guys we're going to get into the community March 31st is our
062first April 2nd and April 3D are all of our dates for us to get out into the community to roll this information out so Dr ay to make sure we go back because what after uh March 4th meetings we're going to be engaging each entity the Board of Trustees will have a meeting where where they have direct contact with the uh the third party vendors to really ask your deeper questions that you really have before we go to the community we'll do that same thing with the with the city council we'll go to to one of their meetings and let them kind of you know you know dive into the data and then also with the delegate so again it's just really trying to make sure that we maximize the thoughts of the three entities
063that really is is going to drive the next generation of facility you know management look at you know rebuild do facilities in Bridgeport so and then we're we're taking it once all three entities have that information then we're going to be out in the in the community Community we're going to engage the community with everything questions they may have you know looking at you know the in the internal workings of this document uh and and really make sure so when this board decides to do whatever they decide to do then they're going to have a very informed analysis of what should be happening based on the community's decision but remember the board has the ultimate decision-making Authority to decide what happens to the facilities in this District the nine board members so again we just
064want to make sure that everybody if we do this as a community guys you know it's going to be received as a community effort uh and everybody's going to be happy uh because it's important because when you talk about academic Improvement you know and if you don't have sound facilities where kids and staff are working you're not going to see the progress that you're going to see where everybody else around us you know and and a lot of the board members can to can attest to this walking into a nearby town in their facilities I was blown away you know and compared to what we have our kids deserve that too you know and that's what we have to keep at the Forefront as we experience this experience with this new facility study it's done
065differently uh and it's done differently strategically the team has has put a lot of effort into this you know and we want to make sure that we engage everybody that we that we you know put put forth this these this this data in order for you to have an informed conversation and a voice I think that's important as well so uh and and and and George you you and PJ I mean you've you've orchestrated all of that you we've had long days long nights uh we we we've had conversations where we agreed to disagree uh and it's we're here and I and I know I'm very proud I know you guys are very proud we talked about that the other day uh and I'm hoping uh the board's gonna be proud as as they roll
066it out and understand it as well board it's a lot of information yes it's a lot of documents you know so you got to be able to understand it and ask the question questions and you're not going to you're not going to be able to ask all the questions but the questions that you ask another board member is going to be thinking the same thing but you may ask it and the question that they asked you may be thinking the same thing but didn't know how to ask it ask the question so it's it's it's I think we're in a good spot I think it's a great opportunity for us so let's embrace it yep and one of the things we really challenge each other you know as a Cabinet as a team we pushed
067and we you know we we really pushed each other and challenge the theories behind what we've been able to accomplish through this this data set and we're excited to roll it out you know um so with that said uh I'll take any questions I also want to add that after the community forums this will come back before the board so we're not going to make any plans on capital of capital change of the capital plans without the board's um vote on that before it goes to the city for whatever recommendations are made and um so the board will have that uh the first week of April we had attended Le scheduled for the 7th and I realized we added a special meeting for our training on the 7th so we're going to make it that
068happen that week but we'll figure out a date where we can after getting all the information that we have plus the community input where the board will have the final say and and vote on whatever recommendations are made um so questions Mr sovic yes thank you thank you you Mr Garcia how are you um yeah sorry I'm just trying to figure out how this all feeds into the finance piece and the operating budget because obviously if we gota excess some building it's going to feed into the operating budget it's all a holist a very big holistic thing pancing around in the head so we're gonna have to make some moves that the community may not like and instead that we're getting out there to the community at the same time we got to be mindful
069of all these time pressures because the fiscal year is this fiscal year is coming to a close and we're going into the next fiscal year and we're setting our budget and anyway and I'm just rambling I'm sorry it's just like it's a it's a lot that we got to do gonna be a lot of decisions that have to be made um you know there's a lot of things going on at the state also the state level prek and you know uh HVAC dollars up there there's a lot of things that you know we're going to want to start to look at in a different way it's going to take the board the council the delegation the community the staff you know we all have to come together you know the good thing is that we're
070coming together in a point where we have the data and the facts behind us that's something that we're always trying to create but now we have a third party that's come in to verify all those things and give you a clear clear picture because it's not just facilities cond condition assessments I mean we're talking about what programs you have in each building what classrooms those programs are that um you know your boundaries and how uh being smart about how we shift our boundaries and we can sort of uh balance schools better I mean this is the road map for us and working together as a team I think we are in the most advantageous position we've been in in a very long time as a district Mr WS just I just want to make a
071comment that uh I hope that we that that you know I'm I'm not I'm just I'm hoping but I know for myself that I'm going to be making my decision from listening to The Experts and from you know listening to the data and whatever the data says you know my my decisions won't be made from the feelings you know of of you know what uh how you know how people feel about a school or maybe feel about certain teachers and stuff like that you know we we we have to get past that we have to know that we're making the best decisions for our kids health you know no no no no nobody can learn you know around hazardous conditions you know it's hard it makes it makes it harder for for for kids especially
072if somebody trying to with a brain developing you know you you you you leave you're leaving I don't I'm not going to get into I'm not a doctor but it just hard to for a brain developing to try to thrive in a in a in a environment that's not so safe so I hope we're just making our decisions that and listening to experts thank you Mr Medina did you have your hand yes go ahead so I just wanted to thank again the the staff for doing this work like uh Mr Garcia has you know pretty much was born and raised in bridor like myself we went to school together but to know that we're in this point and we just went through a meeting and we were talking about blueprint and this is the blueprint
073that they were talking about rebuilding this District as a whole so every single one of our board members are going to listen to the community are going to listen like Mr Woodson said to The Experts and everything and we have data that now the state our our delegates you know the state the board the State Board everybody's going to see that you know and I will welcome uh Mr a Dr Avery having them go visit our neighboring Town school one day bring them by there and show them the difference of what it is and you know we have an opportunity right now to put our back foot forward with this data with this information and I think it would you know we need to go to the state right away to show these things because
074if we wait for them to be the last the delegates they're not going to be able to really have a compassionate overview on what really it is our district has been dealing with I got people when I went out to uh to Canvas and and to visit our district and I got people moving here from New York and saying my daughter just went to you know a school and she's coming up and her shirt is yellow that's how much she was sweating inside the school it was a white shirt you know and they were wondering why we don't have AC's in all our schools why don't we have this that and you know but yet other people were talking about swimming pools in our schools where has nothing to do with the education standard so
075I appreciate this and I'm you know I'm going to be looking at it but this is our best foot forward and I and I appreciate you guys everyone that fought and made this possible because now we're going to be able to make some big decisions that's going to be an outcome for my grand kids so I appreciate everybody miss cmir um I agree with every everything that uh everyone just said um I want to thank Mr Garcia uh I want to thank Mr karfa uh I want to thank everyone every single Department um and their support staff all of their support staff um so I just wanted to say how much I appreciate it and you know like Mr Woodson said um thinking about from the smallest preschoolers their brain development all the way up
076um you know to our uh seniors this is something that has been long overdue uh I'm very very excited about reading it but I'm also very ready to make the hard decisions that are going to have to be made as a result um of these experts and what they have to say so I just want to say thank you to everybody and um and I'm ready um to make the decisions that we need to make for these kids thank you then CH Mr Ben thank you mad chair um Mr Garcia well I don't know what else to tell you to say you know I don't know what how many time I have it to say thank you and you know that but I know the years before we had something like that but people they
077don't know what we do now the people they talk at what brbor they do we're going to show them what you guys do what we all do you know it's a team you know it's not easy especially you doing an amazing job day the night you know extra hours with your team your department everyone as you say people say yes you say no but at the end of the day we need to get a solution to see what we can what we're going to do you know but I know it's not easy while you're going through but now you show to the people the community it everybody from a hard for whever going to come what you guys do sometime you have we got people they pathetic they asking question they know the answer but
078they want to be something pathetic and I can say it but sometime that's why I say you have to support you know because you guys all of you they're not by yourself you I would say thank you for everything thank you and Mr PJ um but you know something I laugh because I can't wait this the people from heart for come and see what you guys all do I'm telling you I can't wait because I'm going to say you I'm going to say three words as my Mr wrest will say I told you that's the three words I'm going to tell them they think we playing we're going to show them you know because I made me upset and made me angry they think we playing that we're not working they don't see our city
079so big they don't see have everything you do you know I'm witness you know as I said before I challenge anyone anyone after you guys amazing job you too but you guys as I was saying in English and Spanish H let's meet together we can make the difference thank you Mr Garcia thank you PJ thank you for all your the department everything you dok you always got my support appreciate that Mr thank you um yes I think everybody on this board wants our kids to have a safe environment and they deserve a safe environment um I think we're all ready to make the hard decisions and I believe we're ready to show the state that Bridgeport is resilient that we can make the hard decisions that we can persevere through trials and tribulations but one
080day bridgeboard is going to show them we shouldn't have to we should not have to be dealing with dilapidated buildings nobody has touched up on to how our buildings got dilapidate dilapidated in the first place it's through a lack of funding uh it's not through a lack of facilities input not lack of facilities work it's facilities cannot work without money and this state needs to fund our schools and fund our districts in particular one today bridgeport's going to wake up and we're going to start electing officials who fund our schools properly and let's Bridgeport get the same schools as granish the same schools as Westport that we walk through enough is enough Bridgeport wake up you can change this yourselves thank you further questions for Mr gcia not a question Madam chair um but a
081statement for everybody especially uh Mr KFA and George and their team um and it reminds me of a proverb which said as with states where there is no vision the people perish and you guys have worked days nights weekends because of the vision you guys have for our district and I just wanted to say thank you because you know we lack no longer we're going to have lacking of clear goals directions purpose but we have it now because of the work that you guys finally brought before us and going to be bringing forward to the community everybody but we're going to build rebuild bridport for a better bridport and this is where it starts when they talk about prek and first graders and second graders and third graders once we hit them and Elevate them
082we bridport has a better future and we're going to show them through this that yes we shouldn't have been in this position for begin with bridport is the biggest city and we should have been elevated above all other towns because we deserve it and we've been working at it for five six years me and my team and friends and family my daughters have been waiting for the state to wake up they're already in college but now we're going to be able to do it for our next Generation so I thank you again thank you for your vision appreciate that Dr Avery for for me I would be remiss if I wasn't able to I mean to to get this whole project started I mean I think I want to extend a a huge thank you
083to the City of Bridgeport and mayor ganam for providing the funding to to make this happen again I think this is this should be the beginning uh for a a stronger relationship between the bridport public schools and uh you know the City of Bridgeport uh when you start looking at you know the need I think I'm hoping that when you you you pull it back and you see what's there uh there's going to be a better you know advocation for providing additional dollars and so that is going to be you know the ass moving forward in order to rightsize what our children of brido public schools are needing and so again I thank them very much for getting this process started and now it's it's it's time for us to Rally together to be able
084to get things and I know the delegate is is ready for us to you know pick their brains a little bit about additional State dollars that they can advocate for and we're going to do that with this plan as well uh and I think it's just it's time for uh the City of Bridgeport to really kind of look at what have we done in the past and what can we do for the future and I think that's my hope as well and so I wanted to publicly put that out there to be able to uh hopefully engage that convers conversation deeper uh for the benefit of the children of brbor public schools thank you any further questions all right the last item is adjourning would oh okay go ahead um so I have um a
085few questions and I'm still not together with the agenda or which spot I should put what but um I did want to reiterate and thank public facilities for all your help like that huge document it's no small fee so I really wanted to thank you for that because ultimately that is what we're going to lean on when we have to make cuts and obviously engaged in community and such um so thank you for for all that hard work thank you um some of the other comments I have are kind of outliers so I'm not 100% sure where to put them um so two things and I'll be super quick um yesterday during the C report we were talking about goals and setting objectives for the board um so I wanted to work collectively with my
086board members to start establishing that I know that they said oh we're going to update the bylaws but it can take up to three years that seems like a long time and I feel like we need something in the short term um something that as a board we can have even as a visual once we establish it this is our goals this is what every day every time we go into a meeting this is what our objective and our goal should be obviously first thing that I'm thinking of student achievement all those type of things I I'm proposing that we develop that together um that's the first item and then the second item that came out of the last meeting um was a parent was very upset because we all voted on these contracts to
087pay them out but they didn't understand why and I realized we were in executive session that's a confidential conversation um but I'm wondering if on a high level not releasing any confidential information if we can indicate why we voted yes to basically help parents and others determine why we voted in that in that um in that manner um as a parent myself I would have been very upset at that as well because I would have thought you know we don't have enough money or whatnot for a teacher but here we are paying out contracts that were voided um so a simple explanation high level not releasing confidential information I think moving forward would be would be helpful and that's it for me thank you any further CH yes I don't know if I can do
088the point um refer Point privilege right first of all I want to say thank you to Dr ay M Paris Mr Medina Mr Trevor and Mr s you guys um Talk um with Harford about the uh the budget I really appreciate that you know and I know a lot of parents a lot of leaders did that you know to talk about you know what's going on in Bridgeport especially you know I wasn't shock up um state senator she talk amazing message about bridor and everybody know that everybody see that you know and a sent a message he sent me a message back to say you know you're very welcome but it's not fair that people say you know people's brdw is one of the large city and they don't find the way supposed to be
089her message was very clear you know and I really appreciate that and also for finish Madam shair I have to say um thank you and it was amazing today dbar school did a um Black History Month um the students and parent was full of parents it was very nice so you know um very good I was very proud to see a lot of parents and staff did amazing job so I want to say that for the record thank you Madame shair thank you is there a motion to adjourn so move moved by Mr benan seconded by Mr Medina all in favor I any opposed adour that