001all right going live in three two one good evening ladies and gentlemen excuse me this is a call to order of the finance committee today is Wednesday August 23rd the time is now 6:31 PM in attendance we have myself Joseph scovic committee chair Miss Christine Baptist Perez Committee Member and Miss Jennifer Perez committee committee member and we also have board member Robert trabber I don't see any other board members at this point I see the superintendent Dr ly Dr Levy David misso and I don't know if Missle you got sta on I can see them at this point so first item on the agenda will be approval of minutes dated June 14th 2023 do I have a motion to approve motion to approve minutes from June 14th all in favor I mean any I'm sorry
002discussion any errors or omissions noted to note hearing none uh all in favor Point order Mr saki did you second yes I did okay I didn't hear you in my end something's happening with something's happening with your screen it's like bubbling or something yeah so I don't you're having some sort of lag any errors or omissions to of note uh Miss Baptist p no all in favor I opposed abstentions I'm going to I'm nin thank you motion carries um next item up on the agenda is discussion and review of the paperwork for compliance with board policy and procedure 33201 and related City purchasing requirements for newly incurred expenses associated with the use of the amphitheater for the convocation little background on why I requested this item um not directed towards anybody but this is a
003city with a prolific history history of where when things did not go through proper procedures and processes there have been exchanges of brown bed not not on the board of education part but on the city purchases part and it's a history I do not want to repeated and as a board member and as board members we are Financial stewards of City resources and we must make sure they're expended properly and in compliance with purchasing procedures who's taking away this item please who's going to lead us um I can present this item thank you please go ahead uh thank you this is Molen seago I'm the Chief Financial Officer the agreement with Harbor Yard Amphitheater was uh entered into uh in order to hold the convocation on uh Monday August uh 21st um there was limited
004time available um in which to arrange uh the convocation um superintendent reached out uh quickly and expeditiously to Harbor Yard um made the arrangements um and um the convocation as everyone knows was held and was very successful um the cost is uh $4,000 um Harbor Yard of course does not have a a city or state contract and so we complied with purchasing procedures which means that um we filed a uh form that is called a request for qualified purchase which is basically a request for an exception to competitive bidding on the basis of the vendor being a sole source um it is our understanding that Harbor Yard is the only facility um in the the um geographical area of bridge foot uh that has the capacity uh to hold um over 2,000 uh people um
005and so um we uh have submitted the request for qualified purchase uh to the city Purchasing Office we expect it to be uh approved um it is correct that usually we um aim to have the approval in place in advance but this just was not possible considering that you know our new superintendent uh came to the district on August 1st and had to make arrangements in um very limited time and um all those arrangements uh were made um uh expeditiously uh and and meticulously uh to ensure very smooth and successful uh convocation um so we uh shared with the board the um uh QP the request for qualified purchase document based on sole source um we've shared the um agreement uh with uh Harbor Yard and um the agreement will be fully signed and invoice
006will be a processed for payment as soon as uh we receive the um approval from the city Purchasing Office we expect it to be excuse me we expect the approval to be granted on the basis of the um uh timing of the event there was no other option available to us Mr s if you're speaking you cannot be heard you're muted thank you um yeah I gota mute button again um yes Miss seagull could you kindly bring up the paperwork provided to the board please yes oh uh Rita may I have approval to share please yes ma okay thank you um let the record reflect at the moment that Mr Albert benan has joined the meeting and I'm going to ask a question first um total mortgage Arena holds about 12 thou 2,000 people less
007than Harbor than a Harbor Yard why didn't we reach out to Total mortgage arena for a second price because that holds I think at least over 10,000 people um I do not I I don't I don't know except that I would like to point out that Harbor Yard I believe was also used for the high school graduation uh in June and has been used in the past for high school graduation um it uh is a uh an accessible uh site it has uh ample uh parking and um uh it has been used um in the past due to the various features that um are available um absolutely but that's not in question what's in question is it being referred to as a sole source provider which it is not Harbor Yard I mean our total
008mortgage Arena has been used in the past for convocations when we still used to make that expenditure well the explanation I'm a bit confused because how uh total mortgage Arena also holds large events of upwards of eight ,000 people and they all manage to park and get their Events off without a hitch arrangements to the best of my knowledge arrangements had to be made very quickly the amphitheater has been used in the past um they're very accommodating uh the facility is accessible uh I believe those were the primary factors that drove the decision making process okay I I just want to be clear that this doesn't really seem to fall under the category of a qualified purchase and in my opinion as a single board member I don't know how to rest of the board
009feels in the future when we're booking venues and events such as this that we follow the purchasing procedure and at least receive one other bid from the place NE right next door that could see almost as many people as the event that we used because otherwise we're going to be leaving ourselves up to liability of leaving a another per another entity in out outside of the process and it's really I don't want the board to have that exposure Mr calic as a as a finance professional I can say that you know go going forward certainly um you know other bids could be obtained but I want to reemphasize that um in the years I've been in Bridgeport it is the amphitheater that has been used for convocation during the coid years convocation uh was not
010held in its Uh current form the form that it took on on Monday but now that the co pandemic has subsided um the use of of the full convocation um proceeding uh can be resumed and so um the amphitheater has been used by Bridgeport in the past uh for high school graduation and for convocation um there's no other site that has been uh used now there may be other sites that are available and in the future certainly we can secure uh bids from uh those sites and perhap but but it is it's important to understand that the amphitheater has been used in the past the purchasing procedure was followed in the the past it's being filed now we fully expect the purchasing committee to approve the use of the amphitheater because they have approved the
011use in the past yeah okay I'm gonna hold hold it right there for questions from committee members I see your hand Mr tryber uh Miss Baptist Perez do you have any questions on this um I I have a comment Miss seagull is there any kind of limitations sorry I have to dog in the background it because this is a purchase under $225,000 is that of any significance that the board should be paying attention to that would make it a qualified purchase is there anything to the financial limits um when a purchase exceeds uh $2500 um competitive bidding is required if we don't engage in competitive bidding because we're using a so Source um then we have to file the the uh qualified purchase form um with the city purchasing uh committee um when a purchase
012exceeds $25,000 um then a formal request for bid is required okay so we didn't have to go through a formal request for a bid because it was under $25,000 right and and superintendent is authorized to sign agreements under 25,000 without Ford approval um and with compliance of course with purchasing procedures and that is why we have fully complied with purchasing procedures yeah I don't really see why this is an agenda item uh as a comment for this the convocation has historic ly taking place at the yard when it used to be a baseball Theater Under or baseball stadium with superintendent re benowitz I think it was also held in 2017 under superintendent Barista Johnson and it really the change came amongst coid where it was no longer being in person and then shifted to venues
013that no longer could accommodate for all our staff to attend so I to a certain extent I find this very fitting that after coid and when we are in a situation as a school district with low morale um we've had inconsistent leadership that's shown in this board's demographic as well as the shift in superintendence over the years um that we needed an event that can bring us all together rise above what's going on and build morale I think that is exactly what happened with convocation given that it hasn't happened over the last few years it's been exclusive and not all inclusive I looked at the 2018 2019 views on YouTube and there was only 291 views so not even all the staff watched it at least from what was being recorded of from the online
014data so I think convocation was a great idea if it's under the 25 I don't see why this is being brought up as an issue if um I think given the time and the circumstances and because of the shift the Perpetual shift in all forms of leadership in this District For Better or For Worse something that can be positive and move us forward was highly necessary and that's where I stand on this thank you Miss p Perez um Miss Perez um I agree with the the use of convocation as like a morale building um for teachers especially since it hasn't been used um or had in public for the past few years I will say that when I had convocation in 2016 it was at total mortgage Arena um so we we have used other
015sites so um I understand you know the need for it but also um you know there are other sites that we could have you know seen which one is um a better bid yeah thank you and Mr tryber yeah I was GNA say um I I I don't think the uh the amphitheater was open before Co so what we're looking at is um total mortgage Arena was used for graduations and convocations I remember speaking there as president in the past um and being there for graduations in the past um so uh I'm not a you know I like the amphitheater it's a nice place I like being there for graduation um I just think the point that's being made is that procedure needs to be followed and without you know to avoid any appearance of
016irregularity so while I don't disagree with the the idea of having a convocation I do agree with the idea of not look like that we're playing there's any Monkey Business and right now um the new superintendent is walking into the town and everybody's looking and so what Mr uh sakovic is Raising I think is a legitimate point because um the uh the amphitheater and the operator of the amphitheater is um uh you know a figure of some contention in the city in some ways um so I can explain it Ator elaborate that on that further but there are those of us that don't think he's the godsend that that others do um so uh I I think that it just needs to be our we need to make sure that we follow procedure carefully and
017not look like we're uh you know cutting fast deals with the owner of the amphitheater versus total mortgage Arena and with regard to the convenience uh Miss seagull it is absolutely the same convenient spot um in terms of parking and location um so uh I think the total mortgage Arena um can accommodate the same uh size and and uh screens and everything else I I remember seeing President Obama there I've seen lots of functions there besides uh sporting events and other things there um we've had our events there um so I do think that this you know and as I look at the form there is a form that says you know there's more than one one space available and why are we picking this space uh and in this case both spaces are right
018next to each other um so why did we pick one versus the other um and that is what's being asked here is why one versus the other got picked um so and I have some objective questions on this uh that I wanted to ask um Miss seagull um if I may um Miss seagull you said the cost was um 24,000 yes when I looked at the document I thought it said well at first we were told 20,000 um I'm sorry let me no I'm sorry I just had toh take a sip of my water there um the then I noticed in the agreement there was a $1,500 search charge for I can't recall 900 for one thing and 600 for another um they got added on um and the agreement seemed to refer to to
01922,500 not 20,000 so is the 24,000 the addition of 225 plus 1500 yes it's some 225 plus 1500 for the Emergency Services it was emergency services and I think janitorial services if I recall correctly uh it's included in the document I'll scroll through so we can look at it yeah I think the the emergency service the EMT was the 9900 and the janitoral was 600 and that added that was the 1500 add-on the long document I'm still scrolling yeah it was very long and a whole lot of legal ease uh so the 1,500 consists of 600 for custodial services and 900 for the first a EMT service my whole mind isn't completely shock um so the question is what was the two what was the 250 on top of the 20,000 the 2,500 I um
020I I don't know the agreement that was shown to me uh was plus500 in addenda May so then I guess the question is directed then uh Dr Levy David at you because what you had sent us was 20,000 and it didn't explain I read through it carefully looking to see if there was an explanation for what the 2250 was for the question is for me you said I guess so since Miss doesn't know I gu yes go ahead Dr Le David can you hear me am I muted no you're not muted you're a little far away we he you go right ahead yeah for for I I guess for me there's a point of confusion because I know graduation was held and I've watched PRS board meetings that were held and I did not see
021this level of questioning this level of of contention over the decision to use the amphitheater for graduation earlier this year that seemed to be perfectly appropriate within the bounds of what the board expected I'm not sure if the difference is that I was the one who made this particular purchase and I'm hoping that's not the case I am not a politician I'm hearing comments that are very personal about the owner of the Arena that is not within the scope of my work my job was to find a place that I felt was appropriate for what I hope to accomplish for complication for the entire organization and for the students who participated and I did go to the amphitheater and I did see the arena and decided that was that space was way too large for
022what we were hoping to accomplish in declin theater I'm sorry but it was just not appropriate for what I was hoping to accomplish with our staff and I you know if if you don't particularly like the ampi theer I apologize but I wanted a space that was open where people could breathe fresh air and also feel safe considering we have a Resurgence of coid so those were the pieces that I considered I wasn't looking at who was politically expedient or popular or trusted by the board I was looking to see what was appropriate for what I wanted to accomplish introducing not only myself but also our beautiful students to the community our job what I was task with doing was helping to Rebrand this district and that includes rebranding the board and I made it
023very clear during the community Forum that I would not be successful in doing that without board support this type of meeting does not feel supportive for me okay so I still asked a specific question which is the difference between the 20,000 we were told in the 2 22,500 20,000 was an estimate okay I didn't get that that's it was a round number that I was given it was an estimate that's okay it was not conveyed to me that way so I wondered since this is the conveying I was the one who sent the memo to the board describing the three different facilities describing the amount that I was given as an estimate it was me it all came from me so when you're asking about what was conveyed it all came from me and it
024was convey I asked you and that's why I asked you I'm gonna cut in I have a followup I'm I just want to cut in for just one minute because something was said here that actually needs to be addressed I I need to address that was said okay all right guys it's a followup to what I said um Dr leevy David I there's nothing personally here I actually think the amphitheater was a better place um I there's no question about that I think it's a better place in the arena the client isn't big enough so I the client was not an option to me um it's simply a matter of the procedure um and US following the procedure that's all I'm not questioning any of that procedure being asked after graduation I feel like I'm
025being treated differently no ma' the graduation as I understand Mr sovic or Miss betist perz can explain it that was done last year before I came on the board and according to a procedur or not so they can explain that well in 22 years I'm I'm gonna in procedure because it makes seem like superintendent doesn't know what she's doing doesn't have good Jud pause for a minute I'm leing this meeting Jud we spend the dollars ask Dr leevy David pause please we're getting off the agenda item the agenda item is not are we going to attack Dr Levy David the agenda item Dr David please do not interrupt me we as a board have been trying to solidify our policies and procedures Miss Baptist Perez included um Mr Albert benan included that everybody who's been
026on the board who've had runaways with contracts and procedures not being followed they're going to be followed it's your job it's your job as superintendent to follow them nobody's trying to persecute you nobody's trying to discipline you this is an informative meeting to let everybody know as I did when we sat down to breakfast I'm very big on policy and some procedures if you're going to play play like you're being personally attacked when I question whether policies and procedures are followed or if the board questions policies and procedures that followed we're not going to have a good tenure every s you go look back look back in every single minute you'll see every single superintendent from ma'am you're you're interrupting me again ma'am please do not do so you will be recognized again to speak
027in a moment and saying that I'm playing and that I don't take I am speaking ma'am you have not been recognized to speak at this moment board members run the meetings the superintendant do not run the meetings please be respectful thank you this is not a personal tack on you as a superintendent this is me fulfilling my fiduciary duties to the City of Bridgeport and the taxpayers I want you to succeed I want you to be successful as a superintendent I will do everything in my power to make you make you successful for our students but that involves following Pro policies and procedures which in this case um it may fall under a qualified purchase but there is another thing there is another building that could have been used so in the future I as
028one of nine board members would like to not have a qualified purchase pushed when there is an actual another vendor irregardless of what happened in the past and the past I had a very very different board behind me that was not on board with en enforcing policy and procedures and we just started getting around to it in like 2019 2020 where the board started becoming stronger on this and being better Financial steward for the state of for the city of bridgew and the state of Connecticut for our taxpayer dollars that's all I want is policies and procedures to be followed and treat each other with respect and not cut each other off this is not a attack on Dr this is Attack on policies and procedures needing to be followed in every instances now I'm
029aware you're a new board me new board member a new um superintendant who may not be familiar with all the policies and procedures and that's okay it's okay if there's a mistake made if we own up to the mistake made I mean if the number wasn't even we can't even I mean when Migo was speaking like ignoring that there was a whole other entity in this city that could fit 10 10,000 plus people that's mindboggling there are two places so under a non-qualified purchase over $2,500 we must seek at least three bids and in this case maybe two because there's only two vendors so that's all I'm trying to do and Mr benan has not been recognized and then I'll go back to you Dr Le Mr benan thank you Mr shair uh good evening
030everyone um just listen to you all of you and everything I hope everybody respect my comment this is not something I'm attacking but are we talking about the situation about is in in your agenda uh um I can say this I know we talking about the money we on the Spen about the convention something that everybody like everybody enjoy everybody happy and I believe that came send the message to everyone what is the planning what you going to do from bridport we talking about this money talking about what spending but do we talk do we find out do we have report how much money spent when it was coid 19 I know it's not the agenda uh Mr chair but I just want to put there so if we trying to figure it out and
031I know different schools they have thousands thousands thousand thousand of equipment of coid 19 that expired right now we cannot use it you know how many thousand thousand thousand monies in the garbage I just want to put them out I just want to put it there so we can talk about money let's just stick to the agenda item please sir okay but I just want to put there so we can in the next agenda you can have that um uh we have all you know all those the the staff in the convention and what I heard from the compar for the staff and Community leaders and everyone see they never have something like that between 10 15 21 years and I see it and a lot of parents and a lot of sorry staff post
032it in the social media they feel so happy and they enjoy so much that's a something positive that we have to say the message was very clear and I feel for two weeks that that C Le here she learned and find out that she had to do something amazing I mean amazing convention and also I feel like she followed uh the proed because there was she you know there was she picked up um One location and was you know had to available that meet all the critic and the space a quality and everyone so we had to be sure and we have to be in the same page like always said everyone and my my all friends and and family the people is watching us they know how hard we work and we're not perfect
033you know we try to do the best we can and we have to work together as a family yes we have up and down yes we need to follow the policy in in the process and protocol and I agree with you Mr chair and you very good in that but we have to see that the short time Dr Le David come here in brisport she they put her in the table things that she said wow let's fix it let me up because I know others former they will go crazy leave they say I can't do it and we it behind I just want to put that for the record thank you Mr shair no more comments yeah before I get to you Dr Levy David I did in fact watch the convocation online and I
034was was very impressed and as I'm not questioning the convocation or the need for it but it it was just policy and procedure I've made this clear is not anything sneaky or anything like that and I apologize if you feel personally attacked but that's not the case and we could learn from this in the future to make sure we get two bids for anything over $2,500 and when the board was not on top of things before that's no excuse for us not to be on top of things again because we're trying to move we're trying to be better go ahead Dr Levy sorry I didn't hear Dr L David you want to speak again I'm sorry I didn't hear my name yeah go ahead I'm sorry good thank you thank you for w yes you
035could yes you're so what I what I take exception to is the fact that I did not do anything wrong I went to the amphitheater I looked for a space that would keep our people safe Co is so surging in the southwest right now and shutting down school districts I wanted to have a space where we could all get together celebrate and kick off the year positively this entire proceeding makes it look like I did something wrong which I did not do anything wrong and it seems like a bully pulpit to immediately begin picking away at the new superintendent and I'm sorry if you feel that being a new superintendent is is is in some way makes me less competent but I don't think it makes me less competent sir I knew exactly what I
036was doing and seeking a spot to find to have a convocation that met the needs of every single member of the staff and and I'm sorry I just I do not agree with this conversation happening online when everyone has my phone number if you had a concern you could call me and say Carmela perhaps have you looked at the arena I was right there I saw the arena I was at the C theat I saw the theater but nobody asked me that question an agenda item was placed for public discussion that's very personal no one talked to me no one has come and said well Carmela these These are the procedures this is the way that we do things here I've been here three weeks and to chastise me publicly when you haven't taken the
037time to tell me Carmela these are the things that I want you to do this way is absolutely unfair absolutely uncal and very condescending and I agree I don't want to take it personally I hope to be in Bridgeport for a very long time but ultimately that's not going to be my decision that's GNA be your decision right okay now just to just to address that I see you miss Baptist president I'm sorry um did I not email you about this a few days ago I mean before that before the took place and did you not tell me you visited all three sites and I I was just concerned that you did not know you needed two bids and it seems like even to get the price it took a couple emails to get the
038price of the of the thing and then I'll be able I'll share that publicly if you like to because I did have a conversation with you beforehand so to act like this is just being sprung on you at the last moment and it's been an agenda item for over a week and a half when I first asked I put it on the agenda but I think we're going to just keep going around in circles on this and this but this is not a personal attack this is something that's always been questioned contracts must be signed purchases must conform to the purchasing ordinances in the City of Bridgeport now they may if the city does in fact call this a qualified purchase with two with actually two people who could do it that's all well and
039good and that's on the city side but this board has been hamstrung we got attacked in the media lemon bars that were not purchased we got attacked in the media over and over and over again about these things so I for one am going to be um paying attention to policy and procedures as I did on the the former superintendent as I did under the superintendent before that as I did under the superintendent before that sometimes the only voice that was bringing it up this is no different so if you're if you're being feeling personally attacked then I personally attacked Dr Arista Johnson then I personally attacked superintendent Michael testani then I personally attacked ours superintendent as well but that has not been the case I have been consistent if anybody says I'm not consistent
040and I haven't always been like this towards every single superintendent every single policy and procedure they're lying to okay Dr uh Miss bapti Perez thank you Mrs theic um this is an embarrassment to the district to bring it up in this manner and while we may feel that the board has improved and to a certain extent I agree you have also personally attacked former chair John Welden this is a reflection of poor leadership amongst the board poor leadership by The Chair by not communicating with the superintendent of some if not the full expectations of the board but at least pet peeves on day one because I do agree we do have pet peeves they're a precedent of numerous contracts that's been passed by superintendent testani that was executed and not brought by the proper procedures
041in front of the board there have been numerous contracts that were brought under interim superintendent Alicia parin that was not brought in front of the Board of Education and so day one of August one when Dr carel leevy David here for the chair to not have a discussion of pet peev or minimal some expectations and say that we're going to wait till September 6 it is not necessarily a fair process this conversation of what we're expecting as a board of education with our superintendent should have happened early it should have been communicated by each one of us by our individual meetings but also first and foremost with the chair and if that hasn't been done and and I don't want to disclose to the public other things but if there's a lack of communication from
042our head leadership as a board as to what to expect coming in that is a reflection of us and not necessarily of the new qualified superintendent and so I hear what you're saying saying but if our leadership and if we have not communicated this issue to then bring it up to the public as an agenda item it is an embarrassment to us because if you yes you've personally attacked other superintendants but you've also personally attacked the leadership and I don't see that happening the next thing I do want to say is that you mentioned that she she mentioned that via email to you that she did review the other three locations so I think a reason ible communication would have been why the amphitheater and that could have been done without having a public meeting
043uh I think there is a legitimate concern based off a news articles with the Resurgence of coid I just received a CNN article from a friend of mine so an outdoor venue given potential health concerns could be uh is a legitimate and reasonable per uh reason and then that would leave it as the only outdoor venue that could accommodate all staff for an all day event then there's one thing I wasn't necessarily sure that the parking lot for the amphitheater can be used for total mortgage um so I I had made sure I I noted that um it is true total mortgage the total mortgage R to formally known as Webster Bank was used in the past but again if if we were looking for something that's outdoor and I think really timing is of
044the essence um in terms of getting the event done coordination and if we're really so concerned with cost like we had no keynote speaker cost associated with the event um that this is this is embarrassing this we had the first and mind you I I had the opportunity to watch previous convocations um and this was the first time when I left the arena I saw different school districts teachers mascots they were dancing off the the field driving out the parking lot with showing so much District Pride that to have this EV this meeting now about this topic especially after being highly successful it could have been another again I just think it's a conversation and embarrassing to the district um I think it's poor leadership amongst us as the Board of Education and reflective of
045the chair's poor leadership and not communicating at least some of our qualms I think waiting till September 6th for us to say hey this is what we expect of you and having meetings where we start to criticize the superintendent is wrong um and I I really don't want to push us back when we have all the potential to go forward Beyond what's been measured in the past and so if if the considering the health factors involved there's only one outdoor Arena it's it's under the $225,000 threshold we received the quote Dr Levy David because of past superintendence and dishonesty on the board this is a pet peeve that we are highly sensitive to as a board of education and we are now seeking to have some legitimization and our strong leadership and so I hope
046that the chair communicates with you on a weekly basis of our concerns I hope that us as board members reach out to you in a non- disparen and in a respectful manner because really we hired you based off of your qualification based off of your leadership you're coming from a larger District more diverse more facilities with a background in finance I expect you to come here and lay the groundwork and market and Lead our district to a better place and so far that's what I've seen we need to be able to communicate better as board members and not have it as a public item and spend an hour in a meeting for an event that pretty much helps set the district off on the right path and have more attendance and Views than what was
047ever done in the past is that all Miss Baptist for us that's all I have for now Mr benan thank you Mr chair again um I almost very I agree what Miss Baptista said let's keep cover and and I want to say this then we all know and you and you absolutely correct Mr chair about the policy and protocol and I agree with you as I said before you a master that and we agree I'm not against that but sometime we spend money and things for B that we say how when why when this happened who did this who made the decision why we spended this when we need this and then Dr Cam Davis said doing something that the community parents students staff that's what they want to see that's what they want to
048heard because we know in the beginning we were talking the communication why she doing this change everybody was nervous us a boy M we asked question St was with your nervous and she bring that message so positive the way everybody w why had to make this issue more because we spended this money exactly what we want as I said and I can send you um the information and screenshot for all staff say they never see something so amazing they get out from there positive talking my phone was not stopping calling me text me how amazing the convention was so I feel as Miss Christine said we hire her because you know she's qualified she's a good U good heart and I she I'm going to repeat the same word she said she married she married
049with us she's from bridport she want to work she want to listen and she say something very important her priority right now is the students work with parents and staff to get better at bridport and she G to fight for bridport and you guys know that I put my head before from forers and I did the mistake and I'm not doing the mistake this time because I know she can do it I just want to say that for the record thank you Mr chair okay if there's nothing else on this item uh going once going twice seeing none let's move on to the next agenda item the budget timeline for 2425 oh Mr tror I'm sorry I did not see your hand um go ahead Mr tror you're mute you're muted yeah thank you Mr
050chair I just want to emphasize what I said already there's entirely too much posturing going on here um this is not meant Dr Carmela ly David to be a criticism this is meant to be a quick review of process for very deep SE seated reasons that have nothing to do with you it have to do with the history in this city um that you have stepped into so it is uh unfortunate um that it is um coming out the way it's coming out because this was a good event I believe you probably picked the best one and you would have had procedure been followed ended up in the same place so this should have been a quick agenda item to review the procedure um but it is important to us that we get and stick
051to those procedures because of past that has again nothing to do with you uh but is important in the future for us to continue down that path that we have begun to move down so I think that that's really important to keep in mind um and I look forward to continuing to work with you um and this should not be a um the way it's being portrayed um I would agree with everyone else about the amphitheater and the event in the amphitheater as being a nice um occasion and a good way to start the year um but I do think the importance of us having um policies that we respect and follow so that people don't question the um honesty and and veracity of this board is also very important uh in the Integrity of
052this board um and the leadership of this um School administration so we all need to be working and pulling in the same direction on that so that's all I have to say Thank you Mr chair okay uh thank you everybody uh now let's move on to the next agenda item please uh budget timeline 2425 uh Miss Seagle take it away please right uh thank you um I do want to take a moment to acknowledge that um on the call tonight is um Patricia St Louis um with me who is the manager of budget and financial uh reporting so I did want to acknowledge uh Patricia um so I think you muted yourself Miss Eagle Miss Eagle I think you muted yourself can anybody hear Miss Eagle no she's not mute something's wrong with the connection
053all right let's she looks Frozen actually can somebody contact Miss seagull and tell her she's Frozen please yeah she's Frozen yes she is I'm sorry I lost uh the connection for a second I'm sorry about that no worries all right I I think we're connected we're connected now okay very good very good all right so um on the screen I have the um annual budget uh timeline uh 20242 it's Mark draft with tentative uh dates um the dates are are tentative because some of the dates um are dependent upon the actual uh City uh calendar um I I hope everyone had the opportunity to read through it it's similar to Prior years um I'm just going to scroll through it in the interest of time and highlight some of the major events and so um
054as you're aware right now we are still engaged in closing out uh the prior year 22 uh 23 and um as soon as that uh happens uh next week um and we're well into the uh start of another school year in September um I begin work on the uh 2425 uh budget plan and all of the uh requirements for that uh plan um and so in October and November um actually start in September um we developed the initial operating plan the um calculate the monetary need um and also at a budget plan for food and nutrition uh Services um in December usually after Thanksgiving um I'm ready to uh share the plan with the superintendent consult um have input and of course uh superintendent makes uh can make decisions on uh some of the uh
055items that um may be subject to a discussion um and um by January uh we're ready to present the um budget request to the board um and as you are aware um there is an operating Gap because the district has received on average approximately 1% uh growth in operating funds per year so we also uh identify a gap uh plan um also in the full term on usually in um October November um uh We Begin work on the register projections uh and position allocations for the following year based on the available data and so by January we have register projections um ready um superintendent may decide to seek input from constituency groups that has happened in the past so it's on the uh calendar and then in um January we would present the initial budget
056request and the budget plan for food and nutrition services to the finance committee and then at a board meeting um in January sometimes it happens at the first meeting in February but we aim for January um we would present uh to the full board uh and and the public the budget request uh for the op ating budget along with the budget plan for for food and nutrition food and nutrition just as a reminder is completely funded by the um uh federal and state um um funds for for Food Services uh and it operates like a business in a profit loss um scenario great um there's also a parallel capital budget request which is prepar prepared um by the facilities Department it's coordinated by them it can also include requests for um technology but generally uh
057City primarily uh funds um all right I've just been told you can't see my screen I apologize I thought it was shared me check on that sorry about that all right C can you see my screen yes all right very good all right uh so we have the capital request um and I was indicating that usually the capital request um primarily consists of facilities items major items such as roof repair replacement of of a r or replacement of a boiler um which are um of considerable cost um the uh superintendent conducts with with the um uh board involvement uh Community forums um on the budget um it's an opportunity to explain to the public how the budget is constructed along with uh an explanation of uh the the operating um uh Gap and how we
058close that gaps the um mayor uh formulates um a city budget which of course includes the city contribution to the board and that's in the uh mid-February to Mid uh March uh time frame and um at that point superintendent would confer with the mayor on the monetary need um for the board and the uh requested City share of the budget um and then usually at at a either in January when the budget is presented or in uh February um the board would give the final approval of the request of the budget request uh last year I believe it happened in in January but mid-February would be the absolute deadline um and then in in March March 1 the mayor submits the capital budget to the city council uh the mayor submits the general fund budget
059to the city council April 1 and then usually in the third week of April uh we all meet with the city budget Appropriations Committee to discuss the plan present our rationale for the requested City share and offer our recommendations for the city share and how how it should be constructed and then in April and May um decisions are being made at the federal and state levels um about funding for at the state level for State Alliance uh ECS the education corer appropriation and major grants uh by early May the city council submits the adopted budget to the mayor uh the by by May 24th that's an approximate date the mayor that's the last day for the mayor to veto the city council's adopted Budget on May 31st that's the last day for the city council
060to vote on the mayor's veto if a veto took place and then in May and June um I would be finalizing the initial not final but initial budget Gap plan um so that we can meet the uh monetary need and that um could be shared at that time um or we can wait until September as we're doing this in this current cycle and I'll have more to share about that in a few moments uh when we move on to the next topic um and then in in the summer as we work on the end of year close we're also setting up the new accounts for the new year and we are receiving the various Grant Appropriations I'm going to be summarizing for you in the next topic the um uh Grant Appropriations that we've received
061to date and as of today we still do not have all of them uh some Appropriations are not released until the end of August which is next week or September and then in September we can present our final Gap uh plan uh based on the uh final data for the prior Year and that will incorporate updated fiscal projections and assumptions uh based on the latest uh available data for both operating and Grant uh resources so that is um a quick summary of the timeline for 2425 thank you thank you Mr I I'll I'll start it off um yeah there's a very good presentation in the timeline and the community forums are especially important for our new board member and new Committee Member Mr Perez and our new superintendent the way the community forums have traditionally
062been done was we would um collaborate with the superintendent on the flum I would propose some language to be added to the slides that we would speak on and um it would be a joint forum just so just so that's clear ahead of time and it's been done on the three previous superintendents and that's the way it's finan chair that I'm going to do it at times we had to call it as a committee meeting because at one time we did have what would be uh known as a Rec TR board who did not want to hold a community forum and because it would bring too much pressure on the politicians who approve budget but um that that's the way we've traditionally done it board members and everybody here could attest to that it's a
063community Forum led by the superintendent and the board members to advocate for the money and to inform the public of our needs okay I'll open it up to committee members Miss Baptist Perez anything um no it's a very informative timeline I agree with what you mentioned about our community forums and getting the um Community involved just won't comment um I just keep having a dog spark but um I'm just looking forward to some changes we can do with the commity form and working with the superintendent to have higher attainments so um our turnouts have not been significant as a district with 20,000 approximately 20,000 students so I think um that's an area that we can work on so that way we can have better advocacy and probably another one of our our expectations is more
064effective advocacy um with earning more funds for the school district Dr Ley David but uh that's all I have to say about this absolutely I agree about the attendance especially uh Miss Perez no questions at this time U Mr benan you had your before do you still have a question or comment no no question this moment thank you Mr chair Mr tror yes thank you Mr chair um Miss seagull I heard you say that uh soon or in the near future we would get a final count on how much money we got out of the last legislative session um do we have what do we know at this point uh I'm going to discuss uh the latest information in the next topic oh okay I'm sorry I'll wait thank you sure okay okay if there's
065no further questions or comments on the budget timeline I will hear an update on the remaining Esser and ARP funds related expenditures um Mr conic may I suggest that um I start with the preview um of of the preliminary um close for 2223 and 2324 because I've Incorporated the um Esser information into the uh summary presentation yes ma'am that's appropriate um I would like to make a motion to change the agenda item to number five rather than number four presentation just need a second second all in favor I I okay take it away thank you um I just need a moment to bring up the next document right um is the screen large enough I could enlarge mine I don't know if um maybe it should be larger for the public maybe all right let's
066go to uh 75 right yeah that's better all right uh thank you so this evening I'm I'm going to present a um preliminary report um on the end ofe uh close and 23 uh 24 um I'm not going to present actual numbers uh tonight um because we're still working on the close it will not occur until uh August 31st officially um and then in September when I present the uh final uh plan um all the numbers will be final and accurate so to begin for 2223 uh the end of year close will occur on August 31st that's next week on Thursday so the financial condition report as of June 30th will then be posted after the end of your close and that will be after uh Labor Day um I'm aiming for September uh 5th
067the um EFS reports EFS is education Finance system uh those reports un audited uh as of 9123 will be completed on time by 91 as is required by the state and um they will be posted to the website and then uh once the audit is completed uh by December 31st uh the final reports will be posted um on on on January 1st or thereabout we will also post the uh 2324 allocation uh model uh as we do every year and um the budget um plan now for the close uh in terms of the operating budget um I had reported previously that we had withdrawn $5 million from the internal service fund uh Reserve in order to ensure sufficient funds to balance the operating uh budget at this time uh we're pleased to report that we're
068projecting that the final amount will be under 5 million and that we should be able to return some money um to the ISF uh reserves so I'm going to ask you to wait until we actually close and then we'll report on the um actual amount that we're able to return now you may be asking well what factors contri distributed to to the reduced uh amount because we always project um or aim to project higher so that um we can have uh a cushion and uh make certain uh hopefully that we have sufficient uh funds and can balance uh appropriately um so I've just listed a few of the uh factors um we did have a one-time ARP um meaning Esser uh prek Grant which reduced the excess cost of the prek classes that are uh
069charged to um Title One um so we we don't receive sufficient funding for prek classes we receive $108,000 from the state for a teacher and a par so we fund o over $2 million in Title One in excess uh cost so we did have this supplemental Grant um it may come again in 2324 and that will be uh very helpful uh but we're not anticipating that it will be repeated in the subsequent year 24 25 but it will be helpful in the current year in terms of conserving resources um and so uh we were also uh able to leverage very successfully as we do every year our remaining balances in Grants ending June 30th so that we could reduce our operating expenses in the operating budget the um utilities expense was lower than than originally
070uh projected so that is is good news uh we'll be monitoring utilities very carefully um there will be an increase in cost this year as we discussed in Prior months uh due to the um major increase in the amount per kilowatt hour um but the good news is that the city locked in a rate um uh through I believe it's through uh uh 25 or part of 20 uh 26 and so um the increase that occurs in 20 uh 324 um should hold stable into 2425 um and legal services was again at at a relatively um low uh level and as I've discussed with the board in the past we we have to start off with 900,000 to a million on that line because we never know whether there are going to be any settlements
071and um if there aren't then uh we have um uh funds that we can either redirect or we uh have savings at the end moving on uh food and nutrition services so we are projecting um a surplus um and as I've discussed uh in the past um we we structure the budget plan for food nutrition so that there should be a surplus there should be a surplus of at least a million dollars because that that is the amount that we project uh as the food nutrition contribution to the internal service fund for the food nutrition retirees for their retirees and so um there is a surplus um uh the I'll report on the exact amount once we uh close and we're ready to report in September uh so that is again a good news and
072um from that amount we will take a contribution once again as expected and as planned for the retirees and for uh supplementation of the workers uh comp fund um there there is an Actuarial report that was shared with us by the uh City Finance director which indicates that there um uh could be future workers comp uh claims of considerable magnitude and so um we we can add um funding from uh the budget uh into the internal service fund um for not only the retirees but for supplementing uh the workers comp um resources now I just want to remind everyone that the the uh dollars that go into the fund for the retirees and the workers comp uh supplement um those funds belong to to to the district um and and the funds for retirees um
073belong to the district because at the start of every year um we have to make a payment into the internal service fund for all retirees and so at the end of the year when there's Surplus in the food nutrition budget they have to reimburse uh the district all right so those funds uh that go into the into the internal service fund um that are designated that that I designate for the retirees and for workers comp supplementation belong to the uh District now the balance would then be on reserve for food and nutrition restricted to food and nutrition only so food and nutrition is is uh funded solely by uh Federal um and State uh uh grants primarily Federal uh grants that flow through the state and we must comply 100% with regulations governing the use
074of those funds so the funds that they generate must be used for the benefit of the Food Service uh program um in in Bridgeport so when when we calculate the balance that balance is restricted to their use we are keeping track of their funds and and we are making certain that those funds are used only and strictly for uh the benefit of the Food Service uh program now they did order a new vehicle last year um it's at a cost of $174,300 th000 in uh 2223 so we do have to pay that balance um we had the full amount last year and so in 2324 we will bring back to the budget 64 395 the balance due from the um Surplus that was deposited in the internal service fund so where do we stand with
075the internal service fund again this is uh just a quick projection um it's all good news uh and I'll present final numbers in September so I have shared previously that we currently have 28 million on a deposit for the board um we are then going to um add to that the food nutrition contribution for the retirees and the workers comp supplement um we're then going to uh return some money from the $5 million uh withdrawal and um we also um uh have verified that there was an internal Surplus once again for the second consecutive year in the internal service fund so you may be asking well what is that so the internal service fund is the depository for the um employer cor share and the employee cor share of health insurance so also the depository
076for the funds um contributed toward the uh workers compensation uh claims so it's basically those two purposes and it's the depository for those funds and it's the conduit for making the payments all right so we we think of the internal service fund as health insurance plus workers comp primarily right now last year I I reported that there was an internal Surplus that developed for both the city and the board um it was around 3 million and I said to you then there's no guarantee that there will be another Surplus in the next year um fortunately and we were uh surprised but this is most welcome um there there was an internal surplus of 6.4 million and I believe the city also had an internal uh Surplus so why did this happen well I don't don't
077have an exact answer um it's the same answer that I had last year which is that once those funds are deposited um I think there are two primary factors one is that the um uh cor share for the retirees uh was probably overestimated by the actuaries um and the second is that the um cost of workers comp in these early years um may have been uh overestimated now according to the actual hour report the costs will rise going into the future so um but right now there's 6.4 million so there's um 34.4 plus the food new food nutrition contribution uh which I will report on in exact terms in September and plus the dollars that we will return once we are able to close right and keep in mind that these funds are going to
078be used to close the uh Gap in the current year and close uh the Gap in 2425 as well now for food and nutrition the prior balance was about 3.1 million we're going to be adding uh money from from the Surplus um and and so they'll have 3.1 plus the um funds added that are restricted to food and nutrition and as I indicated that restriction will be strictly enforced so in summary we're very pleased with how the close has been proceeding it's another successful end of year close and I I think we're going to be very pleased with the um final uh outcome in terms of being able to ensure um uh a balanced um uh budget budget in the current year 23 24 and hopefully into 2425 but there are many variables still to
079be addressed moving on to 2324 our current year so the city budget was increased by $2.5 million um the state budget Alliance ECS uh had an increase of um 3 million 264 563 bringing Alliance ECS up from 24763 531 to 28029 094 so you may be looking at this and saying well aren't we supposed to get three and a. half million or 3496 yes and in fact we did however um you'll remember that we spoke about the increasing educator diversity Grant and that is not new money that Grant is uh populated with money by diverting funds from Alliance ECS and you'll recall that the original Law specified that it would be 10% of the increase in Alliance ECS from 1920 to 2324 so if that had happened we would have had to divert $756,000 so
080in last legislative session they did modify the law and you can see the um statement here um the the the law changed the timing of a provision uh that lowers the amount of Alliance District funding that must be used for minority teacher recruitment now it doesn't specify or we have not received a written communication from the state yet should be coming soon um of the exact calculation however we did receive the appropriation and so we know that the alliance amount I'm just going to scroll down to this chart uh that the alliance amount for the diversity Grant increasing educated diversity is 232 354 so I extrapolated and I think that the formula they used the 7% because uh this was the original amount 349 96917 and that is very close to the amount we thought
081we were going to receive so 7% is the 232 354 that's the number they told us is for the alliance uh diversity Grant and then the balance is um is ours so you'll recall that I had indicated in the current year it's not going to have a major impact on our operating resources because we had resources in Arps are specifically targeted to University Partnerships to increase Recruitment and diversity and so we've redeployed those funds to other services uh so that we could uh use the um uh diversity funds for the uh University uh Partnerships and then reduced the um uh Alliance Grant and move the uh we were able to identify eligible services for Esser and moov those Services out of Alliance because it was lower than the three and a half million and um
082moved those Services into um into uh Esser so we just did uh did an exchange however starting in 2425 as reported previously the diverted amount would no longer be available to fund teacher positions and other critical services in Alliance ECS so we have to we have to cover that that Gap now I I just want to reemphasize we have not yet received Official Guidelines from the state so I continue to write in the notes that the diverted amount is going to rise in each subsequent year I I don't have the final guidelines from the state so I don't know what's going to happen next year I'm simply estimating and projecting at this point and I'm assuming it's going to be 7% if the guidelines have a different um interpretation we will abide by by the
083new interpretation and report to you about it um but in in uh 2425 um the uh increase in Alliance is supposed to be about 8 million so if we have to divert 7% that would be $560,000 but again we don't know we don't know yet we haven't uh seen The Official Guidelines we do know that that for this year we have in the diversity Grant we're going to be spending 232 354 on various types of University programs including uh we expect Cross certification programs which are already in operation to increase educative diversity so now we're going to move on to 2324 grants and I can share with you what we know at this time so in title one we did have a um we did have a loss and um I'm seeing an error here
084I apologize for that just give me one second what this was correct so I'm just going to uh check it Kyle one did Decline and uh I'm looking at this all the time so I guess when I look at it I'm seeing the lower number uh so I'm just going to update that in a moment let's get the lower number here okay back to this okay all right so um last year it was uh 14, 3586 N1 and in the New Year it's 14048 071 so that's a difference of 3 310,000 620 but something else has happened um the the non-public school count increased by about 200 students um there is a a complex formula that has to be used it's it's uh calculated in what's called a ranking worksheet uh in order to determine
085the amount uh due to the um non-public uh schools from the total allocation for for their eligible uh students and so the amount that we had to uh deduct for the nonpublic schools also increased and that was uh 106817 so we've actually gone down by 400 about $427,000 now I was I was expecting a decline I hoped that it would not come but the reason I was expecting it is because um the the population had declined over the years and title one is always behind by at least a year in terms of of um of enrollment now it's not going to impact Us in terms of having to make any adjustments in on our plan because uh we were able to uh roll um uh unused funds from last year within the limits that are
086allowed and so uh we have the funding and that's one of the reasons I have shared with you in the past uh for striving to roll money when allowed because if there's a decline in the following year then you don't have to hopefully you can absorb the um the decline now we don't have title two yet title three is the federal program for English language Learners and um that is up by 7,573 um that is just enough to cover escalated costs it doesn't even cover the cost of a teacher I was hoping that it would be much higher in light of the growth in the eell population but it wasn't title four uh has declined uh so that was disappointing uh State bilingual again is for bilingual and uh English language instruction that came up
087by 11748 uh again that's very very low amount um now the state priority Grant which had been declining every year again declines but by a minimal amount uh in total uh $2,699 the main losses are in the main component about 5,000 um extended school hours 1349 and interestingly the summer Grant increased so uh there is a net loss uh it's it's um minimal so that's what we know about um those uh particular uh grants at this time now in in adult education let's move this down okay um in adult education uh which of course is is dedicated only for adult education um there usually is an increase every year so there again is an increase um pay attention to the state column because that is the state Grant so that is up by1 12959 which
088basically covers the escalated costs because there are some staff members funded in um that Grant and it also funds the uh hourly uh services for the extended um uh for the for the uh daily programs uh and the evening programs that uh they conduct um the local share is up but that doesn't mean that that we have additional money it it just means that we can charge the escalated cost costs of the services in the local share which basically are the um the uh director of adult education uh some staff positions in in the um uh in staff positions for administering the program uh as well as the um rental of the uh site uh utilities uh and and the in kind services such as the custodial fees for the use of rooms at the
089various uh school buildings uh that are also uh used um but any increase is a positive development now aquaculture so aquaculture receives a uh Grant which flows it's it it doesn't flow as a grant it flows into our operating budget it's an offset to the cost of operating uh aquaculture and you can see the budget history here um uh in 1516 uh the alocation declined and then it declines again and again then we have some increases and now we've had two successive years of of H decreases of significant magnitude um and so most current decrease which is due to lower enrollment is uh uh the budget by about 150,000 and uh will'll continue to support the operations um by offsetting the balance uh for the following year we've already discussed a uh contingency uh plan
090but there was certain changes that just could not be made in the current year uh we had to maintain a viable program um and and he will be working to uh increase enrollment of course so in the current year um what what are some factors that we have to address um as I've reported in the past uh we have to be mindful that um you know our average teacher salary is increasing um and and that's important because um we want to remain highly competitive with uh other districts and uh due to the labor shortage we have been hiring uh more experienced teachers so they're coming in at higher uh steps than in the uh past so this is this is just a factual statement and um we have to keep it in mind as uh
091we evaluate the budgetary uh variable so that we can balance uh the budget um transportation costs will increase by 4.25% in year two of our fiveyear agreement with we transport uh and that was in our um projected monetary need um special ed um costs continue to to rise uh despite a reduction in the outer District seeds um there are efforts underway to try and reduce costs wherever possible but we have to provide mandated services so uh when I speak about rising cost I'm speaking about higher speech service needs um we added five occupational therapist positions in two years uh we have 12 teacher positions in uh Esser which we're going to have to move into the operating budget in 2425 we have 63 individual one to1 Paris for the add of District placements while we
092have an overall reduction in the total number um we have a higher cost for the students who have been placed because we had a reduced excess cost Grant in 2223 why because the um nce the net current expenditures per pup increased to 18757 well that was due to the infusion of the Esser grants and the cap went up to 23.75 up from 18.02 so just as a reminder we have to pay 4 and a half times the nce plus the cap times the balance between the 4 and a half times the nce and the total cost of the placement so um it's good news that the OU District placements have declined we're hopeful they'll continue to decline that's an excellent outcome it's reflective of the excellent efforts that have been made to keep students in
093District um it did come down by by 40 compared to last year um our gross cost uh which includes in our records the charter school sped payments that remained um interestingly about the same but the net cost Rose so we did have addition an additional million dollar cost compared to last year um and again why did that happen because of the reduction in the um excess cost uh Grant so we have to understand even though the the average placements Decline and that's a positive outcome we want that to continue um that does necessarily mean that we gained in in Revenue the cost of those placements because our our our excess cost place our excess cost Grant declined um and our net cost actually Rose by a million dollarss and the cost of those placements increases
094um due to inflationary factors uh uh each year now we spoke in um June about the um uh State funding for the excess cost Grant and it was announced that the total State appropriation was increased by about 25 million well that's 25 million at the state and that may benefit us if the local share percentage that that you cap after the four and a half times the nce is reduced but the outcome is going to be dependent upon the number of students and the cost factors Statewide so I don't know yet whether we're going to uh have a benefit from it um we we should it seems logical that we will get some benefit but um uh we cannot predict uh with any certainty uh at this time time uh the amount um and any
095increase in special ed Revenue will be applied first to offset the growth in special ed um expenses so if if we do get um an addition additional funding in this area um we're going to use that to offset the uh increase in the expenses and looking ahead to 2425 and we have to bring back those positions and services from from Esser um we're going to look to reduce the impact on the operating budget now what about English language Learners well the number of ESL teachers has risen in uh four years from 34.6 positions to 41 to 45 and we now have 48 all right the number of bilingual program assistant has risen from 5 to 10 now we fund the bilingual program assistance in title one so we did that in order to attempt to
096achieve a degree of sustainability but um there are uh ESL teachers in the Esser grants so this is uh last year's um these are last year's charts and you can see that we ended with special ed enrollment at 20% we ended with L enrollment at 27.5 4% these are extremely high numbers I don't know if they're the highest in the state but they're certainly they certainly have to be in the higher tier right now um our our uh plan for 2324 will be finalized after we close as I indicated so let's look forward to that in um in September now we'll move on to Esser so Esser 2 missle yes yes I'm sorry can we pause there for some questions before because we got a lot of information to uh absorb from the first portion
097and it is a separate exec uh yes absolutely that's this a good stopping point Thank you thank you um yes uh questions on what was given so far Miss Baptist burz no questions wait sorry um no can I have a copy of uh this like actual physical copies sent to an email just I could kind of digest it more um I can share it with the superintendent's office and um you know the superintendent would um uh know after review um uh share it through the portal yes thank you yes thank you for that M and um could you send it to all the entire board as well because this is a lot to digest and to look at I believe Rita would would handle that Rita are you on the call all right I'll I'll
098confir with her afterwards thank I am there you there you are uh Miss Miss Perez no questions at this time Mr benan thank you Mr shair I have a question for M SEO misso you were say in the beginning something about the truck the vehicle did by is the same truck about the former uh director he buy it's about this was the freezer oh this is another one um I I believe you're referring to the purchase of the new vehicle am I correct that's yeah that's what I'm saying I believe it's it's it's a truck or type of delivery vehicle but it's new one this year or we talking about the the one last year that the former director he say um it's it's a brand new vehicle uh that they they had to go
099out for bid they had to identify a vendor they went out for bid through through the U City purchasing off but it's a new year for 2023 right misso oh are we back in the meeting yeah this is Frozen yeah I'm not sure what happened Miss we can hear you but we can't see you oh uh my camera went off um unknown to me so all right thank you my my last question was if that vehicle is for this year 2023 the um the new it's a brand new vehicle it was they do not have it yet it was ordered in uh 2223 but in order to order it they first had to go out for bid with the office of City purchasing so that took several weeks or more than a month as I
100recall and then once they um placed the order um we had to secure from the vendor um an invoice for the deposit so it's about $174,000 the deposit was $110,000 so they paid 110,000 on on deposit in 2223 they owe about uh 64,0 395 to best of my recollection um and so the vehicle is being built uh will be finished in 2324 uh I don't know yet if it's already complete uh or not I don't know what the expected delivery date is but it will be completed uh I I would expect in the U later than the fall term um and then the balance will be paid and they will have the new vehicle all right thank you Miss no more question Mr chair thank you you're welcome Mr travor any questions no questions Mr
101Cher okay that brings me to my questions um could you bet um could you explain a little more we've got some new people on the board and a new superintendent again uh the internal service fund balance is quite significant in some people's eyes and we get it we get this every time we advocate for the budget why don't we just spend down all that excess money instead of like living through budget cuts and uh deficit prevention mode and all this what what is the reason we hold that money back yes well we um let's remember first how the money uh came to be so in the pandemic years when um uh full instruction was not in place all of the usual Services were not in place and there were cost uh savings so the funds
102were uh saved and uh accumulated now we we intentionally um accumulated the funds because we knew at a point in the future when Esser funding would end that we would need those funds to um ensure um or to be applied to um uh balance a budget now in the current uh in the prior year 2223 uh as I indicated um we uh withdrew $5 million um in order to close uh the the um operating budget um I did say that we expect we're going to need less because uh we did an excellent job of leveraging our resources and um engaging in cost control and effective cost management and so um we we believe that number is going to be lower than 5 million and we'll return some funds for 23 24 our current year uh
103let's remember that we have escalated expenses we have escalated expenses for utilities for transportation and most importantly for salaries and health insurance and uh the retirement fund for non-certified uh staff and so for 23 24 as I Will Show You in September um we may have to withdraw um 11 to 13 million now I'm hopeful I'll be able to reduce it again as we did in in this year uh and maybe in the end it'll be 10 but um at at the uh early part of the U fiscal year uh we have to project at a higher point so we may have to withdraw 11 to to 13 million um and then in each year we have to look backwards and ask well what did we have to withdraw in order to balance and then
104we need that same amount as a starting point in order to balance in the new year right so if if we had to withw three million in 2223 then in 23 24 we're going to need at least 3 million plus our escalated costs after taking into account of course any cost savings and and any other compensating uh factors and looking ahead to 2425 if if we had to withdraw 3 million in 2223 and and let's just round use round numbers if we have to withdraw 10 million in 23 24 well that would be 10 plus 3 13 million so we're going to need 13 million to start in 2425 right so in 2425 um we're going to have to um close uh three components those three components will consist of the Gap that we closed
105previously with one-time funds from the internal service fund um the escalated costs and uh the third component would be the services from uh the um ESS Grant and um uh the funds diverted to increasing educated diversity which by the way is a is an outstanding goal and certainly a goal that we agree with and that we want to you know pursue but we we need to also have funding for our essential services so um uh the the um uh Monet need is going to will consist of these three major components the escalated cost the the Gap that we yeah thank thank you miss seel you U answered that question adequately thank you thank you uh my next question is um actually you just led me perfectly into a nice segue is the diversity funds can
106we back up to that for a moment please because I've uh yes certainly very good thank you um yeah this has just recently become a very big pet PE for me it's really more of a statement um definitely the recruitment of minority teachers and stuff is something I've been Haring on and pushing for in the diversity equity and inclusion committee and it's an area where while still not at the goal that Bridgeport Public Schools is doing the best as far as recruitment as far as our percentages when compared to every other District now my problem with this diversity grants which you could agree mle this is not a grant this is a clawback of funds they're withholding part of the money from a minority and this is only in Alliance districts which are mostly minority
107schools which are already underfunded the rest of the districts brage and all these other districts they don't have such a withhold such a amount withheld and they are worse off in recruitment yet they have no rule to make them spend that much money on Recruitment and this is taking away from providing services from our other students which we could be using this money any elsewhere so if anybody talks to their state representatives and all stuff this needs to be fixed because it's upet and then that's what I just wanted to say about that and could we look at the that was just really a statement could we go to the non-public school amounts please and the the these are these are schools that we're we have to we're required to fund out of Title One
108funding that's given to us for schools that we don't oversee uh we're required by law within the uh Title One allocation to calculate the amount due to non-public schools uh serving uh Bridgeport students um who are eligible for title one so there there is a formul sheet it's called the ranking uh worksheet and um the total amount based on the number of eligible students uh that they have and a per capita that I have to calculate is um over 600,000 last year it was about 550 this year it's about 650 and um I included in the chart uh the um exact um increase and compared to last year um now their their eligible count increased by about 200 students keep in mind that bridgport um has been losing Public School uh students um are our
109population last year I believe was slightly higher than the year before and uh we're anticipating an increase uh this year um but we did lose a significant number during the uh pandemic uh years and and that leaves me into my next question um far as losing students um there's something I think we need to get ahead of as far as the 2425 school year and going forward I mean it's being talked about but not it's not a critical mess the new kindergarten age cut off is going to basically lower our enrollment in kindergarten increase our enrollment in prek so we're going to need corresponding grants for prek and gonna have to take into account we may have less students that first year who as they matriculate will keep our school population down which may have
110an impact on funding yeah I'm going to mention that in um in the next section okay thank you all right uh Mr benan has his hands up Mr benan would you like to ask another question you're on mute Mr benan if you're trying to speak okay Mr benan going once going twice okay if he comes on with his question we can St but go ahead and get started on the next it unless anybody else has question but I don't see any else okay should I move on yes please Mr okay thank you um so um in terms of the um Esser Grant uh Esser 2 um expires uh September 30th however we have closed it as of June 30th uh all funds are expended and you can see the grand total was 44 mil 64438
111in 2122 two uh there was an expenditure of about 217 that left the balance of about 229 and uh we started off the year in 2223 with 229 and that Grant is now closed so um in 20 2 23 24 our current year um we now have ARP uh Esser we also have some other ESS grants for the juvenile detention center for um uh uh uh students who are parenting teens we have um another grant for for the homeless um and and another ARP priority uh Grant all those are going to expire September 30th of 204 some will be closed most will be closed as of June 30th of 24 but some will uh we will keep open in order to leverage our resources to Optimal Advantage so s ipser was 100 million 326 um
112in 2122 we expended about 20.2 million we had a balance of 80.1 million and in 2223 we actually had well over 30 million we had about 30 31.2 million um encumbered um in the end and this is not final by the way and that's why I said pending the Final close um but uh this is the latest number that I had uh 25 mil 74642 to um fully expended and then we had 5.5 million in orders mostly uh technology and Facilities that had to be cancelled because of supply chain uh delays and uh reopened in 23 uh 204 so um uh those those um uh orders have been reopened uh which means there are already significant encumbrances uh both for those orders as well as for the uh new expenditures uh in 2324 uh already
113right uh and so in 23 24 our current year we are going to expend fully according to the plan now I want to just take a few minutes uh to cover uh uh some key points in the transition plan for the end of Esser or post Esser era and that's going to bring us into our new fiscal era 2425 uh so first of all in terms of a a budget planning we have to plan for the alliance funds that are going to be diverted to the diversity Grant we already discussed this I've just included it as a as an important Point uh we're waiting for the guidelines as I stated and um but we're already thinking about um how can we leverage those funds so we may be able to move for example uh funds
114that we set aside uh for uh diversity equity and inclusion training at of title uh four and and move those um uh activities into the diversity Grant if allowed in 2425 and that would release funds in title four um that could be used to help fund the director of literacy or the director of of math um and then uh we have an in school peer support program that has been in Esser uh for the last three years so that may be allowable in in the diversity Grant we don't know yet but if it were allowable perhaps when the when it's at a higher Point uh in 2425 we could fund that program there so uh these are um this is what we're looking at um and and monitoring as we get more information uh um
115again I wrote here prospects this is not final these are prospects dependent upon the guidelines next the impact of the new kinetic kindergarten law so Mr kic just referred to it children must be aged five by September 1 to enroll in education starting next year 2425 so we're going to be analyzing the data in October um to determine the allocation methodology for the kindergarten classes we would would expect a smaller number of classes however it's going to to depend on the breakage in particular across every Elementary School um uh and and so uh in in some schools it may require a reduction and some schools it will not require a reduction we just don't know yet now what will happen in terms of funding well we we don't know uh funding for the district is
116based on total enrollment enrollment May decrease in kindergarten but increase in in other grades in addition and I'm hoping that the state in recognition of the impact of the law um and the dist the Statewide impact on on all districts will um perhaps consider increasing the the per capita amounts in their uh allocation formula so that uh districts uh do do not lose a significant amount of of Revenue um and can maintain classes that they have to maintain due to the breakage across Ross um uh the classes so we we are aware we have to um take this into account in our planning next um we have to bring back the uh funding for mandated Services um in M seel you're gone again positions and these services in essers is because they arose out of
117the pandemic after the as as the pandemic was occurring there were higher needs for special education services there were higher needs for uh English language learner Services uh for occupational therapy and and for speech and and Psychology Services so um unless there's a decline in service need we have to bring it back now I wrote six million here it may be it may be seven uh million um you know because we're we're also uh we will also have in 2425 year one of a new know a new Bea contract um as well as contractual agreements with which we must comply for all staff next uh 2425 we need to maximize Revenue through advocacy so um the city council did increase the city share in the current year to 2 and a half million from 2
118million we all know it's not enough but we do appreciate that they increased it so let's aim for more in um 2425 State ECS is projected at 8 million according to the data that had been released um that's prior to the percentage reduction for the diversity Grant um that could change next in 2324 we want to optimize our revenue streams we want to reverse the losses in the prek and the interdistrict magnet grants so what are we doing we're striving to fill all thee PRK seats starting in September in September we need every seat filled so we can optimize our revenue and we're already charging the excess cost to title one we we don't need to charge additional excess costs because we're not being fully funded all right as I indicated we receive only 108,000
119per class um that's clearly not enough for a teacher and a par salary plus benefits um the fa Fairchild wheeler campus uh we need to increase enrollment in compliance with the various standards um and I listed here The Residency standard because that and there's also a racial isolation standard um and we have to strive to achieve both of course because um both are essential um there there is a shortfall in that um Grant as I have shared and we had to cover $1.7 Million last last uh year we could have to cover as much as 2 million in the current year unless the um Revenue increases with increased enrollment so we're remaining optimistic I don't have any data yet um that could be considered accurate uh we'll be monitoring it throughout September the final data
120will be as of October 1 uh the next item in our transition plan is to plan for the change in the state law for magnet tuition and um we already covered this in June I just re repeated the same information I'll just summarize very quickly so the the law that was P the um in the last legislative session um the um uh legislature decided that um the payment of tuition would be phased out and the phase out will start in uh 425 and um I believe let's see it says um we we we are allowed to charge um I believe it's 58% of the prior years's tuition in 2420 here it is um starting in in 2425 we can charge 58% of the amount charged in the prior year and then uh presumably in the
121next year it's it either phases out a lower percentage or it phases out totally we just don't know yet but it will be phased out and in exchange the per capita amount in the state revenue Grant is supposed to increase but no one knows at this point the ultimate impact now what I had shown you previously is this chart where I looked at what did we pay out in 2223 what did we take in and what's the difference and we paid out more than we took in so theoretically if magnet tuition is no longer paid we could benefit however we're going to have to apply that amount if it materializes to any shortfall at uh the Fairchild campus in the state magnet Grant so this could be a positive outcome uh for us and then
122of course if the per capita also increase es we may be able to um lessen significantly the amount of the um uh uh deficit in the grant or possibly uh eliminate it depending on the uh additional Revenue captured in the uh in the grant all right um next we're looking at potential cost savings so I mentioned utilities before we're going to continue to reinforce energy conservation measures um uh I will be meeting with Wii uh the Wii transport team uh in accordance with the contract because we wrote Into the contract that we would explore potential cost savings based on the ratio of electric vehicles to gas vehicles um I'm not anticipating any savings that they will agree to in the current year but perhaps in 2425 depending upon the ratio and any savings that they
123achieve perhaps they'd be willing to discuss some savings so um we're we're exploring every possible opportunity and and the contract wasn't the language in the contract that we uh included is not binding they're not uh absolutely required to to you know to reach an agreement but it did say that that they would um at both sides would come together uh review the um data uh and um in in with full transparency discuss uh any savings that we transport had achieved and um uh in turn um uh hopefully formulate a plan to return some savings to the board of ed um the next um item in the plan is to conserve our operating resources in our final year of eser so we're optimizing and leveraging our funds and uh striving to retain uh uh savings on
124on deposit to the maximum extent and of course uh we're continuing to optimize um rollover where we can and to extent possible so that we have a cushion in the event that grants decline has happened with Title One and for the Essa Grant which is ending September 30th we're optimizing and leveraging the use of those funds optimal benefit um we're going to continue to fund our non-certified positions through um the end of the grant so that will help us to um uh mitigate the impact of the loss of the Grant in 23 uh 24 and further conserve operating resources but all all the certified positions end in June uh we'll continue some of the Ser summer Services the summer programs the tech support um we we did purchase many multi-year agreements for curriculum and Technology
125initiative I listed some here uh such as the hill for literacy which M Jenkins the CAO has reported on um Tech Tre which is a platform for stem courses that's uh actually a fiveyear plan so that goes through 2526 so even though Sr ends we will still have the benefit of um various services that were purchased on multi-year agreements we're going to be absorbing Personnel that are in temporary positions meaning SRA funded positions into vacancy but we're going to continue to fund services in Esser compliant with Esser guidelines to offset the uh operating expenses in 23 uh 24 and then 2425 they'll be funded in those in those true vacancies and those true positions um we're going to conserve operating funds and maximize the available balance on deposit in the ISF so um in terms
126of the social workers and guidance counselors as you know we have have um actually 21 additional positions 10 guidance councils 11 social workers but the the um issue is that in the final year um as we look ahead to uh the spring if we have individuals in those positions and we don't have sufficient attrition to absorb those individuals we would have to go into layoff and that imposes a significant Financial Risk for the district because um according to Connecticut Law we have to maintain uh the individuals even though they receive a layoff letter uh on on the payroll until a hearing is held and and the hearing has to be held within um and and I'm I I don't have the final um uh legal requirement uh tonight but I it's either 60 days or
12790 days um so we want to minimize the financial liability as we move to the end of of Esser so as attrition occurs in the current year um we're not going to refill the position but we will provide an alternate service so we might have a retired social worker for example come in on a pum basis so the individual would not be in a in a full-time in in a position that would be subject to uh to to that um uh state law requirement uh they would work on a on a pum basis it be a part-time employee so we'll absolutely provide services funded in Esser um and we'll do that with the um easy positions easi Elementary academic support instructor positions as well um so our schools will continue to have support funded through
128Esser but we're going to minimize we will minimize the financial um risk to the district all right uh we have to prepare for the end of the temporary services that we had over the last three years um you may recall uh the effective School Solutions vendor uh kibbe youth uh the various youth partnership programs so I just listed some of them and we are searching for potential new grants that could extend specified services for one or more years um what are our highest priority needs obviously we have many needs I just listed three but uh we're going to try to fine funding to maintain the temporary kindergarten Paris there's no guarantee that we can but it is a goal um social workers and counselors uh we we want to seek additional funding to maintain some
129positions um our teacher leader model um is another priority and there are many priorities but these are are three of the highest so I just wanted to give some examples um now I'm going to end on a positive note we did receive a congressional uh Grant through uh state senator blumenthal's office we um won't have it until 2425 it takes about a year at the federal level to move the uh approved funding through the federal cycle so this will work to our advantage because um it will enable the retention We Believe of two social workers and two uh guidance counselors plus various services and supplies so that is our plan um at this uh time we have another uh Congressional Grant through uh the state Senator's office for library renewal which has been reported uh
130to you in the past and um that Grant has has just materialized we knew that it had been approved last year but again it took a year to move through the cycle and so we we'll have those funds available in the current year the funds must be spent in the current year and um uh we will utilize the indirect cost on that Grant uh to um uh fund one of our self- sustaining positions in the grants office and um uh the balance about $1.9 million will be applied for Library Rena and um our CAO Melissa Jenkins is uh coordinating uh that plan in conjunction with the superintendent so thank you for your attention are there any questions thank you Miss seagull um just before we begin let the record reflect uh chairperson Miss Brown is
131in the building in the meeting I'm sorry and now I'll go to questions Committee Member Miss Baptist Perez if you're trying to speak Miss Baptist Perez you are on mute second okay let's go to Miss Perez sorry can you just repeat um so you said there's 21 social workers and school counselors that was that 21 all right so um in the um Esser Grant uh we funded 10 additional guidance counselors okay and 11 additional social workers um you may be wondering well why 11 well it was it was 10 plus one um at Dunbar School in support of the special education uh sore s so uh Center okay and so um if that if money runs out we're not going to replace if they like leave the district we're just going to replace using you
132said prdm workers well as as attrition occurs uh during the course of the year uh we're not going to replace them because if we replace them they're going to be on a on a layoff list the the um last one hired would be the first one to be uh excessed and uh we want to minimize the financial uh risk of liability to the district at the end of the um Esser Grant um but we will provide alternate uh services so in the past um when a guidance counselor or social worker uh was on a leave of absence as an example um the um uh directors of of the uh programs at the district level were able to identify um uh individuals who were either retired or um are not retired but but working part-time uh
133willing to come into the district to work on a pum uh basis thank you for clarifying for me thank you sorry I had to step away for a second uh Miss Baptist bz are you back do you have any questions okay Mr benan thank you Mr chair I'm going back U Miss SEO I'm going to Pi you back at what Miss Paris said that's the part when you say we have to be ready let's see some contract or something to you know give lay off because contract or they G to Spire in soon something like that that's the almost the same thing as Miss perro asked you the question right so in um the spring of 2024 we will be Staffing for 2425 and as we look ahead at that time to 2425 we will
134no longer have the funding to support 10 additional guidance counselors and 11 additional social workers so what is our plan the first part of our plan is to strive to find alternate funding to seek grant opportunities but there isn't any guarantee that we're going to be successful now I I shared that we have been successful in obtaining a congressional Grant um which should enable the retention of two social workers and two guidance counselors in 2425 that will be for one year only the second part of our plan is to be prepared to eliminate those positions if if we do nothing and in the spring of 24 we were to have 10 individuals um in those supplemental lines that are no longer going to be funded uh and uh in in those guidance counselor lines and
13510 individuals in in the um social worker lines if that were to happen we would have to go into layoff and we would have to uh lay off the least senior uh social work ERS and guidance counselors now presumably the individuals would seek employment in other locals including other districts but for those who do not uh we would be required to they may seek other employment and resign for those who do not resign um we would be required after issuing the um layoff letter to maintain them on payroll until such time as a hearing takes place in accordance with Connecticut Law and the cost factor for maintaining them on the payroll would present a financial liability for the district at a time when the Esser funding has ended and we are returning to a new
136a new era um after three years of Esser so so in order to counter that um eventuality we are going to not refill positions as attrition occurs during the course of the year but we will provide an alternate equivalent service and an alternate equivalent service service could be a pum social worker or guidance counselor another alternate service could be um a service obtained from a um a vendor under a contract so there are various options that uh will be considered and pursued in order to ensure our schools have the supplemental support in this final year of Esser thank you Miss SEO and I'm want to say this and with your permission Mr chair then we know there areal you're the professional person and we thank you you know thank God you here and you have
137everything control about the budget I would like to have um and to see how we can prepare us now that we have a a strong board members we are n and we have our Dr C Davis you know very professional we had to do something I know we have doors we can open but I'm always say this and this coming from my grandmother always told me don't leave the people open the door for you when you know that's the you successful open the door and show then you are there because you have for a reason what I mean is you know you can prepare something good where we have to go so we Cann knock doors and trying to be sure we got the budget back in because the last thing we want is we
138don't want to give lay off and we don't want to tell people you know we don't have the money I know it's not easy it's a protocol it's a policy it's a process but I know I believe in you that you can have a good plan we can knock door to see what we can do for our bris school thank you Miss Marlene SE for your amazing job and thank you Mr Shar no more questions thank you Miss Brown any questions no questions at the moment okay um okay I'm gonna go into my questions now M SE it might be benefici official could you go to the Sesser funded positions and just give us a breakdown if we want to keep all those positions like the 45 pars 10 social workers 11 psychologists what would
139be the net cost to the operating budget should we keep those positions well for for a teacher position social worker guidance counselor um we're looking at 120 $125,000 could be$ 130,000 depending on the uh salary uh so I I would say to ensure that salary and benefits can be incorporated um you on average about 130,000 per position so 10 positions is 1.3 20 positions 2.6 say 27 26 and then that was for the teachers or for for that would be well for a teacher position we we have been hiring teachers at higher steps than in the past right so so I'm looking I'm looking toward the higher range and I'm using I'm using 130 135,000 um that's based on current year information uh next year will be the first year of the contract so um
140it's it's significant expense right what about the social worker the 10 is a 10 social workers or 11 uh they're they're all teachers um oh they're all teachers under the same salary scale okay and what about the 45 poers uh that is about um uh let's see about 1.5 million 1.6 million so a total of $3.8 million we would have to find operating budget which has been at a shortfall for basically last 10 years at least if not further back right and and that and that's why we're looking and we're looking at um with with the superintendent um you know highest priority needs and um we we have to ensure a balanced budget first that's our primary priority for 2425 um if with all of the steps that I've listed in our transitional plan uh
141and all of our fiscal management uh strategies if um we can um produce a balanced uh budget for 2425 and still have resources available um then we can look to possibly uh maintaining uh uh some services but I would predict based on current information that would be minimal and would be limited absolutely um again for the new board members super right for the new board members and the new superintendent and for anybody watching who might not be familiar why can't we just go into a deficit and just keep the people on the payroll anyway uh well by law we are not allowed to operate at a deficit um the only entity in the United States that can operate in a deficit is the federal government uh state governments uh must operate with a balanced budget
142and school districts are required to operate with a uh with a balanced budget and um board members can be held liable if uh a district goes into deficit thank and um why can't we can't take out loans or anything like that again for the benefit of the public no no so so we could only spend what we get and then we gotta cut the rest to need our legal obligation exactly all right thank you can you go back to the kindergarten thing so don't think this could be EMP emphasized enough um yes yeah I've been speaking with cab about this and the estimates is about a one-third drop in kindergarten enrollment if we take our 20 Stu 20,000 students and we've got probably like 1,500 and change if you're just dividing by grades by by
143um the by 12 grades or whatever have you we end up with 11 57 students that may be possibly a projected short forall if we're looking at only the base amount that's of funding of the ECS funding we're talking 5.8 million 5.85 million in possible reduction if things aren't fixed and everything holding true throughout their immatriculation that's going to be every year and if but if we take the whole like 17 roughly $177,000 in state funding and reduce that by 57 that's 8619 million doll so that's something I want um everybody to keep in mind that we really really got to get on top of that and advocate for in front of our legislators definitely going forward because we definitely need to hold harmless for that because as you said if we lose 507 students
144507 kindergarten it's not necessarily across the same schools it's not going to be evenly divided Ed we could have some with a reduction of 10 which would still require a teacher and some with a reduction of five that's right no reductions so we not necessarily reducing x amount of teachers because reducing x amount of kindergarten and the same will hold true as they matriculate from grade to grade so this is very very foring on my mind yes and and we just don't know how the state is going to um modify if if if at all the uh formul so so if they base the um uh Alliance ECS on the prior year numbers which would be October one of 23 that's our current year um then theoretically there wouldn't be any impact on on uh
145funding we would just be required to implement the law but if they decide to project the number of of kindergarten students in this first year and and and introduce a reduction that's going to impact every District in in the state now theoretically we would think it would impact larger districts uh to to a a greater degree um but even a smaller District um might have difficulty maintaining uh classes when required to maintain classes in accordance with class caps um even though um uh Revenue has has declined so I'm I'm going going to remain hopeful that at the state level there will be Advocates including from Bridgeport to uh emphasize that um there should be an accommodation in the funding formula to allow for the breakage that is going to occur in in every District right
146now the other point to keep in mind as I mentioned earlier is that we may lose in we will lose enrollment in kindergarten there's no question about that um and we may have fewer classes the impact on the budget is is not clearly uh outlined at this uh moment um but we also may have gains in enrollment in the Opera grades so our total budget May um you know may stay uh stable in terms of the projected uh Alliance increase so these are questions it's much too early to know um but we do have to plan accordingly and uh we will be um projecting the uh reduction in kindergarten students by school yes that may involve um it will involve uh to to some degree fewer kindergarten classes uh for 242 uh5 now what does
147that mean when we well we have fewer classes we need fewer teachers in kindergarten so um those positions would not exist schools will uh undergo attrition due to retirements and retention they'll absorb those teachers teachers aren't absorbed and they'll be excessing and they'll go into vacancies in in in other schools s um we we have hired this year um approximately 200 additional uh 200 teachers to replace um teachers who resigned or or retired so um we we are anticipating uh again for 2425 turnover uh so you know teachers who are excessed out of kindergarten uh would uh be uh absorbed into other vacancies if not there'll be excess will be absorbed as soon as vacancies uh occur but but our cost Factor would decline due to the number of of K classes declining will it
148decline um in in alignment with any decline in Revenue if if if a decline occurs that is the unknown question at this time so all we can do at this point is conduct the projections and um uh implement the the um projection methodology uh and and analyze the um impact and uh we'll be ready to um uh conduct the allocation conferences starting in late February as we do every year and schools will have a fewer kindergarten classes in general right and here here's the part that I really didn't think of until this this minute as you were speaking is this is only going to be a basically a one a reduction in the kindergarten population if everything remains equal and then the next year everybody who is in PRK it'll SM it should smooth out
149theoretically we should have the same amount of kindergarten kids that we have now because the kids that were on pores will now be off pores and our kindergarten population will increase the year after inflamation to possibly back to North so then we'll have a need for those excess kindergarten teachers to return back does that make sense well not not necessarily I mean in I believe we have about 37 prek classes so um you know children enter kindergarten not only from the prek classes they're entering from from the community um but hypothetically in each year subsequent to 2425 um the number of kindergarten classes would stabilize yeah unless unless the number of children turning age five by September 1 increases correct but um right it currently the year is like by whatever date it is if
150B frees May remain the same over a period of a year the only year that's really going to be affected is the first year upon implementation when the children are left out are not able to attend kindergarten but those kids that missed the the September 1st cut off they will be entering kindergarten the next year along with everybody else who was born before September who would have likely been at school so I think that in every year it depends upon how many children are in the community turning five by September one correct it's just something else to think about I'll leave it alone and go question we have to defer to the demographic experts who can can exam in the ages of the children in the community right and I think that would be a
151good move to like get ahead ofly as possible thank you uh Mr benam you got another question no question Mr chair thank you uh any other questions from any board members or committee members questions okay so then I think that's at the end it was a very interesting meeting started off a bit rough strong entertain a motion to adjourn motion to adjourn and I shall second all in favor I I everybody have a great night and we'll see you next time thank you thank good night everyone God bless God bless you all