001Sam you ready all right all right good evening everyone good evening everyone this is a call to order for the regular board meeting of the Bridgeport Board of Education it is Monday October 23rd 2023 and the time right now is 6:35 uh Mr secretary can you do a roll call nope I'm sorry I'm out of order we're gonna have our Pledge of Allegiance by um our student at Fairchild Willer his name is Abel God blesson correct me and just okay if you want to go to the mic oh y everyone please stand I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all thank you so much can we all give Abel a hand for
002due on the Pledge of Allegiance um at this moment we will start our student represent uh student representation report I ask that you say the name your name in the school you are attending and you can start your report roll call Mr secretary and then that thank you mad good evening everyone thank you madam chair Silo Allen Christine Baptist peris Bobby Brown Pres aaia okay Deen Jif perz present Joseph Sak Rob tror and Mr is present and you can recall Miss Allan oh Mr Val welcome thank you the student representative reports Again State the name state your name in the school you attend and then you can start your report press the button on your yep it should be read for you you press it thank you good afternoon Board of Education my name is
003Karen and Warden Harden high school has been working on many things this past week last week on Thursday our HOSA Club successfully hosted a spooky movie night fundraiser through our Hots program misss silver students were able to attend a schoolwide presentation learning about flamco dancing also nearly 200 students completed their Yukon early college experience registration this month enabling them to earn free college credits for a variety of English History Science music education and Medical classes to end things at the end of this month we will have a schoolwide fall festival and pink out event co-hosted by our student council and hosta Club students will get to take part in games with with the help of our games Club multiple art activities with assistance from our art Department as well as a photo station music treats
004and a pink out outfit competition and upcoming next month student council will focus on our school spare week class versus class competition fall pep rally and dance thank you so much next student good evening Board of Education my name is Jeremy alado and I attend Fairchild wheeler the biotechnology school um so many things have happened this month at Fairchild wheeler um so on Wednesday freshman sophomore and juniors will be making up their PSATs recently we had our first um campus-wide openhouse with more than 300 ends and potential new students over this weekend there was a middle school CrossCountry meet on our campus so student council was able to take advantage of the opportunity and decided to raise funds by selling bre breakfast items for the parents that were coming um seniors are able to schedule
005appointments for their portraits starting in December um buildon has been giving opportunities to our students with about 50 being signed up for it students have been able to complete afternoon volunteer activities in order to get their volunteer hours um earlier this month um Hispanic Heritage Month celebration which we had which was very fun and successful we had a variety of activities such as Spanish karaoke and dancing um spirit week is upcoming so students are excited for this we are also spreading awareness for breast cancer awareness month and money we will sorry money we will be receiving will be donated to breast cancer research and colleges have also be coming to our schools talking to our Juniors and seniors that are interested in the colleges that are coming and we also have field trips coming up
006in November with students visiting Yukon and Fairfield University thank you so much good evening board members and Dr Levy David my name is Abel gab a senior at aerospace hydrospace engineering Magnet High School after graduation I hope to go to a great College like Northwestern or Notre Dame I'm applying early decision through questbridge hoping for a successful match after that I've plann to study computer science and become software engineer this is my first of of the school year our 12th graders were able to successfully complete their paper sat on October 11th we have one makeup scheduled for Thursday this week on October 13 we had our Hispanic Heritage Month celebration students are students were able to share about their culture in a video presentation that was streamed across campus we also had a panel disc
007panel discussion and then classes visited stations where students presented on different aspects of their culture we had principal's breakfast with parents on Wednesdays October 18th at 8:30 in our cafeteria coffee and refreshments were served we had our first open house on Wednesday October 18 night the next open house will be Saturday morning from 10: to 11:30 a.m. November 18th the last two are in the evening from 6 to 7:30 p.m. on December 12th and January 11th 2024 the public is welcome on Saturday October 21st as part of our recruitment efforts the campus hosted the first Fairchild frenzy and Middle School cross country event despite the weather more than 60 Runners competed in the light rain the campus set up a live stream and had several cameras and commentators for the event so families could watch
008from our Jumbotron in the cafeteria 255 students applied to Arrow today 347 total students have applied several have applied to more than one school on campus so there are 794 total applications on Tuesday evening we will be holding our National Honor inductions Dr Le D Dr lay David will be our keyote speaker we finish handing our gray sweatshirts as well October 25th Wednesday uh PSATs will be administered to all 9th to 11th grade students seniors will be working on post High School planning during this time on Thursday and Friday uh November 2nd and November 3rd we will be having safe a life Tour on campus that is the driving while impaired Sim simulators last year we were able to get most of seniors Engineers to the two simulators report card conference will be hold will
009be held on November 20th and 21st and sign up informations will follow Robert Taylor would like to begin photographing our seniors in their Studio after to Thanksgiving break 99th to 11th grade students will have their pictures taken on November 15 and campus wide Spirit Week will run next week thank you so much can we give all of our student Representatives I'm gonna check online I W to believe James HG is a student yes okay James uh you have the floor James oh he's not a student okay all right so this concludes uh our student representative rep they're online it's not showing is it Crystal okay we can't see them yeah hi folks can you hear me oh NOP James you're not a student but thank you we're waiting on a student okay they're not there
010so if they do come back we will go back to uh the reports for students um we're now going to move into public comment uh how it has been done in the past is that I noticed that we have two pages for public comment according to our bws we've made it where the first 15 will be able to speak and then the last 15 will speak after line F of our agenda if you choose so to stay um and I just want to keep in mind that you will have two minutes um and once the two minutes Miss Rita will sound off the alarm once the two minutes are done I ask that you wrap up your final statement keep your comments uh professional we have our students here today please make sure that you
011are good examples for our students that are watching today all right yes okay there is a car in the parking lot with it's a Kia Soul uh the number is B k79 oops if you have a Kia Soul it's BK 79612 your lights are on if you want to just go turn your lights off all right so public comment the first person we have is Mr Ralph Ford you have the floor just press the button uh press press the button it should turn red thank you very much Madam chairman board members students thank you for this opportunity to come before you and must say I'm rather rather dismayed to have to come here and make these comments hearing both reports from people at the meeting stuff I read in the paper about the ranker among
012this board members directed specifically at our superintendent Dr Levy David is an experienced professional that left her job in Texas to come here in Bridgeport her commitment not only is to the city but also to herself and family her own daughter is enrolled in our system she needs the support of this board provide for policy for the board but also to support the superintendent to threaten her after three months on the job is simply not tolerable and for those of you who engage that kind of behavior you need to stop it our kids need the best opportunity to succeed I think this superintendent comes with some great credentials she has some great ideas and we need to support her in all her efforts you shouldn't be questioned every decision she makes whether she hires people
013whether she decides on certain programs that's going to support our students because that's what we need we've been down this road so many times before but this board and their political backstabbing political arguments have undermined our superintendents we've had four superintendents of color each and every case that have been board members has been rude and disrespectful we can no longer tolerate that so I implore you from this day forward pledge yourselves and each one of you to support the doctor to support our kids thank you Mr Ford the next speaker is Mr Newton but before we call Mr Newton let the record reflect Miss Casmir is in person and Miss Baptist Perez is in person and Mr Gan I I think we did Mr G Mr G's in person as well sorry uh Mr Ernie
014Newton first I want to say good evening to the superintendent of schools and to this board usually I don't come to a lot of board meetings but I can tell you this that we have a out standing superintendent and what hurts me the most is that some of you board members that are sitting here know better you invited this woman to come you vote some of you voted for let it do a job because none of you can do what this woman can do that's right professional now let me share one thing with you I had the opportunity to go to Harding High School for freshman because it's my district she had those children eating out of her hands because she made them feel like they were her children now I've heard the rumors if
015I get five votes she's gone who says things like that and whoever said it should be ashamed to of themselves absolutely and I came here to let you know you see these brothers here nothing's gonna happen to her and sister I'm sorry because we believe in her and you all should get in back of her and support her when testani was here did whatever he wanted to do told the boy he was gon to move in the city did he no no but y'all didn't say nothing this woman came from Texas moved her family here and we're not gonna let you disrespect that sister because when you disrespect her you disrespect us that's right and I promise you this we gonna check you thank you Mr Newton the next speaker is Mr Lyall Hassan Jones
016hey in the name of God the manificent the merciful I bear witness that there is but one God I bear witness Muhammad is the messenger of God and I further bear witness of Christ Jesus his Messiah his word and spirit greet you board members and family here greeting words of Peace we say it in the Arabic language assalam alaikum simply mean peace be unto you yeah we are here just to Echo what Ernie said we ain't playing with we ain't playing with you leave this sister alone she went through a process and she was the best candidate and like you said five folks can get her out of here none of you are qualified to do what this sister was hired to do and she just got here I mean give her an opportunity to
017implement her program to see what's happening that's why she's hired we had the process she went through the process she came out with glowing colors and she was chosen to be the superintendent and so we want to here and she's gonna be here because see we know how to fight right you know I mean and willingly or unwillingly you gonna need this sister alone come on and Bobby I'm disappointed in you you know we was grooming you to be a strong black woman and you let these folks do this to this sister and you don't get her back you say nothing come on now you don't allow that to happen because when people come after you you want somebody to get your back and we got your back when you first got on the board
018when it was dogging you Mia Pereira was beating you up we came to your Aid so you support the sister we're just here saying listen give her an opportunity if she can't do the job and she's not effective of course she has to go but if you give her an opportunity to do her job to see if she can do it the way we believe she can and like only said then just leave the sister alone God bless you thank you Mr Jones um uh Mary MCB the last time that I was here I understand that I was cut off it was nowhere what I spoke but I'm G to speak tonight the uh I I you know it's very sad when I look at Channel 12 Connecticut Post and the only thing that I
019see is how the board is treating our superintendent that's a shame I've been in the school system for 30 plus years and I've seen a lot I've seen them go and I've seen them come and and in the school system this superintendent is the only superintendent that I know that stood up and say the teacher is underpaid yeah because of the fact if I went to Fairfield I could make 8,000 6,000 more dollars than I do in Bridgeport but she said the teachers are underpaid and I I you know and and to me that means a lot because some of you all are sitting around here now going to come to us and say that you need money for the Board of Ed and for this and for that I'm going to remember some of
020you all I don't even want to hear no point in you even saying guess what I'm on that board too I'm on the budget board so don't come talking about you need something and then you not going to treat our superintendent right this is and not just because she's a sister she could be your mother she could be your daughter she could be whomever and you GNA disrespect her give me a break when testani was here you all sent him to school got his Doctorate paid when he was in that other place where he at now that they F to get rid of him and then and here as soon as she walked in door before she could take her head off you know before uhhuh before she could even take her Texas hat off
021you always talking about getting rid of is that my time is up no yes it is just want to be mindful that anyone that's at the podium is the only person should be speaking no one on the audience should be speaking so just be mindful and be respectful uh your time is up thank you I I well since they took some of my time I want to say this if you have anything to say to me let's don't do it in here let's go [Laughter] outside again again if you're not at the podium please do not speak and be mindful our students are still here they are still here but you got people there threatening yes you are right so please respect that there are still students here there are still adults here so keep
022your comments respectful thank you the next speaker is idy Neves good evening everyone uh good evening board members um I come to you as the council president but also as um as a resident of the city of bridgeware also as a parent of a child two children from the bridgeware education system I come to you because finally I have seen a person come to Bridgeport with energy reinvigorate the community and re reinvigorate parents and teachers and staff alike and that doesn't come often and we can't allow As Leaders as leaders for that for that fire to be put out for that desire to be the change that we all been looking for to be to be squashed because indifference now I sit before people in public speaking which threaten me all the time point at
023me throw money at me say all kind of words to me but that is the part of being in public office and also being in public office is understanding that there's a greater good and the greater good is the lives that you are impacting as we all lead and people tend to forget that even though we're not the Board of Ed we are the city council we also are in charge of the lives of those children and we stand before you as Leaders speaking to our fellow leaders about the leader that you've chosen you picked her she went through the test she went through the process you picked her because she had something something that you all believed in at some point and we need to let her do that because never have I seen
024a superintendent as long as I've been a parent invite the community different levels of the community to speak and hear their concerns and equally she has been to out to the community to meet with us even at the last minute opening up her schedule book to talk to us to meet with us she's been to the movia club she went to the Dominican coalition to meet with leaders and community members we have never seen that that means she wants to hear and she wants to know her desire to lead this city and our children to a better educational system is there and I implore you to forget your personal indifference with her and let her do her job that is her job and she's a smart woman she has a doctorates she's a social worker
025so she even understands the social emotional place of a parent who wants a better education for her child she is that parent and you guys are those parents and I was one of those parents but we as Leaders need to allow her to lead that's why she's there give her the autonomy to decide because everybody needs their right-hand man and a trusted partner who can carry the ball when she can't carry the ball so we need to allow her that autonomy and that's all I ask give you guys leaders thank you Anita Martinez good evening superintendent thank you for coming to Bridgeport you could have been somewhere else but you made a choice to come to Bridgeport represent the students of Bridgeport and we thank you for that not only did you come to bridport
026you brought your family here you purchased the house immediately you're making change long time coming some may think I'm new to the Board of Ed but we've been doing this for many years we have had many issues with the Board of Education board members throughout going back to I would say 1994 we finally have someone here that is looking to make changes and we stand in full force behind you with you side by side with you we ask that you continue to do everything that you're doing leadership is outstanding what we see what's happening and what is Yet to Come is long overdue in the city of bridgport and I just want to say thank you I can elaborate more but colleagues have spoken enough but I just want to thank you and tell you
027to hang in there to the board members you all to appreciate what you have because you have a gem here you have a gem someone that's looking to change the landscape of what has been old old okay and I can say this because we have been involved for so long and sauda Barack is here she has been such a fighter with the Board of Education and when I say long I mean down to the point where they were going to close dumbar school down and we stood in fought okay Lorraine Farah who's no longer here we're old school to this and here we are again in 2023 still fighting still fighting the same battles but I ask you to please hang in there stick to the fight cuz we know that you have the fire
028in you and don't let anyone take you out of your element because you could do it and we need you to do it so thank you Alfredo um just got to say something real quick um no I ain't going to cry today that's CU I'm not good listen when I met the superintendent I seen her in her office and she came out and the first thing that said she said to me was who are you I said I'm the city councilman he said are you I like to talk to you and I and she started talking in Spanish I said oh you talk Spanish she said yes I am I'm talking to you in Spanish so what I'm trying to say is that listen you're getting two for one you're getting an african-amer and Latino
029that knows where she coming from and you got to make the road here to make the roads here and they're strong they're struggling to have communication they're from another country and they just want to fit in they're saying the Spanish people ain't smart but I tell you what they speak two language that a mean they ain't dumb they're smart two language they speak but they're struggling in the school system when I when I went to schooli how they had bilingual half a day English half a day English and Spanish and that's how we grew up we learned how to talk Spanish and we did English so what I'm saying is listen like we have a gem here she came from Texas running from Texas she could have went to New York but she said I'm
030coming to bridgport she made she bought a house she's a voter so you got to remember she's voting and vote ahead is City why one vote you could win one vote you could lose what I'm saying is give her an opportunity give her the tools give her the tools that she needs to change everybody comes and goes she's willing to change but you got to give her ammunition This Is War and guess what these are our kids and what she's about and what I'm about and everybody here we're the people's business this is what we do why are you on the board people business why are you on the council the people business why do we vote the people's business so you have to give this OPP this lady opportunity to do her job and
031I appreciate you thank you so much thank you um I am here tonight in support of our superintendent when I first met her uh I was really amazed um again how she came uh forward her meeting with the community as ID and others have stated was amazing I worked for the City of Bridgeport for 34 years and I retired in 2011 I didn't want to go but it was time and so I did meet various superintendent but like this woman here sitting before us there has never been anyone like her that when she speaks you hear and you feel what she's saying and she's honest so I am again board members please take a a look at what you have before you support her and again if you've hardly ever seen me come here to
032these meetings but because Dr Levy is so important to us because we know that she has touched our children that someone who lived here in Bridgeport and now resides in Florida gave me a call and said Maria if it wasn't because I am so far away I would take the next plane and I will be right here with us on behalf of our our Dr Levy all you so much Miss Joanne Kennedy Proverbs 28 2918 says where there is no vision the people perish and right along with the people perishing our children and our students will perish we have to have a vision Miss Levy David brought a vision with her she had a 100 day plan she's implementing that plan I've been up here before you know I keep speaking to you guys thank
033God the community came out to God be the glory with that but we have to follow her vision she's a leader she's excellent and I told you before she's the smartest person in the room don't be mad that she went and got all the education she wanted to get this is her passion you know I have a passion for retail I love customer service that's my passion I can do that with my hands tied behind my back this is is what she does this is her other people have a passion for cleaning you might want to clean a bus a train you have that passion you want to do that you do that that's your passion this is her passion she's a passionate person okay she's not g to take your stuff cuz her mama
034didn't make her like that and her daddy said don't let anybody push you around she's not gonna let you do it so we're here to have her back because her mama and her daddy taught her well and thank God she's bilingual she needs to use that even more in front of us know what we have value what we have she's amazing she's going to continue to be amazing she's going to change District let her do her job and you know who you are that are not are that are against her stop it and to God be the glory for that bar that's right good evening chairperson Brown Board of Ved members superintendent Levy David staff and all present my name is sauda AIA Barack I'm a resident of the City of Bridgeport and chairperson of
035the race and Justice committee for the Greater Bridgeport NAACP I'm here tonight to speak on the censoring of superintendent Levy David superintendent Levy David was hired by the Bridgeport Board of Education because of her pro professional Acumen certifications degrees skill sets and breath of knowledge and experience Dr Levy is laser focus on our district to ensure that our children families professional and parent professional staff is equipped with all all that they need to bring about the success of our Scholars as a board your most important job is to hire the most qualified individual for superintendent which you did and I thank you you also are to establish policies that are in line with the state and federal statutes and guidelines regulations and law and be the fiduciary agent for our district funding ensuring that all
036dollars effectively are used to imp that and impact and affect our students growth development and success there is no room for anything other than supporting this work I'm appalled that when assessing the climate of our country and the rise of book Banning Banning of words acronyms like CRT racism discrimination woke indoctrination gay Etc and other Global white supremist practices in States like number two Florida which I'm going to speak to specifically we are not Florida and should not want to engage in practices that allow for such fastest uh practices we should be developing Pathways for our Scholars success uccess students need to know that they're being heard that the schools they attend are well equipped safe non judgmental where they will Thrive and be successful I leave you with two books how to be anti-racist
037by ibram K kendi and punish for Dreaming by batina L love members of the bridgport Board of Education as a board if you want better you must be better thank you for the opportunity to speak before you thank you so much the next speaker is Miss glattus Walker Jones race in peace process is a series of actions which are carried out in order to achieve a particular result to be death at process Boe members must thoroughly know understand and competently operate within the scope of their role and responsibilities please V revisit the Boe training on 926 whether or not Dei is dead or alive in Texas or Connecticut is irrelevant and the committee chair speaking on behalf of the NAACP to push a contract is a trespass or shall we say an encroachment what is
038relevant in align with the NAACP resolutions is greater emphasis on Recruitment and Retention of Staff of color and culturally responsive teaching as supported by current research two articles at Ed week training B bias out of teachers research shows little promise so far benefits were shown not to last even a day or two in some cases it leads to more stereotyping and white participants feeling threatened who cares we all need to care this is a people business and a majority of the Educators in front of our Scholars are melanin deficient second article attention School leaders students are demanding anti-racist curriculum and instruction they share the same sentiment by our e by our own um Scholars echoed in the Mals of color white paper please revisit it be it resolved the NAACP affirms its commitment to to
039continue to work towards eliminating the injustices which have historically plagued education and impeded the growth and success of communities of color including but not limited to process and policies that prohibits Educators from using quality instructional approaches that that prepare Scholars for further learning in life process and policies that restricts professional development related to topics of diversity in any educational or other Municipal space the nacp will Advocate against any process legislation or policies that suppress compassionate rigorous and truthful teaching in our schools finally the greater bridgport nacp education committee will continue to Advocate against any and all efforts spiteful the necessary work to improve scholar outcomes within our reach and this includes our own superintendent Dr Carmela Levy Dave thank you thank you so much our next speaker is Miss Ava Mitchell good evening my name
040is ABBA Mitchell this is my third time in front of the board once in 2016 another time in 2019 and now I'm an extremely private person so when I'm out Miss Mitchell just give us a second please if you are speaking please walk outside please do not interrupt those who have the floor go ahead Miss Mitchell I'm an extremely private person so when I come out it is for something of which I have great concern these are my concerns and to assume that they are not is bias I have a question for the board rhetorical question and for the audience too should parents like myself expressing their viewpoints about policy and process be faced with potential threats of legal action let me say that again and I'll do it slowly should I be faced with
041legal action for practicing my first amendment rights no the public comment area as you saw is open for everybody to practice their First Amendment right and so too is any email that I write to school official it is there to voice concerns and viewpoints it does not always look it but this is still a democracy I demand to continue to account for money spent money to be spent and I have no fear of being sued for asking the same of our school officials our children depend on us to do the same thing elected school officials are elected to ask questions to probe where non-elected residents cannot they see behind the curtains and they lift the veil as one former board member stated we want questions Miss Mitchell one second um just wrap up your last
042St sure um I but thank you I'm gonna go back to this because this is an important Point elected school officials are elected to ask questions to probe where non-elected officials cannot they see behind the curtains and lift the veil as one former board member stated we want question asked we demand policy be followed we just can't just do things willy-nilly we require more than just go along to get along Mitchell which is not popular this is not a popularity contest parents residents should feel free to ask questions about how money is spent why it's spent and they should be elated for accountability it is not biased Miss Mitchell it's policy and process thank you thank you our next speaker is Miss Leslie kabalo hi um first and foremost for all those that watched what
043just took place I suggest you go back to YouTube watch that video that took place because I was actually disgusted with it and it's not portrayed as they made it uh to be bridport in mad oh okay sorry my name is lese jalo a Bridgeport resident and mother of two girls I'm concerned of some things that as a parent raises some eyebrows superintendent you took the time to speak with me prior to my last public comment concern at last month's meeting and reference to the situation with Gio and Columbus school you went as far as stating off the Record that you will give us your number or email to follow up well there is proof that an email was sent to you that same night in which you never responded even tell this day however
044ironically enough the school decides to call DCF the next morning following that meeting on goo's mother you never care to respond back nor follow up makes me wonder as an advocate for the Youth and uh parents of the city of bridgport I also see in the recording of the meeting as I have been closely watching every single one of them the way some board members conduct themselves with attitudes not speaking at all including eating on live recording and even whispering and laughing with a person sitting next to you doesn't this sound familiar it's what the kids do in school right look around and see why this is empty or in this case today it was full usually it is empty though and barely no parents come to sit in have you ever wondered well when
045you conduct yourselves in a manner as such and then why should we take you seriously some of the some of you act the very Way You Preach against we need to do better take that into consideration and when the world is watching and understand that the world is watching you because they are whether you they are whether you want what okay sorry they're watching you because they because whether they show up or not Bella come here um furthermore I say something in the last agenda in reference to concerning censoring Mr Albert what are we kids and who decided that let me guess maybe someone who is a coward to speak at these meetings but has no problem whispering in the background while I may not agree with Albert apologizing for commenting about the incident I
046also okay I'll say the last one so what I wanted to say was I don't know what they do in Texas but perhaps you you should have stipped to the 100 days that you said verbatim to familiarize and welcome yourself to Connecticut Bridgeport Connecticut to be exact thank you Miss Caravel the next speaker is Miss Amber foil or I'm sorry please correct me when you get to the mic I'm apologize for saying your name wrong hi so I come before you guys today because this is my son Giovani everybody heard the story everybody knows and to back up what she just said I emailed you when you told me to email you never once responded black and white doesn't lie I stand here for my son today and for any other children that are going
047through what he had to experience which is being failed I am outraged as a parent because I thought I had a support a team who said that they were going to be there for me and my child including you but what happened threats came out people turned around because they had to silence their voice I won't silence Minds for minds or for anybody else's child my son could have been killed that day and it felt like none of you cared but you sure enough shared on Facebook like you did so let me explain this to wrap it up don't worry I'm not going through in my lawsuit because after that I had DCF called on me for no reason guys saying that I neglect my child there's Giovani today healthy clean dressed and took a
048care of by Mom think about it if it was your children what would you do how would you feel don't sit here and tell me you're gonna be by my side and my son's side and not be there don't threaten people and keep them silent and threaten to take their positions because y'all scared of a lawsuit because if it was yours you wouldn't be silent I won't be silent but don't worry I'm not here to sue thank you so much for sharing the next speaker is Mr Willie Medina I have a very short message um for myself because I decided to dedicate my time to the mother that's next to me and I just want to share with the board and with my dear sister Colossians 3:23 everything that you do do you want to
049God you don't need the support you need him and only him and know that the truth shall set us free amen but this is somar toleno she is a mother of a 17 year old and 16 year old and a 10 year old I'm speaking for her because there's no bilingual person to translate for her her 17-year-old is pregnant eight months she shares with me she's a student at Harding High School they put her daughter in a program for teen pregnancy during that time in that program she learned about a program that they had for those that are abused Youth and they found out she found out that because she could be in that program for abuse youth which is not the case that she can get they can give her assistance for an apartment
050so she began to somewhat rebell against her mother and after that she began planning and Reporting different in that was not true four reports were sent out after that she was already eight months pregnant and no one heard any report of any neglect or abuse or anything like that so she's not that as sted the secretary of the school called with her daughter and reported to her a mother that works in Norwalk that there was some case going on at the school so she rushed over to the school lo and behold DCF was still awaiting for her they put her in a home study program the program the school but yet they're receiving notice she's receiving notice that the daughter is not attending school but they put her in a home school program she said
051where they're claiming that she's absent from school a teacher offer a room for her daughter to stay with her and the baby but the principal won't identify who that teacher is so the daughter is rebelling saying I got this Freedom now she doesn't want any other parent going through this and having this problem because they put her in a psychiatrist for that my time okay I'll be ending she wants to make sure and to make you aware of the situation I will be emailing you her name and information that way you guys can contact her thank you and again Colossians 3:23 you don't need this people you don't need wolves dressed up like sheep they're not sheep believe me I love you and you know that God bless you guys thank you that ends public
052comment at this part what yes I'm sorry um consider suspending by law 9160 a lot of people came out to speak tonight and I I think we should hear from them all before we move on like to make a motion to suspend policy 9160 to allow the rest of the people to speak before we go on to new business is there a second second second okay um all in favor call vote okay roll call vote Mr Secretary of course Madam chair I have a question yes uh so suspension of our bylaws that's uh requires a super majority of the board so we only need two-third votes correct yes okay just checking go ahead Mr yes Robert tror M Bobby Brown yes M Allen yes yes Christin Baptist no yes Misha Casmir yes Mr David Galen
053okay Miss Jennifer Paris yes all right so we will con we will continue with public comment to give each and you each and every one of everyone an opportunity to speak there you go uh the next speaker is Miss Kayla Medina and we have 15 speakers in total so just want everyone to know just press the button once there you go hello good evening everyone my name is Kayla Medina and I'm a bassic high school graduate my husband's a graduate from Central High School and our three daughters graduated two from Fairchild and one from Central magnet so my roots are deep in this community and I've been coming here year after year after year different superintendents different people on the board same issues we need to stop with the pettiness like we tell our kids
054learn how to solve your problems by talking to each other right we need to learn to solve our problems and be the example for the kids that stand and sit right here right when when I hear all of this chitter chatter going back and forth board members putting stuff on Facebook and things happening with the superintendent that doesn't make us look good we're not giving a good example right we have something that's Chang changing we need to sorry to say I feel like the Board of Ed some of us and some of the schools we're in the stone AG we need to move we need to do different things to escalate our kids we talk so much about other towns but we're not changing when we get stuck on something we're stuck on that thing
055and who gets hurt the kids we saw a lot of city council members here nice right but they're never here don't come tell me that you're here for them when you're never here don't come tell me that you're here for them when you don't give them any money because they don't like you it's not about the people in the seat it's about the kids in the schools so just like the city council has to put their issues aside the Board of Ed has to put their issues aside the superintendent has to put their issues aside and work together we're never going to move if we don't learn how to work together and that's the biggest problem we have we're our own problem we get in our own way way and we need to stop and
056get into a room if we don't agree with something especially you guys you guys are leading over 22,000 kids get into a room you know what I didn't like this or I didn't like the way this came across let's talk right Miss Medina wrap up your last yes I will so just come together and talk we have such great things happening in the city and you all are the ones that were put into place were voted into these places and their superintendent brought here work together learn how to talk to each other in courteous ways go into a room and do what you have to do for our kids thank you thank you the next speaker is Mr George Cruz Mr George Cruz okay the next speaker is zulimar too if I said your name
057wrong please please correct me that I gave my time so we're GNA stay here together okay and I'm going to share some more things amen so again about her and her case I will be sending out those that information because she's concerned that instead of getting the help that she needed that she was put toot the side and now everything is on her they're going after her 16-year-old and 10-year-old there never been a report against her but all of sudden when she looks for help for her 17-year-old daughter that's had some disciplin she's not perfect but she wants to know that in eight months there was no reports and all of a sudden now they fed her information that actually caused her more harm than good and we need to look at this program that
058opened up the doors for this young lady to build these false cases and reports that now is causing her and her other two children which are her sister brothers and sister hardship and it's sad that even the other mother has to pulled a case out just to seek for information but now she's got to withdraw because now it's been bought a image against her that is negative we need to support our parents when they're making claims or anything and let's investigate it do let's do the right thing by our parents not only in the education but also as parents because now they're hurting their other siblings and they don't realize that by them saying like they just think oh I'm free I'm G to get an apartment because they offered me an apartment a teacher
059offered a home a bed we have to research this and the and and the and the principal lacked to give me the name of what teacher to know that my daughter was in a safe place or not safe whatever the case would not so I think that you guys should get involved when it comes to that because again um she deserves better the young lady deserves better and she needs to be trained that just because of that opportunity doesn't mean that you start saying lies and I've been around this in my years in brbor with another family that the same thing and I would like to share the sentiment of my wife every single one of you can and I know you guys will do better get together in a room close yourselves up as
060as people we hired her to do a job I'm going to close up absolutely we hire her to do a job but remember they hire you to do a job and you guys can work together so I'm seeking that leadership role that you I know that who you are and what you can stand for and take over the Reigns and say okay it's my job to pull them together and let's get together and I know you can and I know I talked to you before you're up to the challenge girl thank you our next speaker is Jeff oh Mr Jeff We're not gonna call you because you are gonna be on the other okay uh Mr Joseph uh delgate if I said your name wrong please correct just there to you okay yep so you're
061good um um I don't really this handwriting is a little I can't read it but I'm gonna say uh Salma SAA Marill yes I see you now hi Miss Marsh you have the floor coming as a tag team okay y I'm Marge Hiller and this is Selma and we are both members of the Central High School school governance Council Selma's daughter is a senior my daughter graduated from Central a few years ago we are here tonight because one of the activities that the council is doing is a family literacy night and we want you all to be there we will have thousands of books we hope to have hundreds of people all the books are going to be free we're going to have authors that are going to be there we're going to have book
062sellers and we have lots of fun things for the activities so we hope you will be there that's one of of our main activities this year for the school governance Council thank you so much is melma sharing as well no okay it's on the well it's November 15 right um the next speaker is John diamond good evening everyone my name is John Diamond I'm the senior pastor at Cathedral of Faith in Bridgeport and also I'm a co-founder for Faith a for Education as a Founder as a co-founder of Faith a for Education we know the power of our community when we come together in support of a common goal this legislative session we're proud to have won a $150 million for Connecticut's public school children that includes multi-million dollar investment for our kids right here
063in Bridgeport our government must not squander those hard one resources we must not give those who wish to deny Bridgeport access to Fair funding cause to say they were right this is what we risk if our Board of Education and our superintendent cannot find ways to work together in support of our children because believe it or not it's about our children we implore you please come together in unity and in the belief that the children of Bridgeport deserve an excellent education please please for the sake of our children please work as a team to represent the people of Bridgeport and to serve our children thank you John Torres good evening my name is John Torres I'm the executive director of bridgew arivia youth leaders and I would like to respectfully express my concern and disappointment
064of the board's recent actions against Dr Carmela Levy David these negative actions have created a concern from kbe Community Partners parents and funders therefore these actions have motivated me to be here tonight this board hired superintendent Levy David to a three-year contract yet within 90 days into to her job she is being publicly chastised and her ethics question I have personally met with Dr Levy David and found her to be genuine and passionate about providing bridgew public students and staff the attention and tools for them to strive because she was one of them she relates to our children she's one of us and what the fear that I have have is that in the past 10 years there have been four superintendant without one of them fulfilling their fulfilling their three-year contract because they quit
065out of frustration the Mery G of superintendence will continue to take place if the board is not willing to trust the leader that they select recently I met with kibz existing and potential funders and these are funders that are not here in Bridgeport and at some point during the meeting two of them raised the question of what's going on with the board of AD and Bridgeport i c only sh Gren because they just like me can't understand how the superintendent is doing a bad job when she just started it just doesn't make sense there's a quote that is so famous that I think we all should ad heed to it is that Rome was not built in one day we are living in a polarizing world where productivity and advancement is being stored because of
066differences I encourage you to take on the role of serve the server and in this case I mean two jobs and that is one you serve the student directly or two you serve someone who does be that servant this will ensure the much needed consist consistency to make meaningful impact change for our children and our students and by the way bridgew civa youth leader serves 1,400 bridport public school students and are in the schools and I could go on and on telling you all the work we're doing but I see it and I see that these kids are yearning for someone to believe in them and I find that that superintendent does that thank you next speaker is Kanan Gonzalez or if I said your name wrong please correct me it's all set yep it's
067on hello uh hello good evening Board of Education my name is kavis and I'm from Fairchild Willer uh school Aerospace and today we're here to talk about the hoodie policy we believe that students should wear uh that wear hoodie meant to be a threat to anyone just because it's uh in style now days and it's usually cold in the morning uh sometimes we just want to be comfortable in class and feel like if we're comfortable we'll be more productive and actually want to be there good evening border education my name is Flores heritz I have a concern about the School dress code we should be able to wear our hoodies it will be fine that if you implement rules and heavily enforc that we don't wear our hoods but we can wear our jackets and
068hoodies as normal this will not only be beneficial to the students but it will also be beneficial to the teachers because every day that we come into the school there's always that one student who wants to keep their hoodie on and we as a Class end up wasting too much time on um in uh instead of doing work I spoke with some students at our school and they said it's fine that if there's rules for a hoods but we could just wear it normally another reason we want to wear hoodie is because the hoodie comes with a front pocket and it's easier to carry stuff around the school also as sometimes we can't even get a drink of water or to go to the bathroom because we have a hoodie on they think we we're
069doing something bad at that school but we're not we understand why there's a hoodie policy back then people used to see people with hoodie as a threat but I feel like we move past that and we can finally give a hoodie another try a lot of students uh in Arrow agree with uh the fact that don't agree with the fact that other school are allowed to wear hoodies and they don't really enforce that as much um and we don't think it's fair that we uh need a uh apply that uh apply that rule and they don't uh thank you for your time and for receiving us here today thank you so much for sharing thank you again the next I I'm this name is really small so I'm gonna I'm assume it's saying harod Moses
070is it a Harriet Moses here or or hoseus very tiny so okay if I I what I'll do is I'll continue to call names and if your name was here and you weren't called then I'll acknowledge you I'm assuming you'll be that person the next person is Mr Tony bar okay the next speaker is Mr Albert benan that's a good one good evening everyone I'm gonna speak both language because I know we got Spanish speaker here and people that watching us the people they think you wrong you're absolutely wrong I think I'm the only Latino in the the board ucation right now to be against to another Latin woman she's a strong woman and you all know okay I vote for her the people that don't vote for her I respect your vote and your
071decision the people vote for her God bless you but do me we have to um I'm gonna be against you but I know when we everybody know when I it was time to vote for her and you know what I did listen my my community my community when my community said Mr benan and I'm talking parents teachers principal staff students and I can show you proof Mr benan she's the one she's the one and she's the one so need we need to stop this argument we need to stop this fighting back and forth we're not perfect only god is perfect we're human but I know together we can make a lot of difference we can work together as a team you know because God is watching us and remember as johnan Kennedy over said gu
072what God told you and that's what I'm here for no so I know I'm G wrap it up right now I want to wrap it so let's work a team and I know CA and I and everyone here is not perfect we make mistake but guess what we learn from the mistake all right we're not here to judge nobody only God is the person that can judge us we're human thank you Dr camea thank you the board and thank you for everyone everybody show up please pronounce your first name when you come on okay okay um I wish to introduce a Reformation of teaching method which I feel interconnecting academic studies is how shop should begin um I could start with history social studies and science as a short example and it's supposed to be
073a common denominator America um we're going to choose I chose um American Civil War as an example my aim is to my aim um denominator that the other studies connect to I chose American Civil War as an example of my aim because of how slavery is closely associated to this moment in our history I wholly believe that the way this subject is currently presented is wrong is the wrong approach and kind of makes one erroneously learned that slavery is an American concept that brought about the Great Divide in the United States um so I wish to change all that and among other things um I also have a section here because I didn't know it was only two minutes though I to cut it short um American Civil War versus slavery where I wish to
074separate the two if if we're going to introduce slavery it should be on its own accord from the get-go from um the first reference of slavery was in her Hammer rabi code of 1754 bcee if we're going to introduce slavery it should be as that so that way the students will grow up to learning that it's not a white enslaving non-whites it's been happening since day one with the Jews and and all the other races it's all made up so I wish to change that um I also want to be a to connect all the classes so that if American Civil War is the main topic then language arts should get in on that same time period to talk about the literatures that were produced during that time especially the political and Theological um writings
075um famous um novelists Poets of that time um I also want to include that um even home economics they would have um they statement I'm sorry if you wrap up your last statement well I also want to include that electives can cover this period with all the inventures that were made during the 1800s by connecting all these studies and all these studies connecting with each other the students will keep a main consistent thought process it's not segmented into just learning history and then you got to learn this and then you got to learn that and it's all separated but if we put it all together and all the classes all on that one common denominator then they'll be able to remember throughout the day what has been taught from the get-go thank what I'm gonna
076suggest is that if you would like you can send any information or materials to the superintendent's office copy to your office okay and but unfortunately I submitted to wrong one is the one with the errors but I'll be more than happy to stop by tomorrow and bring you thank you thank you so much um Mr Robert trabber fellow members of the board and members in the audience uh members of this community um my name is Rob tror I'm a longstanding member uh on this issue I started in the 90s as a parent activist I have worked as a teacher and a parent activist and as a teacher and now I'm a retired teacher serving on this board I want to for the record State unequivocally no one has ever attacked the superintendent at this meeting
077never we have asked questions of the superintendent about something we're discussing but nobody has ever attacked and I challenge anyone to look at the meetings or the minutes and find where the superintendent was attacked um you may say that we've asked too many questions and that's a fair OB observation to make uh one that I would disagree with but asking questions is not attacking um so that's the only thing that's gone on here uh and in doing so it's been in front of normally about 50 people in this room and maybe a few hundred online um I have I will admit attacked the mayor uh but only on the city's website not on the board of ed website um and with good cause I've attacked the mayor because for over 20 years as mayor he's
078underfunded our schools so he deserves to be attacked um and I did that as a parent and I did that as a teacher um the only attacks I've seen I've seen recently uh it started with a video that the superintendent made with public school money over a week ago and that video was posted and sent out to 20 to 25,000 School Employees and parents accusing board members of attacking her now it's never happened but that was inappropriate in my opinion using the Board of Ed uh Communications to attack and Miss vtis Perez's Bridgeport uh Facebook post calling you all out here so I take umage with what was said tonight nobody has ever done what you said and nobody has ever talked about terminating the superintendent thank you Mr travor not not said by one
079of us find it on the record everyone remain this we have to remain respectful there are still students in this room we have to remain as adults and be examples for those students that concludes public comment we'll move now on to agenda items Madam chair yes Mr v um I know everything was so fast but I have a point privilege if it can be for one yes please speak clearly my point privilege everyone and everybody understand I'd like to have a minute silence because I know we have parents we got a big family here um and I know hold on Mr B if you can just quietly exit so we can continue the B meeting of business of the board go ahead thank you Madame chair um my point for is I need to make
080a minute silence because I know we got family people I contact I talk to them we everybody know what's going on in Israel in Palestine I want to make a sign for all this family family we have here in bra they really lost the family over there so I'd like to make a silence for the peace and the people from Israel and Palestine please if everyone if we can have a moment of silence please have a moment of silence please be respectful thank you thank you everyone thank you mad chair our next agenda item is approval of meet and minutes for a regular board meeting on October 10th 2023 is there a motion to approve Mo moved by Mr banahan is there a second second by Mr uh sakovic all in any questions or Corrections
081hearing none all in favor I any oppose any exensions hearing none motion carries the next part is the Chairman's report I don't have anything major to report besides the board will meet on this Thursday to go over the goals and finalize those goals for the superintendant those goals will be posted on the website and also uh a part of her evaluation um board members that meeting will be done on teams and it will be at 6:30 I believe or six o'clock this Thursday the next is committee reports and referrals the first one is education diversity Equity equity and inclusion cheered by Mr sovic yes the Dei committee has met um last week and we discussed actually the disparities between the enrollment demographics of charter schools and Bridgeport Public Schools we found that Bridgewood public schools
082are didn't write down a percentage I didn't properly prepare for all this 122% and as low as in the charter schools 2% through there's a 10-point disparity in the greatest Charter School elll population and this is drawing from the same population of the city of bridgport this is quite disturbing that our Charter Schools seem to have less this is a disparate impact on our children who speak different languages and this is something that um maybe the people who serve on the charter school uh La zones and sit at the meetings could ask about at the charter schools what are we doing to recruit English language Learners into the charter schools and there's also a disparity in some of the schools have a disparity in U a disabled students who who also need ex access to
083education I mean we all know I'm very anti-ar but I'm a realist they exist and if they're going to exist they should educate all our students equally and then next meeting will be on November 20th for the Dei at Central High School and Via teams about either 6 or 6:30 thank you are there any referrals to this committee are there any referrals to this committee are there any referrals hearing none the next uh committee is finance Mr sov finance will be meeting on October 25th 6 6m at Central higho Central High School library in Viet teams as well are there any referrals to finance any referrals the next committee is governance Mr sakovic yes the governance committee met in the interim um we spent the majority of the meeting reconstructing the bylaws that were um
084already passed already voted on we went through probably hour and a half two to two hours to reconstruct the bylaws from meeting minutes because the bylaws had gotten lost in the transition so we we will be ready to PR present those bylaws at the next regular Board of meeting for insertion into our website are there any referrals to governance we'll meet on November 15th sorry so go ahead say your date November 15th Central Library 6:0 6:30 pm. are there any referrals to governance any referrals to governance hearing none the next one is Health safeties and Facilities committee Chair by Miss Baptist Perez health safety and Facilities has not met in interim we will meet on the second Tuesday in November are there any referrals to this committee yes Madam chair benan then Mr sakic um
085I would like to see in the report for our executive directors we have how far the process they have because I know they in charge for so many school it's a big job I can say like a Dr um JY um Dr um Mr B is this for facilities or Personnel it can be oh okay I'm confused it can be personal then that sounds more like a personel all right so just I just put it for personal then okay I apologize for that Mr sovic yeah I'd like to refer an update to the adult education to search for the adult education site where we're at and and what we're looking at just please email me that thank you sure uh the next one is personnel and contracts personnel and contracts uh I Cher Personnel contracts
086um it has not met I haven't received any items currently right now but the next meeting once we receive items will be October 31st 2023 at 6: pm. Central High School uh yeah Central high school or teams is there any referrals to this committee yeah Madam chair yes go ahead um as I saying apologize for that I would like to get a report from the secreted directors Dr Morgan Dr Jen and our new you know dep puted superintendent I know we met twice the first time we interview and we meet you in Hing High School I would like to know the process especially what do you got for us for the school for the principal school for our students you know you're a very amazing professional person so I just want to know the process
087what you're going to get for briso school and I'd like to have the report from the for the executive director because I know you guys in charge for so many schools what how's the process going for each spirital school okay I'll make sure to have that part of the agenda yes the next committee is students and families chaired by Mr benett yes apologize I had a reference for Ahad personel and contracts um I would like to refer bundling the contract for the amp theater for well the current let me let me rephrase that bundle the contract for graduations and convocations so we could try to find the best deal for us put their tax dollars because we may be able to get a discount at another local if we put it out to bid okay
088thank you the next one is students and families cheered by Mr benan thank you mad chair our last meeting was um October 19 2023 in Central High School we have a good good agenda we got a nice report and um some stud um sorry staff and parents want to follow you know to do a lot of things our next meetings is going to be November 16 2023 it's going to be in I'm going to do in Harding High School this time I'm trying to look at you know different places so par will be easy to come to our meetings Okay are there any referrals to students and families any referrals okay the next one is teaching and learning cheered by Miss Baptist Perez teaching and learning has not met in the interim next meeting will
089be the third Tuesday in November are there any referrals to teaching and learning yes ma'am yes I'd like to ensure that we continue looking at early school start times on the committee and also I would like to um get an update i' I've done this before in the past probably about close to two years ago to um start reviewing curriculums for culturally responsive teaching we've done this about probably like two years in the past so I'd like that to see an update to see what has changed and what they're currently doing so we could use it as a metric to what we're doing going forward and I will email you that as well other referrals to teaching and learning all right hearing none the next just to remind everyone in the public that all of
090these committees are to the public they can also be viewed online you're more than welcome to attend public comment may not always be available that depends on what the chair would like for these committees but feel free to visit them and um be a part of the process and all of our students are also a part of the process as well the next item is the superintendent's report superintendent you have the floor hello sorry T are you giving the superintendent report yes I'll will be sharing the superintendent report okay so uh this last uh this Saturday we released uh the superintendent's newsletter it is available on our website which is bridgeportedu.net if you guys want to follow along uh the superintendent released her uh love note to the brw public schools Community I'm going to
091play the video now dear Bridgeport community it's hard to believe that we've only been together for 36 school days the first few weeks of my tenure have been one of the most rewarding and most exhausting experiences of my career I continue to be incredibly thankful for your support patience and enthusiasm for the work that lies ahead and the victories that we will experience together one Battle At A Time Dr Martin Luther King Jr once said that faith is taking the first step even when you can't see the whole staircase however we all know that when trust is broken it's hard to believe that anything will be different until it changes we have to persevere and focus on the eyes that watch us daily they gleefully receive our good morning greetings and believe us when we
092smile and say see you tomorrow they are our priority and we must remain focused on putting their needs and Expectations first we stand poised to begin a new Legacy of Bridgeport graduates who will be proud to stay return and to invest in our schools my resolve to meet that commitment remains unwavering and is even stronger than when I arrived in the this beautiful city Abraham Lincoln once said the philosophy of the school room in one generation will be the philosophy of government in the next take a look at all that we have done in 36 days now take a deep breath and exhale I can't wait to see what we will do together in one year Rising together we are [Music] Bridgeport and press the mic do apologize so in addition this is all available
093on our website once again bridgeportedu.net I'm g go briefly over some of the the things that we've done in the uh 36 Days uh one being negotiated the four-year teacher contract um uh then we we have our district priorities uh which is building teacher capacity uh cultural responsive instruction and then embraced uh social media platforms um which is uh a three of her priorities uh for for the district we also um have changed the way that we communicate with the with with with our uh our stakeholders um with the Weekly Newsletter with the communications with the videos we've uh revamped the way that we did handle social media we continues to improve that um to to to to communicate with our with our staff and our students and our our parents and also our community
094uh stakeholders as well um so we have uh addressed Staffing um and that was we've uh had the deputy superintendent um we have uh reinstated the math and literacy directors um uh we we have a uh reinstated the athletic directors which we haven't have in a few years uh we have a a a new assistant superintendent inal and mostal learning and and such other um and and he is uh uh going to be starting with in our district very soon um we've built Partners some of the partners are here today um in in regards to uh different things that we can do from the community that uh uh in Partnerships with the community that can benefit our schools whether that's funding whether that's scholarships um and it's very good that we we we have we're
095building this and continuously building uh partners and it's so that we that we did this with within 36 days is amazing uh we have the Sim Labs um so we have two SIM Labs we addressed this in a few buard boards ago uh but the stem lad uh we have one at uh Hall neighborhood house um and then we have um one going in um the other school is high was it high Horizons I believe High Horizons um and so the Sim Labs each lab has equipment is about $45,000 and it's just donors that are bringing uh uh they they're reaching out and getting donors uh and it's done through the Alan wall who was a former uh employee here for a long time it's in his honor um so we've uh had different news
096articles um uh uh one highlighting the aquaculture school um uh very very good positive piece that we had I'm not sure if anyone see it if again we have the the article on this on this uh so you guys can go back and and look at it if you need to um we listen to the community if if you have the students were here at fearch child Willer um was actually based off a school visit that we had I think last week I believe and so we they had brought to the superintendent the I want to wear a school uniform I want my school uniform I want to wear a hoodie and so what we did was we uh said hey disc this discourse should be brought to the board they should be brought to
097to the to the to so those students on the RO and they came to the board meeting and they spoke um on behalf of their desire to wear hoodies uh in their schools um so we also had the community forms we had Community forms in different settings um just so that superintendent can get uh uh the understanding of the community um uh so State and elected officials some officials were here today some officials are still here now um so she's met with several state in elected uh state city and federal elected officials um we've also uh uh had partner meetings with our higher educations locally um and then we also have the brdw promise which is also provides Pathways for our uh colleges uh uh for our students a college a pathway for our students
098to attend college um and that would that would be all for the superintendent report I thank you for listening to me thank you Tim I will open up the floor for questions uh from board members uh I'll start uh Miss Perez do you have any questions Mr Mr Traer do you have any questions just one um I'm still hoping to get the expulsion data that we discussed at the last meeting we miss alen are we waiting for a response Miss Allan do you have any questions Miss Baptist Perez do you have any questions um wow it's just been 36 Days um so first I think it's a very big deal of what's been accomplished um in the last 36 school days um in the district thank you Tim for presenting um I just have a
099question with what's the school suspension dat is going to be used for um my concern concern is not given staff busy work and if it can be referred to committee so we can take some kind of action or some foreseeable goal I think that's going to be very helpful for us as a board to work together for something clear and coherent versus just give me information for the sake of having it yes this is this is about superintendent's report and a request for data really don't have to justify why we need the data it well the point is I have the floor is that we should be working towards a foreseeable goal for the district that will actually impact our children I'm just curious if there's something that maybe we can work together and collaborate
100with teaching and learning since that's where it originally came up so that way we can just have a goal and I've noticed that the information was provided and I just want to know what are we using it for and if we're going to evaluate maybe some future plan or action that we all get together so we can get that moving Mr sh would you like to to answer um I'd be happy to answer um the data was discussed two months ago at a meeting um it was requested initially by me for the last year and amended by Mr JM for the last three years um the superintendent have provided it uh two meetings ago verbally and I simply asked to have it uh given in writing because I couldn't take it down verbally and at
101the last meeting the superintendent said it would be provided and I just am reminding her that I didn't get it yet so that was it it was already done it simply needs to be sent um and it is directly Germaine it didn't come up at the committee she said it came up at a different committee okay is this I yes M Mr Mr uh can you come to the mic so we can have it on the record thank you okay um Mr tror was that on the daytoday um expulsion for the past three years it was the expulsion rate I think week to week Mr KFA but I wasn't sure whether it was it was more specific than and month to month or year to year it was week to week I thought that was
102provided verbally um and that was what we were looking for okay um I I apologize that was sent I'm not sure if the superintendent at this point um got it in her email with everything but I will make sure you know with any questions you have I'll be able to answer those but I will resend it and make sure that that is in your packet or in your hand we did the three-year work on that um exactly what you asked for so um we do have that I apologize you didn't receive it but um the reality is we we we have it set and done and we'll we'll have it to you uh soon as we can thank you Mr Cara I I know that it was presented orally as I said so I know
103the work had been done and I appreciate it okay thank you yep Miss Baptist pres would you like to finish or if there are there any questions oh no that's clear because I recall receiving all the data that was requested and so I thought aside from requesting it that there was some ultimate goal with like a policy or some way we were going to implement him amongst the students because we have the requests and then I didn't know if there was a potential issue with it because I know I received it other board members received it as well thank you Mr sovic any questions concerning the super yes this question comes from a constituent um we just discussed a new way of uh communicating and what two parents are concerned about have the round taes
104been suspended are we going to continue the round taes because that was the way we were doing business for the in the past tense Paris really like the the round taes Dr lebby David would you like to respond I don't know what the question is will we be continuing the community roundtables where the parents come to a live inperson meeting with the superintendent to speak with the super or or superintendent designes because we had it before with h Carie Carly Ro and ly Miss ly Stevens they did it once a month to check in with all the student all the building leader all the building Pack Leaders and get together and speak about issues are we intend and un continuing that or will we be disbanding dismantling that I hav held Round Table it doesn't
105necessarily have to be the superintendent but miss miss stevens or Miss colie I think Miss collie has moved from the position so I think it would have to be Miss Stevens okay it's just a just a request for an update so if you don't have the information please get it to me by the next meeting if you can thank you thank you Mr benan any questions not question but comment thank you Dr Le Davis for the report the video report and I see as you be like I said 36 day you did um I be honest because you know the truth you know the true God like the truth you know and then you busy and you're doing things that other former superintendent never did and I have to be honest you know and thank
106you for that I really appreciate that what the um Mr Jo is talking about the round table we have former super that we have Pack Leaders from East School we have a nice meeting one time in a month they come to speak and Miss Russia and Miss ly was there to you know guide us and talk I was part of that and we have amazing meeting you know the superintendent can I be you can send one executive director you know and you can speak with russan that would give more information and that was good so because parently that we got new parent leaders now p and ptso they would like to come and speak and talk what they do vendors who what kind of Workshop uh it's amazing it's good I can give you more
107details but you can ask me R Miss Lyn but I it is a good thing you know you can ask them but after your report thank you I really appreciate that for the Thursday days you doing amazing job I really appreciate that thank you uh Mr Gellen any questions uh no questions for me but um again it's phenomenal work we're working on the communication with Community the board parents students um staff think they really appreciate it the positivity the positive energy I say just keep it going three six days is still right at its infant so we'll continue we we hope you to continue to again nurture this district and we support you we we have you back Miss cmir thank you so much Dr Levy David for um all the work that you've done
108so far um I do have a question about the point that Mr trabber brought up because I remember you sending out an email on the 27th of September week by week month by month and then Mr Traer had responded to it so I'm still just kind of confused as to what else did he need besides the data I guess I could just or Madam chair I'm asking you to to ask him what else does he need besides the data that she sent him on September 27th uh Mr tror would you like to respond or no okay all right so that concludes uh the superintendent's report the next item is new business um we actually had an old business item that is not placed in the proper area but we'll continue as the agenda has um
109discussion and possible action on entering into a contract with thought exchange survey services for the 2023 2024 school year I know this was brought up before contracts um and then it was also brought up whether or not it was a qualified purchase and then from there uh I believe it was said that it was it was approved and then it was brought back to make sure that it was brought before the board for the board to actually vote on whether or not we would enter into this contract so I don't know uh if Mr pyz is here to speak on this um or Miss seagull or not sure who will be speaking on it just for the record Miss James oh James okay uh Mr James are you still with us I see you Mr
110James yeah hi there okay y you have the floor great so my name is sorry go ahead I was gonna say that you have the floor you can speak on the item go ahead yeah wonderful I I met some of you uh several weeks ago when I joined one of your committee conversations um I'm I'm happy to answer any questions that any one of you has about thought exchange and and how our platform Works um and is being used by hundreds of other districts across the country to drive accessible inclusive and fair uh Community conversations across school districts um I I met this morning with some of the team and so I know that they were able to get some of their answers uh from a technical perspective um but I think I'll I'll just
111sort of make the the simp point the the thing that is very unique about our platform is that it's really designed to allow all voices to be heard in an authentic way um and also in a way that allows people to interact with one another's perspectives to get exposure to what their fellow community members their fellow staff members think and believe is crucial in response to any question that the district is looking to hear from their stakeholders on and that this is a process that's really designed to ensure sure that all voices can be heard equally in conversations that impact people where people care deeply but are often uh you know Limited in their ability to have their voices heard or accounted for because of you know the limits and constraints on our time and
112availability to be present in conversations and that is particularly true for a larger School District like your own where just the sheer volume of people that you serve can make it very complicated and complex to be able to adequately hear everyone's voice um in a consistent and ongoing fashion and thought exchange is designed as a way to make it easier for leaders to bring the voices and perspectives of those that they're trying to serve into the uh conversations and into the decisions that they are trying to make from a place of understanding where folks are truly coming from so let me pause there and I'm not sure if anyone else from the district leadership team wanted to provide any further context about you know how you yourself are are seeing the potential of a partnership
113with thought exchange and surely if there's anyone on the board that has any specific questions I'm here to answer any and all of those questions uh what I'll do uh thank you Mr uh James for providing that update what I'll do is for the interest of time is that in following of Robert Rules of Order I will give each board member an opportunity to ask their questions we will go around one time and then we'll go around again uh to see if any other board members have any questions you do according to rer Rules of Order have 10 minutes to ask any question any you can outline whatever it is that you want concerning this item um and you know I'll keep time if I need to keep time um but the floor is open
114and I will just call board members and if you have any questions you can ask your questions for Mr James uh Miss cassimir oh sorry that's quick Point quick point of information the 10-minute limit is on debate not question got it got it go ahead Miss cmir I'll pass Mr Gellen pass Mr sovic yes I got I got a couple question not the Contra I sat through I sat through the meeting I'm don't have any questions about the program per se but I'm seeing the contract in front of us is back dated to October 1 and yeah why is it October 1 start date thank thank you for drawing attention to that that that should be November first I I think that's simply a reflection of when the conversation had started with the district and
115that you know perhaps there had been um an eye towards having an October 1st based on earlier conversations um however we would certainly want to amend that to Simply reflect in this case if if you make a decision to move forward with the partnership a November one official start date so um thanks for catching that and we would want to change that coming out of this conversation um yeah another questions but I think we should get that motion out the way so we don't forget about it motion to amend the contract to date November 1st 2023 I'm sorry what was your question I made a motion to amend the date to November 1st 2023 so when we approve if we approve is there a second a a second by Miss Perez any further so it's
116been it's been seconded any further comments or questions before we vote on it just the amendment just the amendment all right I he hearing none all in favor I any oppose any extensions hearing none it has been amended all right now continue conversation on it uh Miss questions I'm Sorry Miss Baptist perz any more qu any further questions pass uh Miss Allan any questions Mr trer y I had a question for Mr pyz I think is Mr pyz here I'm here um the committee moved this out of committee pending approval has it been approved yes the the qualified purchase it was submitted to purchasing and it's have has been approved yes on what grounds was it approved by the committee it was the committee it was the purchasing agent the uh Soul Source Soul Source
117okay no other question Miss Perez um just a comment I was in the committee meeting when this was presented and I think um it'll be a great addition to our district um I I like the the combination of AI and how we can use it to survey students and families so um I'm just saying that I would vote for this contract okay back to you Miss uh Casmir no questions thank you uh Mr Gellen no questions Miss Baptist Perez uh I had the opportunity today to go through the thought exchange website and actually see a presentation on it I think from a few of the comments I Believe by some Council woman VA about bringing us out of the Stone Age I may be attributing this to the wrong speaker but I think uh I
118agree with board member Perez that this is Cutting Edge AI I know from experience sitting on this board we've asked for a breakdown of some of the survey data and that's not readily available but thought exchange will be able to do that in real time really fast as well as give quantitative and qualitative information to it so that way we can figure out how to reach out to the community at large so I think that this is something to bring us out of the Stone Age like some of our public speakers were saying so I I too will support this uh Mr benan you missed uh any questions for Mr uh James do you have any questions about the thought exchange survey service no I'm not comment question right now thank you all right uh
119I also too agree that um seeing a product like this uh being able to be provided for the district especially with some of the needs that we may have I do um I do wish we did have the further demonstration we didn't get a full demonstration in our um committee but I do think you know um if this should be voted on that you know we'll be able to see the future of what this product will do for the district was some yes missz I move that we enter into a contract with thought exchange survey services for the 2023 2024 school year is there a second oh Mr trabber okay so it has been properly seconded by Miss cmir now any further comments or questions just quick point of information yes Baptist could just amend
120her motion to add the words as amended because we did have an amendment yeah we changed the October date to November 1st that's still the 20123 2024 school year and that motion's been passed corly but now we're on to the main motion which is as a minutum I'll withdraw my motion okay will you withdraw your second all right go ahead Miss Baptist Perez I move that we entered into a contract with thought exchange services for the for starting November 1st 2023 to September 30th 2024 school year is there a second second by Miss cmir now are there any further comments or questions I have some discussion that I like oh wait Mr Tre Mr okay yes um I am totally opposed to qualified purchases we need we need to have lead time qualified purchases they
121damp in competition they drive up prices and I I would like to see three bids for everything because competition drive down prices we have a certain amount of money that limited we can only spend money one time so money spent on one thing cannot be spent on another thing cannot be spent in a classroom so I I was just like dord to reflect that I stand against any qualified purchases and even if there's one little if there's one difference there's no knock on the program Mr I think it's a wonderful program and I think it's a good program but if there's qualified purchase Soul Source provider if there's one or two slight differences in those things is that worth the excess cost and those are the things we got to look at as Financial stewards
122for the tax dollars that come to us and be opposing this contract just based on that thank you Mr sovic Mr trabber and then Miss Perez I was uh I was at the committee meeting where we voted on this we initially moved as um the minutes reflect for that committee to table this proposal uh at the request of the superintendent we uh withdrew that motion the table uh because Mr hagga had a very interesting demonstration at the end of a 4-Hour committee meeting um where we got a taste of what the the program can do um one small example that he was forced to to lay out real quick uh to us uh and he was prepared to with two demonstrations to walk us through and unfortunately after a very long committee meeting uh nobody
123had the uh the desire to go through it so we didn't get a chance to go through that um so it's unfortunate but at the request of the superintendent we asked that it uh be put to the uh uh appropriate committee uh and if it was approved that it would be brought to the full board last meeting for approval um now somehow we got our wires crossed because I'm looking at the minutes that say we've started using it so I I guess I didn't hear here in this explanation tonight why we're back here doing this now so I guess that's my question did we start using it already or did we not uh superintendent or would you like to respond we have neither purchased thought exchange nor begun implementation of thought exchange I I believe
124that's the motion on the floor that's the minutes that we have already approved reflect that we said we had started work with the thought exchange at the last meeting so I'm confused so so we're we are no Mr there is no contract signed with thought exchange nothing has been implemented there's no purchase order issued and we didn't start working with them either none at all we did know okay everything is pending your approval tonight okay that's what I'm asking because the minutes say that we did and the report last week to last meeting said we did that must have been some misinterpretation or misspeaking but nothing's going on okay Miss Perez thinking this was a program that was unique to other programs they don't offer or other programs do not offer the same uh yes
125please use it please use it and then I'm not sure if that's for us or that's for Mr James I guess Mr James um from Mr haga um from the presentation from last time um you mentioned that there's no other programs like this one so is that correct that is correct the the the fundamental difference with thought Exchange in comparison to other survey type platforms forms particularly those that are you know frequently used in K12 public education the the fundamental difference in how our platform works is that it is really designed to allow for people to have their own authentic voice heard and accounted for and also to give them the opportunity to anonymously get exposed to the thoughts of many other people in a an efficient uh fashion within a digital format and to
126allow them the opportunity to weigh in on the degree to which they feel alignment to what others have contributed to the conversation in that regard it's designed to allow people to truly listen to the voices and perspectives of others and to do so in a fashion that doesn't allow for as much bias in the conversation in part due to the fact that the entire engagement is anonymous and what that is driving at is the ability for people to build empathy and awareness of the fact that there are many different ways of thinking about and and having a perspective on an issue and critically to allow for some degree of consensus or alignment or prioritization to emerge from any conversation wherein the district can see not only the breadth of complexity and difference of perspective that
127is held within a large community but also to understand more acutely what are the issues and perspectives that H that do in fact have a lot of consensus around them and how can we understand those things and use them to drive forward you know decisions around limited resources limited time and and and you know the the the mission and mandate that you hold as a public school district to to best serve all the students that come to your schools and knowing that the ability to hear authentically from those stakeholders is a crucial part to allow you to understand whether you're on the right path or not and so I think that that's the key differentiator of how our platform works as opposed to in a survey TR traditionally what you're doing is you're asking a
128question or a series of questions and people are given the opportunity to respond often based on a series of options that you've laid out within the question structure um but then that's that's the end of the exercise they don't necessarily get to understand what are the issues that are you know Finding alignment across the community nor do they have the opportunity to understand or to weigh in on what their fellow community members are thinking or believing within that conversation structure um and and so th those are some of the key elements and and then lastly the ability to have the results and the data transparently available to our all participants in real time and also to give the leadership access to immediate results dashboards that through our our AI empowered analytics essentially help to you
129know present the data in themes and categories in areas of Divergence and polarization areas of common ground and a whole host of other mechanisms that are really designed to save leaders who are strapped for time the ability to draw Insight out of complex often narrative style data um that is otherwise a very significant time and resource lift just to try to make sense of and understand uh and that's what our platform is designed to do in a very efficient way thank thank you I just have a followup M press um so I believe that's why in committee we pushed this um for a qualified purchase and then my other question would be to either superintendent leby David or Mr pyz um in committee I believe this we we talked about the price of this being
130cheaper than panor Panorama was it the previous Pro program so this would be saving us money yes that's correct Miss Baptist Press um so my question is more for Mr haga I believe I'm pronouncing your last name correctly um when I did the demonstration today I saw that it very it was a very user friendly platform and that it provided a translation for the data so for parents that are bilingual multilingual speak are there language Services provided so the survey that's being sent out is automatically translated into Spanish or Creole or French in any instance of using our platform um any participant has the ability to select the language that they would like to be able to participate in this is a it's an integrated um element of Google Translate into our platform and so
131I believe there's 133 languages that Google um is able to translate in real time so for instance if I'm a Portuguese speaker I can engage fully in Portuguese everything will appear in Portuguese um I will share my thoughts in Portuguese and then for an English speaker those Portuguese thoughts will be translated into English so that other people can of course understand them if Portuguese is not the language that they speak and that applies to any other language that an individual would choose to participate in the process um in and and that's obviously just designed to try to lower the barrier to entry for people who uh for whom English may not be their first language and and giving them the opportunity to be heard in the language that they're most comfortable and capable to communicate
132and present their perspectives thank you are there any further questions or comments on this just one to comment it just seems like this sorry seem like this um thought exchange will be extremely helpful just for the district in terms of strategic planning um in real time trending of the voice of our um again students um and staff so um and it's cheaper um was it's a cic so I think we could go on and vote on it I think it will be a a great addition um especially if it's a tool that our superintendent think that will be helpful for her as well in leading this effort thank you any further comments All right so the motion has been properly seconded all in favor any oppose no Mr sovic appose any any abstentions hearing none
133motion carries the next item before we go to the next item the superintendent did want to make an announcement um so I want to yeld the floor to you be able to do that during the superintendent's report I um I wanted to make sure that we highlighted uh what I think is a phenomenal opportunity for our students and I I really want to thank uh infrar for coming to the district um to do nothing more than to ask to partner and to support our students I was able to meet with Tony Johnson who is right over here if you could stand Mr Johnson thank you and he is the vice president of community engagement for infrar which as you know is one of the water treatment facilities here in the city and um not only
134did he offer to have our students have real time apprenticeships school to work opportunities but also scholarships for each High School currently in our district for our students and so they're investing very directly very directly not only in the development and growth of our science initiative but also in the growth and prosperity of our students here in Bridgeport and they want to be full partners and I just wanted to personally thank him and apologies for for not being able to highlight you earlier but I just really want to thank you for being here and for believing in the work that we're doing here in Bridgeport thank you so much thank you we'll now resume back to uh agenda items uh discussion possible action on directing the superintendent to remove the October 13 2023 video uh
135from parents Square in YouTube this item was brought to me by Mr svic Mr svic you have the floor like to begin by making a motion to instruct the superintendent to remove that YouTube dated October 13 2022 here a second I moved the table that indefinitely Superior motion to what the main motion on the table there there's an attorney here I've made a motion that takes superiority over a main motion table it indefinitely so other board members need the opportunity whether or not they want to second that motion to table the main motion that's been made no no man that's not how it works all right proper motion on the floor you were not assigned the floor the motion was second before you assigned the floor you were not recognized you can't just shout out
136randomly motion to table all right Mr Mr trabber Mr Traer second it is there yes M move to table the main motion indefinitely well we have two we have two have two motions that's not a main motion I've made that is attorney duus is online we have another representative from exective session can we no no we can't it's not it's not for executive session so there's attorney Dugas would you like to weigh in we have two motions on the floor is he on he's online yes yes okay yes so the first motion is Mr trayers my motion secondly by Mr all right thank you very much continue conversation my motion I first reason iest I requested this agenda item that the October 13th video because the ver October 13th video contains misleading and false information
137I will point out the inaccuracies one by one and know where to find the correct information either in the minutes or the original video of the last regular meeting inaccuracy number one when change is not understood conflict begins there are members of the board who do not this is a quote from the video there are members of the board who do not understand the change and the need to do her work in a respectful and conflict free environment I'm G to start your 10 minutes one second all right go ahead inaccuracy number one when change is not understood conflict begins from the video there are board members of the there are members of the board that do not understand change and the need to do work in a respectful and conflict free environment they don't
138understand how to provide respectful dialogue and expose the superintendent to public ridicule that she is not deserving of and how it's important for her to Mo model for her employees where people are treated with dignity and respects even when they don't understand the changes that are coming this implies that board members do not understand change speaking for this board member I understand all too well the changes provided thus far some which I agree with some which I do not just because a board member disagrees with change does not mean that board member does not understand it when it comes to adding any additional spending this board member is the only sitting board member to have to look people in the eye and say to former employees I'm sorry I voted to cut your job job
139we just could not afford you this board members also sees the approaching fiscal cliff and knows there are many Cuts coming this board member will continue to question every new expenditure weigh the cost versus the benefits and if in my analysis I believe the cost outweigh the benefits I will Advocate against that proposal if I get five votes not the five votes isn't saying anything about terminating anybody the change or the addition is blocked if I only give four votes the change passes and it accepted all qualified purchases will get additional scrutiny by me at least because this board members knows qualified purchases drive out competition and drive up costs which will in the end be dollars that cannot be spent in our classro this board member also understands that Dei is an all-encompassing term
140and that culturally responsive teaching falls under Dei as does professional development as Rec around recognizing implicit biases and some anti-racism training that Miss Baraka brought up that being an anti-racist is a very good book and I've actually sat in seminars with Mr kendi who wrote that book this is evidenced by my committee doing uh Equity Order each and every disciplines curriculum they all ran through the curriculum so I do understand responsible culturally responsible teaching the two concepts the two concept debated at the last meeting are not mutually exclusive both can exist coexists that's my understanding in a recorded video I asked a question about the RFP for our Public Relation firms this happened about one minute and for one hour and four minutes in the regular meeting I raised concern about dragging the process out
141I never Cent I never question the credentials of the current PE off firm just the need to get a permanent contract in place if that's the direction we go so choose as I began my next question the superintendent interrupted me you could find us in a video anything unfactual feel free to point out okay as I began the next question superintendent interrupted me and raised Miss suur by name and asked if there was a concern about the work she was doing I said my questions were about process not people the response was well I'm concerned about people I emphasized the importance of following policy I did not accuse the superintendent of breaking any policy please point out where I did she says she don't think she has broken it I repeatedly reassured her that was
142not my point she kept bringing up Miss sopur who was not the subject of the question the question was about an RFP and if it has been issued it is after this point she accuses me of having a personal bias this is unacceptable this triggers people like Ernest Newton and Mary McBride Lee to insin insinuate I'm a racist that is unacceptable my son attends these bridport public schools and I have to explain to him some very ignorant people are calling Daddy a racist just for doing his job that he was elected to do right up here if anybody I had to tell him if anybody says anything to you explain that Daddy is Doing what he was elected to do the same way he had for the last six years under every single superintendent that
143sat at this table my next question about an hour and eight minutes wi was acting asking for a update for the deputy superintendent search being conducted by Ces I asked for an update and if we could add the job search to our website as well the next response was oh now you have a problem with Dr Avery as well no I replied Dr Avery is welcome to apply for the new job the next question these these next points go to modeling behavior and treating each with other respect the next question about an hour and 10 minutes in during the report it was said that we entered into a contract with d exchange and that we were already working with d exchange superintendent said it was discussed thly in committee and why we needed a new
144contact and really never answered the direct direct question she states just take a vote to terminate me and this is interesting because the only person that was talking about terminating the superintendent is the superintendent herself at no time in any minutes in any video will you see any board member speaking to fire the superintendent the superintendent brought this up herself nobody is trying to terminate the superintendent that very same contract was voted on earlier I probably asked question as well because I'm confused by the statement during her report which is found on page seven of the minutes that she began working with thought exchange the approval is on tonight for the first time I'm unclear of the October 1 date because today is October 23rd I hope when I ask this question I'm not accused
145of bias and racism once again then superintendent interrupted two speakers with the statement death by 5,000 Cuts death by 5,000 Cuts then we moved on to charging Lighthouse of fee superintendent made reference to and I'm paraphrasing here the city is funding us what if the city decided not to fund fund us not to fund us not to fund teacher health benefits we should not antagonize and bite the hands that feed us I asked if superintendent was saying the city would cut funding and hurt our staff and students now this is evidence we heard um city council saying they sit on the finance board and if we don't treat the superintendent right they are going to hold back our funding did everybody here hear that so I asked the question if the superintendent was excuse me
146I'm speaking I'm asking he still has time please do not speak from the audience I asked the superintendent if she was saying the city would cut funding and hurt our staff and students not an ER your responsible question see as what we heard here tonight the superintendent replies not only are you wrong Mr calic you are also deaf you are deaf Mr calic she stated how do our special education students here who may be here be hearing response to that this was not only disrespect R was very insensitive to our hearing pair students so exactly what yes so exactly what Behavior are mod modeling calling people names unfairly accusing in a bi bias interrupting people while they are speaking finally this a video attacks board members and presents a false narrative like G much like
147gaslighting this is not what parent square and other District's resources are attended for this message went out to the entire District including the parents of every single one of my son's classmates parents and I once again had to explain to my son what people may say to him in school if this board does not vote to take this video down so be it just be aware I will continue to ask the questions in the same manner as I have always have and will correct any Missin information with documentable facts thank you right so is there any further comments on this item Miss Baptist Perez I think that this motion highlights all the negative that's in the district I believe that board members have in my experience on the board excuse wait for that Miss Allen
148you could take the call okay she's good go ahead Miss Baptist perz censoring our superintendent to send a public service announcement goes against what certain board members in their private life to what they attest that they're raising money for for the Board of Ed their first amendment rights there's nothing wrong with the speech if the shoe fits where people feel guilty or ridicu then you have to live with the actions of your consequences but we as a school district when there are heated conversations we need to rectify we need to calm the public the public needs to know and parents need to know that there are stability in our schools we just had a huge successful win with our teachers contract we just had a huge successful win with student morale we have Community turnout
149and then to take this action which I believe is the fourth action against the superintendent or questioning her conduct clearly sends the implication that it is a targeted offense I'm not here to sit on the board to gaslit because of comments were made in a cool calm and Collective way that we have not attacked the superintendent this is clearly attack on the superintendent speech and nothing that was said was wrong with change there will be un it will be uncomfortable with change and people don't understand the purpose of the change like what's the difference between culturally relevant teaching and Dei and how they actually coincide to a certain extent with a more more of a focus on on teachers being able to have tier one instruction to students teachers being able to reach out to
150all the different cultures in their classroom and teachers being able to teach students to be the best that they can be somehow along this way there have been several agenda items ridiculing the superintendent leadership and instead of having a conversation with the superintendent board members have refused to communicate with the superintendent and what should be a simple adult this is our opportunity as a board to be the role model for our children no I want my 10 minutes which board member refuse to communicate with the superintendent does the shoe fit because I'm not interested in naming names casting experss on the board Mr Mr sakic she still has seven minutes left and I plan on using it all no but in all seriousness this is absolutely absurd it's rude it's highly offensive it is a
151power grab it is a struggle let her do her job I don't know how many people came up today expressing to allow the superintendent to do her job but it seems like there are problematic board members that give off the appearance of being bitter that give off the appearance of one in power and control and that is interferent with every one of our students in the district we just need to be focused we are not here to serve the parents this is what the attorneys told us during our training we are not here to serve the staff that's what the unions for and they have their own representation we are here to serve the students we are here to be role models for the students nitpicking at the leader of this District's speech does not
152make us look like role models and this is absurd that it's an actual action item on here have for the board member that called this have you had a one-on-one discussion with the superintendent regarding this before actually calling for it I've had several online conversations you ask me a question allow me to no no no rhetorical question because I know the answer okay but no instead of being the role models that we need to be instead of being child and student focused so they have the best education possible this is not an agenda item aimed at any of our kids this isn't going to make them feel better at night this isn't going to ensure that their teachers are able to teach him and this has absolutely nothing to do but it's just a power
153grab and that's the part that I find unacceptable especially since some board members were arrested for trespassing and then claiming their first amendment rights all of a sudden now you want to censor someone else's First Amendment right when all it's doing is trying to mitigate the situation assure to her team the districtwide that she's not leaving us but now she needs to be censored that is completely ridiculous and so I'll use the rest of my time any other board members would like to share before I go back around Mr benan you have let me give me give me time to start the cloud your 10 minutes has started thank you Madame chair and I going to be less of 10 minutes this have to stop this have to stop our a parent before our leader
154this is embarrassing that our students our parents Community everyone is watching and talking about board education when they say board education they said all of us they don't say names and I don't like when they say Bard ucation my name is there when something is negative it's pissing me off so badly I'm trying to hush my mouth to not say what I have to say because I'm very professional and I don't want to look bad because if I say something negative we all going to look negative that DAV she's perfect they're not are we all perfect we're not nobody's perfect we make mistake we learn from the mistake but Dr came Liv is know I emailed her she emailed me back and I really appreciate that did I have something against her no did she
155do something I don't like no did she don't like what I do no because that's part of the humanity that's part of the life nothing is perfect but it piss me off so bad embarrass me sometimes they get angry I get stressed I get depressed I see that people have to talk about the bation of bridport school I got family from Puerto Rico Florida New Jersey second brid boort you know say Mr V Al what's going on with your boy board ucation for another town mil for tra more Monro they said wow Mr Benham you know what's going on everything was fine you have a great superintended what's going out with the bo what happened when D ask well have to tell them I don't know PA second the bo me you think you know
156he's doing something wrong and talk to them I'm sometime I get I get tired I get first I get I I'm not here for this I'm here for my students I'm here for my staff I'm here for my parents I'm here to work together you know for the best education for our children if you have some personal issues you know take your on the side if I don't like something from Dr something I will go our email let's sit down let's talk like a human like a professional we are if we vote for her the majority is because we know she's doing the job if the community want her because she's doing the job and really and seriously what I see I witness I don't see another superintend school do thing that what she was
157doing that did she something did a mistake yes she did a mistake everybody did mistake I did mistake everyone did mistake who told me his perfect here because let me you're not you're God then but I'm tired I'm I'm very tired I'm very upset disgust me that we had to go back and forth and argument for stuff that we can't handle as professional private or something whatever you have to do special meetings you know of the section not the public look like come on really come on people come on B come on let's be human our children's as watching us this is one of the reasons sometime people parents they don't want to come to our meetings this is one of the reasons sometime parents they would like to speak with us because they say
158if I go over and and speak I'm going to have a problem I'm going to have an issue you know how many staff they would like to speak speak come there and say we got this issue we got this problem but they afraid they are really afraid and I talk to you from the bottom of my heart I'm not offending nobody here if you get offended I apologize but this is the way I speak you know I be honest I talk to you from the heart we need to work together you need to go he say she say why he say up down left right black and white and jell whatever I don't care a student is watching us and we need to stop this like I said good communication gr successful I'm not sitting
159down here that I'm trying to be negative I want to be positive and work with everyone remember our children is watching us thank you Madame chair is there anyone else Mr gin just give me a second have the floor I'm going to keep my comments brief I personally think this should have been an executive session discussion and also uh to my colleague Joseph kvic this was not necessary Mr travor just give me a second floor is yours I I want to Echo what Mr gam just said uh about it's unfortunate and I why aren't we in executive session at the time I didn't think it was the executive session when I spoke to the superintendent about adding it to the agenda I did let her know um and that's my fault I should have added
160it as executive session I understand I'm only asking uh Mr jalm and I were just discussing it and the reason is it's just sadly that we need to work out some differences and this is not um our best light um as all of us agree um but I do mean what I said earlier I think that this video was a step up in terms of attacking board members um it was not necessary it served its purpose it was used in the press and I think it should come down um and so I seconded this motion because I think it is something I have not seen in decades working with this board for the um leader of this District to use the resources of this District to put out a message that attacks board members um
161and we've had turmoil When Miss uh when other board members were here we've had turmoil meetings that didn't finish until midnight um and the the vitriol and the arguing make us look like we're at a picnic compared to what they've been through in the past um so I'm not saying that we can't get better because we can get better um but it's not I mean compared to what we've been through in the past the reputation of Bridgeport is engendered by that past when we went months without a board meeting uh because it was so bad um so I I believe that uh we need to get better as many people have said but I don't believe there was ever any overt attack um in any of this that's gone on in the past um there
162were questions that um the superintendent didn't like but there were not any personal attacks um but in this video we personally make a statement about other members of this group here sitting at this table um and that I think is taking it up a notch and we think we need to if you want to start taking it back down we need to take that down I is we're gonna go round uh Miss Perez I'm gonna start the clock for you so just give me a second I don't I don't need 10 minutes huh I don't need 10 minutes I don't need but I still want to resp ECT I want to make sure everyone gets their due so can you use it you don't have to go ahead um I think we've heard from the
163community community here today um Faith leaders um Community leaders um we got our city council out here um our state senators here um it's not because of good things and we had that meeting a few weeks ago about our strategic plan for the year and our goals and one of them was communication and we just need to like as a group be able to communicate with each other where we're not bringing out crowds for negative uh items on the agenda and I want to Second what Miss bati Perez said is some of these things should be one-on-one conversations and go up the chain of command from there but I don't think having this on an agenda item um reflects well on our our our board especially when you know this FAL Cliff that you speak
164of often is coming up and we had board uh city council members here today who quite frankly are on the budget committee as one rep um representative said and who knows what they're going to do because they see us as a dysfunctional board so um and I know that's on them but we just need to come together and really have those conversations off the agenda and if things need to escalate to an agenda item then we go from there but we should have these conversations privately first I guess I'll share before I go back before I go to myself is there any other board member because I'll start the rotation again that would like to speak on this item ask mayor I mayor what um uh board member Perez just said every single word that's
165all I wanted to say any other board member who hasn't spoken Miss Allan would you like to say anything okay I will speak on the item and I'll start my clock when this item was brought to me I did call the super in our superintendent meeting I did bring it to her attention uh to let her know that there was I did receive phone calls and I did ask them I asked her I said what would be the best route would you like to take for people to reach out to you about their concerns she said you can give them my cell phone number and I told her I said I would feel better we just talked to the lawyer about this I would feel better if they just email you directly with their concerns
166I don't know if you received them you probably haven't but I did let her know that I did receive from community members about the video they did say that they felt like they were a part of a back and forth argument amongst the board and the superintendent via the video so I did bring it to her attention I did talk to her about it and I did tell her was going to be on the agenda I don't believe Mr K asked for to be executive session and I didn't think about it at the time but but I was trying to be proactive and she we did speak about it um I like I said you know her feelings are her feelings I respect your feelings your position is your position um I do believe that
167we do as a board and we did talk about this in our meeting as well that there is an opportunity for us to sit down and have a conversation I did speak to Mr Dugas Mr Dugas did provide me me provide me with language to be able to do so for um an upand cominging meeting so once he does get back from vacation we will be scheduling an upand cominging meeting what require board members to speak directly to the superintendent of the concerns that they may have so that is on the books and being prepared once Mr Dugas arrives back from vacation so I just want to say that the conversation came about we did talk about it but as the chair I did my best to honor each and every one of you who
168asked me when I send you an email I say here are the updates from the superintendent this week I did not uh last week I didn't get a chance to do but I did ask board members if you have agenda items that you want to be presented before the board please email them and I have done that across the board with every board member I've only received from certain board members items that they felt they needed to be brought before the board so I just want to share that uh so if anyone says that the conversation did not happen it did happen the results of it is the agenda item but the conversation did happen um now I'll start again for the last time we'll go around one last time each board member still has
16910 minutes respect each other's 10 minutes that we've just done back to you Mrs cic yeah wait a minute let me start your 10 minutes I don't I don't think it's extra 10 minutes it's just 10 minutes in total oh I think I got about five 45 seconds and 45 seconds um let me start your clock yeah so oh nope let me start your clock any yet nope don't start I don't want anyone say that they were slighted your seconds have started right at the end of the day it is as respect is accused of a power grab we got to understand the power dynamics of the board the board of education is the supervisor of the superintendent the superintendent used company resources to attack her supervisors and for that reason it should be taken
170down now and I'm sorry all right wait go going forward yeah this is this is you got like kind of conciliatory 10 seconds left I am willing I am willing to start a fresh and new tomorrow at the next regular at the next meeting I will disagree with some of her some of the superintendent's um agenda items and I will support some of them five seconds and I will act in a professional manner but I did I intend to be I think we should be all be treated with respect no name calling and directly answer the questions as long as we can do that we'll have a wonderful working relationship and time second go around Mr Gellen would you like to maybe you have not that much but again just to clarify dur in the
171video no one name was singled out at all so if inferences were made if assumptions were made that was up to the individuals or the community the community obviously has you know their senses um so we know who are you know the the dynamic within the board right so again the individual know one was singled out so we want to make that clear no one um our super attendent did not attack any single board member all right she didn't attack us as a whole either I want to make that clear so not a spin game okay we're we're not gonna go back and for no no we're not we're not I'm G to be very clear this is not a spin game she did not attack any board member she didn't attack the board she
172made an observation about her time so far as superintendent of of Bridgeport and highlighted the dynamic that she's facing thank you any other board member would like Miss Baptist Perez you have about five minutes left on your time I just want to bring back to some comments that was um some things that were mentioned in public comment and that is to get us out of the Stone Age is so first and foremost it is on the Internet it's this very common saying that I know our students know and that is the internet is forever and so the video has been downloaded it has been saved it has been posted on media Outlets so this action really comes as a censorship without truly deleting the video as requested so people will still share people will still
173review it and so this really doesn't take any action except trying to attack the superintendent um I want to reiterate what Mr jelen Jalan said that no names were called in the video um and that this is uh reiterate the point that was brought up by board member Perez that we need to essentially do and be better um uh we are the role models for the district we have so many new Partnerships that have come into fruition within the last 36 days that I don't want our failure to communicate as a board to deter potential scholarship donors deter the state from having any faith in us as a board especially when we're given training I don't I want to be that role model for our students that they can look to the Board of Education
174that we are focused on the business of educating our Scholars and so I I strongly urge that we do not vote in favor of This truly the internet's forever like I downloaded it and and so I won't question whether someone's G to ask me to censor if I choose to share it so I mean this is is frivolous so I hope that my colleagues understand that taking it down doesn't remove what they think is an issue and that truly like Miss Perez said that we need to have conversations and be the role models and and follow the goals that we've established for ourselves thank you and now will that concludes Miss Baptist perz any further all right you about I think you have about five minutes or so to you too I got at least
175seven or eight but I won't use them oh seven or eight I can bring you up to seven I'm not I'm really not gonna um I would repeat the points just simply to me it's a symbolic gesture if we're talking about trying to mend fences and move forward um then we don't need um I Miss batist Perez is absolutely correct people have been uh passing it around and you posting it and reposting it um but it should not be on the parents page it should not be on the board of ed website um it is um the antithesis of what we're talking about trying to do we're trying to figure out how to work together in a more constructive fashion and that statement doesn't do it so I think it would be a um appropriate
176symbolic gesture to take it down um if we want to move forward in the way that we're all talking about wanting to do so I believe that it's worth taking down to show that we are trying to move forward all right I'll go to Miss Perez would you like to finish out your time no com Miss Allan Mr benan would you like to finish out your time you have about give me a second you have about five minutes as well very short uh thank you Madame shair I feel and I my opinion and I respect everyone's opinion on my colleague that Dr Camila want to send a video out for the community for the parent for the student all her job and everything she's doing I'm fine with that if it says something negative about
177one of the board members let's put it on the side they have a special meeting or let's call and have a better communication because I don't want that negative go out because something small they put is so big more big that this building that she can't keep doing um her videos about what we she's doing in the community and everybody know what she's doing I'm okay with that like the one she just did this one I'm okay I'm happy with that but let's have keep forward and let's keep positive because people's watching us and this is embarrassing for our students thank you Mia yeah I believe that is everyone that has gone forward um let me go back miss cmir you still have time on yours no thank you okay I'm good all right so
178there's after everyone has had an opportunity to speak everyone has utilized their time the motion is on the floor uh all in favor roll call vote roll call vote Mr Benham would you like to do that yep we're we're on whether or not this should be removed so you have the floor point of order no side conversations the public deserves to hear every single thing we say okay so Alan um Christine Baptist peris absolutely not this is not the symbolic gesture that we should be I have I have the right to explain why my vote is no I have a right to explain why my vote is no Miss Baptist Perez you have the floor absolutely not this is the symbolic gesture to our students that they do not have a voice to be a
179student of color in this District this is ridiculous and I vote no um Miss Bobby Brown yes Mr Kisha kmir no Mr de Kellen yes Miss Jennifer Paris no Mr Justice saket yes Mr Robert travor and Mr Abra Hal yes need to go back to Miss Allen yes I'm going back Sorry Miss Allen so the eyes have it all right the next item is second read and possible approval of policy 9130 construction of agenda to bring into compliance with State Statute this is Mr sik's item um this also is just the second read of this item and it's also located in your packets packet I don't know what page it is on here right after the thought exchange page 33 page 33 okay okay wait sorry yeah 90 9130 okay let me get back to
180the proper page on mine because for members it's 33 in the packet right before special education unfortunately the the um language was not added to our packet but the language was um very simple adding a e I'm looking for here adding a letter e daating oh first of all I'm sorry St with the motion yes motion to approve construction the second read and for immediate implementation the construction and posting of the agenda 9130 second and if yall recall at the last meeting we discussed some language being added to a to the package it just wasn't added Eve we could have it added afterward all materials presented at public meetings shall be posted to the district website this is the bring us in compliance with State Statute and the state law that we' do this is
181not not really an option we just need to have this added to the current policy is there any questions on this item Mr Dugas did speak uh last time and did let us know that this is something that we must do um but if there's no further questions I will it's been properly second all in favor I sorry go ahead I have a question um I understand what we're voting for my question is why hasn't the rest of the language been posted on the board of education website because I know we passed it in back in April so that would have been six months of the language not being posted uh I will respond but go ahead Mr um in reference to that if you are listening during my committee report we discussed that it
182was lost in a transition and it was recreated just at the very last committee me meeting and will be presented as just be presented to put it in the portal it was reconstructed by myself Mr treber and Dr Morgan using pivot Points in from the minutes to the agenda to recreate what was lost and we all AG agreed that these are the current minutes that are up on the board as is with the exception of the one sentence to be added so and this will be on the agenda for the next meeting just to have it put on the website unless the superintendent so chooses to put it up as presented so if you want to go if it is on the agenda I suggest every single board member go and watch that meeting otherwise
183we'll be here two hours going back backtracking what we did back for well no I understand the transition happened in the summer but I believe this was passed in April right I'm not you are correct but I'm not sure what happened we did discuss it with the superintendent on what happened no one knows what happened as to why um we don't have the full draft but isn't that a violation of Foya that we approved something and now we're posting it six months later you are correct and you are correct and we were attempting to rectify that because during the transition we were holding all the passed by laws in one file that file was lost and the file is now being recreated and has been recreated and is ready for posting to the website so
184we will continue to BU by For You especially by passing the last line of this so we could get that updated and then the for then all the bys will be completed for posting I call a question it's in the minutes that's they're going off of that it was approved all of the changes were approved via the meet and minutes it's just the document itself never made it on the website and it has been asked for multiple times not sure last three months what took place but it should have been posted during the previous super in that's that's just the area where I'm confused because that should that happened way before the transition Dr Levy David has only been here for two months but I just wanted to I just needed understand of the timing
185as to why we're in violation of Foya thank you all right so now that the it's been seconded is there any other questions to this item all right uh all in favor I any oppose any extensions Miss Baptist Perez abstains the eyes have it the next I'm sorry just just for um Mr you yes Madam superintendent Dr ly um Dr Ley David I'm sorry can you have this language added one of Step members to add this language to the bottom of the policy just to get it up to date please because I don't have access to the who will be providing the language is it who's writing it I can I can send the I can send it as presented or we could grab it from the minutes Mr Mr John is very good at
186taking a minutes so it should be included there would you like me to send the language I got as written and accepted as what the board passed uh I mean if that's what the board is approving that's what iOS okay thank you yeah I'll send you to link all right the next item is approval of of memorandum of agreement with Bridgeport Education Association regarding special education teachers uh yes we hi Mr H we should uh there is a yes but before we do that I did have uh staff that did want to speak on it oh not staff but the actual Association that want to speak on it so you may have the floor and then we can vote to go on Executive session yep just press yep just press nope now you turned it
187off press it again there you go okay uh thank you good evening members of the board uh good evening Dr Levy David my name is Jeff morresy and I'm the president of the Bridgeport Education Association I'm here tonight to talk about new business item D which focuses on our special education teachers and service providers this is very Timely since we are currently struggling to staff our special education program and have 22 vacancies right now with five more anticipated before the end of the semester the history of this document is long in the spring of 2022 we filed a class action grievance number 2843 on special education workload in September of 2022 then superintendent Michael Tani signed a settlement agreement that created a special education workg group tasked with creating case load and scheduling criteria that
188would then be added to the collective bargaining agreement the committee met throughout the 2022 2023 school year and worked in good faith to meet the terms of the settlement agreement and draft the contract language now titled appendix J throughout that process proc there were compromises and concessions made to develop language that would provide much needed relief to special education teachers and maintain School divisions obligations to meet the needs of our students with disabilities the committee was comprised of Bea members a building administrator the director of Psychological Services the director of specialized instruction and a special education supervisor Additionally the Director of Human Resources was consulted throughout our work throughout the process we received the document from central office entitled board's last best offer and another one called boards off the Record response on May 26
1892023 then superintendent Alicia perin signed the document called appendix J and we advertised to our members that they would be getting a slight relief in their special education workloads starting in the fall of 2023 it was not until we were working on the final versions of this recently ratified contract that we learned that your representatives on negotiations team claim to have never seen the language of appendix J that was based on the history of the grievance and the workg group settled language in the contract now to be clear the Human Resources Director who helped in crafting language for the work group was a member of your negotiations team your representatives told us that the language was a violation of your board policy but that rather than bring this language to you for approval with an
190acknowledgment of the mistake made by the dependent in not getting you to approve it members of your team wanted to accept the removal of the language and ignore the work done by the work group and the needs and best interests of not only our members but your students with disabilities that they work with every day it is our contention that the grievance settlement requires you to incorporate appendix J into the contract to omit it now would be a violation of Connecticut labor law thankfully when superintendent Dr Levy David heard about this she interpreted the situ situation the same way we did that the language must legally be included in the contract that the process was valid that the teachers need relief that the agreed upon relief could be accomplished at minimal cost to the district
191and that you all as the board deserve the opportunity to comply with the law and publicly support your Educators and the students that they teach I urge you to put aside any concerns you have about the action of previous superintendence and vote Yes on this document do not make your teachers and students bear the brunt of a mistake made by people outside of their control we're confident that we will win this if we have to file an unfair Labor practice with the state but would rather spend the time an unfair Labor practice charge would require to continue to build a working relationship with the new superintendent and supporting our hard-working Educators as they meet the needs of their students thank you thank you at this moment will someone like to make a motion to go
192into executive session uh yes Mr uh Cher uh it was asked um by uh legal Council would you like to respond is there a reason why we have to go into executive session Mr Dugas asked that it be but just okay all right so would someone like to make the motion move move by Mr trabber I'm gonna give it to Mr Gellen seconded all in favor any opposed no any Miss Baptist Perez is opposed any extensions hearing none motion carries all those that are currently present board members and legal will go into executive session thank you all right uh all members that were part of executive session board members have returned as well as legal um to discuss the item would someone like to make the motion Mr trabber I move to approve appendix J
193Miss Casmir seconded are there any further comments or questions Miss Baptist Perez I just wanted to comment to the baa and especially amongst our special education Educators thank you for all your hard work and service um there's not enough thanks that can go out to you and your work and that I want you to know that this is a good faith effort that the board is going to take and that under this superintendent leadership that your voices will continue to be heard and validated so thank you Bea members and special education teachers especially for your service and thank you superintendent Dr Levy David all right so all in favor any oppose any extensions hearing none the motion carries the next item congratulations yes Mr you're welcome um I lost my agenda real fast theou mou
194yes I mean no a lot of papers over here uh thank you Tim uh the next item I'm sorry the next item is discussion and possible action concerning workers comp compensation settlement agreement this also requires executive session and legal is present for this matter I see are you Miss Lou ulyses are you gonna speak on it before we vote for okay all right so uh we'll go into executive session based off of a vote so is there someone like to make a motion to go into executive session Mr trabber and Mr Gellen seconded are there comments or questions concerning this item thank you sir hearing none all in favor any oppose any extensions hearing none motion carries all members currently present will go into executive session along with the superintendent thank you all right everyone
195board members have returned back from executive session the only members that are not with us currently is uh Mr trabber and Mr benan um and the superintendent they should be coming in shortly um would someone like to make a motion for the items discussed in executive session motion to accept the proposed settlement of workers compensation claims of Maria Mena ataria as discussed in executive session there a second second by Mr traber any further comments or questions hearing none all in favor I any oppose any extensions hearing none motion carries go ahead the next one Mr s uh motion to approve the proposed settlement of workers compensation claim of Christina atua as discussed in executive session there a second second by Mr trabber any further comments or questions hearing none all in favor I any oppose
196any extensions here and none motion carries Mr sovic motion to accept the proposed settlement of workers compensation claims of Deborah Williams as discussed in executive session is there a second Mr traber seconds is there any further comments or questions hearing all I need to hear you guys all any oppose any extensions hearing none motion carries now we got our last item of the evening discussion and possible action to censor and or take other appropriate action regarding board member Albert benin's conduct and violation of board policies and laws uh this requires executive session um with someone like motion to postpone this indefinitely okay already another properly second all right Mr L okay and all right so I haven't recognized anyone so let's try it again would someone like to make a motion okay Mr sovic motion
197to postpone item indefinitely is there a second Mr traber seconds is there any further comments or questions that's fine that item is debatable okay so I don't think it needs to be moved given that we are all about process and procedure one of the biggest things we have to be focused on is about the process this is a debatable item right I'm gonna give you time so let me give you time one of the biggest less are you ready and go one of the biggest lessons I've learned tonight is that this board is more interested in process and not procedure and that shouldn't just be imployed to our own I know the discussion process the motion on the floor is whether we table it that is debatable correct so going into the things we're going
198to discuss in executive session is unacceptable according to process and procedure according to process you need to be you need to be quiet I have to okay and this is process anded interrupt this I would I would like to have legal give us advice on what is the best process for this please speak uh sir and definitely okay okay and the motion to table indefinitely means that it would never come into the light of day where we as board members would not be able to communicate against each other regarding process and procedure the common thing that I've heard is that we need to follow process and procedure and that should apply amongst us as well none of us are immune all of us are open to election ridicule from the public and to table this
199would not take responsibility on an item we need to discuss this is not about people this is not about favoritism this is not because I like you but this is for the protection of the board and so to table it indefinitely which is also not in order but I'll let that slide is completely ridiculed it makes us Hypocrites to all the things we've discussed today about following the process and following if we can't hold ourselves accountable we don't need to be on the board of education and maybe the state needs to just step in because we need to keep to our word if we're going to follow process all employees and staff especially given with what we just dealt with where board member conduct can cost us money and it's real money and that's money
200taken from our children now it's enough we have children in this District so we not going to have a conversation about board member of conduct that's going to cost us money we're not going to follow the procedure because that is what it means to table indefinitely it means we're not going to discuss it we're going to bring it under the rug because we're doing political favors because there's an election November 7th and that's completely unacceptable Miss Baptist pz you have eight minutes left are you all okay all right Miss hold on let me set the clock go ahead Miss Perez um I'd be voting against the table the motion table because this can possibly have legal repercussions for us um and think this should be in executive session um i y my time anyone else
201I'm gonna give it to Mr G then I'll come back to you okay Mr sovic yeah here we're being accused of not following policy and procedures yet Robert's Rules of Order are our governing body and this allows for Robert's Rules allows for this motion to table indefinitely which you yourself just started to use 10 minutes ago oh couple oh I'm sorry two hours two hours ago excuse me I am speaking I'm just I I'm speaking now gonna be minutes stop we still have nine minutes please go Mr s and the motion to postpone indefinitely was my motion it was not to table indefinitely postpone indefinitely table is a whole different motion we need to read our Roberts rules in order and understand them before we start speaking about them so the motion if a motion
202to postpone indefinitely is a valid motion is within the confines of the rules and regulations and the laws that govern us as a body which there is no malfeasance by bringing this the motion either succeeds or it fails thank you hold on Mr Gellen just one second go ahead never mind okay anyone else all right hold on Mr Mr tror go um with regard to this motion I believe that the original exploration was politically motivated and so I believe it's appropriate that we table this at this time uh postpone it I mean at this time and um that's why I'm supporting this item I believe the whole thing was politically and I'm just I'm not seeing that we were all want to move forward I think we're still grinding axes right Miss Perez well was
203hold on one second go ahead whether it was politically motivated or not it's on the agenda it's something that can come back to us and possibly cost the this money that we do not have um and yeah that's all okay anyone else okay hold on Mr I'll bring you back I think we listen I think we just have to be fair here in terms of staying consistent uh we need to work on principle if you stand for something you continue it okay I stand on principle we need to explore this there's nothing personal it's about the district the liability the district May hold and what we you know how would we move forward to protect ourselves all right I think the discussion can happen actually postponing this discussion it seemed like a political move today
204anyone else bapti Perez plus having the discussion in executive session will allow us to have communication it is possible action but not even having the conversation at all implicates that it is politically motivated if I had an agenda item listed against this for me I would want to have an opportunity to speak amongst my peers I would have opportunity to reflect grow understand what my peers were concerned with why my peers are concerned with me how are we to be the leaders and what our children to work items out have Reflections restorative practices if we cannot restore our own practices amongst ourselves postponing indefinitely the same as tling indefinitely is the same concept and I we should at least have the discussion so Mr benan can clear his name amongst us and we can decide
205whether or not to take any further action aside from having this listed on the agenda unfortunately you've already spoke twice yes you did sorry wait you didn't I'm sorry you yes are you all right so I'm sorry you passed yes I mean I mean three seconds but all right so I'm gonna go ahead yeah um I kind of lost my train of thought that but I think follow the rules I I do I do understand but I think again just to give the opportunity as well um to trigle back from what my colleague um Miss Baptist paret stated for Mr benan um to you know to speak to us and kind of go through his thought process but furthermore we're giving um our colleague Mr Benham the courtesy of going to Executive session so I
206think we should use that utilize that time to have that discussion I know that cury was not granted across the board all right everyone everyone else has spoken that Mr Traer let me I have a question how did this get on the agenda so board members are as I've done with all of them you can bring any item that so I'm asking to put this on the agenda uh Miss Baptist Perez requested along with Miss Casmir and Mr G requested and so excuse me I'm still exercising really okay okay guys yes it is it is 10 o' 1030 I'm with you I'm just trying to finish my turn please continue um so who's established that there's potential liability who has who has asserted Madam chair that there's potential liability same point of information that's off
207the topic of going into yeah we can't I'm sorry it was asserted in numerous comments so I was questioning it as an assertion of fact that's everyone that would like to speak all right the motion has been made all in all in Mr benan did you give read it back okay defin Allen Christine B peris Brown obain Aisha Casmir it's to table again Jennifer peris no jce Su yes tror yes yes missil Allen yes me Christine Baptist no the eyes have it no 4044 TI okay so it fails so the motion fails the motion to go into executive session to discuss yes so back again uh discussion possible action to censor and or take other appropriate actions regarding board member Albert benin's conduct and violation of board policies and laws legal you are invited as
208well all board members that are currently present and I don't think the superintendent has to attend oh wait say I'm sorry would someone like to make the the motion has been made no was someone like to make the motion I'm sorry I'm I move to go into executive session Perez moveed to go on Executive session Z second second by Miss Perez all in favor I any oppos extensions hearing none Leal please join us all board members will attend soend you don't have to call right now I'm free oh yes okay I meant to I meant to tell you that sorry okay uh board members uh we have no we're all here no Albert's not's oh he's right there okay okay it is but that's all right uh all board members have returned from executive session
209that went in are now out uh legal has also joined us again um would someone like to make a motion Miss Baptist Perez I move that the board takes action to provide written notice to S censor board member Albert benan is there a second second second by Miss Perez any further comments or questions all in favor I okay Mr benan okay okay yes yeah so please uh you're gonna amend or uh motion to amend to include possible censor so all in favor any oppos any extensions he and none the motion has been amended now we'll moot we'll vote on the main motion go ahead Miss bapti BR yes oh oh he said roll call to possibly censor us sir Alan pardon your no Christine Baptist Paris yes no Miss Bobby Bram no Misha Casmir yes
210Mr Deen Jennifer yes just chocolate no and Mr Rober tror no so that the nose have it all right now is there a motion to adjourn so move move by Mr benan is there a second second by Mr G all in favor iOS any abstain hearing none motion carries everyone have a good night