Board of Education Meeting

001I'm Alex's teachers are here. Like they've all like retired. Oh, oh wow. Well, good evening [snorts] everyone. We're about to start our POE meeting at 7:00 Well, I'm sorry. 7:00 on that clock. 7:01 on this one. So, good evening. Please join me in the Pledge of Allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all. >> [clears throat] >> All right. All right. Well, roll call. We are all here. Good evening everyone. It's good to see everyone. Happy Wednesday. >> see you. Um we will get right into our student spotlight with Kiner Middle School. Please come on out. >> [laughter] >> Ms. Miranda is here to share with us a little bit about

002the upcycle center. Oh. Uh the upcycle center, I think the BEF grant potentially and um we'll have you call up your folks. Can you hear me on this? I think it's Now it is. Um yeah, I'm very excited. Come on up. And um to I know we we've talked a lot you guys have talked a lot about here about how much the Brookfield Education Foundation has done some really great things for our uh schools, for the community um at large and I know recently we've had some you know, some of our pretty big grants that we were able to get and one of them um here with Ms. Whiting is our library media specialist um was an upcycle She had an idea for an upcycle center, recycling clothes and having students work on those things.

003So, I don't want to take anything more from that. I'm going to introduce to Jackie. She's going to introduce our students. They're going to talk a little bit about what they do and you got a little present at the end. Hi, I'm Jacqueline Whiting um and as Dean said, I'm the teacher librarian at Wiskaneer. And before I share with you why I wanted to create an upcycle center, I want the two students who are accompanying me tonight to just talk to you a little bit about why they like the upcycle center and they're going to show you some of the things that they've learned how to make. Um hi, my name is Anna Clifford and I'm in sixth grade. For the past few weeks, I've been going to the upcycle center, which is a place

004where you can sew things like for example, I made these hair bandanas. And there are other things like shorts and um flowers. Um this has taught me how to sew better than I could before and helped me use my creativity to make something new. It is super fun and a great way to spend your ELT. Thank you. Um hi, uh my name's Isla. I'm in sixth grade. Um like Anna said, um the upcycle center is like really fun for when you're free during your ELT session. And like Anna, I made a hair bandana. And it's going on your hair. It's super fun um cuz I also put it on my dog. Super cute. And I also made some pajama shorts during my past few ELTs, which I just finished up. So, it's super fun um

005and I during my few weeks that I've been in the upcycle center, I've learned how to sew and yeah. >> [applause] >> While I tell you about the upcycle center, they're have some gifts that they're going to pass around to you that were made for you in the upcycle center. So, the idea of the upcycle center came to me this year because I've been doing a lot of rearranging of the library, revisioning of the library and in all of that movement, found a space that at one point held teacher mailboxes when it was the office. At another point, it was a long counter that was full of computers when there were computer labs and the space didn't really seem to have a purpose. And I started reading about um a project that Levi's is currently

006doing with high schools across the country where they are visiting high schools, people from Levi's jeans company and they're teaching students how to give more life to their clothing rather than throwing it out and contributing to fast fashion, but how to actually mend, repair, alter and upcycle things. And so, that got me thinking about how to bring sustainability to the middle school and create what started out as a non-tech makerspace and has really become a a sewing center. We have other things. We have weaving, we have leather stamping, um we have all sorts of different ways that students can take fabrics, textiles, other materials and create something new out of them. Um but sewing seems to have really struck a chord with the students. So, this wall is across the back of the upcycle center

007and whip, WIP, stands for work in progress. And so, one of the first things that the students learned how to do was sew a whip bag. And when they come to the upcycle center to work on something, 32 minutes for ELT isn't enough time to finish any of the projects that we have undertaken. So, all of their materials go into a whip bag. It has a little tag on it that says WIP and they write their name and it gets tacked to the wall. And then whenever they come in to work, they take their bag down and all of their materials are there. So, sewing has been something that students have really gravitated to. We've done a little bit of hand sewing. You can see Jingyi with his fabric flowers um and that was one

008of our first projects. We also tried um for Valentine's Day heart-shaped scented sachets um and that was wildly popular and a real calibration for everyone when students said, "Mine looks like a kidney bean, not a heart." And I said, "But have you ever sewn before? Have you ever touched a sewing machine? Did you think it was going to be perfect? Does the rice fall out?" It does not. That's a win. Does it smell like what it's supposed to smell like? It does. That's a win. Now tell me, where does the bobbin go? How do you thread the machine?" And started asking like, "So, you've learned a ton. It doesn't matter if it's a kidney bean and not a heart. Next time it'll be a heart." So, we've done all sorts of different projects. Um this

009is Julia in the middle showing off her whip bag that she created. More students with hair bandanas. Students learning how to what's warp and what's weft and how do I lay out a pattern? Where is the grain? How do I cut? What does hem allowance mean? Why does this look like it's so big and is it going to fit me when it's done? All sorts of really, really great stuff um has been happening. Students are flocking in during their ELT um and if all goes well, I'll also be offering at least one week if not two weeks of summer camp in the upcycle center this summer through Parks and Rec. Um and so, as Dean said, BEF very gave us a very generous grant uh to get us up and running. Savers has been a

010tremendous partner. I call them and say, "I need 10 large men's button-down shirts, two curtains, any blankets you have and anything else that might fit." And they fill a cart for me and they give it to me for free. And they said they will continue to fill carts until I tell them to stop. So, that has been a tremendous way for us to continue upcycling rather than always consuming new products. Um Cotton Candy Fabrics made a massive donation to us from their dead stock and and remnant fabrics and things like that. And the families of Brookfield, the wider community, um they have gifted us among other things an embroidery machine and six sewing machines. So, the um the community at large has really embraced this and done a lot to support us and we're having

011a great time. And we hope you enjoy your bookmarks. Thanks so much. >> [applause] >> I also want to just point out something um when when Jackie said she's a teacher like she teaches classes during the day. And again, I think this is really during the ELT time, she does not have to do this. Like this is her time. She also works with we have times where she's able to work with teachers on, you know, projects or whatever maybe. But she takes the time to set up Google Forms so kids can sign up for these activities and runs them throughout the whole through throughout ELT. So, I I I do want to make sure that you you guys all we all know that she takes her time because this is something that she knows the

012kids get really excited about. And there are kids that are knocking the door, I know, to get in They don't get a chance to sign up for this one. They're so upset. And I said to one cuz like, "You just got to be quicker. You see You see that that name in the email? You got to click on it quickly and and and go for it. But I this has been something I think that's brought We talk about those skills or soft skills if you want to say at times and things that kids are doing that kids don't do enough without technology. And when Jackie first brought this to me, I said, "This is this is absolutely perfect." So, I still haven't gotten in there to learn how to sew, but I that is on

013my thing this summer. My grandmother would be very very proud of me if I can do something like that. So, I just want to make sure that everyone knew that. Thank you. We appreciate you giving us the time. THANK YOU. >> [applause] >> THANK YOU VERY MUCH. THAT WAS EXCELLENT. THANK YOU SO MUCH. OKAY. Moving on to Brookfield Library presentation. Good evening, ladies. Hello. Um I'm very sorry. I don't have um a PowerPoint with me. Um but I will be brief. Um so, the BEF also very generously granted us some money as well to pursue a um project I've been working on for a really long time called the Adulting 101 workshop series. And um I will pass around some of my pamphlets. This is a series geared towards uh older teens and young adults

014and also adults young at heart. Um so, we take all ages. Um and it is intended to teach life skills uh that you may not have learned in school. Um so, we are trying to provide some supplemental education in that way. Um we've already successfully run about five different um classes. We've done healthy habits, stress-free tax tips, sewing basics for busy people, intro to clothing repair, visible mending, and the art of container gardening. So, um as you can see, we have a lot more coming up. Um we're trying to cover things from budgeting to organization to cooking skills to basic car maintenance just um general things that someone may not have gotten the chance to learn, but um they're very eager to learn. And um we're really excited about this and trying to continue to

015promote it. Our last program, we got 26 attendees, which was excellent, but we're trying to get even more. Um tomorrow, we have our job interview skills program. Uh that's actually just tomorrow night. Um and uh yeah, we'll be continuing several more throughout uh the the month of April all the way into July. Um and so, that's something we're really excited about that we've been working on. And every single one we have a giveaway. Um so, we we do little giveaways like last one, we gave away a $50 gift card to uh Shakespeare's Garden. Um and that was really exciting. Um so, that's something we have going on for um young adults. And then also for our teens, um I have a uh college day that I'm scheduling um for Saturday, May 9th. Um I will

016pass around a little pamphlet or a a little flyer about that. Um The QR code that's on there is not going to be active right now. Um but it is booked for Saturday, May 9th and we're going to be going over SAT versus ACTs, um things that rising seniors should know, and um how to find scholarships as well as a brief break for a pizza lunch. Um so, that's going to be really awesome thing that I'm trying to promote um especially with our high schoolers. Um so, yeah, uh thank you so much for allowing me to speak and share a little bit about what we have going on at the Brookfield Library. Um we're really excited about some of the things we have and we hope that you come down and visit. Thank you. All

017right. THANK YOU SO MUCH. >> [applause] >> OKAY, MOVING RIGHT ALONG ON TO PUBLIC COMMENT. >> [snorts] >> The Board of Education [clears throat] welcomes public comment. Each speaker will have up to 3 minutes to provide input to the board. At the start of each regular meeting, a maximum of 20 minutes is allotted for comment on any item. Discussion of school personnel, individualized students, or of individual board members of excuse me, individual members of the board is prohibited. And with that, we will start it off with money. Did I say your name right? Money? Yeah. Money, that's right though. >> [clears throat] >> Good evening, Money. Marni McNiff, Brookfield resident, but I'm here tonight as the co-chair of Brookfield Cares. Um Brookfield Cares is proud to partner with Brookfield High School, Western Connecticut Coalition, and

018the Brookfield Police Department to offer a comprehensive two-part training for students ages 16 to 18 on the upcoming PLC day, May 20th. This collaborative effort reflects our shared commitment to supporting the health, safety, and well-being of our community's youth. The training will include a Narcan administration session led by youth officer Mitch Heller, providing students with the knowledge and confidence to respond effectively in the event of an opioid overdose. In addition, students will participate in a QPR, question, persuade, refer training, which focuses on recognizing warning signs of suicide and equipping participants with tools to intervene and connect individuals with the appropriate support. Together, these trainings are designed to empower young adults with practical, real-world skills as they prepare for increased independence and responsibilities they may encounter in college and beyond. By fostering awareness, compassion, and readiness,

019we aim to help students feel more confident navigating challenging situations and supporting the well-being of those around them. Brookfield Cares would like to thank Principal Boland and Superintendent Ferlisi for partnering with us to offer this training at Brookfield High School. There will be a flyer to sign up going out on Parent Square soon. Um and just to note, students under the age of 18 will need a parent or guardian permission slip signed in order to participate in the training. The training is also limited to 30 participants. Thank you. Thank you so much. Mr. Morash. Good evening, sir. Mark Morash, 25 Mistil Drive, Brookfield. I wasn't going to use the public comment tonight, but then I realized I wanted to come up here and I want to break the rules and you'll have to forgive me

020or not forgive me, but I want to break the rules because I realized that by the time the next meeting occurs, we're going to be down to six members. And I wanted to use the opportunity of while the seventh member is still sitting on the board to say thank you. So, while I'm not allowed to speak about an individual member of the board, I'm hoping that in this moment, it's okay. Yes, sir. I just wanted to say to Sarah, thank you. And as somebody who is new to being out here and in the midst of all of this, the fact that you have always made me feel welcome and welcomed to be here and to speak is a wonderful thing. And that's a wonderful thing for this entire community, that kind of gesture all the

021time. So, thank you. And we will miss you. And that's it. I broke the rules. See you. Thank you, sir. All right. Dhaval? Did I say that right? Dhaval? Yep. That's fine then. >> [cough] [clears throat] >> Good evening, sir. Good evening, everyone. Um I'm here to raise a concern that we recently experienced. Uh we were trying to enroll our child for the magnet school. And um after 6 years of trying, we were lucky enough to get selected. Uh only to learn in the middle of the process that uh the board uh the Brookfield public school will not conduct the uh evaluation process. And uh instead, they are having a different program. So, I'm I'm calling here so that uh our plea can be heard heard and then we can work towards the process together.

022Uh and we can find a resolution on that. That's it. Thank you. Nalini? Good evening, everyone. Good evening. Thank you for giving us the opportunity to speak in today's evening. Um just I want to save your time. So, just I want to echo what uh Dhaval has raised before me. Um so, I think uh it's a great opportunity for the the kids got admitted into magnet school. It's a win-win situation for us and also for them. Um so, I think it would be we would really appreciate it if you can uh process the evaluation process and pass it to the magnet school so that they can get admitted into the magnet school. Um thank you again for your support and all the responses responding to our emails, requests, and so on. We really looking forward

023to your actions on this item. Thank you. Thank you. I'm going to follow Mark's lead a little bit, break the rules a little, just so we don't normally respond to public comment, but I will say that we will have an update. The superintendent will have an update on the uh what you had addressed uh during his update a little bit later on. Okay. Thank you. All right. That concludes public comment. Um written correspondence. The following people have written in since the last board meeting, Irene Correa, Sherry Stryhnaski, Anthony and Ashley Fiorenza, Colin Goss, Elizabeth Misker, Andy Correa two emails, Joseph Sokol, Sokolovic, Christina Zimmerman, Dara Analek. I'm so sorry guys. Chiranjeevi Vutadu, Megan Casey and Jamie Lynn Zapata. That was good. Thank you. That was That was good. Thank you very much. All right. Approval

024of board minutes. Madam Um I move that the board approve the minutes as recommended regular meeting 3 18 26. Any discussion? Okay. All those in favor, please indicate by saying I. I. I. Any nays? All right. Thank you. 7-0. Thank you. Mr. Frizzy. Thank you so much for the opportunity. >> Thank you very much. Uh is this working okay? Good. Uh I do want to just um thank our uh folks from the library, the Brookfield Public Library for coming out and sharing the great resources and programs that they have, uh as well as our own Jackie Whiting uh from Whisconier uh just sharing the great things that she does and I think she really puts the um brought to life the word media in library media specialist um because that that's a great example of

025it. Especially media that's outside of technology in a really great opportunity for kids to learn skills that they might not learn otherwise. So, uh thank you uh Principal Brenda for for bringing that forward today. Um with all that, I just like to share some updates in regards to teaching and learning. I had a great opportunity to meet with uh the Brookfield Stepto uh team and uh what a great group. They were so uh welcoming and had a lot of great questions. Um Mrs. Scalera was at the meeting as well joining me. So, um had some wonderful questions about um you know, the differences between our half-day pre-K program in the new full-day program. So, that was wonderful. Uh a few questions about the Cubs program that was introduced, as well as um kind of the

026you know, uh spectrum of you know, pre-K to to 12 programming for special education students. And uh as well as a lot of other things that they had on their agenda that they spoke about that I was able to hear in and listen in on uh and really get a great sense of the work that they do. Um so, great group of folks and and looking forward to continuing that partnership with them. Uh in regards to um and they asked a little bit about the ad hoc committee. And so, in regards to the ad hoc committee, um we are excited um Mr. Rollin and myself will be putting out um a solicitation for volunteers to join that committee hopefully by the end of this week. Um we have everything kind of ready to go. We're

027just putting some final touches on it. Uh and we'd love to get uh staff, uh families and community members to to be a part of that group. Um and I did put in my updates just a few areas uh that we put out there for possible areas of focus and ones that obviously once we get together as a committee, we would welcome others and then we'll prioritize and figure out where we'll go from there. But a couple of those include um really researching and providing uh programmatic and budgetary guidance for something like the Cubs program or similar for the 27-28 school year. Um I think at this point we are in a place and we'll talk about this when I share with you where we are in the budget process. Um we're to try to

028put that in place for next school year. Might be a little premature and we just want to make sure that we engage in the right process and that we are doing it um uh thoughtfully. Uh so, that way when we do engage in the budget cycle for next school year, we can add that and include it in as well as all the parameters around the program and then be able to work toward that. So, I think it'll be a responsible way to move forward. So, that could be one thing that we work on. Another thing would be to uh review audit information. Um a few years ago, I know um our uh special education program was audited and we did receive a report from that. Um I'll share a little bit later that uh Mr.

029Rollin and myself have also been working with Connecticut Behavioral Health to look at how we can even enhance that audit just a little bit. So, um that would be another opportunity where from all of that data, this working group could take that and we could use it to really look into it and see what could be some really powerful and high-level changes that we could make in our um you know, pre-K to 12 special education program that would support the improvements that we all hope to see uh as we continue to evolve. Um [snorts] and then another one would be able to consider um looking into or researching uh um the feasibility and programmatic structure as well as the budgeting along with it to potentially consider an in-house transition program for our students who are

03018 to 22 years old. Uh so, that would be another area we could look into and investigate. And the last one that we have as an idea uh would be again just that whole K pre-K to 12 programmatic review and structure. We'd love to hear what is it like on the educator end, what is it like on the parent end and then what does the community know about it as well. And when you get all those multiple perspectives, you really have a great opportunity uh to to evaluate it and and make some changes that will enhance hopefully uh the opportunities that we offer our students with an IEP. So, um so, that's where we are. Uh we'll hopefully put that out by the end of this week. Uh start getting uh folks who want to

031be a part of it and and then hopefully have our first meeting uh within the first week or two of May. That would be a goal. Can I ask a question about that? Is Is um is the reason that we have to delay that obviously cuz we want to develop program, but is it budgetary? Is it because we have we've after evaluating kind of the cuts that were made by the Board of Finance, we don't have the right funds in place for that? What I'll share later this evening in the budget presentation will be when we think about the programs that we've we've already moved forward to improve as well as the ones that we know right now that we need to um invest in to sustain the model that currently exists. So, uh those

032are still strong and remain strong and we don't have potentially more students outplaced. Um we have to do those, which which is an add to where we need to reduce and then on top of that we need to reduce. So, I will show all the numbers that go along with that and I just think uh if we're going to engage in something responsibly, uh we want to take our time and do it right uh because then once it's in place, it really has great impact and power moving forward and and we want to be able to do that. Absolutely. Any other questions so far? Yes. Yeah, [clears throat] I just had a quick question. Um I think it was mentioned in another meeting forum when we were talking about this program that it was um

033tried many years ago and maybe that data is not relevant or accurate, but I don't know if anybody in the district may have information on why you know, documented information on why that wasn't successful at the time and are there any lessons learned that we could use this time going forward? >> would be a a main part of that kind of research and development, right? Like we have a little bit of time to do that work, right? Right now we we would be moving in without that information. And and so, I just would want to be more responsible and thoughtful about it as as we do move forward with um such a potentially powerful initiative. Yeah. I mean, I think we do have educators probably that were here, right? So, I know thinking back and

034my kids were a lot younger, but we did have a transition program at one point and we did have um an alternative high school in the high school, right? So, I'm sure there are community members that probably are aware of things that we did have and I think that it would be helpful, right? To know what worked and what didn't work and why that they're not here. Was it budgetary? Was it we didn't have, you know, um the children that we needed to support it. I mean, I don't know, but I know the transition program in particular, I mean, I used to see the teacher all the time in town, you know, with the students and it was really um it was really an awesome thing to see cuz they were, you know, working and

035living and being supported in the community. So, um But uh those are the only two. I don't know about another one, but like I said, So, right. So, I'm really excited for this committee and and the group work that we can do and really investigate things thoroughly and and be able to to identify some of those reasons and and we might find um that we can't replicate something, but we may find we can as long as we know the history behind it and we can avoid maybe some potential pitfalls that we've learned from the past. Mhm. So. Excellent. Great. Okay, thank you. Um equally I had a chance to meet with the CLES social emotional team and what a what a great dedicated group of educators um and just hear how they operate as a

036team and be a part of one of their um kind of team meetings where they're really focusing on the program, um how they support students, how they support one another, uh how they support families uh and just a great group and of course as always whenever you meet with teams like that, um they they share with you the wonderful things that are happening and the opportunities that we have to continue to support them. And those are uh part of the opportunities that you're going to see later on in the budget pre- Not pre- I don't want to call it a presentation. It's just Okay. helps outline for me the updates that I'm going to share with you. Uh so, it is in presentation form, but um and uh our full-day pre-K program uh is is

037well underway. Uh we had over 30 applications. We could have opened two uh programs, but we'll start with one. Did you hear that, Dr. P? Okay. >> [laughter] >> The team has uh worked to design a suitable screener that's actually going to be administered this Friday. So students will be coming in working with the team this Friday in the screening process. And I would like to really provide and offer a special thanks first to Dr. P for embracing the program and really working with the staff within especially assistant principal June Gordon. She's been doing a lot of work contacting families making sure that everyone was contacted come in for the screener because it was a very quick turnaround. The CLES staff themselves who are the members who are going to be administering the screener and

038and really giving great ideas to um Deb and the team as they continue to work through it. So Deb is kind of overseeing the whole implementation of it and doing a phenomenal job. But everyone else is really the hands on the ground making it come to life. So I couldn't be more thankful for everyone in the work that they're doing. So I greatly appreciate them. Um So and with that we are almost at the tail end of the hiring process too. So we had some great internal candidates and they're finishing that process up. So I think that will soon be concluded and we'll be able to announce the teacher there and then we'll be able to manage whatever backfill has to occur from there. So really excited about that that our own staff want to

039be a part of you know building that program out. That was that was really nice to see. So that will conclude soon and I'll be able to give the board an update on that. During one of our March meetings the board had approved the discontinuation of the kindergarten assessment waiver process. Since that time we have had approximately five folks who have contacted me um two of which were folks who are interested in like what some of the folks who came up for public comment shared the opportunity to go to a magnet school. So if you were accepted into or approved to go to a magnet program the sending district is responsible to do the waiver for you to be able to actually go. And then a few folks from here in Brookfield contacted me as

040well. I did have a couple of meetings with some of those individuals and some were via phone or email. So I just wanted to share that and and just remind everyone that as we discussed at a previous board meeting that last year when we had over 30 plus applications out of that five students successfully passed the waiver and a few of those do require additional supports right now to be successful in school. So I would just give you that update for an FYI for you all to know. Earlier this week Deb and I we put out an invitation to teachers to go visit classrooms. I've been managing a lot with the budget and other things and and haven't gotten into schools and classrooms as much as I like. So we just put it out there

041hey you you interested in having us come on in and and be a part of the magic that happens every day in your classroom. And we're so excited that within a day and a half 20 20 teachers have already responded that with an invite. So starting after April break we'll just be visiting classrooms and and really getting in and and seeing the great magic that happens in our classes and it really helps support us when we make decisions about our schools and about the students and about even budgetary matters to really see what's going on in everyone's classroom so we get a good sense of how those decisions may impact others. So I'm really excited for that. And and Mr. Roland and and continues to look into ways to improve our special education program for

042our students families and staff and like I mentioned earlier to that end he and I met with the executive director of Connecticut Behavioral Health. They're a firm a company out of Cheshire Connecticut and they service schools in many different ways. But one that in particular that we've been discussing with them is an opportunity to come in and assess some of our programs and then some of our kind of not just specific programs that we have in certain schools but then that K-12 continuum as well and be able to give us another set of eyes and different perspective on how that's working. And and then some opportunities to continuously improve it. We are all about right continuous improvement and development and so we know that to do that we need multiple perspectives to be able to

043engage in that work and this is just another one of those. And to that end I know Mr. Roland wanted to come on up and and just share with you and provide a brief update on autism awareness week. And if just notice his tie please. Thanks folks. Good evening. I wrote down my thoughts for a change. So I'd like to take this opportunity to recognize autism acceptance month month of April celebrate our students with autism who are such an important and valued part of the Brookfield Public Schools community. This month is about more than just awareness. It's about acceptance understanding and belonging. It's a reminder that every child deserves to be seen respected supported and included for exactly who they are. Our students with autism bring unique strengths perspectives talents and gifts to our schools

044each and every day. They enrich our classrooms strengthen our school community and remind us all of the importance of compassion patience and empathy. Their individuality helps make Brookfield Public Schools a stronger more thoughtful and more inclusive place for everyone. This also gives us the chance to reflect on our responsibility as educators and as a community it is our role to create learning environments where differences are not simply acknowledged but genuinely embraced where students feel safe connected and encouraged to reach their fullest potential and where every child knows they belong. We are deeply grateful for the partnership of families teachers administrators related service providers power professionals and staff whose dedication care and advocacy support our students each and every day. Their work helps foster the understanding and inclusive opportunities that allow all students to learn grow

045and thrive. So tonight in conclusion we honor our students with autism during autism acceptance month. We celebrate the many ways they contribute to our schools and we affirm our commitment to building a Brookfield school community rooted in acceptance respect and belonging for all of our students. And I thank you for the opportunity to speak. Thank you thank you thank you thank you so much. Thank you. Um Last week I had the chance to walk the grounds of CLES with Dr. P and um and I I learned first hand about maybe um some of the limitations that the playgrounds have the grass area the paved area where students can play basketball and do some other things. But that wasn't the primary purpose of of the walk. The primary purpose was to really walk the tree line

046starting if you're looking at CLES on the left hand side the tree line going going downward and then all the way across the rear of the building. Just to look at the potential of a fence and so we we did that and then Casey and I had an opportunity to look at some capital funds that we do have available. And we believe that we are able to move forward with the utilization of some of those funds to put in a 6-foot black fence that would start on the left hand side and go all along the tree line down the rear all the way into the back. And it kind of goes right behind the basketball courts there and then it meets where another fence ends. So if you can picture that or if you've ever

047been there and if not we can walk it together if you'd like. So it's a wonderful walk. And um and so we we have put out an RFP for that. And um I have a quick question. Yep. >> Is this a change from the fencing that the facilities committee know? And the security task force did like last year? >> it's the that's the design. Yep it'll have the large double swing opening in the front and then we're even going to add >> off this walkway. >> Yep. And then we're going to add a a gate where the wooden path the trail meets so we can have access to that. And and the only change though I transparently that that was quoted at 4 feet. >> Right. And we will go just to 6 feet. Not

048higher but 6 feet. Main reason for that would be a couple. So we want to secure the area and what I mean by that is actually balls. A lot of balls are we're losing and are going over. So we want to make sure that we can contain that. But also the inability to like hop over it really easily is is important when you're just thinking about the defense line and and what you know we want to accomplish. So that would be the only change would be just the height would go up 2 feet. Yep. Okay. So we are hoping that that job can conclude you know by the end of the summer so it's ready for next year when students arrive when they come back. Okay. Casey's been very busy with many RFPs and projects.

049So I just wanted to share with you all the great things that are going on including the BHS and WMS roofing WMS gym floors. We obviously want to do the roofing first before we repair the floors because that would be an awful waste of money if we didn't. Oil tank replacements at BHS and WMS entryways at BHS and and WMS bathroom systems at BHS, and high efficiency alternative uh to become high efficiency alternatives, um the installation of air conditioning systems in all uh comfort and system reliability at uh WMS and BHS. Um she's also been fiercely managing efforts to address multiple kind of um ongoing issues at CLES. Um which were discussed in depth at the facility committee's meeting. It might be addressed a little later with an update there. Um but I want to

050thank a few people who've been very helpful with all of our RFPs. Um Dan has been wonderful with helping out in the specs and really getting contractors to help us out with that. Uh Julian Capodice has been amazing on the town side, uh really reviewing them and making sure that they're all set to go before we we launch them. Steve Dunn has been supportive, and Paul Checco uh and other members of the NBC have just been really helpful in reviewing everything to make sure that the specs are as accurate as possible. So when they go out to bid, uh we have good timelines, good specs, everything comes back the right way. So uh we're really thankful for all the efforts and support of everyone, and especially Casey of all her great work. So thank you.

051Um BHS bathroom updates. Uh we're still awaiting the outcome of the um collaborative grant. Um Right? We're still awaiting the outcome? Yeah. And uh cuz we haven't heard. And so um No use yet. Um so that'll be a $5,000 for um vape education, right? And so we would apply that accordingly, and I know there's some great things already going on moving forward. So that's fantastic. Um Additionally, we have put an RFP out to bid uh and are awaiting responses um which are due April 10th uh at 11:00 a.m. for vape detector devices. So we put the RFP out for the devices. In the meantime, Casey is also looking at what grants are available. So hopefully even offset uh some of that. So that would be wonderful. Uh if you have any information, cuz I know

052some of you have been involved in this too, please forward it over to Casey, and we can go from there. Cuz I know you shared something with me one time, so that'd be great. One of the companies I think that I gave to Steven, their company has grant stuff, too, um that they would be willing to help you find grants for it. Okay. Um I'll email you tomorrow, cuz it's not the initial one. It was the second one. Fantastic. We would love that. Yeah, anything, right? It's okay. Yeah? Yeah, send it my way. Thank you. Yeah. Um Also just wanted to share in addition, you know, to opening of the bathrooms, uh you know, BHS administration have been experiencing an uptick in, you know, vaping. Uh so so more, right? And um since we've opened

053the restrooms, and um So we you know, it's it it expends a significant amount of their time when you have to um you know, work with students to determine if they are or not, if they have things on them or not, and the whole search process, all of that. Um so we are investigating the option of uh a wand device to help support expediting that process. Um we do know that some nearby neighboring towns uh do have this. Um Bethel uses them, and Row uses them. Uh Newtown actually has ones that are built in or are building into the building. Um so they're doing more like standing ones. So um the goal always would be to manage a situation uh in an expedient way so that we can focus on teaching and learning, and not

054have to focus on this as much, right? That's the goal, and we also want to make sure that it's a deterrent. That we we don't want students doing this in school. Um not only is it unhealthy, it's uh unsafe, and and we want uh you to be in school for schooling purposes. And so um so we are looking into that right now. Uh and if we do move forward with anything like that, we'll share more information with the board before we do. Steven, do you know if it's been a deterrent in these other schools when they've implemented it? Has it worked? >> gotten feedback that it has, yes. That it has been a deterrent. >> Is there anywhere that you can borrow one and see how it works? >> We actually asked, and you cannot.

055You cannot borrow one. I just asked. The good news is the good news is they're rather inexpensive, and and I put that lightly, but um you can get one version for $200, so a wand for 200, and that is like with a battery that you'd have to change whenever it needs changing, or you can get one that's rechargeable, and that's uh like 290. So um they're not ultra expensive, right? So if we were to get two, which would be our goal, you know, you're looking at under $600 for for those. And it would just again help us uh because even once we put in the vape detection, um that still doesn't identify where students are hiding it, and and we can't always know that. I'm I'll leave it at that. For the purposes of that.

056Well said. Thank you. >> [laughter] >> That wasn't [snorts] part of the script, but it's all right. I didn't see that in there. That's all right. >> [laughter] >> I um I know that there was some discussion, so I reached out to Shipman and Goodwin uh and just asked uh the questions that were uh spoken about here at the table. Just, you know, what what do we know about costs and the opportunities or options for costs, and what are those like? So I did put some information in my updates that uh if we use a senior um attorney, uh it's 430 an hour, $430 an hour. If we want to partner more with a junior attorney who would need guidance from a senior attorney at times because the efficiency wouldn't be there. Um the junior

057attorney is between seven uh 270 and 290 an hour. So the rate does go down. Um however, they would have to rely on uh the advice sometimes of a senior attorney, which then would we'd get charged for that, too. So I don't know what the change would be. They were highly receptive and thankful that we um that I I and and as us as we, you know, gave them a call and at least asked about it um because they really do want to um as much as they can keep our um kind of board uh firm partnership, uh and they are willing to work with us in whatever way we need. So they would even be willing to come here and re-meet with the board, should you wish. So they're very open, um but they

058did share with me some of the different price options. We also have the option of um keeping the current senior attorney we use, or if we don't feel like that is a good fit, um we could ask for a different one. Um and so that's an option, too, and they're open to all of that. They want to We're the client. They want us to be happy uh and feel like we are getting the service that they provide. And they do feel like they provide a very good service. I do, [snorts] too. I've worked with other senior attorneys from the firm. Um and in P2, this isn't anything about who we currently have, but I found uh them to be highly responsive and excellent. Um so maybe we might want to consider a different fit. I

059don't know. Um but I just wanted to put it out there that I heard, you know, the conversation and reached out, and this is what we have so far. And they're willing to come here and chat with us further if we would like. Yeah, I think I mean, have do we know anything about like their paralegal fees seem ridiculous to me. I mean, their paralegal's over $200 an hour. I did not ask about that. I I wasn't I didn't remember that from the conversation, so my apologies. >> how much of the work is being done by a paralegal for $200 an hour? Right. Um >> Okay. Because I would assume a lot of what we did in negotiations was done um through the paralegal with some of the research and stuff that was given to

060us, and that just seems really steep to me. Well, since they're willing to come and talk to us, maybe we ask them to breathe like refresh our memory with their fee schedule and with what they're willing to do for us, and maybe we probably can put a meeting on the calendar with them. Absolutely. And I and I will say that is in conjunction I just want to remind everyone that it is in conjunction with us putting some different structures in place here in district to be able to um it it may or may not lessen, but at least it will control, and I'll be able to give good explanations why we would need to use them uh in the future. So we have those in place right now, and outside of um Bill and some

061some items that he manages, which I think we all understand, um we have not been utilizing attorneys since I've shared that with you. So um we will continue down the path of managing things that we can on our own un- until needed. And and I think um Yeah. So So I think it is a combination of both, no matter who we go with. Um and we want to be, you know, responsive to the to the concern. Excellent. >> don't I had a quick question. Um and this is I don't know, it's more unfinished business than like in the superintendent report, but we had talked about um the survey of, you know, feedback on Shipman and Goodwin. I wasn't here, you know, when we I think Wendy, maybe you had sent something out, but it was

062something else happened, and we didn't collect we didn't collect all of that at the time. So I think on our end, we should do that, and then have them come back in and have a review a formal review session with them. Pass that document [clears throat] on to um Rob. Yep. Okay, great. And I think Stephen, what you mentioned also, like it's important to understand our structure, cuz I think understanding that will help provide more clarity. Um and maybe understanding the protocol for it accessing legal. Right? Understanding how that all works and breaks down. And a finance and that be compared to financial. I'd be >> [clears throat] >> Yes, I'd be happy to share that with the board. >> Bring that all together. Yes, absolutely. Yeah, and we can look at all of that

063together. I think that's a great idea. And I just have a comment earlier. Is there anything we can do to help the playground equipment at CLES or it has to be replaced? Like because we were looking at the like the playground our playscapes have limitations and I know our swings, you know, kids can't access the swings, they can't be adjusted. Is there anything we can do to make those more usable for children? Um I mean we I think we Yeah, we we would be I think um and I'll ask Casey to chime in on this and Dr. P as well if you if you have any insight, but I think we would be willing to look at what recommendations we might have for change to the playground areas and then we can um put that

064out to find out how much that might cost and then we can bring bring that to the board and at least present it to you, but I I Yes, I mean we can absolutely do that. It is it is highly limited. It isn't meeting the needs of students um developmentally, you know, for even not just the swings, but I would say when you're thinking about um students using arm strength, trunk strength, um the equipment really isn't suitable for that, especially the one on the lower playground. Um and the one in the upper play playground is very limited. Um I just think of the population at CLES and I wonder how how those students at recess time get to engage in activities that really are beneficial to them. Yeah, that's what parents have said. So that's,

065you know, why I asked. I mean it's unfortunate that we put them there, you know, so and is there a repurpose for them? >> Right. Right. And there's also some ways in which the um uh um it's it's not mulch, it's like a rubber mulch. Uh that that's a really unique uh situation as well. That that would be good to uh look into. Yes. And I can just share a little bit. We did look at this last year with Dr. P and we brought in Parks and Rec and Facilities Committee and we looked at seeing if we could just maybe remove pieces of the structure and add on like a larger slide or, you know, higher swings or more more equipment and we did reach out to the manufacturer of the equipment space and said,

066"No, there's no options for upgrades to without removing it completely and um putting in new infrastructure." So Sounds limited after 3 years. So the word limited >> some broken pieces of equipment. I will provide that update. There are some broken pieces of equipment um that we're aware of that we do we just received the parts from the manufacturer and we are we have to have a certified playground installer replace those pieces. So we are um we are in the midst of scheduling that to um to take place. Hope I So hopefully soon that will be complete. Thank you. That doesn't address the larger, you know, issues I'll sit there or Yeah, I I was just trying to figure out who chose like who did we pick the playground equipment? Like They did it in the

067original architect did it in the original design cuz I asked that same question. This was the magnet I got it. I don't think the board at the time knew enough to not question it. Well, you don't know till parents are saying it's not functional. It's part of like the original we're like, "Oh, okay, cool playground equipment. You're the expert." But is it in the preschool section? Um just a a few more items uh in this area of school climate. I just always want to share where we are when we're looking into things. Um administration and our student uh data management professionals, we've uh met and we've been looking actively and reviewing and identifying record keeping processes and protocols uh to ensure that we have accurate account of information in our systems. Uh that's really important

068to us. So we're reviewing that right now and making sure that we do and looking at the protocols for that work. Uh we have made steady progress in this area and and we'll keep working to improve and align practices K to 12. So um yeah, so I want to thank uh my administrative team that's here and our data management uh professionals in in those efforts. Um I continue to join the teachers union leadership team meeting toward the end of it uh every time they meet now and we discuss matters uh that the association brings to my attention. And uh and so we've been working on the same three matters over the past couple months and uh we're making great progress in all three of them. So it's uh the indoor uh environment uh specific to

069HVAC systems and air quality at CLES uh that we talked about a little earlier and I've talked about extensively at facilities. Um sub two coverage concerns at CLES and we're making some great headway there uh in articulation and implementation of the pre K to 12 uh disciplinary system and we'll keep working on that. So all three areas are are great ones. I'm thankful for the teachers for bringing those to my attention, but it's things that administration are already aware of, which is great, too, and um we'll continue to work in those areas and uh and are making great progress. Um And then I just had the great fortune of working with the calendar committee and um that is on the agenda this evening. Um what a great group of folks uh really helpful in putting

070together three different calendars that we'll share with you this evening as some options, but of course among all three, you can take the best and the worst of all of them and or you can add a new adventure to them. So uh the calendar is really going to be yours, but at least we're going to give you some opportunities and options within. Uh and lastly, I just want to remind the Board of Education that on April um 23rd Thursday night TSO uh 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. FOIA training uh again at TSO and then um you know, we always I don't know if they're still soliciting support for the grad party or if they're all set. Principal Belanger, are they all set or they still still asking for help? >> We are not. So this

071is the shout out. They always need help. They still need help. Please help out. Link's there. If you can do it, give them a hand. That's quite an update. Does anybody have any questions? Oh, I'm sorry. Yes, ma'am. Yes. Um because it doesn't fit anywhere in here um in the agenda and because it was part of your update here, I want to circle back to the uh concern about um kindergarten enrollment uh for the um families interested in the magnet school. Because when we met and discussed and voted um I don't think that was on anybody's horizon. It certainly wasn't on mine. Um I think that um the the question has been about kindergarten enrollment, right? So these families would need a waiver from Brookfield, right? Is that correct? And so because we have dis

072we voted to discontinue that program, that means that Brookfield families that are interested in this option are walled off from that. I don't think that that was the intention. I think that the evidence that was presented to us um if I remember correctly was that it had not been efficacious here and that of the 30, you know, families, that only five had met the requirements from the screening, whatever. But um I I just feel like it's it's too heavy a club to to to wall these families off from this opportunity. The magnet school is a fantastic um learning opportunity that we make available to interested families if they get in the lottery. So to to have Sorry. But right, this is only for pre-screening early enrollment. So it would stop that we're not like um

073We're not preventing >> We're not preventing them from being able to enroll next year. We're not saying they can't enroll in magnet school. What we're saying is they are asking to enroll before their birth date. So to me it's the same I mean it's the same struggle and the same heart string and the same heartache and the same like it weighs in the same table as us denying not denying, but you know, changing the program this year. Now it's been state legislated, so it's going to change next year anyway. Um but to me it's if I totally and completely sympathize [clears throat] and empathize and understand and it's a difficult change, especially if you, you know, weren't expecting it, but if we open it up, we if we reconsider our vote and open it back

074up, we have to consider all of Brookfield families. >> I understand that. I understand the complication there. So I'm wondering I guess um Mr. Friesel, put this on you um because of the unique situation with the lottery system um for the magnet school um is this the sort of thing that you could um Or actually maybe I could because I last year was the um board connection liaison to the magnet school to ask if they could um Could they be part of enrollment next year? >> on the on the um lottery admittance for next year. for next year. >> So, they could be in enrollment for next year. >> Right, because I think the the concern I mean families who want to get their kids in to kindergarten want to get their kids into kindergarten.

075Um but it would be a like a double loss to to lose the lottery I think that would be a a fair ask and I mean if if we could guarantee them a spot next year, that would be Well, it may not be in our power to to guarantee that >> No, I don't mean guarantee, but if you could advocate for allowing the if they won lottery this year to then allow them to enter next year. Yeah, I mean I think it's I mean again, this is not is a no-win situation, right? But um I did spend quite a bit of time with this talking to the state Department of Education um today um and with the legislation coming down, it was signed by the governor on the 3rd. Um the LCO, which is you

076know, the whole legal entity um voted on it on the 5th, right? So, it went into legislation. We did not take action until after that. So, we are following the mandates that are coming down, right? So, um it's just you know, we're eliminating something, right? Before we're forced to eliminate it and um you know, unfortunately, I mean I have this if you guys want to look at it and you know, it was the Senate bill. It's in um it's in section 26-1, page 19. And actually everything that's in um brackets is saying essentially that that language is being completely removed. Um and it's not us removing it. So, I don't know. Like I said, I've really struggled with it, if that >> Yeah, it's tough. It's Um I'm sorry. I think, right, we voted unanimously,

077right, that we're in this situation that's unique to Brookfield that it moving forward, you know, we would require that kids are five by um September 1st. And I'm afraid, right, that if we steer away from an all or nothing, then we're creating a situation where we're not being compliant and we're not being fair and equitable to all families in Brookfield. So, that's my concern. I think that Well, said. I understand. Yeah. I understand. It's just Yeah, it's it seems like a an extra sting. Yeah, I mean in that situation. All right. Well, thank you. Is it and I Yeah, I mean there's nothing else really to say. >> know. I'm not But um so, would you um allow me to reach out to the necessary folks? It's fine by me, absolutely. Absolutely. Keep us updated.

078Thank you. I mean is there anything >> Is there anything that the magnet school is willing to do as far as their own town? Well, I think that's what we want to do. Yeah, that's the law said that it has to be the sending district. >> It's that law's gone. Okay. I mean that whole I mean I am I am waiting for a call back from the magnet person specific, right, from she was not she did not get back to the woman that I spoke with, the attorney I spoke to um at that point, but that whole language that you can appeal to your district to make an exception, right? We call it a waiver, but it actually is a letter of exception that we're writing to the principal. Um that language is now removed.

079It's bracketed, it's being removed completely. So, my question is could the magnet school or could a Danbury public school, while they're doing if they're offering a waiver process, could it be reciprocal that if we do have one or two students in Brookfield, would they consider evaluating, you know, the students that are on the list? Right? Because I don't even know if we're not doing the process, we haven't even we don't even have what we're doing. No, that makes sense, for sure. >> So, I just wonder if it's something, you know, could we contact the superintendent in Danbury and be like, "Hey, while you're doing your kindergarten screening would it be possible for you to screen two of our students?" And then it's district to district. It just seems strange that a sending district would be

080evaluating a child for school readiness and they're not going to our school, they're going to another school. No, you're right. You're absolutely right. Right. And and look, I I would love to see them screened, right? I think in an ideal world, we they would be able to get screened. I just wonder if we have an alternative to screening within a district that is already incoming like an ice for your four and a half year olds. All right. Thank you. Excellent. All right. Can we move on to sub committee reports? Right on. Policy. Um okay, so the policy committee met um last uh on the 18th of March um and we started going through the student discipline policy. So, given the concerns of the board um the last time this came to the board, we've decided

081with Mr. Frasier to go through page by page item by item and there are some um language concerns that some of the policy committee members brought up. And so, we felt agreed to go um away and come back to our next meeting, which needs to be rescheduled by the way cuz they're not available. Um and uh we will bring some suggested language. We're looking at other policies. One of the things to know about this policy and I think I've said this before, but um we are currently discipline policy is from 1989 and has not been updated and is a couple of paragraphs and is very broad. And so, we're approaching this policy as a brand new policy, as a policy that we do not have. We do not currently comply um with the recommended and

082legally required uh sort of sections that Shipman and Goodwin's policy or Caves or whoever's, you know, policy you put in place um requires. So, that is where we're coming from um with this uh policy. We also started the um PPRA student discipline >> [snorts] >> uh or student privacy policy, the 6162.51 that has come to the committee before. We're doing the same thing. We're going page by page addressing language concerns um and that will be brought to the board uh for first reads. Both of those will be brought to first read hopefully after the next meeting depending on um how we're able to uh come to the language. And then there's a couple of other policies that we haven't gotten to that will continue to remain on the policy agenda um outstanding policies that the

083board has sent back. And the tech policies um are on hold for the moment. We will address um obviously the one-to-one policy that has been taken out of the budget is, you know, taking is on the back burner for now. Some of the other policies that um Mr. Conklin has uh wanted us to review, we'll go through those this summer. They're not um emergent, but they're things he kind of wants to put in place before next year. So, that's how we'll address that. So, there you go. All right, thank you. Any questions for policy? All right. Facilities. Okay, we met on April 2nd. We reviewed the school dude reports and Casey gave us the maintenance updates from each of the buildings. Um special attention to cafeteria tables at CLES, those will be closely monitored. Having

084some issues with those. Um you have access to the minutes and if you want to look at the tracking report it's a great document. Um you can see all the capital updates and where it is if it's closed or open and in progress. So, I'm empowering you to check that out. Uh do want to give a shout out to the new school scoreboard at the high school. >> Yeah. It's awesome. Although we're having a little issues with it last night. >> Oh, no. Okay. Ready? Doesn't seem to be going past 4 seconds left to zero, but hopefully we're working that out. It's stuck at like 4.6. Yeah, and then the game I guess. Time out. Yeah. Game that never ends. Um we talked about the gym floor with Skinner. Um we currently have an RFP.

085Once it's complete, um Casey will share feedback with the NBC. And obviously, as Steven had mentioned before, the timing of this project will be dependent on replacing and repairing the roof over the large gym because that roof has an active leak. Uh I'm not going to go into detail about the fencing cuz Steven covered that um pretty well, but um there is money remaining in the capital funding for security. So, there's around 35,000 um money of money's remaining, so the budget will fund the overage of, you know, 4,100 and possibly do a budget transfer. We reviewed a lot of items from CLES um and the NBC is has been very responsive to addressing a lot of these issues. Um I'll quickly address some of them. The DOA air handlers. We want to really get a

086handle on those to make sure they're not it's not a systematic problem and hopefully um it can be handled in house. So, we're determining if it's a stand-alone issue or it's a more systematic issue. Uh the CO2 levels in the classroom have been inconsistent. Um you know, some are reading at normal levels and some are twice as high. ABS did come out. They did an assessment over the break. Sensors were recalibrated. Um the assessment showed in several areas that sensors need to be replaced, which is reassuring. Um the sensors are sensitive, so we're continuing to track this. Temperatures. You know, a lot of classrooms are reporting elevated temperatures between like 70 and 80°. Um and they're typically observed during periods where the classrooms are unoccupied, and the system um drifts upward as part of their

087energy saving saving sequence, so once those spaces are occupied, the system struggles to bring the temperatures back down to in a timely manner, so um these prolonged periods of discomfort for occupants is causing an issue. So, some actions we have taken, the thermostat settings were adjusted to limit temperature drift during unoccupied periods, so hopefully that will help that. And our electric bill is enough. Hopefully our electric bill is enough. When the system's activated, um there's been an odor. Um ABS recommended cleaning the dehumidifying wheels, and all the units have been cleaned. There was a report again of an odor in the lower level of the library, kind of like a moisture smell. We don't know why that's happening. The NBC is getting a team together to address these situations. Boilers. Um there has been intermittent

088fit flame failures on boilers two and three. Add that to the update. So, we're looking to if the system if this is persists with boiler three, replacement of the airflow switch has been recommended. So, we're keeping an eye on that. There is a roof leak um over the third grade teachers work room, resulting in ceiling tile damage and paint deterioration. So, Greenwood Industries has been contacted to assess this the condition. And the alarm is very sensitive. There's motion sensors in the classroom, which are frequently going off and causing excessive false alarms. So, good. A lot of work to do in the new school. Nothing like a leak at the new school. Any Anything else Sorry. No, our issue Uh the motion sensors inside the classrooms have essentially been turned off, so that there's not the

089frequent um false alarms, because they're very the motion sensors are very very sensitive to anything where there's like light coming in. So, classrooms with windows, um obviously, they would trigger those those alarms. Um I do have an update on the the roof. Um uh Greenwood Industries, which is the installer of the roof, uh was out, I think at the end of last week or maybe even the beginning of this week. Um they did do some patches on some of the seams in that area um where the leak was, and they also looked at the um there's one >> [snorts] >> um air handler that was on top of the roof where there was water coming out when when he stepped on the seam between the air handler and the roof. Um they are going to

090um they agreed that it didn't look right, um and they acknowledged that, and they they're going to send somebody back with more materials to correct that um to correct that issue. So, there's been some there's been some movement on some of these Is it And there hasn't been any reports [clears throat] Not that we would. Um of odors um with those um chillers turning on um in the since, you know, middle of last week, I would say. Um it's been it's been clear. >> Thanks. Is the NBC um they're aware of all the problems? >> Absolutely. >> Okay. >> And they they immediately um you know, Paul Checko has reached out to, you know, the the the engineers, the you know, the architects, the design teams of all these systems to really get all hands

091on deck to see if this is Our concern is really are these individual one-off issues that we should be correcting as a maintenance team, or is it um emblematic of a of a more systemic problem that, you know, it was maybe an issue with how things were designed or installed. So, we just want an answer on that, so we have some guidance on how we should continue to address them. Yeah, I mean And so, yeah. No, I just like I said, I sat as the rep, so and I know they've gone through the school nonstop, so I just want to make sure they're involved, but I mean, I would think with a 3-year-old school, we shouldn't be having all these problems. I mean I don't I and that's that's what I don't know the answer

092to that. That's why I wanted to make sure we put all of this in like a very refined document to just say these are all of the issues. Please, you know, let us know if this looks okay. Good. Um and and like I said, Paul Checko has been very responsive. Some of the things are very very new, like the roof leak and the water under that like some of some just came up in the last couple of weeks. Um others like the CO2 levels had started in December, and they were still I will say um we experimented. Um Dr. P has been uh he's almost an expert in these uh sensors, and the the the data you can get from uh every classroom, the humidity and the temperatures and the CO2 levels, um and we

093found that the times of when some of the levels creep above 800 um PPMs, which is like the, you know, outside air is about 400 400 to 500. So, when if it goes above 800, it's usually when [snorts] students are lining up to leave the classroom for lunch or for a special, and all the students are sort of gathered by that sensor. And they're breathing it, right? And so, and then and then they leave, and you see you see the trends literally come down, and you time it with the schedules of the classrooms, and it's um it's quite interesting. So, Yeah, and with the leak, cuz I know that we had an issue with a different AC unit or rail or something, and this was months back. Is this the one that's leaking now, or

094this is a different unit? No, and it's not it's not that one of the units is leaking. I think there is um water getting underneath There's like um there's almost like a a sill between where the unit is placed on the roof and the roof itself itself. >> Okay. And so, when you step on it, um you step on that sill, water just kind of comes out. So, so it's not the unit itself, we don't think. It's just sort of the seam um around the >> Okay, cuz I remember we had something with a unit and a rail that had to be fixed, so it's a separate issue. >> separate. Yes. >> But it's it's massive. All right. Joy, anything else? Any Any other questions for Joy? Well, the new school. All right. Well, thank

095you. Moving on to student representatives. Before you start, Emily, I just want to give you a quick shout-out to you and your friend Katie. What's her name? Yeah, Katie. >> Katie for doing a great job with the bake sale. And shout-out to my wife as well, who's home. Great job. She was um parent rep, I guess, to be there for you guys, so She was the parent rep. >> Great job on that, and we hope you guys continue to be successful with it, so Awesome. Thank you so much. Thank you. I'll actually start off with that. So, the bake sale for the grad party that was held on March 28th and 29th went great. We raised over about like $800 or so um just for those 2 days, so thank you everyone that donated, and

096obviously like they're still looking for donations, so if you can, please donate. Um so, this morning the juniors took the SAT, which is very fun. And but spring break is next week, as people know, which is so exciting. Oh, yes, a lot more fun. Um so, senior prom and decision day is coming up on May 1st, and so we still have some volleyball and badminton tournaments going on during ILT for March Madness, and BHS will be holding our student government elections at the end of April. So, students, be on the lookout for information about becoming a candidate. And the National Honor Society is partnering with Sweet Scoops to host a We Care 5K on Mother's Day, which is May 10th, um to raise money for Brookfield Cares. So, please sign up to run or donate

097if possible. It is a great event, and we would love to have as many runners as possible that day. It should be like in the morning around like 8:00 8:30 or so. Um 8:30, yeah. So, >> Sweet Scoops bringing ice cream? I don't I'm not sure, but I mean, they're right I mean, I'm going to I'm going to head there after, so >> [laughter] >> But that's all I got. Thank you, guys. >> All right. [clears throat] Any questions, Emily? All right. Thank you. All right. Thank you. >> when are you off crutches? Oh, I have a week and a little bit till I'm off crutches, so it's exciting. Good break for spring break. >> Right to Akai. Get them off early if you can. Enjoy that spring break. All right. Thank you, Emily. Thanks.

098Thank you. Consent agenda. I move that the board approve the items listed on the consent agenda as recommended. New hires, transfers, and resignations. Any discussion? All right. All those in favor, please indicate by saying aye. Aye. Any nays? All right. Moving right along to unfinished business. This time I got it right. Um Mr. Frisi, I'm going to give you the floor to kick off our discussion on the adopted budget. Thank you. >> [clears throat] >> You're welcome. All right. I think this is on. All right. Um I don't know if a few people need to to move, but if you need to, please please do. Um I just wanted to give an update and um share it with you this way, just so you could see what I'm talking about, and we could kind of

099put context to words. Um so, I I do want to share a little bit of an update now that we know where we are with the budget and what will be going out for vote. So, if we could just kind of step back and just look at, you know, what's happened to date. Um we uh presented a 4. 86 budget. That is what was approved by the Board of Education. Uh 58 million 133 955. That's the total amount. It was reduced to 3.96% which is an overall reduction about 497 500, right? So that's kind of what this shows here. So now we are charged with trying to take our budget and reduce it to achieve the 3.96 level or close to a half a million dollars, right? So that's what we have to do now.

100So I want to go into this with a couple things being shared. First, I think it's critical for us to understand like why we do what we do. We do what we do because we are here to provide a rigorous, relevant, and comprehensive comprehensive educational experience for our students. That's our job. That's why we come here in these meetings. We talk about it. What can we do to produce that? My administrative team, teachers in the building, all of our staff. That's why we come to work every [snorts] day. And we try to do that by inspiring, challenging, and preparing all of our students to be able to meet that criteria. So we need to put together a budget that allows that to continue. Our job is to try to figure out how do we reduce

101a half a million dollars and still maintain that? Right? So with that in mind cuz I think that's the most important context of the night beyond the numbers because the numbers are just numbers. But these folks that come to our schools every day are the most important things that we have. So we want to achieve that. We also want to make sure that we get to that why by focusing on the improvements that we've been talking about for the last couple of months. And those are looking at the systems and structures that we have in place and making sure that we shore those up so that they're so optimal that they produce the results that we want to help students get. Which goes back to the first slide right here. So we want to continuously

102look at those, analyze them, audit them, improve them, optimize them. Right? So that way students are coming to a place where they can engage and get that best experience that they deserve. We want to make sure that we capitalize and leverage the educator and leader evaluation systems to be able to support those structures and systems that we know we need to to improve. And we want to make sure that we focus on early readiness for schooling so that way we can be proactive instead of reactive in the services that we provide. Hence the full day pre-K start. Right? Moving in that direction. We also when we talk about all this and I shared this in my update, so I try to queue us up for a lot of this in my update as well. The

103whole special education continuum and what our needs are there. That is a critical area as well, right? So with all that said, we want to try to do that in a way where we are balancing out the impact on current programs and that we aren't so narrowly focused that we don't think about the future programs or how what we might eliminate today will have an impact on the future tomorrow that we haven't even thought about. We need to think about that. Our children deserve that. So what do we want to do? We want to align what you have already contemplated as some of the board recommendations for reductions in previous meetings even before I got here as well as what the administration has looked at. So we take all that into consideration when we're trying

104to achieve this. Cut. So some of the funding considerations that we need to be aware of. There's our starting point, the close to half million dollars, right? We have invested in full day pre-K. So that increases it $100,000. We also have special education program that I spoke to earlier that we have to make sure that the program that we have in place right now is solid and strong. And when we conduct an analysis of that, we know that we are limited in the area of occupational therapy. Right now we have a part-time 0.5 COTA doing some work for us. We know to keep our program and to meet the IEP needs that we have, we need a full-time occupational therapist. Someone who can both provide the servicing that's needed as well as engage in the

105evaluations that are needed. An occupational therapist can do that. A COTA is not able to do that part of it and has to be overseen by an occupational therapist. So we would recommend investing in these two areas. One is kind of already moving forward. The other we believe we really need to be able to make sure that the current programs that we have in place in the IEPs that we have in place, that we are able to meet the needs of the students that we have today in our schools. Unexpected funds is that we unexpectedly found out that the insurance was reduced, right? We had planned for a specific amount in our insurance line and we got some great news that had been reduced. And the amount that that brings back to us is 306,978.

106So that's great. We add 200 but 307 comes off there, right? That's awesome. One thing we didn't expect, a new unexpected, was that our VoAg student acceptance rate was increased by eight. It was increased by eight specifically at the eighth grade going to high school level. We generally always have had four students accepted at that level. 12 were. So that's an increase that we had there. And so we didn't you know, when you all planned the budget, that wasn't accounted for. So that's a new a new factor that we have to add in. We need to we need to pay for that. So that's where we are here. I'll pause there for a minute and see if there are any questions on this before I keep going. So when I get into the next part

107which will be the things that we need to think about Oh, I'm sorry. I did not see that. I I paused for a while, too. I thought that was great wait time, you know? Sorry, Caroline. Yes. So I'm I'm just trying to do the math to get to the Is it 497 to get to the 422? So you add in the 233,000. Oh, and then take out the 307. Okay. Got it. I passed it by my calculator to my [laughter] to my left before I came to the meeting. It's dead. Yeah. So Oh, thank you. No, great question. Absolutely. Great questions. Anything else? So I do want to just [snorts] share a couple of things before I go into our recommendations. First, I just want to appreciate everyone for their hard work and efforts. That

108would include my whole administrative team, TSO, folks at the building level, and also all the staff that I know that worked on the budget to bring to their principals before it even got to us. So I I just want to thank everyone for their efforts and recognize that no reductions are easy reductions. I believe that when you first started this budget, it came in and was recommended at a 6%, right? There are a lot of things that we believe we could use in not just human resources people, but also some material or programmatic resources that we think will accelerate learning here in Brookfield. That was brought down to 4.86. And that's great. We were able to do that and reduce some of that. And with that, we thought we would still be able to engage

109in a lot of acceleration and a lot of great things. Now that it's been reduced down to 3.96, we are at a a point where we need to make sure some things we have are strong. And now we have to start looking at and pulling away from some programs that we can't anticipate what the impact will be on that will be on future. And so we just need to be clear about that. And now we might be talking about people's livelihoods. And I just want them to know that we thank you for everything that you've done because that is critical. And so when I share some of the areas here, the hope would be that either through some retirements when we talk about a reduction or some people maybe moving somewhere else out of state

110that we can manage some of these things and we might not have to let people go because we do believe that we have a lot of great great educators here in Brookfield and we want to retain as many as we can. So with all that said I do want to share some some ideas that we've come up with that we believe we still need to refine and work out, but areas where we would go to get to the point that we need to get to to kind of get a net balance of zero. And that would be after a careful review a careful review of enrollment at CLES, we believe we can reduce two sections from the K to five K to five, right? K to 5 program and reduce two sections there. Now one

111of them will assume that you know pre-K full day that we put in and another would be reduced as well. That would allow us the money that we would need to get $150,000 to be able to take out from there. We do believe that we would have to reduce a teacher at BHS and that would give us $100,000. We also are kind of flirting with a couple of different options for the other $125,000. That is a possibility of a reorganization for the K to 12 curriculum program and really re-looking at the organizational structure there cuz there might be an opportunity there. We haven't flushed that out fully yet but there might be right there. And if that didn't work it it would be a potential staff member somewhere else. We're looking potentially right now that

112could be at BHS but we are still deliberating on that and really analyzing where that might best come from. The other things we feel like aren't as impactful. Obviously the next one we do believe we'll get a solar reduction of $30,000 for next school year so that can come right off the top which is a wonderful thing and doesn't impact really anything. It's a positive for everyone actually. We are very low already in supplies and we've already reduced significantly but through some careful looking you know we we can try to manage without again some certain things and so we can pull 13597 out of there. And then there are a few stipend positions that we think we could manage without having two people doing them and that's what this represents. And so we would try

113to see the impact of that and and try to manage that for next year at a rate of $5,509 reduction. So from these reductions we believe we can get to the percentage that's been afforded to us. Um And again some of the specifics around these are not are not fully flushed out just yet but administration myself and and TSO will continue to work on that and and we should have that done you know within the next few weeks. So I'll pause there and open this up to to any questions or comments that you might have. It's kind of hard to ask questions when you know how specific so I guess we'll get more information. I I I I understand your presentation I respect it. I I think it was you know well put together. Um

114but it's hard to right flush out the details and not provided with it so Um like are you open to expanding on which stipend is you're considering or or now you're not in the position to be give specifics yet. Well right and the two sections at CLES are we still going to be in guidelines like what our guidelines are? So yes the two sections at CLES we did look at that carefully. The enrollment absolutely and you know we we've taken a very close look at that and we will you know it's a little bit it's an increase in class size but we will be within the guidelines. Um pending we don't have 20 kids move into one grade level but um you know we've seen we've seen stranger things but we are taking a calculated

115risk and and we believe that it is manageable. Um But yes yeah we will be within the guidelines. Yes. I can speak to the stipends if you'd like. >> Yes thank you. I did just see them too. Yeah. So the the two stipends we're looking at Dr. P believes that he can do with one data team coordinator. K5 right now there's a K2 and then a 35 so he has You're looking at me like no. So wouldn't be a reduction in the statement it would just be a reduction in the person. This is what you put up. I'm confused. Okay. >> [laughter] >> Cuz you do have this listed right? Okay. Okay so that would be one and then um a reduction of one dismissal monitor. We do have that 15 minute wrap time so

116we don't think we'll need as many dismissal monitors at the end of the day. Right. When I think we talked about finance looking at these stipend positions anyways. Right? Caroline? So I mean And we do. I mean they're We want to keep looking at them. Yeah. And Aaron maybe in addition to the ILT questions at the high school. The other yeah. For the solar savings that's not a guaranteed number right? That's just an estimate like how is So so the the project is set to begin installing this fall as early as September work is starting. So it does not anticipate a like a full year at all. I think at BHS the anticipated savings was like $30,000 for full year full year right of and so I think we're being conservative. I will say we're

117rate is locked in for the most part through all of next year but our delivery rate as you remember spiked last year tremendously and we were told by like May of this year so at the end of last fiscal year it was supposed to come down. It hadn't come down but now we are starting to see it come down and you'll see even in next week's finance reports that I'm expecting a little savings in electricity this year as a result and so it's sort of a combination of both of those things. Do we get charged a public benefit? On the bill or no? Is that just to homeowners? Oh for the solar? >> No it's a line item on the electric bill. For the electric bill? For for personal electric bills she's asking if it's

118I'll I'd have to get back to you on that. And then my question on solar is I know that we had heard that it would potentially start in September at the high school. Do we have a timeline because I don't know how they're going to put up a structure where kids park. So they they we are told that they they put up these canopies all the time in active parking lots. They only take up I think two parking spaces at a time four parking spaces at a time when they're installing the the beams. So they are well aware that this is an active parking lot that school will be in session and know their student drivers too cuz that part is a little scary. They do know that. The reorganization is that at the high

119school or that's a just a general reorganization? >> K12 of the current just really looking at the current K12 model that we have for curriculum assessment and instruction and how we support that. Okay. With both teaching staff in the teachers union and administrators union and really just re-looking at that seeing if there's an opportunity there. I just I guess I'm just confused cuz it says or one additional position. Correct or or might be a potential additional position. Um If if that restructuring were not possible to engage in the restructuring I would have to work with a few unions on that and I just don't know what's feasible with this short time frame to achieve that. So there are ways to do it. I'm just not sure it will work out within the short duration that

120we have. So we're looking into that. And then if not it might be an additional staff member um with a few other resources that we would need to add to that. And the position at BHS are you at this time able to provide like subject area like you know cuz >> Yeah I mean I think you all have um you know shared in some of the other documents that you've worked with so like I opened with it would be ideas that have already come across the table here. So some of those ideas uh are right in this room in the media in the media program. Some might be home ec some might be just looking at what what the opportunities are. >> I just wanted to make sure it wasn't [clears throat] you know math

121you know where our numbers are high It it isn't a new yeah it isn't anything new that we haven't already discussed. Really taking into consideration what board has already put forward and administration. Yeah so whatever it would be you've already deliberated on it. This probably wasn't a very happy task for any of you guys and thank you and the school leaders for engaging in this. That's it. Much. So I mean I mean none of us want to see cuts right? But I mean here we are. Yeah. Um Definitely. I can't write a check for $425,000 or I'd give it to you but you know with with that being said right we we we continue to talk right to check on our systems and structures and I would assume you're going to keep evaluating you know

122as we go if there are potential areas to reduce and reallocate to firm up where we need to so this isn't I'm just looking at this. This isn't just next year without, you know, looking at other things, correct? Absolutely. So, I think um and I I I'll share again. I I've tried to kind of uh share this previously. There are definitely some some positions that I know uh the board has deliberated on um regarding uh the value. Uh and if they are still meeting the need and the value. Um And I'll be transparent. I know some of those are are in in the area of world language. I know an IEP um uh compliance uh certain other things. Uh and I think that that would be the work of next year to really analyze and

123look at the impact of those. And um like I kind of opened with, not just the impact of what they would have next year, but the total impact as we look at what we're trying to do and how we're trying to rebuild and and what we are trying to also do through kind of the MTSS structures of for both educators and instructional leadership. So, I really just want to focus on all that and be able to then make some good uh analyses that I can bring back to the board. Uh and yes, if if those are things we have to talk about again or for some reason they seem like reallocated to do something different would be better, those are great conversations that we have to have. Yeah. I mean like I said, I mean

124I just think that there are areas, right? Um or you know, we've spoken that there are areas, right? That the foundation isn't as strong as we would want it to be or maybe the system that we have in place isn't necessarily how you foresee it being the most beneficial, right? Um so, I just want to make sure that we always have an eye on improving um what we have because I think that we have a real opportunity um right now under your leadership and under, you know, the great staff that we have to really focus our attention on, you know, strengthening what we do have and you know, continue to do what we do really well and then focus on some areas that we aren't doing very well in. So. Com- Completely agree. Thank you.

125I just have a quick comment. So, for me um I think it would be helpful if between now and the next budget season, we have we come back together and look at our 5-year strategic plan. Um I know that there's one in existence. Um when I was leading or trying to lead through the the budget discussions for this coming fiscal year, there were some disconnects between the the the money and the strategy. And so, I think that needs to be a better connection first. And then to your point, Stephen, we then we can ferret out areas in which we want to thrive in 5 years and areas in which, you know, we're we're not focusing on that as a strategy. So, for me that that would be the most help- helpful um discussion first. Well

126said. Well, let's I'm sorry. Go ahead. Yes. Yeah, I have I have a big concern with the two sections of CLES. I mean, I would obviously need to have more information, but um I'd want to look at class size updates on that. Um you know, where those cuts would be. And I'm just thinking of timelines. So, our next meeting's May 6th. So, that at that meeting is when we're going to deliberate and make those decisions. Because we'd have to by then, right? >> Yes. In the in the meantime, we would um because as you all may be aware, um May 1st is the deadline for non-tenured staff to receive a letter of notification whether they be returning or not. So, we would most likely have to provide some notifications to folks. Right. So, that was

127kind of my my next question. So, are we thinking that we're going to have a special meeting prior to May 1st because We I think we may need to. Right. Or I know in the past we've given slips to Right. everyone. Right. Right. I think the board would need to make that decision. that decision before. I'm sorry? We've made that decision before to do that. I think the board would need to make that decision. Um I was not part of the board when that happened. Um what's the what's the like psychic impact on a school when that happens? It's It's It's not It's never happened It's never happened in our in our district. It's not great. In some districts, it's a it's an annual [snorts] practice. So, I think it's um less of a psychic

128impact. >> teacher. You're always on the chopping chopping block, right? Yeah. Yeah. And I think I think in in some places where where it is just common practice, it's it's less. I think um I I understand and and correct me if I'm wrong that at one point it was a common practice here, but then that stopped. And so, now that it's stopped, it might um have a greater psychological impact um unfortunately, but I I can't predict that. We could do a special meeting just for the purposes of discussing that, so it's not like a whole >> Right. Right. Mhm. You know, it's just an hour or whatever about saying that out. I don't know if what's what's better recommend like how would you want us to approach it? What's easier for you? Who wants to

129have a special meeting? I would love to have a discussion about that. >> Yeah. Yes. Yeah. Well, and I think that um in addition to that, we also have to after the 24th, um I think we're going to have to make a motion tonight to um accept Sarah's resignation. Um but it wouldn't go into effect, right? Until what was it, Sarah, the 23rd? So, we can't do anything until the 24th. Um so, I think we're going to have to have a special meeting on that as well. So, maybe we marry the two together. >> Okay. If we're able to issue it, absolutely. Okay. That's great. Unless you want to have two. I mean, I I think that's a good I thought I thought we did have a meeting >> [laughter] >> on the 22nd. So,

130I'm I'm ready if if we Yeah, I originally thought that we did, too, but I made that mistake. No, that's on the that's on the 23rd. >> 23rd. I thought we had a meeting on the 22nd. So, if Can everyone meet at 5:00 before the FOI training? We can't We can't discuss the resignation on the 23rd. It cannot be discussed on the 24th. No, no, no. I just need No, no, no. Oh. Just for this. I mean, yes, it would be ideal, but since we're already meeting on the 23rd and we all have to be there at 6:00, can everyone be there at 5:00 to just have I don't know this discussion? I can try. Oh, yeah, cuz you drive. And Joy probably not either. I can. Then we can do the following week for

131both and that would be just a longer meeting. So, that would be April 29th then. Oof. That's so late for then. Yeah. It's early in the week. We can't make a day. That's okay. That has to happen. Actually, that's not bad. That actually might work very well. Cuz you would already know. If that works for everyone. The 20th of April, 29th? Mhm. Wait, I can't do that day. You can't? I'm just looking. I can't. What about Monday the 27th? Yeah, Monday the 27th. Yeah. Monday the 27th, okay for you? Yes. Then we can do both. I'm trying to get my No, live. Live. Unless you're not >> [clears throat] >> But people have to call in, it shouldn't be an issue, right? Um 5:30. 5:30. I'll get there by 5:30. What day is it? Monday

132the 27th. Uh-huh. At 5:30. And it'll be a special meeting for the purposes of discussing budgetary uh e- Budget. Whatever we would call it, budget. Well, we'd have to The budget. Uh budget. So, discussing and pos- possible >> budgetary reductions. 5:30, is that right? Yeah, Monday the 27th at 5:30. >> But would we be voting? So, possible action? Possible action, yeah. Um yeah, I can do it anytime after 3:30. Oh, sorry. I'm not on it. Sorry, I wasn't on. Do you want to say it again? 27th at Yeah, so the 27th at 5:30 for the purposes of discussing possible budgetary action. Well, yeah, budgetary reductions and possible >> and action and board member resignation. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. And TSL? At TSL too? Oh, okay. Right on. All right. Stephen, you could stay there all day.

133Mhm. That's nice. There's space for a cot. Does anyone have anything else for Stephen on the budget? And his presentation. No, I just One thing I'll say on this, Stephen, I just want to say thank you. And thank you to the administration as well. I mean, the amount of work that goes into doing this type of work is a lot and it's a it's time-consuming and I just will reiterate that you know, we interviewed you, tasked you, and asked you to do something. Not only did you come in and do it, but you did it very very well and you did it very quickly. And I just >> [laughter] >> um does anybody have anything else on the budget? All right, then we will move over to new business. And thank you again for this.

134Uh we have our calendar discussion and possible motions. And we were provided with um three options from the calendar committee uh with some information. Um Stephen, if you would like, I pass it over to you and Certainly. Uh thank you. So, the top cover page are is just a summary of the meeting minutes. Right. So, you can kind of see on there some of uh toward the bottom just some of the calendar recommendations from committee members when we did some of the good work at looking at nine other school districts and comparing it to our own and really trying to garner some of the best of the information out there that we could find. So, with that, you'll see three options uh in your packet. Option A in the bottom corner uh and then option

135B in the bottom right-hand corner and option C. If we just go through each, um some of the things that we tried to focus on were creating a calendar uh that um navigated weather contingencies and um to the extent at which we hopefully aren't in school next year as late as we are in school this year. Um we can't control the weather, but we were trying to do our best with that. Um looking at professional learning days, seeing some regional alignment if that helped or not, thinking about parent-teacher conferences, uh testing windows, holidays, meeting the 180 minimum requirements, and graduation. So, those are all the kind of things that were going through our heads when we were when we were looking at these calendars. So, what you'll see, if you could just focus on calendar

136A first is that instead of starting the first week in September we moved that back. So, in calendar A, you'll see that uh new teacher orientation is on the 20th 20th and 21st and then staff would come back on the 24th, all staff. Um and let's just call that potentially convocation, right? So, that's the 24th with uh either a staff meeting or some professional learning that day and then the 25th PL and the 26th PL. First student uh first student day would be the 27th. So, we would start school in August and they would have 3 days in August. I I struggle with how the calendar is, but if you see Monday, it has the 31st in it. Yeah, the way he Oh, but then the 31st for August is when we talk about August.

137I know. I know. Cuz we couldn't do a fifth row there, so we just put it on where it is. So, it's the same for all three models, A, B, C. Correct. So, that start of school is for all three models. And then uh everything else kind of remains the same here except what you'll see is that the last day is June 9th, right? So, that 9th. June 9th, right. And so, we changed some colors just so it would be clear what's first, what's second. We we made uh some white um numbering in the deep purple just so you could really see things. Now, if you look at calendar B everything is the same except when you go to March. One of the things that we heard loud and clear both through a survey through

138I think some families as well as uh the committee is how can we reduce the number of early release days or how can we maximize the ones that we have? So, what you'll see different here is in March, instead of the um kind of conferences spread out in March in in in item A you'll see that in item B, we still have the 17th and 18th would be CLES conferences. The 18th would overlap with CLES and Wisconeer. And then the 19th would be solely the high school. So, you're still getting the same amount of conferences, but you're you're consolidating and reducing, right? So, that's what we've done here. That's still a lot of PD early dismissals. Still a lot of What's that? Yeah, there's still like monthly. So >> monthly dismissals for staff. >> C,

139Mrs. Skalera. Thank you so much. And now we go to calendar C. Now, you have both from A and B. And what C does here and what you'll see is we take away February 10th and we take away March 10th, another two early release days for professional learning. And we put those as a full day of PL on Friday the 12th. And we remove the 16th from that holiday weekend. So, families would have a four-day staff would come in for a full day PD or PL on Friday and they would get an extended three-day weekend. And I like C. Wait, say that again, please. I will. So No. Uh so, if you look at calendar C what you'll see is no school on Friday for students on the 12th, but it's a full PD day

140for staff. And then um then yeah. >> 15th and 16th there. Just 15th is a school day. So, that So, C is essentially taking away February and March is both on the 10th for the month. >> Correct. Yeah, I know. Right. >> we're squeezing them into that one. Right. Well, how long is the early dismissal PD? 2 and 1/2 hours. Can we fit three of them in one day? No. No. Why? If they come in Cuz you need to give people lunch and you need to There's certain requirements I just want to be abide by. I just want to be clear that the PD committee like Mrs. Larson was involved in this and so these are all right. These are all okay with her and staffing and it fulfills the requirements we need and It

141would fulfill everything. We would still be meeting the criteria. Um so, we are open to other suggestions. This These are just examples of trying to incorporate the ideas that came forward to us so that way we have something to work off of. Um but if if you have further suggestions or ideas, we can modify and adjust. I just want to give just a little I did a little math, so um calendar A gives you So, we have 40 weeks of school. Not I didn't count um the holiday break and spring break. Okay. So, we have 40 weeks. So, calendar A only gives you 23 full weeks. Calendar B gives you 24 full weeks and calendar C gives you 26 full weeks. So, that's a good thing Mhm. for calendar C cuz you get for the

142most part they're all full weeks. >> Like more than 4 days. Mhm. Um I just I I continue to bring up like I don't understand why we don't build in snow days. Like it just doesn't make sense to me. Yes, we had an excessive number this year, but we always have at least five Mhm. go past. So, why don't we have language to build that in because we know the last day's not going to be the 9th. Mhm. And then we always have [clears throat] to come back and talk about when we can address it prior to that. So, how uh could you just give an example of how you you see that sound like how would that sound? So >> And where would that What would that look like on the calendar? So, for

143example, you can take away Good Friday. Like if we go over you know, a certain number days. Kind of like you have there, if more than five days are lost due to emergency closing prior to February break. We would take away the 15th. >> would be taken. Mhm. Yeah, but I mean, I think even reduce it, right? Because that's what we ran into this year is that we before February break, we weren't at five, so we couldn't take any, right? And now we're we needed to take from somewhere to give them the 182 days and we ended up not being able to take them cuz we weren't going past June 30th. So, I think that language needs to change. >> Okay. Um I don't know what everybody's, you know, should it be five days, should

144it be three days, should it be two days, should it be up to the discretion and it'll be handled by a certain date. But I think the language that's written in this calendar is really limiting what we're able to do because if we could have taken from April break we wouldn't have had the graduation issue that we had. And we would have let our kids go 182 days, which is what we decided as a board we wanted to do. It does look like they added the language prior to February break. Excess days over five will be deducted from the end of February President holiday. That's what's always >> lost made up by That That has been Yeah, that was there. That's all the February is always the one. >> year would be So, instead of

145June 30th, are you recommending that it's June 18th? I have New Fairfield's up here. New Fairfield's? It I think the way it's just here Mhm. I just think >> look at that one, yeah. I just think if we, you know, so we're maxing five days, right? And we didn't hit it, but then we got storms late. So I just think it should be up to the discretion. I don't know that it should state five days cuz we're already Now, we've pushed it a week by the time we're at five days, we lost way more than that. And we couldn't use it. Yeah, can it just be more open language and that's what you're saying, right? Sure. Mhm. Yeah. The Fairfield says the first five snow days will extend the length of the school year. Additional

146snow days will reduce the April break beginning with April 16th. Right. >> That's for next year. Okay. April 16th. Okay. Yeah. And the day of the high school graduation will be set by the Board of Education March 2027. So, that's nice having a date like of when we're going to set graduation. Um Are there any union issues with taking away spring break days? That's what I'm going not not April break. No, nothing with April break. So we could absolutely use that language if the board agrees to that. Wait, so what we're saying is it's better to take days away from spring break than add days at the end of the year. So they would add they add a certain amount. Well, I Well, I I think we're also you know, any unique situation where we

147are looking at a calendar, right? That this language doesn't work when we're starting in September. So I like that we're coming back, right? And we're coming back in August. So the likelihood that we're going to run into June 30th is probably minimal or hopefully unless It did happen the year of the macroburst and the in the October ice storm and stuff. So it has happened. But I think bringing them back in August is really a smart thing to do. We've always done that. In terms of language for days no days though, if you think about it and we need like one day and we're taking off Friday of spring break, that doesn't make as much sense as adding on the 10th a Thursday at the end of the year. So I think the language that

148allows it to be the discretion of the board. We have eight snow days like we did this year and we want to take off three spring break days. That makes a little more sense cuz you know, you have okay, we have half a week or whatever. But if we now have it where we're going to start with taking off spring break days and we have one that we need to take off and we take off a Friday. It feels really suspicious. It's different. Yeah, you kind of where we could just add a Thursday on instead. I I just feel like it the I I would agree with having like language that says it's the discretion of the board, but I don't know that I want to include language that automatically says we're taking off spring

149break days because it puts a weird Yeah. Most schools do it. I mean it's common practice with districts all over. Um and my opinion is in terms of being a parent and having as a board member I think that's like a strange Yeah, and that's fine, but it's it's not strange in the sense that it districts do it. So it's not like a unique situation. So and my initial recommendation was Good Friday, which is the 26th. So that would be the first day that's taken away. Um and then it would the language would say and we'd continue with spring break starting with the 16th and going backwards, right? So if we're over the five and we're at eight, then it would start with March 26th, then it would go to April 16th and then April

15015th. Right, but I think we do have to like include if it's five before February break, I mean we're going to lose President's Day. I mean Or you lose President's Day. I mean that's Yeah, it's Having the school ending on a a Wednesday though, I think we have the opportunity to extend it those two days. Like I don't think it's unreasonable to say If we have seven snow days right? Right, we If we have five snow days at the end of the year or whatever, do the two days at the end of the year and like I I think discretionary language is So my mis- I just want to be clear what I think I'm hearing. The language that you're presenting means that we would have to lose five days first before you dip in,

151right? So it would go all the way up to the 16th first. Then we would Yeah, but yeah, but you're you're trying to Remember the calendar is to maximize instructional time, right? So I rather maximize instructional time and have less disruptions than add just keep adding on to the end of the school year where kids aren't going to care. They're checked out. >> Yeah, it'll be better used mid-year. Mid mid-year. And if graduation happens to be on the 19th, then we have two days for grad party. Right, that's that's the other point. Like if we know that five days out that that's kind of the limit, then that helps everybody plan for graduation and grad party. Have a good night, Emily. So that's the question too is grad is graduation on the 12th or the

15219th? I think we do need language >> that out there. They're going to start emailing us now. I think we do need language that um that is about the discretion of the board because we have to be able to react and adjust to situations that we cannot predict. I agree. But it's a very impactful to families to not have things set in stone. You hear it and you see it on social media all year. Right, to not have the policy It's like posting every other day and people need to plan for that. If then if they know what to expect, right? Then oh, I may not be able to go on spring break, right? If cuz the possibly days are are going to be taken away. I I think I actually agree with you more

153than you realize that but I think that that even if we do that like build out five days and then the the plan that we would you know, take from those if needed and then go to spring break, fine. That I understand the the logic there, but I think that we still even with that need some kind of asterisk saying the board has discretion to adjust. As needed. Yeah, as needed. Right. >> Yeah, I I think I think we document a plan, you know, an ideal plan, right? And execute to that as long as all the pieces fall into play, but keep a caveat that allows to make open decisions. I mean in extenuating circumstances. I mean I would actually like to see it just change to if there's If there's more than you know,

154so right now it says if there's more than five days lost due to emergency closings prior to February break, um excess days over five will be reduced at the end of February break. I would like it to say three and then we cut the 15th cuz if we're already collecting snow days in February when we know we get hit at the end of February and March and sometimes April or you know, I just think this just This would this terrorizes us. So you're saying instead over five over three? No, because if we're taking spring break, I want to know that we had five days, right? That we've given it It's just maybe just remove the whole President's Day thing to begin with. I just feel like this calendar really paralyzed this issue on what we

155were able to do. I think one of these No, no, go ahead. No, no, go ahead. I was going to say if we're talking about sort of instructional days and keeping the kids in school without interruption and we go back to talking about the equity of days off, we need to go back in my opinion and recon- I mean obviously it's too late by February to reconsider, but we need to reconsider actually having the two Jewish holidays off and having those as instructional days already. That's kind of where I go back to in terms of like making sure that we're creating a calendar that keeps instructional days. It starts at the beginning of the school year. Yeah. Yes. Well, and I think we've all kind of played with that, right? But But I'm like a

156believer in what if we're going to take away the two Jewish holidays, then we take away Good Friday. I think if we eliminate those three days to begin with, then we kind of solve that problem of we have those three instructional days back to begin with and then we move through the calendar knowing that actually then I would be in line with language that says we can take away, you know, be more specific in taking away those days because we already had the instructional days that we've needed at that point. Plus we have language and protocols in place where the staff all buildings knows what to do about like no snow days and stuff. any kind of fasting religion, you know, day off. And as far as religious you know, for a parent to write

157in, is there you know, a limited amount that they can use or if we do take away So then it can be written. Does it count to their 10 days of absences? It does not. So I mean I think that maybe that's what we discussed. I mean we've talked about it for a while, but I just want to know I mean we do have families that celebrate other holidays that we don't honor too. So it needs to be equitable. That's well said. >> And that's the conversation we've had before of like making sure that we're and the policy that they've put in place in you know, a couple of years ago states that exact thing. So we're providing the same, you know, opportunity for all students to celebrate and take off and you know, do

158what they need to do for for the with their families for for everyone now. So I'd be inclined to go back to talking about taking those three days off the calendar and starting with those three days being the instructional days. Going then we could have a discussion about the three days being built in having the last day of school be the 11th knowing that we now have five days built into the calendar with those three days already removed. So that's something to talk about in calendar committee in Fairfield. But the that language or For the for the Jewish holidays? No, for the first five days snow days we would Oh. Yes. Uh yes. Yeah, it looks it's it looks a lot more similar than it has. Doesn't look like the Jewish holidays are in the

159contracts. There is we looked at that. Which one? I think only one that I see do. Yeah, Rosh Hashanah is not during the week. Oh, that's what we had before this year. Right, right, right, right. There's your one of them was on a weekend so we didn't get it off. Same with Same with next year so we're talking about two days. So then you would give up one and then Good Friday. So it would be two days. We have the What's the 7th and the Oh, the 7th is Labor Day. That's Labor Day. Yeah. So it's just the 21st next year. So it would be two days next year. Yes. In the spirit of uncluttering this, is there a reason we keep Saturday and Sunday on the months? We We do not have to. I

160I've come from a I've come from a calendar where we didn't keep it on there and and we had it here and I got confused when I was counting. But then I realized [laughter] that they were on there so I stopped confusing myself. But So I see the pro and con because then sometimes I'm like, "Oh, that's a weekend. I forgot the weekend." So it's like Got it for people who are used to So one calendar we saw did highlight all school days like a light blue and everything that was a school day was a color actually. But that could be tough, too. I mean A lot of color. A lot of color. So we're A lot of money. So realistically we're talking right now September 21st so then it would be one they would

161have one day off in September which would be Labor Day. And then we're talking March 26th would be off, right? That's two days. >> March 26th I couldn't even see when it was cuz I was looking at it in April. So I mean I'd be inclined to do that. I mean then it's you know, two months that are not affected by days off so So we Are we Am I hearing taking away the 21st September? What if we take away September 21st, March 26th and we say the last day of school is June 11th. That way we're building in four snow days technically. Yeah. And then at the discretion of the board, if it doesn't snow, we move the days back to June whatever. Yeah. June 7th, 8th, 9th, whatever. And then the kids will

162be exhausted so will the faculty from no days off. Well, it would be June 7th. Um so then we would say Yeah, so I guess it would be Well, if we're I can't imagine no snow days, right? Like We don't live in a world anymore where The ice and the Yeah, yeah, yeah. Weird things happen that We've been to close at least one day every year. So in theory, yes, if we had no snow days, that last day of school would be June 7th. Do you feel comfortable voting on this tonight or should we go back to the calendar committee? >> going to say are you going to go back to the calendar I would say that's That would be my recommendation. >> every the teachers don't see something we're not seeing or that the

163PD doesn't get screwed up by us doing this or Yeah. I know there was some members on the calendar committee that do celebrate uh the some of the holidays we're taking off and it won't be in school. And um I I know that will be impactful. I don't know um what I'd love to hear the >> that's it's hard to you know, reconcile those two things. It's Yeah. There are probably staff members who celebrate these we don't have off so that's hard, too. I'm sorry, staff members whose children are going to have those days off so they're going to They're going to have to deal with that. >> don't know if we saw a calendar without those. So we have to just think about like that's all the all the staff with families that aren't

164here are going to have to manage. >> And all the surrounding areas have You had said that so That's You said the surround All of them have that. No, that's what I thought. No one took those away. Okay. It's a Monday and a Friday so you have week-long weekends and stuff like that. You're You're going to have staffing issues. >> [laughter] >> It would be a bit of an issue but I'd love to hear what the calendar committee has to say for sure. Okay. Then maybe we can discuss it at the special meeting. Cuz we do have to get this approved pretty soon. >> We do, yeah. Cuz that's something that we need to We can add to the special meeting agenda. >> we're going to have to. Okay. That's enough time for you guys

165to meet? Oh. Oh, with a vacation in there? I'll meet the week we get back from break. Set up a calendar committee meeting the week we get back from break. >> And then we can include that on the agenda. We'll include that on the agenda for the special meeting. We'll have to vote on it I think at the end of April because The 27th. Yeah. Yeah, we'll include it on the agenda. Okay. Do you Is there language you want me to change in Do we want to take away the five days, February peace, President's Day and then just add anything past the 16th? We would take from April. Or the 18th or I don't know. Yeah, I think so. I think that's >> Well, I guess we talk about that if they're opposed to if

166they have changes, yeah. If what? Like if they're opposed to Yom Kippur and Okay. Good Friday then Yeah, I mean that's all really long. March is a slog, you guys. You know it. And it's it's Sometimes a day off is good for everyone to refresh. Yeah. Kids, too. It's true. Agreed. I just didn't know That's federal, yeah. That's a federal, I believe. All right. Kids have half days uh for conferences so that that feels like a bit of a reprieve for them. But um but we we we really want to be mindful and that's probably why it's a good idea to go back to the calendar committee and see if they say like this will actually exhaust people. Absolutely. So I say that's a great idea and then we'll come back to it. We'll definitely

167have it on the agenda for the 27th, April 27th. Excellent. All right. I mean Can we remove the language that Can we remove the language that says, you know, if more than five days are lost during emergency? Just get rid of it. I I did have that to bring back to the calendar committee and also changing the 30th to the 16th. Yeah. Just Just put that all out there. That was the discussion tonight. >> Yeah, I don't know. I'm pretty sure that we're going to end up We will see. All right. Where's my agenda? Thank you all for your feedback on that. Oh, yes. All right. I got it. Yeah, yeah, it's a All right. So we are moving on to and this is just an effort to be transparent um with everyone. Steven had

168a We did an MOU. I just want to read it to everyone if you hadn't had a chance to read it up regarding his cell phone. Just a slight change that kind of aligns with all the administration in the district and also our previous superintendent. So the current language states that the board shall provide the superintendent with all business supplies necessary for the conduct of his position including a school district mobile phone and a computer. All expenses related to the maintenance of such devices shall be administered by the business office. The revised language states reimbursement for mobile telephone plan. The board shall provide the superintendent up to $50 and no cents per month for the use of his telephone service for school district business. The board shall continue to provide superintendent with a computer necessary

169to conduct his Excuse me. necessary for the conduct of his position and all expenses related to the maintenance of said computer shall be administered by the business office. So I just want to share that with everyone. I'll be signing this with Steven at the end of the day. It actually saves us money and it's also aligns with everything that's uh all the other administration in the districts. So I just want to share that with everyone. No, it's just more of an just like an FYI. I wanted to let everyone know that before I signed it. And on that I will move to the three main points. Thank you. Um no, upcoming events. Um The three main points is first. Sorry. It's uh My papers are all over the place. Sorry. Um All right. Well, I

170would say budget update for one of the three main points. School calendar Well, we don't have a final Yeah, I like the upcycling maybe um Maybe we can get a recording of Mr. Roland on I I think it's really important to say that the superintendent presented a proposal for a reduced budget. I definitely think the budget should be in there. Okay. Well, I mean we can link the budget but budget a ton of questions asking us what that is. That's why I think I would refer to Yeah, to link this. Could work. Oh, yeah, we could actually, right? Steven? Can you link that? Sure. Yeah, okay. Even better. Uh I That's what I used to do. I used to put links to all the documents >> Perfect. So we got budget, um up upcycling and

171and autism awareness. All right. Now you can do upcoming events. Upcoming events. All right. So spring break um next week. Um CLES uh the variety show is on April 9th and 10th um at 6:00 p.m. Oh my gosh, I can't even believe we're in April 9th and 10th. I just can't. Time by. Um and then uh April 28th and 29th is the art show. Um I think I have this wrong. No, that's correct. No, it's Okay. And then Mm, I think I have the wrong month. So maybe it's May 6th for this the K-2 science fair? I wrote it down really quick as I was leaving the house. Is it this month? And the band concert. So, the science fair and the band concert are the same night. Um the band concert is May 5th.

172>> Okay. Right? Well, they have it May 6th on the website. Okay, so May 6th is the science fair for K to 2 at CLES and May 6th is a band concert at 5:30. Okay. WMS, um we still have our students in France until the 16th. Um I've had a couple phone calls home uh to my son and the kids are having a ball over there. So, uh the 21st um of April WMS has their PSATs. The 24th um unified um unified has a yard goats um field trip uh for baseball and education. The 27th PTO meeting at 9:30. May 1st um is a zombie night sponsored by PTO at Escape at 6:15. Um And then at the high school um the 18th of this month is grad party PTO clean out your closets and

173I think your wife is fostering that, too. I guess. So, uh clear out your closets, clothes, unwanted >> Oh, yes, she is. That's right. She is. Yes. Right? So, um they're donating to Savers. So, they they are collecting that um on the 18th 11:00 to 3:00. Thank you, Jacqueline, again. Yeah. Um the 21st is at the high school is a PTO meeting at 6:00. Um as Emily said, May 1st um is decision day for our seniors um for college and uh May 1st is senior prom at the Waterview. Um May 4th is the AP biology exam. May 5th I'm telling you I had to look. Um is uh the 5th is AP chemistry and geo exams. The 6th is AP English lit and comp um exams and then um the following day is um AP

174physics. Scary. Um and then I totally forgot one um but at WMS, which I would assume it's district wide, um we can't forget this. April 4th through the 8th is teacher appreciation week. So. Absolutely. Oh, it it said April. No, I think it's So, May Okay. So, May 4th. All right. I don't know. Oh, yeah, we're already past it. So, yeah, teacher appreciation week. And then our kids going to DC uh the 7th is medication drop-off at 3:00 p.m. Mr. Red. Thank you for that specific upcoming event. That was outstanding. Thank you. I have all the dates wrong, but Well, that's all right. Without any objection, um we will adjourn at 9:22. Thank you, ladies. Gentlemen, thank you. Thank you. >> Thank you. All right.