001good evening everyone this is a call to order for the Greater Bridgeport uh Board of Education we are here on Monday June 12 2023 at seven o'clock P.M at agriculture school at this moment can we have everyone to stand so that we can do the Pledge of Allegiance I will give Mr secretary a second to gather himself so he can do the Roll Call foreign yes okay it's Christina about Tates Paris Mr bennahan here thank you Mr secretary at this moment we will have student representative reports uh they technically most of them graduated today so so none of them are here if someone who is a lower classman does join online we will acknowledge them um we'll move next to public comment at this moment you will have two minutes on the clock uh once
002you're the Bell Rings we ask that you summarize your last statement and then conclude our first person we have is Zachary Barack barraca Baraka sorry Zachary good yeah sorry okay thank you hello to the Board of Education superintendent of schools and parents my name is Zach brocker Rising Junior at Sacred Heart University since January I've had the privilege to create a youth leadership program for high school students in Bridgeport schools a part of my internship with the Connecticut round table on climate and jobs in partnership with them I've created random acts of climate a volunteer educational youth leadership program that empowers Bridgeport high school students to learn about the effects of climate change and make a difference locally since the program started back in April we've had a series of bi-weekly informational meetings from speakers
003from various backgrounds in Connecticut who address topics advocacy climate change environmental justice the important importance of mass transportation how Community Gardens are helping Bridgeport to help better understand the topics they were all interested in speakers ranged from City officials in Bridgeport policy directors non-profit organization leaders to others who engage in our robust conversation with students who attend Bridgewater high schools when we weren't meeting virtually we were volunteering locally cleaning up local parks collecting bags of trash and I mean bags keeping our streets clean to the parents today this is like a good news I know it's the last Board of Ed meeting so and to the board of Advent members I'm proud to say we're in good shape in the future with our next generation of leaders like them who took initiative to not just
004talk about the issues but to actually work to solve the problems and to be changed I couldn't be happier to personally watch the students grow and learn from about these topics while questioning the status quo and being curious to find more effective Solutions I wish them the best and they continued success as they continue to use their heart and mind to make a difference for the betterment of our local community these office acts have truly inspired me and I hope this good news has inspired you all as well thank you it absolutely has can we give them by hand I thought that was really um our next speaker is David Roebuck uh good evening board glad to be here first time I'm coming here but I know a lot of people here Bobby civil you
005know we've been involved with a lot of things during our lives here I'm here on behalf of the students of Jenny Tisdale School in the East end with the city considers the Eastern armed pit of the city uh for the last year these kids have been walking through broken wine bottles and broken beer bottles in the back of the school at their playground I have pictures of it I put it on Facebook this morning because it's ridiculous we have to do better these kids do not deserve to have to go to school to walk through broken glass and excuse of this uh school is uh well we don't have one custodian and he he can't keep up with the job well let's go to the board and see if the board could get them some
006more help out there because this is we cannot accept this we cannot accept this I have two grandkids second and third grade going to that school and I'm embarrassed because Miss Tisdale was my science teacher and she was an educator she educated us okay back then we didn't have teachers like her to send us out into the world but she did and to put her name on a school that you're not going to take care of is an embarrassment that's why I'm here because I am angry I am very angry at the way that you have let that school be like that you built that school with millions of dollars taxpayers dollars and then you just leave it there to what rock with her name on it if I was a family member I would
007come to Bridgeport and and get up a petition to take the name off of a school that you're not going to take care of thank you okay let's take care of our kids Bobby love you love you too thank you thank you um our next speaker is Miss Gladys Walker Jones thank you that just brings up such a good memory that he asked his I'm a product of jetty s Tisdale good evening the focus for our local Boards of education and superintendents of schools must always be how can we truly work together to ensure educational Excellence for all of our pre-k through grade 12 Scholars and their families without real Equitable Community engagement the focus is a blur real Equitable on community engagement is much more than providing the public with information often sketchy in
008an uh or in an untimely manner encouraging involvement more often than not during budget season or sharing power albeit Limited real Equitable Community engagement requires those in power to do all three simultaneously thank you let's make the best decision for the superintendent of Bridgeport Public Schools if we really care about our kids in this city we will do nothing less than that thank you thank you this concludes public comment at this moment we will go into the approval of me in minutes our first one is a regular meeting on May 8 2023 is there a motion to approve so move move by Mr Bennigan second by Miss Allen all in favor aye any opposed any abstentions parent none motion carries the next item is regular meeting May 22nd 2023 moved by Mr bennahan is there
009a second second by Mr chamber I'm gonna give it to Mr Trader um any corrections any updates all in favor any opposed any abstentions Karen none those are meeting minutes and approved meeting minutes um our next one is the Chairman's report I would first like to say congratulations to all of Bridgeport Public School students we attended graduation today I believe we shaked over a thousand students hands today so if you guys can all just give a round of applause for our students completing their education today as always it's an honor to be Board of Education members but also too it's always an honor to see the students Excel and do well many of them are going to either college or career I mean we're excited to have uh have been a part of that that
010is all my report for today I was really excited um the next one is committee reports and referrals before we go into committee reports and referrals I would like to remind each and every one of you all of our committee meetings are online they're available I mean they are posted online and they're available for you to attend in person many of them do not allow public comment but you as an individual Community member a stakeholder you have that opportunity to sit in these meetings bring your concerns to the chairs of those committees and also participate by watching and then most of those items end up on our agenda on our regular board meeting agenda so I just want to state that again our first committee is education diversity equity and inclusion chaired by Mrs sokolovic
011yes the committee did not meet an interim as soon as we are at the end of the school year we will be meeting probably the third or third week of August of the beginning of September thank you are there any referrals to this committee hearing none the next one is finance also Chair by Mr sokolovic finance committee has not been interim but we will be meeting Wednesday at 6 30 pm virtually all right are there any referrals for finance pairing none the next one is governance also chaired by Mr sakolovic Governors also did not meet any interim we will be meeting again in the beginning of the next school year the next one is Health safeties and Facilities committee I'm not sure if Miss Baptist Perez has joined us online I do not see her
012we will hold that committee for reports when she comes back the next one is personnel and contracts we did meet we met on the last Tuesday in May most of the items that we have covered will be on tonight's agenda and also on a special meeting on Thursday are there any referrals to this committee all right here and then the next one is students and families Mr bennahan thank you madam chair last one was on May 25th we have a what was my last run for the school calendar we have a good grade turn on you know about the pack and PTA so we talk about um the hands vote for the parents we talk about LGBT we're going to be process talking with my team am I committee to be sure when we're coming
013back we can follow everything we talk about the last meeting in our next meeting we will come back from vacation will be September 21st 2023 and Central High School and library at 6 30. thank you thank you Mr bennahan the next committee is teaching and learning Miss Baptist Perez is still is not here so we will hold that for when she comes back the next one is the superintendent's report Miss parent good evening everyone um first of all our basket can be a May update Dr Baldwin will be meeting with the stakeholder group on June 14th at 12 p.m 12 P.M to continue the conversation of um ambassy of May collaboration um set forth to take place um at the beginning of school year 25. adult education site please note that on Tuesday May 30th
0142023 members of the facility Department board members Mr sakolovic Mr benahan grajales as well as Mr traber all met at a possible site for the Adult Learning Center the facilities department is completing a cost analysis of site development and seeking other um spaces um before making any decisions so more information will come to follow awarded Grant projects Columbus school and Harding High School were accepted into the commissioner's Network cleaning year for school year 22 23-24 congratulations to both schools cross Dunbar Bridgeport Military Academy Barton basic Harding and Marin will be receiving funding from the low performing schools Bond grants as well assessments the district administered 51 635 assessments out of the 52 328 assigned our participation overall on all assignments was 98.68 on the smarter summative Ela it was 99.29 smarter summative and PT math
015was 99.18 in GSS summative 96.11 alternative assessment Ela 97.95 alternative assessment for math 97.13 in alternative assessment science 98.20 the Connecticut physical fitness assessment our entire District participation for students um grades three to eight 87.8 percent upcoming events of course today as Ms Brown spoke about we graduated over a thousand students um at the amphitheater so that took place today we have the christening of rvk Williams which is our newest um uh research vessel which will be here at aquaculture school on June 14th at 12 p.m we'll be doing a christening um our last day of school for um all schools except for Johnson and Columbus will be June 15th in the last day for Columbus and Johnson will be Friday June the 16th Kudos again to all of our graduates um job well done
016also math meet results the Bridgeport Public Schools math meet competition was held on June 1st at Sacred Heart University West Campus 20 schools a total of 120 students from grade 7 and 8 participated in the competition this year the winners were first place John Winthrop school second place blackham school and third place Black Rock School most improved was Geraldine clader school which is up eight places from last year the top students were 8th grade gravity RK from um Discovery magnet with 12 points in seventh grade Alexander Q from blackham school with 11 points thank you Miss Perrin at this moment I will open up the floor for board members to have any comments or questions for her report I'll start to my left Mr gellan Mr bennahan Mr sokolovic Mr traber Miss Allen Mr macaron
017no comment Miss Cashmere Miss Cashmere and one more time Miss Cashmere oh I don't know how much you heard of Miss Paris report did you have any comments for a report no problem okay all right um thank you then now we're gonna move on to Old business um oh business is discussion is review and discussion of score sheets for the superintendent evaluation of interim superintendent Alicia n Perrin board members these uh reports are in your portal um I will mention the process in which it took place Miss parent was evaluated in three areas for her evaluation the first era's relations with the Board of Education the next one was community relations and the third was personal management and relationships the members that did not participate in this evaluation were Miss Allen Mr Gellen Mr macaron
018Mr traper for various reasons many of them you know were new to the board and chose to not participate in this part of the process Ms Perrin was evaluated by Ms Brown Miss Baptiste Perez Mr bennahan Miss Casimir Mr sokolovic out of all of the areas that she was evaluated and her final score came up to 4.33 that is the average score of all the different areas she was evaluated in at this moment I will open up the floor for those board members who did evaluate Miss Perrin to give any thoughts on why you evaluated her the way you did and by the way this is considered a good evaluation so if you're wondering like is it on a five-point scale no she did a really good job in her evaluation so just want to
019share that oh um and what I'll do is I'll take a moment and allow board members to share thoughts concerns uh any of the areas that you did evaluated her on and you want to share your thoughts feel feel free to do that I will start with Mr binan any thoughts from his parents you can Mr sokolovic uh yes this is my sixth evaluation of superintendent interrov regular superintendents and this is the best evaluation I've given to any superintendent permanent or otherwise um superintendent it's interest superintendent parent has been doing a fine job she's had a lot of hot issues dropped in her lap from previous administration this is dealt with to varying successes and but all the time in the best interest of the children and informing the board every step in a way
020when stuff hits the fan and then it's just like there's little time bombs waiting to go off and she's prepared for a while thank you Mr Miss Kashmir no comments thank you uh Mr bennahan back to you I don't think oh she's here okay if you want I can let Mr please miss Baptist Perez um we're just going over let the record reflect Miss Baptiste Perez is join us online we're just going over Miss perrin's evaluation um if you want to learn any thoughts concerns on her evaluation oh she's gone okay she might be coming um okay you go ahead um I don't have the evaluation in front of me but in general um the the one of the biggest cities of the interim is to maintain um ability in the district as we search
021for our permanent superintendent I thought overall it was very good um I don't have my evaluation in front of me and I'm about to drive so that's I'm gonna have to get off now okay thank you Mr bennahan thank you my adventure I can see you uh from his parents for the short time she's with us I'm having a great communication with her you know I thought that uh everything I need or want any concerns or anything happening with the parents students or staff she she take action right away and I really appreciate that because the farmers they will take forever or they give me excuses they say they really fix it and they never did it and we will have a proof of that but I really appreciate it for the short time experiment
022when you hear that uh you had communicate with the board members the way supposed to be and you had any issues with I come bring it to you as an intern superender I really appreciate that that you make actions and you face the situation and I respect that and thank you for that thank you thank you um I will share thoughts as well I think just being able to look at some of the work and also offer her presentation um and working with her I think Miss Perrin did a really good job at managing in all three areas to the best of her ability in the short amount of time um and you know now just say with you know just at any position definitely you know trying to understand how we can move the
023district forward and I think she did a fine job at doing that and what I will do is because you the community um in the in the spirit of transparency did not get an opportunity to see how the evaluation was done so I will read off each individual board member and where they scored Miss Perrin this will also be placed online and this will also be placed in her personnel file as well um and we'll see two of that is done um I'll start with Mr sokolovic in the area of relationships with the board he he scored her 4.5 and Community relationships he scored her 4.5 personnel management and relationships he did not score her in that area which gave him an overall score of 4.5 uh Miss Casimir she scored Miss Perrin in relationships
024with the board of four and uh Community relationship she scored her three and then person personnel management and relationship she scored for a four which gave her 3.67 Mr banahan he scored Miss Perrin in relationships with the board of five uh Community relationships of five personnel management 4.2 giving her a score of 4.73 Miss Baptiste Perez scored Miss Perrin and relationships with the board are 3.29 Community relationships of five personnel management 4.2 which give her overall score of four point seven three oh I'm sorry I have to reread that she scored Miss Miss Perrin in relationship with the board 3.92 Community relationships 4.717 personnel management she did not score her which gave her a 0.5 and I'll explain why they didn't score in those areas um myself Miss Brown scored Miss Perrin and uh relationships
025with the board 4.5 Community relationships 4.67 personnel management five giving her a score of four 4.72 board members who chose not to score Miss Perrin and personal personal management and relationships was due to not being able to really know the inner workings of her and her team um and I believe that's kind of like explaining it Mr Benning I mean Mr Sokolova you can also explain your reason and buy that and I'll let Miss Miss Perez do the same go ahead yeah that's a that's exactly true then there's not a not really enough time to score a personality you and not being there day to day while she's interacting and interfacing with personnel I didn't feel comfortable scoring that at this time I haven't heard any perk complaints which I do hear complaints from time
026to time about other superintendents but that's no basis to put my thing and if I might just point out one more thing sure these were not just one line item things each of these scores are based on like seven or eight different criteria so it's more more than just us checking a box 4.5 4.5 there's like five five or six different things onto each title correct and also for the record Miss perrin's evaluation is also her verbal evaluation is also online if those who choose to look it up as well um other than that this concludes uh the evaluation I'm not sure if Miss Perrin will like to say anything you have the floor the floor is yours so the evaluation process was definitely interesting for me um being new to this position um but
027I think that the feedback that I received was valuable um and it's something that does give me some insight into being able to move forward if you know chosen for this position some of the things that need to be focused on um as far as the district level personnel as well as building Administration um so I that's all the only comments I have when I read through it I did understand it and I understood a lot of the reasons why the scores fell the way they did based upon relationships and conversations that I have had with board members so thank you thank you Miss Perrin now moving on to new business the first item is discussion and possible approval of facilities and operation action plan as presented to utilize our remaining 7.6 million dollars of
028Esser funds this came out of the health safeties and Facilities committee I'm not sure who will be presenting on this item oh I see you good evening everyone the floor is yours I'd like to start off first by on behalf of the building operations Department congratulating all of the scholars under graduations today and we wish him uh the best of luck on their future endeavors so um as we start to wind down the clock on our Esser funding um we were charged early on with the task of looking at adding AC to both Columbus and Cross School we've gone through design um all of our findings and uh we've come up with a few issues with both one is that um both projects succeed what we currently have left in Esser uh they came back
029extremely over budget due to all of the supply chain issues um and all of the different nuances with what we're seeing in the industry today uh both projects combined uh equate to 13 million dollars eight million dollars for Columbus school and 5 million for um Cross School those numbers are estimates we feel due to the fact that there are a lot of unknowns um especially at Columbus school that these these budgets are only going to increase so with that said we would like to Pivot moving forward uh with uh several different projects uh you know from our perspective we feel that we like to continue the path that we've been on that's strengthening the district laying down a strong Foundation that we could build on into the future uh with this once in a lifetime
030because I say this all the time opportunity to really write this ship with the district there's still a lot of different things that we like to accomplish throughout the district uh some of the items that we'd love to uh get done in the district um are things like uh replacing the age use the air air handler units over at carryout school which are a dire need those current ahus were uh taken off of the Roosevelt School when the new construction was happening and shifted over to carry out so they're well past their useful life uh we like to and that we have designs in on that we're ready to go to bid for that so it will we should be able to get that done in time to to meet the Esser deadlines we also
031have designs in for JFK uh HVAC in the pool area we have climate control issues in the pool area so we like to get uh the HVAC updated to to be uh in line with the rest of the system in the building we also want to replace 10 boilers throughout the district you know these are uh hard infrastructure that we really would love to strengthen uh drive down the cost of operation and and be able to reinvest those dollars in other areas uh continue the HVAC control work that we've been doing district-wide we've uh unified all of the HVAC onto one uh head end unit and now we would love to start to dial in each and each individual classroom so we have uh total control of the district we can also drive down costs
032by by truly controlling the environment within the building and providing the service that all the scholars staff and uh and parents deserve in the buildings and then skein we have to do some asbestos abatement due to a steam leak so we're going to replace all of the tile in the hallway and and uh put in new tile uh exterior doors at Marin and JFK we'd love to do a renewal on the second Chiller over at Fairchild wheeler and we even have contingency plans if if uh we have uh dollars left over uh additional it's best this work Play Down replacement you know we look at what's coming with the fiscal cliff and you know it's essential for us to get to a point where we have a stable Foundation to build on the team has
033been working diligently across the district the both custodial trades the management team to find the best methods that we can find to to Really stabilize where we are this is a district that hasn't had uh consistent stable funding for infrastructure so this has gotten us to a point where we're finally on Solid ground but we have to continue to work we're doing I would love to put AC in both those schools but we really got to fix what we have out in the field currently get that to where it needs to be in the future we can look at those designs potentially go to the State uh Department of administrative services and put in a Grant application where we pay somewhere around 20 cents on the dollar to get those projects done and you know
034we wouldn't be able to finish those projects in the time frame anyway because the duration for Columbus was anywhere from 18 to 24 months we'd have to relocate the students and then cross was uh shorter duration but once again it's one of those things where we'd have to relocate students so those are really not feasible in the time frame that we have with Esther winding now is that it Mr Garcia yes all right I'll open up the floor for comments for Mr Garcia report um before we move to a vote uh Miss Casimir any comments no comments thank you for your report um Mr Gillen no comments at the moment Mr bennahan no call me for Mr Garcia I trust him very well he know what he's doing okay Mr circle of it all questions
035I have with benad s been answered in the facilities meeting Mr traber Mr Garcia the uh you said the work of curiel was on what uh ASU uh air handler units and a rooftop um they control the the air intake and AC ID you said ten boilers in the district yes what schools um I'll say what I can off the top of my head I know we're gonna do uh to a discovery um a one at Madison one of Marin two at Columbus um CSA I'd have to get the rest but uh you know this I think there's two other schools in there I didn't have the listing with me I apologize but miss Baptist Perez is in person I will come back to you in just a minute Mr macaron I have no comment
036thank you Mr Garcia uh Miss batteries Perez this item came out of your committee this is uh the facilities operation action plan uh for utilizing the Esser dollars do you have any comments for no I think it's good to have the contingency since we it's all the projected estimates too high for cross and carry out um and I think he has contingency upon contingency in case there's some money left over it could be used for I think it was discussed playgrounds are the special edition asbestos abatement okay I'm going off my memory thank you Mr Garcia very good though this is a while ago and I have no comments I also did view this meeting um at this moment I will entertain a motion to approve uh this item is there a motion on the
037floor if someone like to make a motion moved by Miss Allen second by Miss Baptist Perez any questions comments concerns Aaron none all in favor aye any opposed any abstentions hearing none motion carries thank you Mr Garcia we look forward to updates on this particular project thank you everyone have a great have a great evening you too thank you the next item is discussion impossible approval of awarding vision RFP going from VSP to iMed for our active staff members benefits uh this should be Mr Rogers Mr Ulysses Rogers are you here sir yes I'm here four members this is also in your package Mr Rogers if you can just give us a small report on this item this was also covered in committee uh thank you board uh good evening um I wanted to quickly
038go over um what we're looking to have approved today um the vision RFP uh was presented to the board in the previous contract committee um after further analysis by our outside um consultant uh Siegel as well as doing my own analysis we're able to confirm that over a three-year span if we would switch from uh VSP to iMed we would be saving uh 77 000 between between the city and uh Boe with making this switch without uh suffering any utilization issues or changes in coverage for our vision benefit so uh that's where we stand today thank you Mr Rogers I'll open up the floor for board members have any questions or comments I'll go down the list Ms Casimir yes although I am um happy about the amount of money that will be saved um
039and I heard that you did your due diligence what I want to know is um I guess could you tell me a little bit more about why you chose them over VSP I know that VSP is one of the top of the line companies so I just kind of wanted to get a little bit more from you besides the cost well there are three uh providers that uh that submitted bids besides our the incubate which is VSP um out of the three um I Med um after doing our analysis and scoring on uh from the financials utilization and uh operating costs uh such as fees uh they they tested out to have the most robust um offer um um that was offered amongst the uh the four different uh providers um there is a slight
040decline in utilization uh from VSP but it's probably about a five percent the other two uh providers the drop off in regards to uh service utilization dropped off by approximately 25 to 30 percent so we didn't deem them as a viable um uh providers uh to switch over to because of the uh utilization issue okay and this new provider has the same quality of service as VSP or even more or yes they have the same quality utilization when it comes to doctors and providers as well as offering another option to to buy at the employees cost additional uh Insurance when it comes to their vision coverage which wasn't offered by VSP so between that the claim average the fees that in comparison to VSP um which is approximately a dollar fifty total in regards to
041savings um all those uh factors factored into our decision which in the I made thank you question um do we know if any of our um current um holders of VSP would have to change providers when switching over to the I met um it's probably less than two percent possibly um I think there was one provider that we were able to dividify that may not be available um uh to to use but other than that it's extremely low percentage that didn't really affect uh employees uh benefits what was the process of looking into that point um well we we see that we we did get the information on the provider I just don't have that information in front of me it it affected me probably I'd say less than one percent of all city and
042All City and um uh Boe uh employees it was a very small small number thank you Mr bennahan no question no comment Valencia thank you Mr sakolovic no questions I just want to reiterate the importance of getting these joint contracts to us in a good amount of time Mr traber I have no questions either Mr Rogers except to reinforce what Mr sakolovic said you are working on a process model for us in the future yes I'll have that for you at the beginning of the school year with some other recommendations I would like to add um at a later date thank you Miss Allen any questions Miss Baptiste Perez no questions Mr macaron no questions thank you I have no questions either um thank you Mr Ulysses um at this moment is there a motion
043on the floor so I would like to make a motion I'm sorry still moved nope motion to award Vision RFP from going from VSP to imid for our active staff member benefits is there a second second to miss Baptiste Perez so moved by Mrs okolovic second by Miss Baptiste Perez are there any comments questions or concerns Karen none all in favor aye aye any opposed all right any abstentions Karen none motion carries we look forward to updates on this and timely you know making sure we get these items before us in a timely manner thank you um our next item is discussion and possible approval on the RFP for dental care this is also Mr Rogers yes uh I provided a copy of the RFP for dental um we are not uh we are still
044in the process of grading and doing the analysis of comparative analysis of this RFP um and uh currently you guys should have copies of this RFP and we're just looking to have it approved to be um evaluated and then provided to you with all the analysis at a later date all right I'll open up the floor for any comments questions or concerns from board members uh Miss Cashmere no comments thank you no comments yeah Mr sokolo did nothing here Mr Schreiber Miss Allen Miss baptis Perez I didn't have a chance to read this so I'll ask some basic questions um is this another joint uh RFP between the city and Bridgeport yes it is okay and what so this is the RFP but when are we looking to actually execute it so we could have
045that kind of in the bar the board's kind of state of mind even though you're going to keep us abreast in the future well we're we're gonna be we're in the process of uh receiving the bids now um we're going to be going over the analysis with our outside Consultants eagle and we're going to start grading um uh the submissions uh at this point uh once we're done with the the committee selections and Analysis of the uh of the different providers then students were confirmed what we agree upon will provide it to the board I would I know that you guys are shut down for the summer so it won't be evaluated to the August but we're hoping if there is an emergency meeting during the summer that we could be a part of it
046so we don't delay this RFP I have a question from Adam cheer are we shut down during the summer we only meet as needed so we could meet if needed for this right we could expect okay um yeah I mean the fiscals calendar starts July 1 business is being conducted and this is a district with a lot of needs so if we have to have special meetings over the summer even if it's just once a month so we can not get bombarded by the beginning of the school year I think it's worth it um I have no more questions or comments yeah I'm a little confused I heard us analyzing some bids that were coming in did I hear that wrong and there shouldn't be any sense of urgency if the irfp has not been
047issued yet and if we're approving RF issue tonight because from what I understand it takes quite a few weeks to get through the city and it takes time to get the bids back once the RFP is approved so how would we get bids back so quickly in this by the time before September well this RFP was issued some time ago similar to division RFP um it's our goal was to have it approved prior to September 1st uh that's the reason for the urgency here again moving forward you will be notified in a much timely manner when it comes to Joint rfps between the city and Boe um we're just you know we want to make sure that we're we we're trying to stick to the deadlines that we have since we're in the process of
048of going through receiving the the overall analysis uh uh buyer outside consultant and then you know doing our our due diligence on our end with grading uh what we find from the bidders yeah yeah so yeah based on that information I can't a good conscience vote to retroactively approve something that's already been done yeah Mr Rogers i i in the same vein I I don't recall you telling us at the committee meeting that um the RFP had been issued uh my recollection was that instead of a July 1 y'all were pushing back the date to September 1st um and that the the RFP would be issued and analyzed over the summer pending approval at this board meeting yes so now I'm confused it's already been issued how what is our approval got to do with
049anything well the the the RFP hasn't been issued in regards to the analysis and the grading it's just a simple approval that they are getting your permission with the city to actually go over the data the analysis data of this particular RFP Oh I thought somebody was speaking by me um I I guess I'm confused about the RFP but it's for them we're requesting proposals for dental insurance aren't we yes so how can we how can we be analyzing um bids not issued a proposal well this is the thing I to my understanding I believe that you guys wanted to see the actual RFP itself before it went was approved in bidsync that was my that's what I was instructed in previous meetings and so if we haven't approved it how can a bit have
050been issued well this is a request for proposals this this was again done prior to just like division RFP that's why I was brought up in the contracts committee this was already submitted to the city to submit it into bitsync we just haven't submitted it to any um our outside consultant for any type of analysis or any bids weren't received at that particular time it's just simply the RFP showing you that we're going out to bid in the approval that it's going out to the that you've gone out to bid already yes yes regardless of whether we approved it or not well this again in the previous meeting I thought it was clear that this is also a similar issue like Division division RFP that was already out with the with the city very similar
051issue I understand that but my recollection of the meeting was you didn't tell us it was already out the bit I thought I thought that the record I want the record to show that and that's why this process that you're now going to make us wait till the end of the summer to see needs to be put in place because this is not a new problem from what I understand the process information will be given to you as soon as possible I can give it to you earlier if you're going to meet during the summer um but I thought we were clear um in the contracts committee meeting about the vision RFP no not to me okay I I just want to be clear I'm going to basically ask a series of yes or no
052questions as an RFP been issued for dental services yes or no an RP has gone out if RFP has gone out yes have we gotten back any bids yet bids have come in but we haven't done any analysis yet okay so you are asking this board because the agenda item says RFP for dental set for dental carrier we can't approve something retroactively so so that's gone so what you're looking for is approval to look at something you're already looking at yes I'm sorry this is just unacceptable I've just had a loss of where to go to from here but there's uh I don't know we got to do better the dental RFP uh if you if you guys don't mind the dental RFP was in the simplest status as division RP where that already had
053went out to bitsync at the time that we were going that I came in to do the the contracts committee it was in the same status it wasn't a part of the new business when it comes to the uh the board meeting so we were in a rush to try to get the vision approved I brought it to the contracts committee meeting and presented this RFP uh in the last contracts committee to be reviewed by the board uh because it had gone out already and we're we're trying I'm trying to make sure that we're going by our new processes and procedures that you are receiving the RFP as as soon as possible prior to us uh actually working on it um working on the RFP at that particular moment it was already sent out it
054wasn't we didn't receive any information it was just simply the RFP at that particular moment that was approved in bitsync and that was in April when this this occurred thank you further questions all right um no I think he just answered it that it was sent out to bid originally back in April is that correct correct but yeah that was the only question I had okay at this moment if there's no further questions uh we'll we'll see if there's an if there's a motion on the floor is there a motion on the floor I'll ask again is there a motion on the floor so this I and I asked again is there a motion on the floor so Mr Euless use this this item cannot be voted on because there has not been a motion
055properly placed on the floor um I believe we need to discuss possibly at contracts where do we bring this back up again because I'm not sure what we would do next in order to move this forward besides it's already out there for bed yes yeah what are the ramifications should the board not do anything I feel like it would be another situation with the iMed in BSB correct correct so it's a situation that's is this essentially the board trying to have a seat at a table that's already on a moving train uh I wouldn't necessarily say that because we haven't done any analysis yet it's simply the the approval to move forward with doing the analysis at this point uh to be able to provide it to the board so you guys can make a
056a conscientious decision on whether or not we're it's the right move uh for the Board of Ed in in in in in the district and this decision is going to be made by September 1 or should we were we were shooting to have this approved totally approved with after we have the analysis done uh with the particular bidders and have it approved so we can be ready to go buy 9-1 if necessary I would have to let the city know and there could be a possible delay on meeting that deadline okay and if there's a delay meeting that deadline are you trying to say Boe and city employees wouldn't have dental coverage they would have dental coverage we would have to stay with VSP at their current rates got it okay thank you thank you
057Mr gellan but just to be clear if we don't move on this motion at the moment we should return with the RSV with the analysis there wouldn't be any delays it depends on if you when you guys have a meeting um if you're going to have a meeting in the summer then it wouldn't be a real delay because we're still in the analysis process right I think the trouble here is your the motion um we're asking for emotion for something that has already started um so it's just a couple of his point to retroactively approve something as a moot point um so coming back maybe with the something we could discuss as a board maybe come back with the rrsp with the analysis um I think that's the appropriate um Junction that we we meet
058but certainly moving forward um we shouldn't have this situation at our desks anymore absolutely it's totally clear in regards to what the procedures are moving forward and we're again we're you know I will provide that any RFP information prior to it actually being approved and sent to bidsync moving forward any additional shared rfps that we have um it was just the timing of you know making sure that we had our prophecies and procedures clear that the then that the dental RFP fell under the same um parameters as division thank you Mr sokolovic yeah just on I just want to clear something up this is not something new that's hitting us it's not really a new pause he created this is what was supposed to be done before this has happened to the board before we
059had uh basically a two to one vote to approve the last time when the Medicare and Medicaid issue came up or if it was um workers comp and this issue came up and we wanted to rectified back then the reason we approved it back then is because we were told that people would be thrown off their benefits and this and that but unless we send a clear message we're not going to rub a stamp anything where our funds well I was cities without children's funds are concerned which we're stewards of without the city coming to us beforehand and just letting us know and just having a clear precisis because this is a joint contract a joint contract a partnership unless we're treated like equal partners with the city with our own little City full of
060children that we're responsible for they're going to continue to do this over and over again so since the dental coverage will continue nobody will be thrown off their benefits I think we just go out for a new RFP and just get new bids from this I mean it might have an extra cost but that's not our faults we we are complying with the law we are complying with our partnership we are doing our due diligence but we're not getting the information from the city in a timely manner is not bringing board from us at a timely matter and those rules and stuff you're coming up with they're already in place they can't you can't issue a contract in the board of education's name for the city if it's a joint contract we both got to
061sign off on it and that needs to be made abundantly clear to the city thank you thank you last Mr Traver yeah again Mr Mr uh Rogers um there is nothing in the new process that I recall other than to clearly state that we should know all this well ahead of time there's nothing about us voting to approve your analyzing bids there's a vote the issue in RFP and then there's the vote to approve your proposed acceptance of one of those proposals there's nothing that we vote to have you say go ahead and analyze the data you do that anyway I I totally I I apparently you go ahead and issue proposals anyway too so I I well I understand the frustration of the city being disrespectful you sir work for us and you should
062be covering and protecting our interests and it would seem to me that this is a continuation of a problem that we discussed with great clarity about the vision because you started that process in January and yet a month ago we were not given the impression that the bid was out and y'all were going to get proposals in we were given the impression that you needed us to move quickly to approve this proposal so that you could get a bid in not July 1st anymore because it was so late but by September 1st and so it's just been a misrepresentation of reality here and that's between you and us not between us and the city um and so I just want to leave that on the record that that's you reporting to this board yeah I
063totally understand that uh understand uh your your comments and your statement uh again prior to us discussing in in coming to an agreement of what the procedures would be moving forward this this RFP was submitted by the city to the purchasing department in April we were still establishing what should be done I you know I again let you know that moving forward from that particular date which was in uh May that this would not move forward with any additional RFP moving forward which it will not um I brought it to the contracts committee because it was already um submitted at that time uh just the RFP had no other information on bidders at that at that particular moment no analysis has been had been done at that moment it's simply just you know providing the
064RFP that was submitted by the city um two bitsync and the city is aware the city has been notified and aware of the new procedure I have spoken with um my contacts there and moving forward there in agreeance that this moving forward this is how the approval of the shared rfps should move moving forward and just again we were not informed that it even been issued so I leave that on the record thank you all right I'll ask Mr macaron do you have any questions or comments concerning this item we didn't hear from you sir no I'm I'm fine I'm just I'm just um kind of kind of surprised also like Mr treyburn maybe Mrs and so thank you all right Mr Ulysses um we will we will not continue conversation on this item but
065we will do is we'll look to have more information coming from your office to the superintendent's office to our office on what what is the next plans for this particular item all right thank you okay our next item is discussion and possible approval to issue solicitation for the annual Food Service bid for 2023-2024 school year this is Mr Steele hi good evening um we're seeking approval for our annual Food Service bids the items chosen will complete our new menu cycle this menu will be for all new breakfast lunch and um after school supper at the Elementary and high schools thank you I will take an opportunity to see if any board members have any questions on this particular item I will start with Miss Casimir any thoughts concerns on this item no not right now
066thank you uh Mr Gillen no thoughts are coming took a moment Mr binahan no comment buddy Please Mr cell don't forget our water the next time thank you okay uh Mr Traver Miss Allen Miss Baptiste Perez no comment uh Mr macaron I'm good I also have no comments as well sorry madam chair just one question go ahead Miss cashmere has a question for you is there a gluten-free uh option on the menus just a question yes we always will offer a gluten-free option if it's not a complete gluten-free meal it's say um side a um sandwich or salad thank you someone like to make a motor right ahead is there a sec okay Miss Allen second by Miss Allen are there any further comments or questions I'm just curious um in comparison to the previous
067year are there any significant changes to the food options Mr Steele significant changes um can you elaborate I'm sorry to assume we didn't add any additional sugary drinks or products to the menu um are the prices somewhat consistent from previous years have we seen the increase in prices I always think it's somewhat better at least for me to have an analysis from the prior year to this one so I just want to know if there were any changes as of right now we won't know the changes until we go out to bid that's why I didn't include any prices or notes from the previous year's bid once and then after that I'll I can offer that information so the item item questions uh all in favor any opposed any abstentions hearing on motions carries uh
068motion carry uh Mr still we look forward to hearing the update on this thank you thank you and our last item is discussion possible nomination for the appointment of Bridgeport Public School Superintendent I will open up the floor for nominations this is elected position for the board of education so I'll open up the floor for nominations um you can nominate whomever you like just want to keep in mind that each individual will have an opportunity to vote on whoever that is I'd like to nominate if you see a parent for superintendent there's Miss Perrin ology I like to nominate um Dr Kimbella liby David questions all right we could take it to vote at this point all right dude yes Mr sugar yes I suggest we go through a roll call on everybody States their
069preferred candidate to do that all right Mr secretary would you like to start are we going to say the two neighbors and personals are going to be voting so each each individual will have the opportunity to say which candidate they would like to understand thank you all right um Island stable okay Miss Christine Baptist Paris Dr Carmela Levy David is Bobby Brown Miss Alicia parent Miss Acacia Casimir Dr Carmela and Levy David Mr David Gillen at the Camilla leave you David Mr Michael macaron Dr Camilla Levy David Mr Joseph Circle Mr Robert triber Miss Perrin and Mr bennahan Dr Cameron is that Allen yes foreign board members in community we have four for me um parents and we have five for Dr Camila at this moment uh Miss David is not here but I would
070like to congratulate Miss Carmela Levy David I would also like to say congratulations to miss Perrin on a job well done for our district one second our next uh our next process will be we will update Miss uh Levy David she'll be updated by the firm and from there we'll start her next process with the Board of Education um would you like to Mr Bennett before we adjourned as uh so um secretary about the kitchen I'd like to say thank you Miss Perry for your hard work thank you for the um for the time you was here we there was um it was our honored to have you to be a great job for the short time that's not me um you're not going nowhere we just keep working with you your very example as
071uh give example to all the board members that will give it to the community stuff and everything and then it was an honor and work with you and yeah thank you for everything God bless you and you know Mr benihan garajalis will be here provided to Unique thank you for so much for everything God bless you and your family here here I would like to entertain a motion to adjourn Al okay moved by everyone second by everyone everyone have a good night and have a good summer good night see you Thursday see everyone Thursday for the special meeting I asked the question I would like to know what decision so they did a we did a community Forum that each board member was presented with uh the survey for the candidates and from there the
072board members will have the opportunity to sit down and see how they would assess the candidates based off of the community foreign