001yep there already okay we're live okay good evening everyone today is Wednesday June 17th and I call the regular meeting of the Brookfield Board of Education to order so let's stand for the pledge 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 okay we have all of our board members in attendance tonight so we can move on to public comment and I see that we have quite a few people joining us tonight which is nice so I just wanted to remind you guys to all mute yourself for now and then just sort of there's like a little raised hand reaction down at the bottom of the zoom taskbar just raise your hand when
002you want to talk and then you can I'll call on you you can unmute yourself just state your name and your current address for the record I know that some BHS alums are here so just sort of maybe say what class you're from and then each speaker will have three minutes so um who would like to go first okay adonai it's all yours good evening everyone my name is Adan I Sebastin BHS class of 2013 and my book filled residence is at 14 Bell Road I was one of four initial alumni along with tests Bridget and Jack Haggerty who approached superintendent Burrell and the Board of Education members regarding the response to the murder of George Floyd and the black lives matter movement I'm here today along with others to share our emphasis with the
003Brookfield school system which highlight the gaps in our education regarding racism and the experience of black people in our country and the absolute necessity of using this moment in history to create sustainable change in our schools though I am NOT black I would still like to share one experience I had during high school which might not seem on its surface too problematic but which does highlight in the complexity of the topic at hand and the necessity of anti racism training for both faculty and students one of the rare instances during my education in which race was discussed was during a class discussion on white privilege I was the only person of color in this classroom while my classmates began making well intentioned remarks into their own privilege I began to feel increasingly upset but also
004confused with my own emotions because no one had made any overt racist remarks it was not until college where I learned about white Savior complex that I understood why why I had felt upset that day during that class a well-intentioned discussion on white privilege had turned into a show of white Savior complex in which I felt that I was being pitied by my peers it's somewhat humiliating to feel pitied when you have pride in who you are as a person of color this experience of mine speaks to two specific points first even the most well-intentioned discussions can fail to meet the mark the nuance is associated with how you phrase your language and discussions are not easily learned by anyone and these discussions must be created carefully and led well this means that all faculty
005need to undergo professional diversity training led by black individuals so that faculty feel confident in their ability to lead students in such discussions secondly the perspectives of by POC black indigenous and people of color must be included in every single decision you make many of these anti-racist educational initiatives will be Syst white students to become more knowledgeable about race however you must consider the experience of by parking these teaching moments as well the focus of any durational directive regarding anti racism should be to foster interracial discussion furthermore minorities are not exempt from displaying racist attitudes and neither should any person of color be tokenized for their perspectives in such discussions to address this concern you must include black individuals in all decision-making in the future that pertains to addressing anti racism initiatives and finally when
006I was younger I used to let microaggressions slide because I felt that people were well-intentioned and that was good enough given the current movement and the higher standards expected of us now good enough is not good anymore thank you for your time and consideration thank you very much anyone else okay Kiana it's all yours hello my name is Kiana Shabazz Williams my residence is 207 whisky near Road so I wanted to talk about my experience fall in the Connecticut public school system I'm from Danbury and I recently moved here so my experience is a bit different however I feel that is still very relevant so African American history is American history although in schools never seen this way we talk about the same few topics such as slavery the Civil War and Martin Luther King
007so those topics um they always water down and I was never able to see myself in history I feel as if there's a lot more that needs to be taught that is being ignored right now for example black Walshy the school to Prison Pipeline in the various black Americans that made history and helps build America I wasn't able to learn about my true history until after eighth grade when I became homeschooled and my mom and I were able to take real charge of what I was learning education is the best way to combat ignorant and if you don't learn your history you're doomed to repeat it it is extremely important for everyone to learn the true non whitewashed version of their American history and I wanted to discuss a little bit more about this because
008I decided to organize a black lives matter rally in Brookfield and that is on Saturday on the 20th oh thank you okay thank you canna anyone else Oh Angela the floor is all yours thank you my residence is a 1089 9th Street Durham North Carolina I'm an alumni of the BHS class of 2013 like many white people across the u.s. in reaction to the murders of George Floyd Brianna Taylor and countless others these last few weeks have shocked me as I became aware of the depths of my own ignorance prior to this moment I had failed to truly understand the pervasiveness of the violence against black Americans and their lived experience as Claudia Rankine described in 2015 of the daily strain of knowing that as a black person you can be killed for simply being
009black this ignorant led to complacency I didn't see myself as part of the solution to racism in our country as a person who professes to care about social justice I have been asking myself how could this be when I think back to my education and my experience in brookfield I certainly learned about rights I learned about the history of slavery and the mistreatment of black people up through the civil rights movement as well as in English classes from works such as To Kill a Mockingbird and a Raisin in the Sun but for the most part in brookfield racism was taught to me as it was taught to me felt like part of our past I assumed that as King had said the arc of history bends towards justice and that even if we hadn't eradicated
010racism yet but that was our eventual destination and if we simply waited we would arrive there I also didn't feel like I personally was responsible and had a role to play in combating racism because I didn't hold any personal racist attitudes and while I may have intellectually understood the fact that racism is about systems we live in that advantage some people and not others in addition to just individually held beliefs my white defensive missile ow this understanding to truly sink in and to change the lens through which I saw the world or the way I acted day to day I was called to unpack my invisible knapsack of white privilege but it wasn't long until I put it back on and continued to carry it around with me blindly in the past few weeks white
011people all over the nation have suddenly started questioning very similar beliefs and realizing that these beliefs have caused us caused us to be passive and prevented us from taking more active and assertive action that is necessary to undo systemic racism brookfield Public Schools has an obligation to ensure that the leaders of the future are better equipped than we were with the true and robust understanding of systemic racism that will fuel them to make this country better by working against oppression brookfield public schools must provide its students with tools that will allow them to dismantle systemic racism and to build a more just society thank you thank you Angela anyone else Liz go right ahead hello everyone my name is Elizabeth Murphy and my current place of residence is three Wilton Drive in Wilmington Massachusetts although
012I lived in Brookfield for eight years at one Stoney farm Lane and I would have graduated from BHS as a member of the 2018 class I'm speaking tonight to share with you my experience as a mexican-american woman in the Brookfield public school system I'm here as a concerned alumna calling for the implementation of discussions on race inclusion privilege and practices of anti racism I largely credit my academic and professional success to the education I received at Brookfield however in my time I felt unheard by the student body and administrator endured ignorant and racist remarks and struggle with my identity I want to speak on one incident that occurred and still weighs heavy on me my freshman year at BHS in 2014 I was one of a handful of Latin ex students among the roughly 90%
013white student body a half Mexican boy came to BHS from Danbury high school from the moment he came he was called hood ghetto and various other racial slurs by students I recall one day in the hall when my friends pointed him out and remarked look you and him basically make up one whole Mexican in that instance my identity had become a joke to my peers and the perspective my peers had of me and this young man became painfully obvious while their intention perhaps was not to hurt me the impact this experience had on me did cause long-lasting and significant emotional pain it might be difficult to believe that in that moment I was unable to do anything but laugh along with my friends why aren't you better at soccer do you have your papers you
014must really be able to jump high after jumping the fence can I buy marijuana from your mom these are just some of the things I was told and asked never did I feel that I could go to a teacher or administrator for help it is important going forward that the Brookfield public school system recognizes internalized racism which is defined as the acceptance by marginalized racial populations of the negative societal beliefs and stereotypes about themselves the experience I just shared proves to be an effective illustration of the relationship between racism white privilege and internalized racism while new humanities reading material the introduction of global themes as a course and the addition of diverse resources is an excellent place to start there is so much more that must and can be done it is necessary that teachers
015are trained by professionals to be able to effectively engage in courageous conversations with a diverse student body and that the education of terms like internalized racism colorism tokenism anti racism and more are included in the school curriculums it will be impossible to build a strong community in Brookfield while black indigenous and other students of color do not feel as they will be heard and appreciate it thank you for your time and consider Thank You Liz Elijah the floor is all yours thank you uh Elijah healing the third I live at 34 hidden book tribe in Brookfield also work at the Brookfield high school I would like to start by acknowledging and thanking Steve Baldwin the athletic director for working with me on a statement that we released from the Brookfield athletic department but given the
016state of our country everyone should be taking a step back and really taking a good look in the mirror there's no longer space for people to quote stay quiet or refuse to quote take aside everyone must be accountable for their words and actions lack of words or actions at this point is equally disappointing and frustrating Desmond Tutu said if you are neutral in situations of injustice you have chosen the side of the oppressor well Brookfield is not at all a diverse town or School District that doesn't mean the issues of institutional racism racial profiling and police brutality are not important the school statement that was emailed out on June 2nd fell inevitably short of the mark in my opinion no issue was actually addressed and I quote we want to reassure you that the Brookfield
017public school staff are here to provide students and families with support as they may view unsettling images as we watch our country grapple with these issues end quote at no point did the email actually say racism murder or discuss what the quote issues are further they included a link of quote books with characters of color first reading a book with a person of color does not address the situation and if the school wants to suggest said books why aren't they already in the Brookfield curriculum whether we choose to see it or not we are not doing enough to address the issues of our country we need to ensure when kids go through the Brookfield school system they're prepared to join a world that is much more diverse than Brookfield I recognize that I too have
018more work to do to help educate kids that I work with in fact I spoke to ten current and former athletes who are also minorities they all agreed that the teachers in the Brookfield school system are good for the most part but every single one of them had been called a racial slur multiple times while in the Brookfield school system most felt they had they just had to try and ignore most instances of racism because quote nobody would really do anything about it anyway of the ten people I spoke to none of them could remember having a minority teacher other than world language or a couple of substitutes I believe we can do better I believe we must do better I leave you with a quote from one of the ten kids that I spoke
019to he said in my experience with Brookfield there is no visible problem with the teachers but there is with the community families among our town are still racist and it's time for the school to step up and teach if prejudice can be learned it can also be unlearned and it starts in our school system at this point I would not raise my children in this town only for them to be labeled as quote bad influences as I was many times it's time have you wrap it up a little bit Thanks yep almost done it's time for the temperature from acceptance more than they ever have before and teach the children about privilege and systemic racism end quote thank you thank you anyone else sure staff go ahead hi I'm Steph Ferrari I currently live in
02075180 West Lexington Avenue in West Hollywood California my brookfield address is one Lexington Drive I there for 22 years I was in the Brookfield school system from kindergarten until graduation in 2014 in reflecting on the town's lack of diversity I could point to many ways that my peers of color were whitewashed erased or other how attitude in our town painted Danbury essentially as a dangerous ghetto or the blatant stereotype slurs and inappropriate jokes that went unpunished unnoticed and even encouraged since my graduation in 2014 I have lived in Boston Los Angeles and New York where I've been closer to diversity and race wealth sexuality and gender than ever in brookfield when I first got to college I had no idea how jarring it would be to confront my own privilege and I had a hard
021time relating and being a good Ally to people of color in hindsight it would have been nice to have some preparation or better understanding of what dynamics were really at play in the world before I left Brookfield because I missed out on potential friendships point of view and challenges and other benefits of diversity that I was a bit too insecure and defensive to really think about I think that a lot of students going through the Brookfield school system would benefit from Frank and candid conversations with their teachers parents and peers about privilege race class and other real world issues that we see on the news but don't necessarily experience in our town so I could see this taking form as a semester of required civics classes where students can reflect on their world with reading
022speakers and workshops about racism sexism classism and other isms that present the world much differently than how we live it in Brookfield these classes could be complemented in the high school with assemblies and speakers similar to those we had on drug abuse and drunk driving which also had a corresponding pair discussion it also is up to the parents to engage with their children to discuss what the world is like outside of Brookfield where cops do more than hand out speeding tickets and bus parties and voting rights aren't always right furthermore it is up to the teachers parents peers and the entire community to hold each other accountable and furthering racial tolerance by speaking up against microaggressions slurs and hate in this way we can make our students better prepared for college and moving to more
023diverse places and we can make our students of color feel more welcome and supported thank you thank you Steph okay it's all yours thank you good evening my name is Mary Kate Chloe Jersey Brookfield High School alumni that graduated in 2009 I wanted to take a moment this evening to describe my experience as a student of the Brookfield public school system and to voice my concerns around the lack of education and discussion surrounding racism that are currently status quo in our schools like many others I could describe my experience of growing up in Brookfield and going through the public school system as a suburban bubble race was a topic that was rarely delved into beyond surface level lessons on the civil war and the civil rights movement of the 1960s much of the complexities of
024the histories of by pop were left out of our history books leaving us with an education that centered around white people partly due to this I'd spent a large part of my life assuming that racism was an over their problem no only to realize that the viewpoint itself was extremely problematic as an adult it's taken me up to this point of my wife to realize that I am actually part of the problem as I reflected on my life to come to a reckoning with how we have continually come to this place as a society ever I could realize that ignorance is the worst excuse as to why systemic racism lives on in this country the simple antidote to this ignorance is education children need to have the exposure to the complexities of race to have
025open honest and respect conversations about them we too often think that we need to shield children from these complexities however it is absolutely necessary for this education to occur I don't want my experience being sheltered in my education to be the norm for our younger generations and I'm asking the Board of Education to consider reviewing and amending curriculums to include anti-racism work and more accurate and inclusive portrayals of by ACOG by Park and American history and culture in addition I'm also asking the Board of Education to consider implementing a diversity task force to consistently and continually review the dynamics of our public school system to ensure our schools are safe place for by Park students thank you for your consideration and your time this evening Thank You Hayley the floor is all yours hi I'm
026Hayley BHS class of 2013 my family address in Brookfield is one derby court and my full-time residence is 1236 specific Street Brooklyn New York so you've heard from a number of us already so I'll make this brief but we actually represent a group of students alumni parents and residents over 215 strong who are committed to actively teaching and embodying anti racism and the Brookfield education system many of our group are watching this live stream tonight and many of us will continue to watch how the board moves to address structural racism oppression and privilege in our school system first I want to take a moment to actually thank all of the speakers who prepared remarks and came up to the public comment tonight I appreciate that it's not easy to share such personal stories and I've
027won them grateful for the strength of the mind and heart that you Beach demonstrated and showing that for our community tonight so thank you I also want to recognize a particular conundrum that's been top of mind for me as we've listened to these stories so how can it be that while students of color and Ord covert and sometimes overt displays of racism ever filled schools their white peers myself included had to leave our hometown for our education on race to begin something and then there doesn't quite add up for me I also be the first to acknowledge that progress has been made since I last walked the halls of the Brookfield public schools and I'm also here to say it has not been enough we are here tonight to show you that the Brookfield community
028cares about seeing the work of anti racism brought into the classroom we are prepared to offer our time energy and professional expertise as teachers school counselors social workers artists and more as a resource to the Brookfield school system we are ready to hold ourselves each other our school faculty and staff and our democratically elected officials accountable for the timely and deliberate implementation of anti-racist initiatives within the Brookfield education system and to that end we have a few questions we would like to submit to the board for consideration and I will be following up with these over email as well we're wondering what changes are you currently considering towards the curriculum on what time scale can students expect to see these changes enacted in the classroom and while we understand that curricular changes are a long-term
029ask we ask are there interim measures that can be implemented for the 2020 2021 school year are you considering anti-racism training for teachers and finally I'd like to highlight again the black lives matter rally that is being organized by Kiana Shabazz Williams we heard from tonight and her sister SIA happening this saturday june 20th at 4 p.m. at the town hall we certainly hope to see you all there thank you thank you Hayley and thank you everyone for taking the time to come back to speak to us you're all very articulate and it's it's nice that you saw the connection to Brookfield I'm not going to address any of the questions directly at this point but if you would I would encourage you all to stay for the rest of the meeting where we do
030have an agenda item that addresses this and of course if you still would like to submit your questions and writing I do encourage that as well okay anyone else for public comment I think I got everyone okay okay so we can move on to written correspondence okay Ron Jaffe shared information on available resources during school closure and a link to a Sesame Street virtual Town Hall addressing racial justice and a Dona Sebastian Haley Goodrich tests Haggerty Bridget Haggerty and Jack Haggerty wrote regarding a statement from the school district on current events and racial injustice that's okay thank you on to approval of Board minutes I move that the board approve the minutes listed below the regular meeting on June 3rd 2020 and the special meeting on June 11th 2020 second thank you Bob any discussions
031questions edits on any of these okay so all in favor all right okay motion passes thank you the superintendent's update Thank You Rosa and thank you for the folks from for public comment to die and the Haggerty siblings who met with me last week and it was an absolute pleasure i opening exciting to see successful reckless and alumni and i thank them for their time there was time well spent on this exact topic that they spoke to this evening a public comment so I have a few things I wanted to talk with kindergarten enrollment update fresh off the press from mrs. diamond now are at 100 thank you and there are 13 more eligible that we're aware of that have not begun the registration process but the school is working to connect with them and
032that puts us at around 171 that we're expecting which is still our projected enrollment at this point of course a lot will happen over the summer and progress or lack thereof we coded and the public health information obviously will affect that as parents washing things very closely just for reference point front year we have 181 students to start the year and we actually have 183 enrolled right now and that's something we always talk about it watching that uptick in enrollment so we're in close attention to that and I just like the thing this is diamond for getting that update to us extended school year enrollment update the board is well aware that for our students with special needs there are a number of students who qualify for services over the summer and I'm happy to
033say that about 170 that qualify 165 that qualify about 160 are enrolled we're running a virtual program at this point this year the parents the super majority of parents were very excited to hear that that was the way it was going to be done it is a synchronous program and there's a lot of live instruction so we're really excited about that and of course that starts July 6th after the up to the holiday break and we're really excited about seeing how that works out on the special education administrators working with dr. ruby have ordered manipulatives and other supplies and basically a learning booty bag for the students that they'll be able to pick up and bring to their houses and be able to work virtually with their teachers so we're really excited about the program
034this summer BHS graduation update just so everybody knows for the public but the board as well we are going to have a parade to start off the festivities which will be staged and began at whiskey near ratted around 10:15 at 11:00 a.m. sharp the parade will disperse from will leave whiskey near up route 25 anybody in the public who wants to stand on their lawn and wave and do those kind of things please do we will then all cars will enter the student lot from their remaining socially distant and/or in their cars and staff police security it's going to be great our graduate graduation parents are there it is going to be wonderful with our volunteers and the kids will walk in as a senior graduate with their parents 15 feet apart and process music
035decorations through the from the student walk to the gym through the school to the auditorium where we will have them receive their diploma name announce everything live streamed and videotaped and edited for later on this picture with a backdrop and it's just gonna be a heck of a celebration I think like I was saying before the meeting I think a lot of the celebration may be something that we incorporate going going forward in the coming years people are really excited about at this time I'd like to just our parents on the board of eighth graders if you would like to share a little bit about today's whisking year moving up event there's a little parade going in there at the at the school and picture opportunities so it was a great celebration it was so
036nicely done it was very evident how much thought and care and planning went into making it such a special experience for our eighth graders I really can't think of anything I would have done differently or anything that was missing it was just perfect and of course we would have loved to be together inside or at least with a bigger crowd of people but you could really feel you could really feel just all the care that the staff and the teachers and all the volunteers have for this class of eighth graders so I am very grateful through everything that went into it it was really a magnificent experience I agree I echo everything that Deb said it was really smoothly I just appreciated all the effort from mr. Ronda and the rest of a great staff
037and all the parent volunteers it was just it was really nicely done okay thank thank you Amy and that really appreciate that I wanted to just share from the letter communication that I sent out yesterday regarding what's going on with kind of an update on school reopening I know we've talked about it quite a bit and you know what dr. Brill what's the status I get a lot of that what are we doing you have any inside information share with you a little bit about locally what we're doing and then certainly can answer questions anybody from the board has any so some of this may be a little bit rudimentary but I wanted to just remind the public that we've established the school reopening committee made up of a variety of our stakeholders including parents
038students teachers administrators representative from our different unions and two representatives from this board and two from the Board of Finance we've been meeting over the last few weeks in fact we have a meeting first thing tomorrow morning which will be our final meeting prior to a waiting for the July 6th update from from the state while the team has made suggestions regarding the various instructional models for reopening it's all based on our public health information and the directives we have now public health information as we all know continues to change on a daily basis the administrators will take the input and suggestions from our non-educators stakeholders and be working on that all summer long and we're going to try to turn around a plant as quickly as possible because as we all know waiting till
039July 6th all of a sudden you blink it's mid-year in the last week of July and people need to know what's going on and so we're going to be working very hard on this the other piece I really want to emphasize I think sometimes people in the public think that I know sometimes I get credit for having a heck of a lot more authority than I do we we as a school system absolutely do not operate in isolation we have requirements regarding reopening that have to be in a line one with health and safety regulations that comes from starting with the federal government for the Center for Disease Control to our State Department of Public Health and certainly working directly with the Brookfield Health Department who would have to greenlight our plan and allow us
040to open it it could not be just me saying in assurance that we'd have to work with dr. Sullivan the other piece about that is that oh and I already mentioned about July 6th at the State Department of Education will provide updated guidelines and/or requirements or restrictions for how we might be able to open and that final meeting is is tomorrow with the with stakeholder group for the reopening team so a lot of good work going into it already if anybody's interested we have a link on the website we've actually just recorded the meetings rather than eight minutes so they're up there anybody wants to look and we'll simply see how it goes tomorrow and you can get the information we have an avatar the final piece I wanted to share is I was able
041to participate in a governor governor Lamont mountainous ball this afternoon as we know today we enter phase two I think everybody knows that and the plan is from mid-july to enter phase three but right now it was some great public health news hospitalizations in Connecticut continue to trend down identified cases continue to trend down and fatalities continue to trend down and at this point from what I was told on the meeting 95 percent of businesses can open the majority of those open I guess at 50% capacity I'm sure there's exceptions to that with the requirements still being a mask out in those establishments and of course the social distancing we've all learned about over time so that's my report I don't know if anybody has any questions thank you for your time you're on mute
042Rosa okay thanks any questions for dr. Berle okay subcommittee reports and up first is facilities okay so we met on the 3rd June 3rd and we reviewed the knee ask rapport and got clarity and more information on the items in the report for mr. Blandon mr. Caldwell and at our July meeting we'll continue to discuss these items as they relate to our 10 year capital plan mr. Kolb will give us some project updates so the middle school paving started on Monday June 8th with the concrete sidewalks and after graduation they'll tear it up and do the paving at WMS the fire pump generator is been commissioned and they're looking to close the project and schedule an inspection there's been roof maintenance at whiskey near and the high school there have been many chronic leaks and
043many tiles have been replaced about $10,000 worth of maintenance that has been very much needed I was taking place two sections of the roof at the high school were worked on as well mr. Cole will update us on the two open head custodian positions and we reviewed the new kovat cleaning and sanitizing protocols specifically as it relates to summer school and we'll definitely need additional staff and equipment to adhere to this criteria and that's it okay any questions for joy all right Thank You joy okay up next is Finance we had a rather short meeting on the Finance Committee this month really the sole topic was the update on our financial status for the current year and then the discussion of how that imply implicates next year this year's forecast and you guys have a
044copy of the current outlook in the consent agenda is we have been projecting about a five hundred and sixty thousand dollar under run this year and that lightened a little bit to about four hundred and eighty five thousand dollar under run so that's a that's a notable I can't say it's worsening but it's it's a lesser than under run from where we were and it was driven partly by reimbursement from the state the state is actually reimbursing special education coverage and a lower percentage then we've seen historically or we are we out looked and then and I was about a third of it and about a little over half of it was was some exposures in our health benefits costs mostly driven by people who didn't retire and it's interesting about that is speed you
045know people retirees get health coverage but they pay for it and if they don't retire then the district pastes eighty percent of it in the employee paid twenty percent so it was just a financial exposure to us reason it's a sensitivity point of courses for the finances counting on us to under run this year because that's how they're paying for some of the copán related things going on for both the district and for the town and so we prepared discussed at our meeting and then prepared answers for the board finance which has happening the following day and that went pretty well I thought so more deplaning asked their questions they got answers and and mister post even reported at that time that there's breaking news that actually takes it back the other way it will
046will continue now further under runs so we're on the last month of the year we're on a landing pattern toward well under running our budget calling the final number has been challenging and and we'll just continue to work it that said we're working with the the town purchasing agent and with other members of the town to procure the co bid related items that we need to open district up for next year and if you remember we counted on some pulla heads for certain items so that we would use that as part of our budget solution and those are also underway so all the pola heads and all the covered related purchases are being actively worked in terms of the budget for next year the Board of Finance did approve our budget actually you know there
047was a little bit of a Swizzle between a grant fund and and some other items that actually allowed us to put a little bit of money into contingency and we recommended to Ken that he leave that money about $40,000 give or take in contingency right because you know we've got so many unknowns going into next year so that was the entirety of our discussion I expect that the next couple of months we will be really focusing on on how the year closes and then the impact of what whatever method we choose for opening the schools what that may have on us and it could go in a lot of different directions I did board I just will highlight to all of us that we're gonna have to be very light on our feet in the
048months of August and September and October as we see what the opening plan looks like and figure out what that means to us budget wise because you can picture situations that means we'll spend more and other situations which means we may spend less and we have to go we'll have to deal with that in a very active way as a bit work so I expect we'll have a discussion every board meeting so that's the report and can I take any questions okay back to you madam chairman thanks Bob all right you have to eat consent agenda I move that the board approved the items on the consent agenda is recommended we have resignations a second thanks joy okay one favor I okay thank you on to new business we have the approval of field trips
049for the 2021 I can't hear I'm gonna have to sign back in okay so Eric you gotta let them back in okay can I go okay is uh yeah you can go ahead and make a motion yeah I will move that the board approve the attached list of field trips for the twenty twenty twenty-one square as recommended by Brookfield high school principal mark for lambda second okay thanks joy everyone get a chance to take a look at these perhaps I think they're pretty good the standard ones any questions on those and we went ahead and just made the motion do you have any comments the field trips okay thank you I do not I dropped out there inside every sign in so no standards field trips clock with tomorrow today standard field trips nothing fancy
050annual things we work on okay thank you any questions on this okay so favorite what let's hope they get to take field trips next year on favor all right motion passes thank you on to approval of field trips for these sports for sports for the 2021 on school year okay I move that the board approved the attacked list of sports field trips for the 2020 21 Squier as requested by athletic director Steve Baldwin second Beckham oh joy got it all right any questions or comments on these okay so all in favor aye okay motion passes again thank you right on to the approval of design development phase okay I move that the board approved the design development phase of the new school project as presented presented by tech town architects as the basis for the
051construction document space button thanks Bob I got one though I think everybody has was either there last night at the MVC meeting or has watched back the video so does anybody have any questions or anything about that presentation that you know we can that we can discuss here because essentially what we're voting on now is the end of design development there's not going to be any major changes after this so you know pretty I think Tecton did a really really nice job presenting the building and it was the first time that I had seen all of the the renderings kind of together in one space and I got really excited seeing all those photos and are not photos but the drawings and I think it's going to be a beautiful building so I'm pretty excited
052about it and I think they've done a good job bringing the project to this point so I'm interested to know what you guys thought so does our vote here tonight preclude the come back items that they have on the facade and the design points on that or is that kind of within the edges of the design that they can continue to work on yeah I think they can continue to work on little stuff like that yeah I think just you know the the overall the footprint of the building you know is gonna be pretty much set in stone now where it sits on the on the site and things like that so yeah so one of the questions I have is for dr. Burrell right because as our our chief administrator of our district I
053think before we vote we want to make sure that your we hear your opinion on the design and that it meets all the educational priorities that we've established and sent out in quoting in great depth they were very complimentary but before we vote I want to hear from you yeah know the program requirements that were put forth and that you may recall approving that early last spring the educational specifications they were able to meet all those with the design of the building so that's the main piece and then obviously all the functional pieces that we've been going over from parking lots to site plan to the way the neighborhoods are designed the bridges they didn't get into that last night in the in the presentation but the bridges the outdoor bridges between the grade levels
054that makes it really interesting and cool aspects the what I'm really excited about is the architects and through the NBC we've stayed with the ABA compliant playscapes which was a really big feature that we talked about and actually met with some different parents about that and all the input from the user groups whether that was our custodial team our nurses our teachers our pupil personnel services group special education teachers just so many people have been a part of it in the vision now is coming into a reality and it was just very special to see last night so we're really excited Bob and we're ready to forge him over we're ready to go so I know your your team's the elementary principals and a lot of the teachers and a lot of building staffs were
055provided a lot of input have they seen the final product as proposed or and have they seen the presentation from last night you gotten any feedback no they have not seen that well they could go on the website and look but they have not have not sent it to them we just received the actual PowerPoint earlier this afternoon for mr. choco we sent it to all of us actually so now that we have that Eric may have already posted it on the new school project website but the meaning from last night was posted first thing this morning and we can easily get those links out to the team but I just the day didn't offer me the time to get that to the folks yeah busy I will admit it's a busy time right now
056so it's been it's been quite a challenging year to say the least what that is you you believe this meets the requirements as we have as we've outlined as a distance yes yes all even and sweet yes I was pretty impressed to Rosa they they've done I'm so glad we hired Tecton yeah I agree all right so this is act this is um I think it's gonna be unanimous I think but it's gonna this is a big vote I mean this is gonna be you know the the biggest project this town's ever done so you know we're finally making some some real progress and construction starting is really exciting so does anybody have any other discussion comments questions on this before we bring it to a vote you know maybe I should just just step
057in want one more piece here that's just very important for everybody to know and again for the public as a reminder this is a very lengthy process when I first got here five years ago people people had told me John we've been working on getting a new school for 25 years so so it's it's been talked about for a long time we've started to take action years ago and we've been working diligently for four years now to get to this point look again magically we do not just we don't just magically have a put a shovel in the ground and get a building is going to take another two to two and a half years to get us in position where it's absolutely completely done and now we're starting to really work on those plans
058and while the students will remain at center school the students will remain in huckleberry and the students remain in the fifth grade at whiskey near just before they transition to the new school let's just say September 1st of 2022 which is a little more than two years away there's going to be it's important to let everybody know there will be inconvenience it's going to there's going to be construction there will be access road on the south side for the construction and equipment to be moved in and out and keep keep the kids safe but there will be interference especially during the 2122 school year because there's so much site and parking lot work that needs to be done in swing space just for parking spaces and then the demolition of the building over the summer
059of 2022 and then early in the fall summer and early in the fall 2022 when the kids are in the new building still working on the new roadways and parking lots of things so there's going to be a lot of work ahead and we're going to ask people like anything anything that's hard anything that's worthwhile it's it's not easy and it's hard to achieve so we have to be patient and we have to be supportive one another just like we've been this spring but certainly for happy are in different circumstances so I just want to make sure everybody knows this is still a long way away Construction good probably in December and then the first small bit of ground breaking will be in March or April of 2000 thank you great excellent points thank you
060okay so all in favor vote passes so Rosa before we move on I just like to make a comment too we have a lot of alumni and members of the public on on the thing I just will tell you if you're interested in seeing an interesting presentation on this go on the town website find the YouTube video section and look at the municipal building committee meeting from last night you can scroll through that there's an introductory business but when the Tecton architects get up they actually walk through some schematic of the building and and actually some artist renditions of different angles on the building what it would look like and it was a good discussion about about some design points but it's a school I think Brookfield will be very proud of so we move
061on food service contract extension I will make a motion that the board approved the extension of the Wits ins food service contract for the 2020 21 school year as recommended by director of business and operations can post second thanks Troy okay so explain this one sure the the district has a five-year agreement with wit's ins which was signed in 2016 the state requires us to execute a contract renewal amendment every year which basically gives us the the opportunity at any given time during the five-year contract if we're not satisfied to go out to bid again so this is a standard form from the state approved but it amends the contract to go one more year and this will be the final year of this five-year agreement so we'll be going out to bid again in
062the spring okay I just have a quite what um what is the percentage increase over lash it looks like it's broken down into two fees and management an administrative it's it's 3.2 percent and that's a rate provided by the state so that's non-negotiable yeah any other questions on this comments okay we'll bring it to a vote all those in favor aye okay thank you you're welcome okay an open letter to the community that we serve a discussion and possible motion so this is just an action we don't have a motion here but so what we have done in is drafted a letter John and I kind of worked on the original structure of it and then it has been edited and reviewed by board members and other staff members key people in the district that
063have really this has now become sort of like a much bigger sort of letter that's gotten a lot of contributions from everyone so this does this is a letter obviously that states our values regarding race and diversity and what I'd like to do first so that the community understands what exactly we are voting on I'd like to go ahead and read that letter aloud and then we can have some discussion from the board because we'd like to have this be sort of because they're going to be coming from the board and from the district some discussions so that hopefully on board board members feel comfortable endorsing this so I'm going to go ahead and read this first so an open letter to our community our nation is grappling with systemic issues it has struggled to
064address for generations individuals including citizens in Brookfield are feeling the need to act we are all disturbed by the events that have revealed how racism a lack of empathy and compassion and injustice have contributed to inequality among Americans action is required and like so many problems we face education can bring about long lasting change we are committed to ensuring the educational experience in Brookfield is part of the solution laws policies and practices addressing discriminatory behavior are commonplace our districts has thoughtfully designed to protect the rights and dignity of students staff and members of the community however we must enhance our policies by face in the underlying attitudes and beliefs that contribute to racism in both its intentional and unintentional forms racism has no place in brookfield schools as a district we remain committed to being
065a safe supportive and inclusive community we respect and value the diversity of our members and embrace opportunities to learn from and grow with each other recognizing and raising awareness about biases regarding race gender orientation religion and other differences and addressing these issues through culturally responsive and developmentally appropriate curriculum is important and foundational in a 21st century education we must educate our students to recognize racial bias within themselves and others and how to properly properly address it when it occurs it is the responsibility of a comprehensive education to ensure that the next generation understands the history of racism in the United States and its continued impact on the present our state Commissioner of Education Miguel Cardona has recently stated quote as adults and educators we must be proactive about making this a teachable moment by addressing
066issues of racism and inequity head-on and quote as a district we believe that actions make a greater impact than words the Board of Education and superintendent are scheduling a summer retreat to set specific and actionable objectives to address diversity equity and race in our districts educational priorities real change takes dedication and focus and we will use the summer workshop to build substantive actions some of which will have immediate impact and others that will grow and thrive over time civil and peaceful movements inspire unity compassion and action we are committed to ensuring all students staff members and families feel welcomed safe and supported only by teaching our students to humbly recognize problems to have the courage to reflect and show empathy and to solve complex issues can we help them create their tomorrow so all of
067you have a copy of that final draft of the letter so what I would like to do is hear from my fellow board member in sort of this open in public forum so that we can hopefully come together as a board put something out as one so anybody would like to go first go ahead Jen yes I'll go first I I feel like this is an important thing for us to do as a school district and particularly as a board because it's a way for us to say that much like a lot of the speaker said maybe we weren't aware ourselves maybe we ignored things before but no longer and the mistakes of the past are giving us an opportunity to do better we can all do better in the future so I'm proud to
068be part of a district that is able to strongly state our values because that's what our will guide our work if we can get together to say this is what's important this is what we want how we want to challenge ourselves every step that we make along the way can go back to that that those values that we've exposed so I actually support and I'm proud to be part of of that type of a letter to our community go ahead Debbie I was just gonna say it I fully support the letter as well I think it's very well-written and includes everything that we as a school district want to represent and reflect in our educational system I just wanted to build on some of the comments from the speakers that spoke tonight and I think
069you know one of the things that really resonated with me was I think it was Liz Murphy who said she really didn't feel like she there was anybody she could go to there wasn't she didn't feel that she could talk to anyone about what she was hearing and being exposed to and I feel like we really need to pay attention to that and you know yes there there are laws and policies and practices in place but I don't think I don't think those laws and policies and practices on paper are enough so we have to do whatever we can to ensure that our staff and and anybody else in the school parents coaches are not only listening but also maybe inquiring from time to time you know make maybe it's not something that kids are
070comfortable broaching as a subject unless someone asks them so I'm not sure how to do that but I think that's important go ahead bubs so in one of the edits of the letter as it was going around somebody inserted the word humbly in the last paragraph and it says only by teaching our students to humbly recognize problems have the courage to reflect and show empathy and solve complex issues can we help them create their tomorrow one thing I'm going to say is it's not just students it's us right and the administration we what I heard tonight was you can't walk into this discussion with any assumptions we have to be humble and are accepting the fact that we have racism in brookfield and we're not preparing our students to go out in the bigger wider
071world because Brookfield is a like any small town it's a microcosm and and we have we have students that go out in the world and they are our tomorrow so I think when we go to our workshop which I hope we're choosing dates pretty quickly because this is going to get stale but we are I think we ought to start with a discussion of we do have problems and we got to go we got to accept that we don't have a strong curriculum on on racism and we can deal with that we have to have processes and procedures that allow people to speak up and be heard when there's an issue and we have to be able to eradicate problems when they rise somebody said it today some of the racism is rooted in the
072families so part of what we also have to do is help students understand that they can be strong in standing up to racism which i think is very important so I say I think this is really important but I do think I urge us all to come into that discussion very humbling and and come out of that discussion with hard actions that we can be taking like on day one because for me the frustration with the whole discussion is there's a lot of there's a lot of noise there's not a lot of action yet and I want to the noise is important to drive action so I got that but right it's up to us to make it action right that's what if that's what small small town boards are about and and I feel
073really strongly about that great I wanted to know what one of the speakers said that really resonated with me and I agree is that like through our school system in our education I have the same experience you learn about slavery and then the civil rights movement and Martin Luther King and then it kind of ends there and racism is still obviously very prevalent in this country and it's continued to be and that's something that I think we need to really address head-on in our schools and not pretend you just because we had a black president doesn't mean this country is and still extremely racist we have a big problem and I'd really I look forward to taking the lead on that thank you anything you know I don't we do enough on civics in general
074I think we like to have one elected on civics and civics is current events it's what's facing us as we're doing I think that this all fits under that general topic and I do think we owe it to our students to have them not just learn history but also learn how do you deal with the work and the world as it is not the world as you wish it was so sorry I won't keep going Mike did you want to say something don't say it Richard I don't wanna I'm not gonna belabor it was cuz I everything again everything Deb you said everything Bob said everything Amy said is I'm just gonna repeat it all cuz it's great I just want to rehash the point of you know again I really agree with the with
075Debbie here same thing with Elizabeth II I'm sure there's no relation but as you probably know a few Murphy's that you should feel safe for your school period in a sentence I mean that that is very it is tough to hear that you can't go to a teacher or administrator with with an issue so you know as a parent as well that that does you know that at least strikes a chord so I think first and foremost we need to establish that you know establish that trust with with students and it's okay to come to administrator or teacher I mean for those problems that that's okay join yeah I think the letter is a you know the first step in promoting positive change and we can really you know capitalize on what we're facing right
076now and you know I look forward to working with each of you and you know moving ahead and making positive changes in roses is there an opportunity for me to speak at this moment yeah absolutely I want to make sure the board members have their their your turn I'd like to humbly ask dr. Ruby our assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction and personnel to share some of the hump we share some of some of the things we're doing in curriculum because it's been a lot of generalizations and statements made tonight it's important that we know where were where we are and in to the point Joe just made the letter is a great first step for positive action I think we've all loaded to that and the work we need to start this summer and
077then move forward but there are some things that I think are important for the board to know that are ongoing as we get ready to build and some of the you know I know in the first edits I think mr. belman had a statement in there about actions we might immediately see some some change on and so I think this is an exciting opportunity for dr. Ruby - sheriff you a few items for you dr. Rubin oh thank you for the opportunity to speak so what's interesting and I don't know you know how many people know anything about me but prior to coming to Brookfield I spent the majority of my educational career in priority school districts so very diverse communities this is the first non priority School District that I've worked in since I
078began my career and one of the things that struck me when I came to rock field his number one what a lovely and caring community it was and I was really uplifted by the fact that that we have the opportunity to tackle curricular changes because they were definitely needed particularly with the changes in the standards in the state of Connecticut we no longer have a set of standards whereby you can introduce in the spring part of the year preparatory components to prepare students to do well on CMT tests or capped the the assessments that the state has chosen and I'm not sponsoring this standing here or sitting here as a sponsor of standardized tests they're just a fact of life and you know we're a public school district so we have to abide by those
079those laws but we didn't have curriculum that would support students in the type of endeavors that they would be challenged by both on state assessments and when they got into college and career so we've had amazing support from the board for the finances that were needed for curricular changes and necessarily we had to start with math and ela since those are two subjects that really impact all of the other subjects social studies is an area that I have advocated for for a number of years and we're really we're really challenged and we really must meet that challenge of developing what I would call civic competence and an appreciation of diversity not just in high school courses but from the very GetGo and we have been working on developing a standards align social studies curriculum that
080really gets at that very heart that starts at the kindergarten level so in our current curriculum which is quite old that we are addressing the same things over and over and over again and some of the speakers here who are highly articulate have addressed some of those same thematic kind of things that we know Martin Luther King day this day that day and we're just basically going through activities so our goal is to really develop a social studies curriculum that engages kids in understanding diversity diversity within their own families diversity within the community and diversity within the world through a study that begins in kindergarten and then leads up to the higher level courses that they take in high school and that is going to require them to have civic engagement so one of the
081other things that we're doing in terms of bringing diversity to the forefront and not just racism all kinds of diversity because well racism is critically important especially considering what's going on in the world today there are other issues that all of our children must be exposed to and that and I think that it was very well said by almost everybody this book tonight that is not just just the children and schools but it's the families and the community because if we teach things in schools about diversity about orientation about gender about religious differences and students are only getting that in school and then they go back into their homes and into the community we're not really providing a wraparound services for the way kids are thinking and we're setting up a dichotomy of messages that
082they're getting from three different areas from school from family from community so cultural responsive curriculum is something that's critically important to do and not as a not as just social studies but as integrated curriculum with literacy with our social emotional learning curriculum and with with the humanities so I received I wrote a competitive grant this year long before we had the virus epidemic and before we had the situation that we're facing that we're talking about tonight and it has to do it was a competitive grant a federal grant and it was really built around culturally responsive curriculum and supporting as you all pointed out it has to start with the adults so our teachers our staff our mental health providers have to understand what culturally responsive curriculum means and that involves communication so long before
083we got to tonight we were working on that long before we got to tonight we definitely have an understanding of the need for a diversity and civic engagement focused curriculum in social cities that's also aligned with our ela and our writing and so we have to bring speaking writing and listening skills into the forefront when we're talking about all this there's so much that I could talk to you about tonight about what we have been working on and what we've been advocating for in terms of financial support with our classroom libraries and aligning the literature that's in those libraries to support our ela curriculum as well as our social studies curriculum so I think that we can prepare documents to show you exactly what we're doing in this summer retreat that the superintendent is coming
084up with the other thing that I would share with you is that two years ago we're a year and a half ago I was placed on an SEO national SEO subcommittee of aasa which is the American superintendent's Association and we had our first in Nashville and this was at the topic social emotional learning and culturally responsive curriculum and I'm on that committee we were supposed to be going this June to a site this and an and over and over is a school district that's working with at school district in New York and a school district in Kentucky on social emotional learning curriculum and social studies curriculum that just has this focus that we're talking about tonight we were unable to go to the site visit so for the past three weeks and next week we're
085having virtual a virtual site visit so an hour and a half of working with the teachers from the and oh and the administrators from the end / public school and I'm working with them and in in the study group from these three states that are looking at how do you really revamp the curriculum so that it's not an activity based or an event based or oh we we covered that really engaging students in identifying who they are respecting who they are understanding who their community is and then going broader to understand what's going on in the world and taking it in a personal way for civic engagement so not just what is going on but what can I do about it and I think that's what we need to do so I look forward to
086being able to speak to you in a more coherent way with evidence of what we're doing so that you can chime in and I really appreciate it I think it I wrote down stuff you talked about you know the support of people in your group who have spoken tonight wanting to help us with that and I particularly picked up on something used I think you said artists so the last thing I'll tell you about is a project that kind of got sidetracked we're still working on it because of the virus we I wrote a grant last year that we were hoping to implement this year and it was 40 using the grant funds to integrate the arts into our social studies curriculum and the pilot that got approved for this grant was in the seventh
087grade social studies curriculum and it was on protest and the Revolution and so the curriculum that was designed for the pilot in working with arts for learning Connecticut was looking at this was probably very engaging for middle school students looking at graffiti and hip-hop music lyrics as forms of protest and we had artists and residents that were going to come in to whisk in here and work with our social studies teachers to really take this whole concept of protest looking at the Harlem Renaissance and what went on at the Apollo Theater looking at the whole hip-hop evolution looking at graffiti art you know through that lens of people needing to express how they felt about the issues that they were protesting about and so we were we were super excited about that because it aligns
088with our state standards it's it's engaging the arts it's having artists and residents working with our our teachers right in our school system and that's on hold right now but we I just got noticed and and mr. Posca noticed the other day that we just received another $10,000 so we didn't get to spend our money this year so we have twice as much money for next year so we're working on this it's really very important to me and I can't wait to work with you guys in the summer hopefully you'll be around either through soom or if you're visiting Maureen thank thank you so much for going through that is really important to share because I think we're enough a good position for launch on this and I've said enough though I'll turn it over
089to Rosa as part of that I I agree I think we're in a good place to do something but you know I I would be remiss if I didn't say that everything you talked about dr. would be sounded great but I hear a lot of inclusivity diversity all of that isn't new I think we are in a completely new era and there is a very big difference between inclusivity and deliberate anti-racist training and I think I would just like to see some much more very deliberate anti-racist you know training or are parts of the curriculum you know not just sort of you know learning about each other and being culturally aware and all of that stuff which is which is all great but I think we need to do something radically different and I think
090that's that's the world we're living in and I'll you know I'll just you know I I too went to Brookfield and did not keep my sort of education in the real world until I left and I'm not a person of color but I am raising one and I do not want her going through the same school system without and coming out of that without that sort of basis of what the real world really is like and it's it's not always pretty and it's not always going to be even for people who have had diverse in inclusivity training you know education it's it's it's not always going to be a pretty environment for her either so you know I would like you know to see Oh something a little more radical and if that could just
091be you know kept in mind when you're you know designing some of these tools you know I think that would be a better way to go no I hear I hear what you're saying I'm just telling you what we've done in the past that's that's the what we've been working on what you're talking about tonight intern of racism that's what the Summer Seminar is gonna be about and that's work that needs to be done but my point was that we haven't been in a we haven't been an avoid of not dealing with diversity because if you look at the curriculum documents that have been in existence up until now that's really not in there except for what the students that the former students have shared right so it's a step yeah and to that point
092so we you know we dr. Burrell and I are going to work on you know scheduling that summer retreat will probably pull in some people from cabe who can help facilitate some of that and be a good resource to us does anybody have any other sort of questions either for dr. Ruby on the curriculum or the letter that's we can make a motion on that any other comments all right so I'm going to move that the board approve its value statement regarding race and diversity as an open letter to the community as read tonight I'll second thank you Amy or any other last questions comments okay so all in favor okay thank you everyone okay moving on to old business we have the new school project but I think we pretty much covered all of
093that any other any other questions or comments on that that I'm so here on our three main points the new school project probably should be one of them yeah our speakers tonight and addressing racism in our country in our community I think yep and you want to mention the approval of whit's ins the renewal of wit students contract may be the moving up graduation ceremonies moving up you can summarize those and also John mentioned the opening of school you know okay okay good call we didn't vote on it the school to certainly more interesting than the width of contract yes all right so you got those Deb yep okay so upcoming events okay the last day of school is this Friday June 19th at Center elementary school tomorrow Thursday June 18th is the summer reading
094kick-off campout there's a sweet dream story time with mrs. diamond and special guests and zoom at 7:00 p.m. and Friday June 19th is the reverse parade drive through 9:00 to 9:30 is preschool and 9:30 to 10:15 for kindergarten and 10:15 to 11 for first grade at huckleberry on Thursday tomorrow June 18th is the reverse parade from 10:00 to 12:00 the schedule for that was also shared with families and that's alphabetical by last name and that was Kinnear on Friday there's a reverse parade clap out by grade level eighth grade is 10:00 to 10:30 seventh 1042 1110 6th 1122 11:50 and 5th is 12 noon to 12:30 and then it will feel high school we have the graduation on Saturday June 20th cars lining up skinnier at 10:30 and heading to Brookfield high school at 11:00
095for the ceremony beginning at 11:30 and the ceremony will also be live-streamed that's okay anything else so board members we have an executive session Amy do you want to go ahead thank them up I'll make a motion that the board enter into executive session for the purpose of discussing the superintendent's evaluation document thanks Bob okay so um this will conclude our publicly broadcasted portion of the meeting and board members I sent you google meet link just before it's a nice meeting so just check your email and I will meet you there in a little bit thank you we appreciate ya thanks everyone thank you I'm gonna you