001from the superintendent and then we'll hear from the public and any board members uh as we go forward. So um as usual to start the meeting and welcome everybody startled. I pledge algiance 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. So, tonight we'll have two public comment opportunities. So, we'll have one at the beginning for anybody uh online. There's nobody in the audience tonight. Anybody online has any questions? We'll also open it up after the superintendent's presentation. We'll certainly open it up to the board members if you have any questions, clarifying questions. We'll open it up to the public one more time to see if they have any questions. My goal tonight is
002uh if we are uh ready to vote, then we'll move this along. Um and we'll have plenty of other opportunities for public input as we go through the process with the board of finance. So with that, no one in the audience. So Cara, we'll open it up online. Is there anybody online that would like to uh >> The only person online is Claudia. So Hey, Claudia, get better. You're listening in. I know you're not doing well. Um, okay. So, hearing none, I'm gonna close public comment. Maybe some folks might join us as we go on. I'm gonna pass it to Dr. Gman to kick it off. >> Super. K's gonna pass out presentation. >> So, the the presentation I would ask with the presentation Yeah. You know, I'm gonna I'm gonna ask the superintendent to
003pause. We we have public comment right now. I I don't know if you joined because you'd like to say something tonight. Sure. So, that's great. If you just come up to the podium, give us your name and your address. That would be great. Thank you for being here. You're representing the entire community. So, >> um thank you. My name is Sue Benson. I live on Sweet Heart Mountain. Sorry I'm late. So close. Um, two, I have a couple questions. One, it just came to my attention recently that we are receiving funding from the state of Caner Connecticut for our intermediate school and I was curious about the purpose of that funding, the amount of the funding, how long that funding will continue, um, when it ends, what will be the impact on the budget when
004it does end. Um, That's my question. I don't know. >> Did you say the intermediate school or this middle school? You said middle school. >> Was the intermediate school? >> I think you're asking I was I think you're asking for the middle school. >> Is it the middle school? >> Yeah, that's what we're receiving so far. >> Okay. Middle and I'm sure the superintendent will answer that for you. You have other question. >> Um yes, my other question first. Um go ahead. Go ahead. the people in line, they don't mind. >> I also understand that it's not uncommon for us to go over budget in a calendar or fiscal year um for our education budget and that that amount is then requested from the town um board selectman and they can approve it or not,
005but that they generally do approve it. And I was just curious for this year, is it anticipated that we will be over budget again requesting more funding um for the bet board of ed then was in the budget that we as citizens approved last year. >> Okay. Thank you for those questions. The superintendent will answer those. I'm just going to make one comment on your second question. We don't purposely go over budget. >> Oh gosh, no. I know that. Yeah, usually there's some variable that it's and the superintendent will get into that more detail. >> Okay. Thank you for those questions. >> Thank you. >> Okay. >> Um I'll go back online because I noticed Mr. Blley's on and see if he has any comments or questions. >> Sure. >> Tom, there's going to be
006two opportunities for public comment. One at the beginning and one at the end. So, you'll have uh if you have questions, we'll have a chance. Any questions now? And hearing none, then I'll close public comment. We'll go back to superintendent. Super. Thank you. So, there's a a PowerPoint presentation here. We can make sure the the public >> Sure. >> has that. Also, this will also be on the website um this evening. If it's not up there now, we don't see tomorrow. I will answer the the public's questions as I go through the the present spots in here that we have today. So I would ask the board to just uh stay with me on the pages like I did the last time that I presented the budget book. So just as we recall the budget
007of the the administration superintendent of schools was grounded in decision and potent schools graduate of a creative thinker, communicator, collaborator, critical thinker and compassionate citizen. The board of I want to remind the board of education of the goals of goal number one, student growth and achievement, partnership and community engagement, financial sustainability and efficient operations, learning environment and belonging, embracing equity and workforce development. As I mentioned a few weeks ago, what's exciting about this budget is that it's the first budget that this board and this superintendent have really been able to align with our strategic plan and our five-year plan. So, I feel that the superintendent's budget is definitely in line with the board of education more important strategic plan. Administrative team priorities relative to number one, student achievement in all areas across the district. maintain
008class size according to the camp board of education policy and guidelines that were recently set. A focus on teaching, learning, professional development and social emotional well-being of students. Provide a safe and healthy school environment. Propose a fiscally responsible budget that aligns with the camp board of education goals and community design 25 through 2030 strategic plan. So, let's recap where we were. and February 10th with the superintendent's budget. This is a chart that we look at to really talk about where we are. So with salaries, health and benefits, insurance, profitability, liability, transportation, including fuel, electricity, heating, oil, natural gas, and propane were up that just alone for those 4.37. And as you recall, we also um have the savings of teacher retirements which we'll talk about in the retirement incentive that we put in place. And
009also um if you recall, we did a uh a census audit on our health insurance. If you take that with special education, tuition, transportation, uh, bridges revenue, and preschool revenue just to roll over from last year to this year is a 4.77% increase or 4.57% increase. When you start looking at athletics, educational technology, reference books, facilities maintenance, tech services, travel meetings, which equates to a 0.89 um% increase. And as you may recall, we used the consumer price index um in the inflation rate to really look at where we are with some of our our materials. That equates to a 0.89 increase. personnel moved from grants $227,000. We did lose money if you recall based upon our open choice funding that we have less less students that we have to account for that. I will at
010this time answer the community question regarding grants relative to the commissioner's network grant that is due to the Canton Middle School. we were offered if the for those board members that were here, let me give a little bit of history. Prior to my arrival, uh during the months after I was hired, we were offered by the Connecticut State Department of Education based upon student achievement scores with our students with disabilities, specifically in English and language arts. So, we're talking about students relative to kids that have special education needs. It could be possibly kids that have free and reduced lunch. But Kent Middle School was identified as a school in need in that area in English and language arts. So one of the first decisions that I made as the superintendent of schools was to agree
011to participate in that. It did not mean that we were one of the lowest performing middle schools in the state of Connecticut. That is not the case. What it means is that the state had a program called the commissioners network that offered educational and professional development resources but it also as the community member cited it also provided us the opportunity for some funding. So over a period of four years we were receiving approximately $350,000 each one of those years. So over three to four years it will equate to about a million dollars. As I've been saying to the board of education from the very beginning in the onset of accepting those funds that we need to really analyze how we are use utilizing those funds. Are they one-time expenses which we spoke about? Are they
012long-term expenses? something that we would have to um have in our budget in the future or is it something that is durational expenses? What we said that we were going to utilize those funds for are one-time expenses and durational expenses. And if there were any that were going to be um long-term expenses, it'd be something that we would uh be talking about and that we would incorporate within our budgets moving forward. Most of this money, as we've discussed, is one time and durational. So, we have applied that to be extended one more year. So, not just 26 27s, but Mr. Bishop and I just got a had a meeting with the the partnership and I included this in my update um to you two weeks ago. We asked if we could be extended into 2728
013that would even bring another 350 to $400,000. So we're we're definitely in for 2627 which we will be receiving those funds and then 2728 um we've asked to be continued. So we'll keep you posted on that. Hopefully that answered uh the the question that you asked. >> How are the funds being used now? >> There's so they're being used towards professional development, staffing, tutoring. We have a whole budget um that was uh planned for we have counseling that is being provided. Our Chromebooks for our middle school this year was funded. So that would normally be funded through our operational budget, but we were able to use um the grant funding for our Chromebooks, which really helped us offset the budget for for this year. >> So when the money goes away, will the budget go
014up by $350,000? >> It most likely not because some of the things that we're utilizing that money for, we will not be uh happy after the commissioner's network grant. So the goal of the commissioner's network grant a as we've discussed as a board is something that hopefully student achievement which we know has improved that it's a durational uh funds that we are using durationally during that time >> and how those funds reduced the budget >> have they yes and they and they've reduced the budget past two years yes for the example that I gave regarding the Chromebooks that would cost the operational budget of a $40,000 increase and instead um we were able to reduce that last year by $40,000. So it saved the taxpayers money by caric so you can see the the personnel
015move from grants retirement savings. One of the numbers that I really want to uh remind the board is we do have $153,000 a point44 increase of moving staffing from the uh town to the board of education budget that is the uh we now have a the town shifted the superintendent of buildings and grounds if you recall and our benefits person. So, we took over positions from the talent support bank and our small capital is up $77,000. That equals a 5.92% increase over last year's budget. And if you recall, I gave a very detailed explanation that the the following number, which I'm about to show you, as I mentioned last time, is another $250,000, which is a 74% increase. That is due to our auditor adjustment, meaning that we were using education cost share funds that
016were going to the town and we were using it to offset the board of education budget. The auditor is recommending that it just stays with the town. It does not increase the mill rate mill rate or taxes at all. It's just saying that it's just a a clerical thing that we need to accounting that would just be with that money. So operationally it's an increase of 5.92 with the ECS funding. It is u 74 more 6.67 but it's not money to tell. So, what I'd like to do is answer all the questions that you had. Um, you had 19 questions, which um I'm going to go through all 19. This is on top of the 17 or 18 that you had previously in our previous question, but we feel that it's really important um for
017you to get the answers to your questions. So, I'll do it just like I did last last time. I'm gonna read the question and then I'm going to read the answer. All right. especially at 504 percentages in in lines is what our neighborhoods are seeing in around the state. Connecticut school districts are seeing increased increasing identification rates across three primary categories. Specific learning disability, autism, and other health impair impairment. Can special education prevalence rate is 19% and our five 504 prevalence rate is 9%. Over the last decade, Kenton has managed a 37 Connecticut, excuse me, has managed a 37% increase in special education, which now stands at the state of Connecticut preference rate of 17.9 at site 26 2026. An example, autism rates have more than tripled. Since 2010, the number of Connecticut students identified
018with autism has gone from 5,866 students to 14,428 at 143% increase in students requiring specific spec specially designed instruction. The rise in identification of special education students across Connecticut districts coupled with the rising cost of special education services poses a unique systematic challenge for all students in all districts. Investing in training, strengthening, intervention, supports and programs like thriving bridges are proactive steps towards meeting all of our students needs. Question two, you indicated there are no new initiative. Does this mean there are no new curriculum changes in any grade, no new courses in the high school? I'm going to restate myself. There are no new major initiatives including in the budget. However, the district will continue its ongoing work of continuous improvement across grades and pricklaries. This includes current study and review work in math and
019language arts. At the high school level, two new courses have been improved by the curriculum committee. In addition, there may be some related costs for materials and printing associated with AP psychology course depending on student registration enrollment. AP training, 1100, AP text 4,420 for 20 students curriculum writing 829. No staffing, no increase in staffing. What is one question three? What is 1% of the proposed budget in dollars of the superintendent's proposed budget of 37,217,750 1% equals $372,177. Question four, what is the financial impact of the five early retirements in the 27 budget? Went over this, but I want to clarify. We have five retirees 552,000 projected cost of replacement of 3.8 FDs 258,000 retirement incentives year 1 55,000 and net impact of early retirement 239,000. I want to remind the board that this budget does
020include a reduction of 1.2 to FTEES, full-time FTE certified teachers retirement incentive budget in employee benefits. Somebody wanted to know where the $55,000 uh $55,000 was. It was in the retirement was in the employee benefits. Question 10 listed on slide 22 of our last presentation indicates that the budget expands support for student well-being through counseling mental health services with no new initiative and no new personnel. How will this be accomplished? Great question. Student well-being goes above and beyond counseling and mental health services. This is a foundational responsibility of all educators in our system and begins with cultivating a sense of belonging in every classroom. This budget expands support by operationalizing the expertise of all our staff through multi-tiered systems of support framework MTSS which many of you heard before. Over the last several years, we've
021provided and continue to provide professional learning that has strategically shifted our model to one that operates on expertise of the educators within our school system. Areas of professional learning include resources and training in support of a positive school climate, culture, executive functioning, and effective verbal deescalation. We remain committed to continue to build our collective capacity in a manner that holistically supports access and instruction for each and every learner. Question six, has been decided where the 2.2 personnel will be eliminated. So reminder that um 1.2 two uh that is going to be at a teacher at Canton High School will be eliminated due to enrollment. Specific subject areas are to be determined when student registration is completed. So our high school students are actually going through registration right now. So we have to solidify what the
0221.2 will be and as you recall we are losing a 1.2 FD elementary teacher will be eliminated due to student enrollment and that will be >> 1.0 Excuse me. That will be from uh our grade three students going into grade four that right now they're in uh six sections of grade three there'll be five sections of grade four well within class size guidelines. Does the budget question seven does the budget does the proposed budget eliminate any programs club sports etc. The superintendent's proposed budget does not eliminate any programs, costs or activities. Question number eight, does the special education prevalence rate continue to rise? At what grade do you feel that percentage pretty well defined for the students we have? Obviously, excluding the new campus students, can we have this percent for all grades for the
02326th school year? The district-wide special education prevalence rate is 19% across all grades. A cohort special education percentage prevalence rate will not remain constant as students move through grades. These prevalence rates shift as students enter through eligibility for special education and exit through re-evaluation, effective intervention through MTSS response and changing needs. Other factors affecting prevalence rates are student mobility program between programs, school transfers at the district or when students movements down. Question nine, what percent of our budget is due to unfunded mandates? Can't give you that exact percentage of what is unfunded mandates because honestly there's hundreds of unfunded mandates. So to calculate how much it cost and the percentage it'd be too hard. But what we've done is giving you there are many unfunded mandates across dozens of Connecticut state statutes. You are an
024act concerning the implementation of reading models or programs. This act stems from the 2020 one right to read legislation and remains unfunded. Districts must either receive a waiver or adopt one of the commercial CSD approved reading programs. That's what's happening at Char right now and I believe that's on the committee meeting tomorrow. Public act 23137, an act concerning resources and supports for persons with intellectual developmental disability required ELLLs to extend the IEP until the end of the school year in which a student turns 22 years old. It used to be 21. Lees were required to identify a transition coordinator by January 1, 2024. Connecticut General Statute 10-2641 interd district magnet school requirements. Resident districts must support student access to inter interd district magnet schools by providing transportation, offering enrollment opportunities where applicable and covering and
025this is a big one covering tuition or cost differentials. District cannot charge families tuition resulting in ongoing enrollment in transportation related budget obligations. You may have saw in the Harper Current this past even this past weekend or last week um in the governor's proposed budget there's a cut of 12 million right >> I think it's $12 million and that would be a direct relation to magnet school tuition so one of two things are going to happen um correct's going to keep magnet school tuition as is or since they're losing money they're going to increase the cost to the school district so I don't exact answer of what that would cost but cost Connecticut General Statute 10-14810-148D professional development requirements districts must provide annual professional development at no cost to certified staff and parent educators including
026a minimum of 18 hours each school year aligned with state and local goals. These requirements create ongoing staff and scheduling budgeting constraints. Great question. What percent of our budget is grant eligible? Question 10. H public schools is eligible for the excess cost grant which is calculated using special education added district tuition and transportation. There's no direct percentage or amount that is eligible. The calculation of the grant includes many variables which types of public expenditures, net per pupil expenditure provided by state and legislative caps and grant reimbursements. The district also receives several state and federal grants that are listed in the book on pages 46 through 49 in the budget book since many of the grants are entitled as an application is required to receive a preetermined allocation. Other grants are considered competitive and require more
027information. Since camp is not considered an underserved community, both entitlement and competitive grants are appreciated but minimal. Staff have also applied for local grants with great success. What is your success rate as grant application? H public schools has a high rate of success when applying for grants. Question 11. Can you expand on how we would go from 552,000 for 5 FTE to 258 for 38 FT and still provide the same quality of learning services to our students, staff and parents? Please provide an example how this works. This is a great question. Our ability to reduce 552,000 for five point FTE to 258.3 point FTE while maintaining a high quality learning learning services is based on enrollment shifts, strategic restructuring and plan efficiency already built into last year's forecast budget. I predicted all our staffing uh
028reductions last year at this time. Enrollment at grade four is declining enough that will move from six sections to five sections. Even with this reduction, all classes remain within our class size guideline. Student learning will not be impacted, but the team model at grade four will need to be adjusted to reflect the small cohort. The 1.2 FT reduction at the high school is still being finalized. Overall enrollment is trending downward at the high school. So we can absorb these reductions through national natural shifts such as not replacing retirements, consolidating low enrollment elective sections, and rebal rebalancing teaching assignments. These adjustments allow us to maintain full program offerings without increasing class sizes beyond the accepted ranges. Question 12. Are we on target to be below the state average for PPE per 2526 per per pupil expenditure
029PV figures are finalized by the state after its year end financial review because that review is typically completed in January. We will not know whether we are above or below the state average for 2526 until that process is finished. I'm going to ask Mr. Bishop to take question number 13. Can you please provide the graph you did for PPE versus AI DPI at the state level for our demographic reference group as well? So what we did is we we looked at the demographic reference group B and compared that across all of those uh all of those different districts with the per people pupil expenditure. Canton is denoted by the star with several districts off to the right. Those districts off to the right are are showcasing higher per pupil expenditures. Um and then the districts
030to the left are lower per pupil expenditure. Those that are below us have lower accountability indices for us as well. >> What what's important to know correct me if I'm wrong, Mr. Fisher, when we look at Durk B, we uh we're one of the smallest districts in D. Dr. Gman, we are the smallest district in we're the second district. Um Thank you. Question 14. How do we forecast tuition of added district special education tuition agricultural vocational school? Can the notes of these items reflect how many students these lines cover? We forecast our special education out of district tuition projections based on the rates determined annually by the private provider and the student count of those currently enrolled in our out of district program. Due to conf confidentiality, we do not publicly publicize know publicly know
031how many students these lines cover. Is there any impact on the budget when students opt to attend CTECS Oliver Walcott tuition or transportation? The district is responsible for transporting students to Oliver Walcott. There is no cost to the district for tuition. When and how are question 16. When and how are expenses related to ES5 program incorporated into the budget? Extended school year costs are embedded within the operation budget across multiple lines, including certified salaries, nursing, and within consults, therapy, contracted services, and specialized transportation. Eligibility for ESY is a PPT decision. If a student requires ESY to receive a free appropriate education faith, the district is legally required to provide those services at no cost to the family. Question 17. Inquiry on school construction reimbursement beginning July 1, 2026. The active school boards are down accountabilmies
032municipalities that meet certain housing and plan related requirements 5 percentage point increase to the local school construction grant reimbursement. Do we meet the certain housing and planning requirements to receive this 5% increase in reimbursement? And if so, how would this impact our budget from C CIP? Beginning in July 1st, 2026, the act provides a 5 percentage increase at the state school construction grant reimbursement rate for districts that meet housing and planning requirements related to affordable housing zoning and disco planning compliance. At this time, it is not yet confirmed whether the town of Kent meets all of the qua qualifying housing and planning criteria for the additional 5%. Several of the required elements such as compliance with state affordability house benchmarks, adoption and implement implementation of required plans and demonstration of progress towards state planning object
033objectives must be formally reviewed against the most current guidelines. Determining Canton's eligibility will require a formal review of the state's criteria against the town's housing and planning status. This will be part of the study we conduct this spring and summer. With no plans for construction next school year, there's no impact on the budget for school year 27. Question 17. There's also 15% bonus for building a facilities used ex exclusively by school boards for special education program. Does bridges qualify for this? While I know we don't own the bridges facility, is this something we can benefit from costwise? Per the eligibility I mentioned public act 25-175, Bridges does not qualify for additional 15%age point reimbursement focus. The statute applies when a school building project involves a new construction, renovation or expansion of the district own building
034includes plans to expand or create in district special education programming services. The school building project for new building renovation or expansion of existing bridges is an off-site school program that is not located in district own school building project. So it does not meet the statutory condition of the special education expansion. Question 18 existing 15% bonus points for new or expanded elementary schools with early childhood programs is expanded to cover the entire project. This is something we are looking at for Cher. As the state of Connecticut revises the normance criteria for new expanded elementary schools with early childhood, we will evaluate whether cherish scope, plan program components, and eligibility thresholds align with expanded incentive. This includes reviewing applicable state funding, project definitions, and how the broader bonus money can impact overall reimbursements. This will be part
035of the task force staff that will begin in the spring. question. >> 25 page 25. Question 20. When lower enrollment and projections continue to decrease, what is the reasoning for the budget continue to increase? Even though enrollment is declining, budget continues to increase because the district's major cost drivers are not directly tied to the number of students. While we have reduced certified staff, offer retirement incentives. We completed a health care census to control cost. Contractual salary obligations still rise each year due to negotiating increases. Health insurance employee benefits continue to escalate annually, adding significant pressure to the budget. Special education services, many of which are legally mandated, also carried rising costs for out of district placement, specialized transportation, and related supports. Transportation contracts also increase year-to-year. In addition, when positions were shifted from town to
036the school budget, the district shared natural increase. Costs for small capital projects, maintenance, utilities, and materials also continue to rise due to inflation. Altogether, the these fixed and growing expenses outweigh the savings from enrollment related staff productions leading to a higher overall budget. Question 21. This was questioned by the public. Can you explain why the board of education requests $340,000 December 25? The board of education requested an additional appropriation for $340,000 to cover special education expenses that were higher than budgeted. The board of ed reported the expectation of the over budget condition through the fiscal year with the anticipation that an additional appropriation would be needed. The board of education requested additional appropriation based on the final audit which was concluded in December 24 25. To be simply stated when we did our budget last
037year five to six new students came into district in July that we didn't have budget that were receiving special education. Question number 22. Does the board of education still have an outline in the budget? The personnel increases we've seen since the transfer of the positions from the town to the board of ed. So, as I've mentioned before, the budget impact of personnel transferred from the town for fiscal year 27 is called out on page 15 of the superintendent's proposed budget. Details supporting the FD increase kit be found on page 20. Chtown FTEES have been added to the fiscal year 27 budget for a total of 153,58. So those were the 22 questions that were asked uh of the administration. I want to thank the administrative team for putting the answers uh to those questions together.
038We're here to answer any follow-up questions they may have. That was a lot of information they had. Um, so the team is here to answer questions that you may have. So I want to uh thank the superintendent and the administrative team for a great job. I also want to thank the board. I think the board has done a great job with the questions that were asked. There were 48 I think total questions that we've asked um from this uh from this package. And I also think that uh which is great because I think this was the most comprehensive budget book we've received at least in my opinion uh since being part of town government. So uh that was really great. So what I'd like to do giving him a second to catch a breath I'll
039I'll go around and ask each one of you if there are any further questions you have clarification questions and then we'll move one to one to one and then I'll open it up to the public again. I know Felicia is online and I'll maybe Felicia I'll start with you if you don't mind. Are there any clarifying questions or other questions that that come to mind since uh since the superintendent David's presentation? >> Um no I don't have any clarifying questions. I think it was very comprehensive and um there was a lot of questions that were asked and answered and I don't have anything um further to ask. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Jordan, do you mind if I start with you or you want me start the other side? You ready? >> Fine. I
040really only have one question. I did want to thank the administration for answering all these questions in detail um and taking the time to do all of this. It's a lot of work. Um so question eight um was one of my questions and does the special >> page you by the way? >> Oh uh it's question eight page 13 sorry. >> So does the special education prevalence rate continue to rise? What I was really trying to quantify there is are we seeing a trend where children are be and and I think I'm answering the question by um the rate the increase in autism diagnosis and all of that but are we seeing a trend there where we are having a higher amount of our student population year-over-year be being identified with special educ education. I
041wasn't really looking at it districtwide, which I do appreciate the 19% districtwide, but it was really like do in Cherry Brook are we seeing a higher percentage than at CIS, then at CMS, than at CHS? And is that because of age and that's a trend that we typically see or is that because we are just seeing higher identification and need going forward? Yeah, Jordan, I appreciate the the specificity of the question and I'll answer part of it and then I'll and I'll I'll likely decline trying to answer some of the specifics to ML answering. >> Um, across the state and across districts, we're seeing an increase in prevalence rate. You bring up a really good question of this. Are we seeing higher case loads at the at the elementary level versus the intermediate level versus
042and and I would say that we're seeing increases across the board right now but relative to each other over time I don't have that information >> but it is a phenomenon that is happening across the state >> it depends upon class in the book there's classes that when if you have class that has 92 kids in and there's >> let's say 15 kids are identified it's going to show a higher percentage based on the number of kids that are in the class. So what we were showing in the budget book, we were also showing special education kids, 504 kids in healthy. Okay. Also, >> I guess what I would like to know is are we budgeting correctly for special education? That's the overarching question. >> We're budgeting what we know. >> I know. So that's
043always the answer is we're budgeting for what we know. But is that the best way to budget for special education? because there was a a member of the public who came to the board of finance meeting and she and I'm paraphrasing here, but she spoke it I'm going to paraphrase and maybe it I wish she was on the call to actually say what I'm trying to butcher potentially, but it was when we have to go to the board of finance or the town for an an appropriation, it's special education. So, it's always for special education children. are we budgeting correctly to their needs? And I just that's what I want to make sure we're doing. And it's not always it's for special education and this is a problem we have to solve. Are we proactively
044budgeting correctly to serve our students? >> Yeah. So, you've heard me say this before and I've said this at the board finance meeting and I've said it here. Um we are budgeting for what we know that is public schools right now. We certainly and this is a discussion that the board of education can have as board of education and definitely with the board of finance and it's definitely been discussed at a board of finance meetings. Um if you look at a 10-year trend with special education weekend schools we've always gone over budget. So, is it time to say to the superintendent or is it time to say to the board of finance to say, "Let's put it $300,000 more into the budget." And then the board of education is entitled to have a non-lapsing account.
045That's by state law in that if we don't utilize that $300,000, it would go into a non-lapsing account. So that would be a a discussion that the board of education would have to direct the superintendent to or the administration to say on the average put in $320,000 or $300,000 on top of your budget and then it would be for projected three or four students that we haven't anticipated that that's a discussion that we certainly can have and it's also a discussion that you certainly can have with the board of finance. Okay. And I think it points good one and Mr. did start that conversation. >> Yeah, it's on it's on the you make a great point and it's on the table to see how we should resolve this to to the superintendent's point. Um we
046just have it to your question about trend line. If that is the case, should we be somebody needs to be putting more into the budget? >> Yeah. >> Should and we budget for what we know as you said. Does the board of finance want to put it in rainy day funds? >> It improves the rainy day fund >> knowing that we may have to come back. Yeah, >> great question. >> And when you say we've gone over budget the past 10 years, that's on special education. >> Oh, yeah. I I can't think of the time. >> Okay. Thank you so much. I appreciate that >> question. You good? >> I'm good. Yeah, >> Michelle. >> Um, no, I I really appreciate the thorough proposal. I thought it worked together well in questions tonight and I
047don't have any other questions. Thank you, Kim. >> Um, feel the same as they said. I do have a specific question may not be able to be answered now. So, we're in this budget cycle. Showers is such a big part of the the budget. Um, we're not in a negotiation cycle right now. Let's say the teacher Paris, >> but are where are we with salaries? I know in the past we were very low in comparison for Paris and it was renegotiated. Uh are we still low? And I asked that question because of the third about the staff turnover in an essential area that supports students and it continues to be trending that way. Um I just wonder if that's part of the >> So K% right out of the money. Uh we know for the
048noncertified our non-certified were very low extremely low >> even with the increase low >> I can tell you with administrators teachers were low um because we're now in B so we are low within our B you're correct to the surrounding towns of Sbury a department support we're lower. Um, so that is the board will be negotiating with the teachers in the fall and the non-certified in the fall. So these are all things that your attorney will get togethers just like the teachers and the nots of what's happened. But yes, I will tell you for those who party >> but I but I will say last negotiation we did a responsible uh framework. We did make up some ground. >> Yes. >> That way. And they they were pleased with the ground that we made up
049both level on the teacher. >> Yeah. I remember that. I'm just see >> the superintendent who are still on the lower half. >> That's important to consider. >> The teachers are the highest. I was told recently the highest of any bar I think in the state that paying the most towards their insurance. We we froze froz we actually know we tried to make a problem. I I will tell you based on the state legislative breakfast that I went to that there's a concern overall from the state that the cities are losing teachers to come out to the suburbs. The suburbs are now competing at a higher level. So there's this the shortage is being caused by the pilering that's going on from district to district. So it's it's a problem but um >> is going
050to get up here for the insurance. Are >> you good? >> Yep. I'm good. Thank you. >> Joe a couple of quick ones. We heard from our state legislators for ago that the ECS funding changed. Any update on that or any indication when that be? >> So, uh it was in uh they just went through testimony this week on Tuesday or today. Today's Tuesday. >> So, today there was uh there was the ability to give testimony. Um both legislators, I checked with them just last week, they are still feeling confident that uh that both sides of the aisle are very much in in favor of some type of movement on ECS formula and um and they think they're going to get it. So um they are working with the government right now, but is Dr.
051Gman pointed out earlier, there's a $12 million uh tuition gap for CRE and CRE is is lobbying hard for that $12 million also. So hopefully there'll be some they feel confident there's going to be some type. >> Yeah. Well, they they go out of but they go out of session by uh the sixth of May. So probably with the next three or four weeks excess cost this year do we have a number tenative number and what do we budget that for next year? So that was just released and uh it's based on an estimate. Um the percentage is 70.63 for us it appears because they don't give you that you're you have to be calculating it yourself. Um and that is lower than budgeted. >> That's for this year. >> For this year, right? um
052for next year, we don't know, but we did budget um pretty much the same amount um as we did um this year. Yeah. Just based on you know based on you know putting those students in the lineup doing the calculation against um stop loss etc. So yeah that's how we budgeted. budget in first on what we actually think is going to happen. We take an average of what we've been given over >> this year 72 for this year. >> Okay. Thank you. Thanks. >> 24. >> I'm good. Amy, I know this is like drinking from a flyer. Please, if you have more questions, don't hesitate to ask. >> Okay. Um, well, yeah, thank you for all this information. I'll throw a question out there on to what Jordan was saying earlier about the special ed.
053Um, I had the question about how do we forecast for out of district placements for special ed students? And so, what I was getting at was is the team looking at our current students and whether they believe there's going to be need in the next year or an out of district placement or are we just looking at who currently placed in the class >> both. So we're looking at kids that could possibly come back and then we're looking at kids that are currently there and then kids that are here that may be out. So we're looking at everything. So we'll judge. So I meet with once a month and all the meeting is is saying going to every almost every single kid that is receiving kind of district placement for kids that could possibly be
054at a district and then she gives me an update of where the kids are. That's how we came up with bridges where that we were having discussions drive prior to not long here of well no I don't want to send kids out it's more effective to do something so we do anything else >> that yeah sorry >> okay um having heard everybody else's question. I'll just ask you one more time. Is there anything else the board would like to ask the superintendent before I move on to uh for another public comment? >> Question. >> Pardon me. I do not have a question. >> I do not do not. But thank you. Thank you for asking. >> No. Um Okay. So, uh having heard that I think we'll open up again to public comment. So, again,
055I'll move. Have you was your question answered? Is there anything else that you'd like to ask? >> No, it was answered. Excellent. Okay. Thank you. And uh then I'll close out the public side here and then we'll go to what's online. >> Sure. >> Anyone online that may have a question on anything you've heard on the budget tonight or a question comment on the budget, um now's the time, you can raise your hand and we'll be glad to hear you. >> Anything? >> Nope. No raised hands. I want to thank everybody for uh their time tonight. So uh on page 28, the superintendent provided next steps. We will not I I don't see a need to have the February 26th um budget workshop. And again, as I mentioned at the start of the meeting, there'll
056be plenty more time for the public to make comment as we go through the process for the board of finance. Um as you can see, the board of education at CO introduced the board of finance by March 9th. Uh and I think our meeting is on the 10th. Uh and then we'll be presenting to the board of finance on the 18th. See the other dates that follow behind that. The referendum is on the 14th. Joe, to your question, we'll know well in advance uh on the ECS funding if there's any change on that or excess cost. All right. So, having no other questions, I think I think we've come to the point where we can make a motion uh to move this from the superintendent's proposed budget to the budget that me own is the
057board of education and the um and the budget that we'll present to the board of finance on the 18th. So, uh, if if hearing no objection, I'll take a motion that the Canton Board of Education adopt the 2026 2027 superintendent's proposed budget totaling 37,217,715 or a 6.67 increase as presented. Take that motion. Thank you, Jordan. Have a second. Thank you, M. Take. Okay, further discussion and a last call for any questions that might come to mind board. Okay, hearing none, then I'll restate the motion. We move that the camp board of education adopt 20 26 2027 superintendent proposed budget totaling 37,217,715 or 6.67% increase as presented. All those in favor and I'll take a hand vote. So let's just check. So Jordan, Jordan, Shell, Kim, Joe, Lou, Russell, Amy, and Ally. Okay, we are unanimous
058in that budget. Budget pass. >> It's n All right. Hearing no other business to come before the board. Anyone have any objection to uh the journey? Hearing none, the board of education is closes this meeting at 7 at 7:29 p.m. >> Thank you everybody. >> I I from this point on allunities. >> Okay. Okay. >> I do have a question Dr. uh the curriculum committee meets tomorrow. >> Yeah. your thoughts on that? >> That's not our