BOE Meeting 11 11 25

001extension. You won state championship. Wow, that's great. Okay, call this meeting daughter of the camp board of education for Tuesday, November 11th, and today is Veterans Day. And what a great day we had across the district, which we'll talk about a little bit later. Um, I want to welcome our newest board member who went right to the back. Welcome Ally. It's our newest board member. She'll be sworn in this week and she'll be uh effective at our next meeting. I also want to uh congratulate our reelected board members which is Felicia Jordan, Russell Bush, George Tusant, and Michelle Kick. So, congratulations on your kind of bittersweet because we say goodbye to two board members tonight. Tonight we received the resignation of a seven-year uh board member Erica Hayes and Peggy Steinway who's been with us

002for four years. They're leaving. Two wonderful board members. I want to thank Peggy for you on curriculum and policy, right? And and Erica has been directing and guiding our curriculum, which is one of the most important parts of this. And because of their their contributions, this has been a better board all the way around since I've been on for the last four years, I think it is, or maybe I'm going into six. I forget, but I think it's six. Yeah. >> But >> tremendous contributors. We're very grateful for them. And we have a little something for them just to acknowledge that they've been part of this. These uh certificates are suitable for framing in your my office dining room. >> Thank you very much. >> Beautiful. Thank you very much. >> You will you will

003be missed and but we're very happy. Yes. So we have two certificates. It says in great in grateful appreciation of your dedicated service and commitment to the board of education student staff and community of the camp public schools. Your leadership, vision, and unwavering support have made a lasting impact on public education given at Canton, Connecticut this 11th day of November 2025 by Dr. Gman on behalf of board of education. So this is Erica's >> and Peggies. Thank you very much. So now now that the selection period is concluded, we can roll up our sleeves and go to work and do what's great things for this district. So I'm going to ask Erica to lead us in the in the pledge of allegiance. If you rise to the flag of the United States of America and

004to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> All right. So, we we are going to have an addition to the agenda which will come at the end. And I'm gonna ask for a motion to move um we're going to we're going to move an item. It's it's an action item that has to do with uh the additional appropriation that we're going to be seeking from the board of finance. I'd like to move that to action to recommended action. So uh so that we can uh work on that tonight. So, I have a motion to move that to recommended I have action. Thank you, Peggy. Thank you, Erica. We have a first and second. Any discussion on that? Everybody understand what we're doing? Okay. All

005those in favor? I opposed. >> We have all my board members here tonight. Wonderful. Nobody's great. Okay. Um also just get a vote to move the Veterans Day first before Sure. Just a a change in the agenda. We're going to move the uh Canton Middle School Veterans Day update first on the agenda tonight. I need a motion for that. Thank you, Jordan. Second. Thank you, Michelle. Any other conversation on that? All those in favor? I opposed? None. Okay. So, we made those changes. So, now we can move to public comment. presentations first thing. Great. It's good to see everybody. I'm just going to jump right at a little my update because this is um just fresh off the news. I just came from Harvard where our girls volleyball team was playing and um I had

006a lead to get here and we just watched the end of it. Our girls volleyball team is gonna go to the state championship game that was there. I saw girls field hockey players there. I saw girls soccer players there, boys soccer players there. I saw middle school uh kids there. And going to a championship game while I have you all here right now is something that is is very difficult to do. So, I would encourage us to come together as a community and support this team. We don't know when it is, but we'll definitely send something out. And our girls soccer team tomorrow is in the semifinals um also um in the state tournament. So, that's pretty exciting, too. So, I know that was not by report, but when I have 50 people here, I'm

007going to say it. Right. So, Veterans Day, very special day within our district and we had a lot of ceremonies today. So, I really wanted while we had our middle school team here today that I wanted Mr. Moore and some of the students to talk about Veterans Day and actually show the board what we did at Veterans Day and to show the community. So, I'm going to turn it over to Mr. Moore. All right, good evening everybody. Um, so as Dr. Gen said, Veterans Day is a very important holiday and one that was a long tradition at Kent Middle School. Um, we had leadership in terms of organizing our Veterans Day celebration out of the main office, but also a huge leadership of student council, some members of which I'll honor tonight as part of

008uh Kent Celebrates. We had speeches. We read uh poems of gratitude. We um gave musical performances by our eighth grade B by our band. And our chorus uh the band performance, one of them includes the the uh the ballot of all the different branches of the military and the members stand and are recognized when their particular branch is uh is played. And then every veteran that came was introduced by either a CMS student that is their family member or um just a student host. So we were able to have a large group of community members and family members come and be personally introduced, tell their stories of service and lessons learned through that as we really discuss what is at the heart of uh military service, which is serving your country and serving your community.

009Um, and then finally, what we're going to show here is with the amazing help of Kira, our students recorded some messages of gratitude and talk about what Veterans Day meant to them. And this was also shown as part of our ceremony. >> Let me just set this up so I can be sure our people at home can see it. Video. Oh. Just just to piggyback on what Mr. Moore said that this is a day that we take very seriously in the K public schools. And tonight the board of education will be getting a a draft calendar um to look at calendar for 26 27 school year and this is a day that we will also um we will also be looking at to continue this. At this time I would like if there's any one

010that is a veteran if you could please rise up. so we could acknowledge and thank you for your service. >> Hey, Mr. Moore can't celebrate. >> All right. Well, um, not only did I get to brag about the wonderful Veterans Day celebration that we held today, but I'm honored to once again, uh, join you for Ken Celebrates, um, where be where I'm able to recognize just some of the many accomplishments of K Middle School students. So, the last time we had an opportunity to do this was in April of last year. So, in preparation for tonight, the staff reflected on notable things that students accomplished from the end of last year and at the start of this year. So, as a result, here with us tonight are both current seventh and eighth graders as well

011as a few freshmen because of accomplishments that they had at the end of their eighth grade year. So, I'd like to start with a large group, uh, an athletic accomplishment. Can I have the members of the 2025 boys outdoor track team join me here? The track team, come on up. Up here, track team members, join me up here. Okay, let's see. Let me talk about these guys. So, board members, uh, this is the 2025 spring boys outdoor track team. Uh, this is a team from the end of last year. So, we have eighth and ninth graders with us, and I honor them for their incredible season. The coaches described this group as a Swiss Army knife, a group of talented athletes who could do many things well, but were even better together. They showed a

012real passion for competition and a willingness to take on new challenges. Time and again, they tried new events and found success. Equally equally impressive, this team excelled not only on the track, but on the field. Um, in every meet, whenever there was an open spot in an event, a teammate was ready to step up when a coach asked. coaches emphasized that this group truly embodied the meaning of a team. They refused I asked them to and they refused to single out individual accomplishments or individual stars because this was a they embodied that idea of team consistently competed together pushed each other to improve and celebrated one another's successes. Now the season concludes with the Woodberry Invitational, the large championship meet of the season and this group finished second, stunning the competition. Um I Congratulate them

013on that. >> One of the strongest performances we've had in years. All right, that so well done. Um, I have certificates for you. Not every member of the team is here tonight, but if I call your name, please step forward and receive your certificate. So, Jameus clarity holds Jameus clarity. Adriel Hastings, Ryan Konz, Dane Johnson, Governor Navski, Hunter Bristol, James Yman, James Linton, Hugo E Hudson Man, Ethan Bound, Luke Greenwall, Lucas Fam, Anthony Mohal, Colin Fleet, I'm sorry, and Colin Fleet. Here's our last one of the evening. So, congratulations to these track. >> We're going to take plenty of pictures after. So, don't if you didn't get any, don't worry about it. We're going to after this is all over, we're go over that corner. We're going to take some pictures as many as you

014want. Mr. D, let's get one of these guys and right there right there. You guys push in. >> Oh yeah. >> All right. So now I'd like to move into some exceptional academic accomplishments. So, could I have join me up here um Luke Kemp, Mal Bernie, Finnegan, Carly, Ava Hulcom, you can vote just like Tractton was, right? Elias Mansfield, Miley Gabriel, Sam Openhearts, and Bishop J. Come on up. If you're here, let me brag about these students for a moment. So, each spring, our students take the Smarter Balance Assessment, an incredibly challenging test. Reports go home and they tell families about each student's proficiency level. But I think that those reports miss the point. Uh, one of the most important things is their growth. Every student uh that takes this test receives an ambitious growth

015target that represents the progress expected from one year to the next. For example, a student might be expected from sixth to seventh grade to improve 100 points. I love digging into this data and I'm proud of all of the middle school students who demonstrated meaningful growth. But the students we're honoring here tonight did something truly exceptional. Standing before you are the students with the highest amounts of growth in the entire school. These students worked hard, challenged themselves, and embraced new learning with determination and persistence. Their dedication and commitment helped them not only meet their targets, but this is a group that tripled their expected growth. That's an extraordinary accomplishment and it deserves to be celebrated. >> First certificates are for in the area of ELA. So, as mentioned, Luke Kemp, Natty Bernie, Ting, and also

016Ava. Those are the four highest in ELA. And now moving to the four highest growth amounts in map. Elias Mansfield Gabriel's not here this evening with Miley opens and Bishop Genesis. You're good to go. >> Thank you. >> Finally, I would like to end with student leadership. Could the members here tonight of our student council executive board join me up here? uh Brooklyn Klein, Brianna Gim, and Joseph Rivera Torres. So, at CMS, we deeply value and elevate student voice as a driving forh force in shaping our school community. One of the most visible and impactful examples of that leadership is our student council. The students I'm recognizing tonight were elected by their peers after running thoughtful campaigns and delivering very impressive speeches in front of the entire student body. I congratulate them on earning the

017trust of their classmates, but more importantly, I admire how they immediately turned that trust into action. This has only been a few weeks. This is fresh a fresh election, but already they've organized events that have built school spirit and a positive more positive school climate. They hosted a fundraiser that immediately benefited the Canton food bank and they played a key role in today's Veterans Day celebration. These students are already making a meaningful difference. Thank you for representing the CMS way of choosing kindness, making responsible choices and and selecting respect. I look forward to continuing to partner with you throughout the year as you lead and serve our school community. So for your student leadership in the election and what you've done already, I congratulate our secretary Brooklyn Klein, Vice President Brianna Hughes, and President Joseph

018River. Okay. Thank you. >> All right, John. >> before we close celebrate this evening, there is one more recognition, but for that, I'll turn it over to Dr. Rosen. So, I'm glad everybody's here. it it's it's not too often that a superintendent in schools um gives out an award and um so I'm going to take the opportunity to do that tonight. So I would like um if Jonathan Ho and Lucas can join me for this. Each year, the Connecticut Association of Schools recognizes individuals across the state of Connecticut who exemplary who exemplify extreme and dedicated service and voluntary services and made huge contributions to education in the state of Connecticut. And this evening I was notified, well I was notified in the summer and I chose to do it this evening. I was notified that

019an individual within the Canton community was selected as an individual that is considered a distinguished friend of education and to receive a an award from the Connecticut Association of Schools. This individual has dedicated I I I'm not even going to try to go there many many years to the town of Canton as a a selectman as a member of the Canton Avon Rotary and most recently for the second term of board of education chair. So the Connecticut Association of Schools I'm going to read the certificate that was presented to me. The Connecticut Association of Schools Certificate of Recognition. This certifies that in recognition of voluntary contributions made to education in Connecticut over an extended period by a person or organization not primarily associated with education. Lewis M. Daniels was among those nominated to receive the

020association's distinguished friend of education award. An acknowledgement whereof the association of the Connecticut association of schools commends Lewis Daniels the recipient of the highest degree and gratefully awards their certificate to you. So, it gives me great honor on behalf of the student population and the community to give this certificate of recognition from the Connecticut Association of Schools to Lewis M. Daniels. And for this one, we'll ask Lou to speak for this one. Usually I write this stuff down, but uh I want to thank I want to thank Dr. Gman. I'm sure I'll get this award, but it's been my sincere pleasure to be a selectman. First I started with park directs and moved on to being a selective for 10 years and then six years on the board of ed the first time as a

021chair and then the second time coming back and I do it for the kids. I love the kids. My family's here. So my littlest granddaughter's here too. All in the school system. So thank you for this award. It's been my honor to serve camp the community I love the most. Thank you. get all these pictures for the board. So, and then Mr. Daniel and your family will do after Start That's our state champion. All right. >> Everybody good? Okay, let's go with our rope next. Second. Yeah, thank Good student council think that's is good. Oh, so let's go. Yes, sir. This is great. That's all right. Okay. I could please. >> So, we're gonna go to public comment for the public that's here. Uh we have a couple people online. So just a bit on

022uh just something on public comment. It's an opportunity for the audience members to speak to the board with questions or comments. Each speaker is limited to three minutes and we kindly ask you to begin by stating your name and your address. And just a quick reminder about public comment. Public comment is a board of education meeting. Board of Education is a meeting that's held in public, but it's not a public meeting. So we welcome your presence and your interest but the purpose of the session is for the board to conduct its official business transparently and not to engage in open discussion. That's the point of uh the open disc or the u public comment. Uh the board listens carefully to all comments but will not respond or participate in conversation during the meeting itself. If

023followup is needed then we will contact you later if that's appropriate. So that's how public comment is managed. So is there anyone in the audience here first? And seeing none, I'll go online. Is there anybody online that would like to make a public comment? >> So if you'd like to make public comment online, you can use the raise hand feature of Zoom and I will call on you by your Zoom name. >> No raise hand. >> Okay. Hearing none, we'll close up public comment. Thank you very much. All right. Chairman squ I got a few things for us tonight. So thrilled about Veterans Day. I I happen to attend each one of the uh the events with Dr. Gman and it you can't help you tell I choke up easy but you can't help but

024choke up when you see our students going up talking to a veteran hugging a veteran whether it's mom, dad, grandpa, somebody. It was just a wonderful day. So my kudos on behalf of the board to the principles, the building principles and what they did and the staff and how they greeted the veterans as they came in and provided parking for them. It just did a wonderful thing. So that's number one. Uh, number two, um, you're going to hear more about academic achievement from both the superintendent and the assistant superintendent, but I think I want to mention that the idea that Kant High School was named a level one school of distinction by the Connecticut Department of Education, continuing to outperform state and area performance averages. The Canton Middle School surpassing state local averages with strong

025growth in English language arts. The Canton Intermediate School continuing upward trajectory outperforming regional and state benchmarks and Cherry Brook Primary School showing early literacy gains through the successful pilot of the new state required ELA program. Our schools are doing great. Kent is a great place to grow and a great place to learn. It's partly because of this board, partly because of the great administration, and partly because of the staff and teachers that we have in our district that just do a wonderful job. So, I I you'll hear more about that, but I think that's something that we have to as a board continue to promote because taxpayer dollars are so precious. Um, people sacrifice with their tax dollars for our schools to be able to operate. and I want them to know that they're getting

026a return on investment that is far further than what most towns are receiving for their tax dollars. So, as we go into the budget season, it's important to to cite these these games, these academic games and what we're doing. So, that's uh number two. Number three, uh the superintendent and I will be attending the CAD annual conference which is a week from this Friday. And there we will also receive a plaque. The board of education will be receiving a plaque to be displayed in our district offices recognized for our excellence and leadership as a board which I think is just fantastic. Um Dr. Gman mentioned about our sports teams. Four teams to the quarterfinals. phenomenal. Now a team going to the to the finals and we have one in the semis on tomorrow and I

027think that game would be Saturday if they played a final for girls soccer. Just a wonderful job. I want to congratulate on behalf of the board all our coaches and our ad Brian Gwyn uh on the job that they're doing and we look forward to that carrying over to the uh to the winter sports season. I remind the board that we have a walkth through on the 20th that was changed from the 18th Tuesday was changed to the 20th and I think that is now at 9:00 I think I saw did I see 8:30 it's 8:30 okay I thought I saw okay that's at 8:30 um and just a quick note on the appointment of new board member so with the loss of Erica we will go through a process now to appoint a new

028board member and um the position will be posted at the end of this by the end of this week. We will give it until Monday, December 4th at 100 p.m. to receive those applications. Anybody that's interested in coming on the board, this was a Democratic position, so it's open to Democrats and unaffiliated for um for this seat. Interviews. Oh, the search committee will include myself, Joe Shidler, Jordan Tusant, and Felicia Jordan. their job is to weigh through. Last time I think um when we had an opening we had five or four or five different um applications. I suspect we may get more this time. So they will weed through those applications. Their job is to bring uh back to the board in executive session on December 9th who they are suggesting to be uh to

029fill that it's it's a two-year unexpired term. So this person will serve two years um to fill out uh Erica's position. the board will vote that evening if if so so move and I'm going to ask the um town cl to be here to swear in that person so they can uh they can sit and begin their work on the board on the 9th of um the 9th of December. So that leaves a curriculum meeting. There's a curriculum meeting on 11:26. I will chair that meeting on 11:26 for curriculum. Um and then in December we will vote for leadership again. It'll be chair, vice chair, and secretary. And then um appointments will be made after that by the chair of the new positions uh all the new subcommittees that we will we will have at

030that point. So other than that, um that's all that I have. Any questions for the chair. Okay. Thank you. We go to the superintendent report. Dr. Gman. Well, Mr. J covered a lot what I was going to say and what Mr. Bishop was going to say. So that's that's great. you said. >> I do want to let the board know and as I said, Veterans Day is one of my favorite days of the Kent public schools that just to see we had alumni come back um that served and just seeing today a World War II vet who came to CIS that somebody said that he turned 100 today. Um it it is just something that's just heartwarming to just see all the veterans um come in and we do it right. We do it right

031within the camp public schools and I'm proud of our kids. I'm proud of our staff for really doing the what is right and that's making it a real special day. A lot of budget meetings are happening meeting with administrators. The goal is on December December 8th through December 9th 9th is that my goal is to present you a forecasted budget. If you remember, it's not the superintendent's final budget. It's just where I am at that moment in time. And it allows us the opportunity just to talk where I am at that moment in time. And starting this evening with notice, we put on the agenda a budget workshop. So, we're going to talk a little bit about where we are at at that time later in the agenda. Um, piggybacking on where Mr. Daniels talked

032about our athletic teams. Um, our kids worked really hard middle school through high school th this um this fall. I I saw one of the best girls field hockey games that I've seen in a long time in the the quarterfinals and we ended on the the downside. And then I probably saw one of the best boys high school soccer team is on that team um that I saw in a long time. And we were on the downward side and our girls volleyball team pretty special right now. They upset a team the other night in Valley Regional, a team that I think won 18 in a row and knocked us out last year and then beat us this year a few weeks ago and we beat a very exciting game. I actually watched it on TV.

033And then tonight, um, our volleyball team goes wins a semiinal and it beats another team that I believe was the third ranked team. Um, so th those girls and that coaching staff should be really proud of them. Our girls soccer team goes at it uh tomorrow night with the hope of going to finals. So if the the school can get two teams in the finals, I see Julia, I don't think we've done that since you were in high school um having two or three teams in in the finals. So that'd be really exciting for this town if we were able to do that. I'm really proud of our coaches and our athletes. Th this is one of my favorite times of the year because then we go from athletics and then in two weeks from

034now I get to go sit in a beautiful auditori auditorium and start listening to our beautiful music program and we have our instrumental concert on November 18th. I would invite everyone to go to that because it it's just something that you know you just don't see it too often. high school kids that are participating on an athletic field and then all of a sudden you see the same kids up there doing beautiful music. Um, and it it's just an awesome feeling. And then two weeks ago I actually or three weeks ago actually on a Saturday saw our band do the Disney concert and it it was like we've only been in school for about a week, a month and a half. Bam. They're having that Disney concert and it was amazing. And some of you

035were there. I think Michelle drew there. It was just amazing. So I I both of them, the chorus and the band and the the coral music for the high schools, November 24th. I I really like how we do it. We do it before the holiday season. It it it gets us into that nice feeling of what it's like to be a community. So I would invite everyone to come to those instrumental and corals coral concert and that will be my weekly update just to remind you of the date and and there's plenty of room in in the the event for you to to come. So I'll take any questions out of superintendent set up. Any questions for superintendent? >> Okay, hearing none, we'll go to the assistant superintendent report. Just head up to the uh

036the microphone. >> Thank you, Karen. I had the opportunity to be able to greet the board last year about this time to be able to talk about a number of the highlights we have as a district. Um we we've talked about a number of great achievements tonight u with our athletic endeavors with uh community outreach with athlet academic performance. Um it it's really important for our community to be able to understand where we're going where we're heading and why we're working in that direction how we're heading in that direction. So, I wanted to be able to share with you all some more information on the district school perform district and school performance index which just came out about a week and a half ago from the state department of education. Now, I'll be honest, Miss

037Daniel stole a little bit of my thunder along the way. So, I'm going to be a little bit briefer than I thought I was going to be with it. So, that's okay. Uh board chair gets it. Board chair gets it. But I've got the graphs. I've got the graphs to be able to tell you the story. But I want to remind you of what the uh Connecticut Next Generation Accountability System is all about. It's it's multiple measure points that help to be able to give a depiction of who we are. It provides more complete picture of the school or district. It tracks progress and recognizes successes. It guards against narrowing of the curriculum to just tested subjects. It expands ownership of accountability to all staff. It allows schools to demonstrate progress on outcome precursors. It

038encourages leaders to view accountability results not as a gotcha but as a tool to guide and track improvement efforts and it's been developed by the Connecticut State Department of Education with extensive feedback from districts. We know that a student is more than a test score in a school or district is more than just the average of those those numbers. When we focus on a broader set of indicators, it helps to guard us against narrowing our focus and really focusing on the development of the whole child. Uh, it'll also make more local practitioners see their contributions reflected in the accountability system. We've dug really deeply into this over the past couple years. I'm proud to say that Mr. Moore and I actually presented at performance matters, one of the state department of education um, conferences just

039this past Friday on the work that we've learned uh, over the past couple years with this to a number of our different state colleagues. Moving to the next slide here. So, there are 12 indicators that are a part of this that developed this story. You're gonna have to click one after another here. It's a real developmental uh real real production value here for us. Academic achievement and performance index. That's how well we are doing overall. Number two, academic growth and progress towards English proficiency. So, we actually get a boost for growth. When you grow, you get you get more points for it. The value with that is every in both of these every kid matters. In the past, districts may have looked at percentage of uh percentage of students who met the target or above.

040Now, performance and growth, it's all about every kid. And I think that's exactly what we believe about here in camp as well. Number three is assessment of participation rate. Number four is chronic absenteeism. When we've got kids in the school, we've got an opportunity to do great things with them. Five is post-secary preparation. Six is postcary readiness. Seven, eight, nine, and 10 are all about graduation and post-secary entrance. Gotcha. Beautiful. And number 11 is physical fitness. And number 12 is arts access. I think they threw that in for you. >> Y >> I want to show you a picture of uh how we look here on this next slide. So this is a graph that shows a number of different things. Here on the left in the green, you see the dur the demographic reference

041group. So, if you'll recall a couple years ago, we jumped into a new DUR DURB B. Um, demographic reference groups are really around the the socioeconomic and and population development of particular particular groups. It can go as high as a camp is in B. Uh, in 24 second year in dirt, Canton moved up slightly to be tied for eight out of 20 in the dirt. Um, we're tied for the dirt average overall. So we're holding our own against much bigger powerhouses in that dirt. Dirt B includes Avon, Brookfield, Chesure, Fairfield, Farmington, Glastonbury, Greenwich, Guilford, just to name a few. Uh we're holding our own. When we look at the area as well, Pete outperforms the area average. Uh as well, >> it's like a who's who of it. >> Mr. James, I'm glad you said

042that and you can echo my excitement on this because we're doing great work. We now outpace the uh the area's average GPI. We rank third overall in the area. We're very proud of that. Um Canton High School outpaces the area and dirt school performance index average. So this is news that we didn't get to hear when Mr. Deipo was presenting. So um they they're really doing well. They're fourth out of 20 in the dirt this year for their school performance in school. fourth out of the 20 schools in demographic reference group. That's a real achievement to the staff and to the continued motion that we have within our district to move those students. Uh Canton High School has a science achievement rate near the very top of the state. We're very proud they've been named

043a school of distinction by the Connecticut State Board of Education. Uh you see in the red here Canton that's that's camp's trajectory and I'm very proud of the work that you've taken from the 22 23 school year 23 24 and beyond to be able to move us forward with school performance index of 81 we continue to work in each school to cultivate the growth of each and every student one student at a time we're proud of the growth from the past year and grateful for Dr. Grossman's leadership, the support of our board of education and our community and our staff and students. We're also happy to celebrate this mark in our journey and excited about the work still yet to come because we are hungry and we are not finished yet. There is still a

044lot of good work to be able to do here at camp. We will continue to do that for each and every one of our students. So, please celebrate with us know we will continue to work diligently in support of our community. Any questions for me? I'll head back. >> That's a great report. Any questions? I I want you to really understand this. So if you have any questions, please ask. >> I have a question. So in regards to Oh, uh the graph when we're looking at the 12 indicators, that's what formulates the 81.9. >> So there's the 12 indicators don't individually create the 81.9. There's math for each school to be able to give them points and then the district gets an overall um mathematical depiction that says we are at an 81.9. Some schools

045are higher, some schools may be lower than that, but overall as a district we're at 81.9 >> for all >> 12 indicators. Okay. Okay. Okay. And so if you remember, so the reason that um John spoke a little bit more about the high school because the high school already did their their continuous improvement plan walk that Jeff the other day if you remember he spoke a lot about where his school was relative to the SBI that he spoke about. When you go to CIS next week, Rebecca will speak about her SBI where they were in ELA, where they were a math, some of the highlights there, and then Cherry Brook will do the same exact thing. So, when I look at a district, you want to be the best overall district that you can be.

046And this is what you would call the the report card for a a school district. So like in in Florida for example, I believe they rank their schools A through and this is how our school this is how our state ranks us by a number and they look at all these indicators and then there's a mathematical formula that they use. So 81.9 is showing our growth. I would not anticipate and I told the administrators this when we met last week. I would not anticipate us going from a district 81.9 to like an 86 next year. I I just don't anticipate that because it's a growth model. But I do see that there is room for improvement for next year, especially we in absenteeism. We did really well last year with um on our last report

047card with kids coming to school and increasing that that gap from the year before. This year in this report card, it actually showed that we had kids that were absent and that could be relative to we had more sickness um last year. We're not asking kids to come to school sick, but we got to look at that. That's one of the areas that we may be able to get gross points on. So I look at that 81.9 when you look at it as the derby the average it means we're doing really really well that if we could get to an 82 82.3 82.4 before next year. That's really darn good growth because some of the districts, as John was saying, that we went they went backwards and that their growth level was not to the

048level of how our kids are growing. Saw Jeff actually honored kids that showed significant uh growth. So, how do we um promote this better? I know we have we have a newsletter coming out, right? Yeah, I think we were focusing a little bit on bridges and what was going I'm wondering if the superintendent should John somehow frame this presentation. What do you think? >> Um I mean the last in there somewhere in there. >> Well, we spoke we wrote letters. I just don't know if you put in there something but you didn't finish it. So you could put the communication in that we just sent out to the the district. You could put that in because then the whole community would be able to see that that what we put out. So that that'll be

049a good way of doing it and it's just I I get really excited because we're really moving this direction and and all the treatments are being put in place by the administration the principles u is just is just paying out big dividends. And I I have to again thank Dr. Gman and thank Mr. Moore, the commissioner's network about going into that getting that investment. What that did for us uh at the middle school level is just tremendous. So great work. Good job. Okay. Uh any other questions? >> So there's a link to that right at the workshop. There's where they showed us that link that shows all the schools in the state. Yeah, it's site public site is is Connecticut's public facing datab. >> Yeah, that's whenever I actually whenever I present information, I always

050I typically will link to that particular source that it comes from with that. But yeah, we can let people know exactly where to be able to go for that. A lot of the presentations and information that you've seen, Mr. Moore's presentation that he gave, that data came straight from that site. We believe that the public presentation of information that comes out there is the stuff that we want to be able to share with you and be able to give you information too. So, absolutely. That's that's one of the great things that Connecticut is doing to be able to support um transparency and and interaction between community and and schools. >> Thank you. Okay. Student representative reports. >> All right. You first. >> Um I'll go first. Uh, as usual, I'm doing a report on the

051high school and the middle school, but also uh me and Jonathan had the opportunity to go to the professional development election day at uh chair the primary school. So, I'm going to deliver a quick report on that as well. Um, sorry for the high school uh members of Roappa put on um helped to be on the panel and create speeches about the um two fantastic veterans that we had at the high school today. anybody who's at that ceremony me as well as some other capital members on stage asking those veterans questions in front of the entire school. uh good success. side. Also last week um was the schoolwide mock election and mock debate um where I was again a moderator but students from the government classes would uh be placed on stage to debate in

052front of the rest of the school and then students who register to vote could vote on November 3rd Monday to uh select who they thought best representative um their political views 10 votes are not publicized but students love this process and again went well. Um, districtwide there was professional development on November 4th. Uh, this has been said many times today, volleyball semi-finals and now as we know, congratulations to them. Girls soccer in the semi-finals. Um, also recently we had spirit week and game day which everybody loves. That was the week of October 20th. And just uh last Wednesday, 22 new students were inducted into the Collins chapter, which is our chapter, the National Honor Society to help volunteer in our community, which is of course um a fantastic achievement for all of them and a

053testament to how many amazing students we have here. Moving on to middle school, the CMS band formed the national anthem for the home football game October 24th. Uh kindergarten students visited the middle high school for the first time for a costume parade on Halloween. Uh and student council led the CMS Veterans Day ceremony today honoring a large group of veterans from our community with speeches and music. Uh coming up soon for middle school, the CMS Warrior Squad will be hosting a food drive over the next two weeks to benefit. And now moving on to professional level. Um Jonathan and I had a fantastic opportunity to go and attend the professional development day at uh the primary school on November 4th. It was a great experience for both of us. We were able to learn about

054what teachers actually do in their sessions and the lessons that they take out of them and how they bring those into the classroom to create a better environment. Specifically, we learned about how some teachers are planning to use AI to enrich and enhance the classroom experience. Some we learned how some administration like Mr. Henry is planning to make a better social connection to students in Cherry based on some of the lessons he learned in his sessions. Um overall fantastic success having Jonathan go there. We I would say I enjoy hearing from those teachers and also creating a student students at the center video which should be going live soon next week. Okay. Um and we just want to say a quick thank you to uh Kira and Dr. Gman who helped amazing video and also

055all the teachers for help. >> That's great. I want everybody to know that you notice a little bit of a change. The student reps are doing different things but Lucas and I attended our policy meeting and was very helpful with his comments giving us a perspective from the student position. I think Jonathan are you going to be attending? >> Correct. >> Attending communications. >> Communications. That's great. I think you guys getting more involved and giving us that kind of feedback is is just wonderful. Great report. Any questions for Lucas? >> Thank you. Um I'll be starting with the Cherry Brook School at Cherry Brook. Um the Cherry Brook seniors have started up again which allows the our second graders, third graders to have more hands-on opportunities to perform musically again with um It's Cherry Brook.

056Um, we had several events held as the kindergarten Halloween parade was also held at the middle and high school where we had Jerry Brook students come and walk in in their costumes throughout the middle school and high school and it was absolutely adorable and all the students around school >> and some of the teachers dress too. It was pretty cool. >> Pretty fun. >> It was it was great. and the third grade field trip um to the American Mural Project along with a Veterans Day celebration today honoring local veterans with class visits and student performances. Moving on to CIS at the camp. Uh, fifth graders elected Coral Gueno as this year's kid governor and sixth graders were forming some leadership by guiding advisory discussions on responsibility. The student council was also elected and has begun

057planning u community service projects in along with home rooms joined in the character carve pumpkin contest. um as spirit of Halloween last week and with Miss Day's class winning for the second year in a row. Again, student students enjoyed successful PTO fight night with fifth graders visiting the Old State House where they even met members of the Hamilton cast on tour. >> Wow. Excellent. I could break out the song. So, uh the uh the basketball game coming up with the Wizards >> is that we sell that out. >> I do not know. >> Okay. >> But 21st 6:30 p.m. >> Right. >> Any questions for John? >> All right. Thank you very much for that report. Appreciate it. >> Okay. Mins, >> thank you. Good evening. Um today we're just going to review the financial

058results for the period ended October 31st, 2025. Um the overall forecast um for that period is unchangeable $391,945. Um general education is actually favorable. Um it's offset though by special education which is forecasted to be unfavorable 395 to 60. Um start with special education. Um you know that reflects some change in the student placement um beginning of the year. We had notice of that um right after we published financials last month. So we were expecting that and actually did comment um finance meeting on that. Um the entire shift is is mainly made up of that that amount. Um the other uh categories substitutes, regular education, secretaries, central office staff and custodial and maintenance salaries are areas that we are watching closely. Um we um although we have budgeted according to um history and formulas that

059we have in place, we seem to be um a little bit higher in substitutes. Our regular education secretary is a little higher due to negotiations. central office staff um a little better due to some um hiring um shifts and then custodial land mad salaries. We're watching very closely that area for the same reason we're watching substitutes. We've had um some leads um that need to be covered. So what's happening is is that the reductions in spending um have been forecasted in several categories in order to offset some of these over budget conditions in our regular education budget. Um typically we cover over budget conditions um for our own savings. Um however it'll be pretty tight this year because we're already doing that in October which is very early. So, we are watching some of those

060categories very closely and um and um tightening our belts where it's where >> any questions for the 395,000 special I assume that includes the expected reimbursement. >> Correct. % too early. >> Any other questions? This was approved by this morning. So, we have to approve this. Um, can I have a motion? Can board of education approve the October 2025 financials is presented? Thank you, Jordan. Second. Thank you, Michelle. Any further questions? Anything? No. Okay. All those in favor? I unanimous. Thank you. >> Okay. Um >> I had a really quick question or actually just a comment. So, I just wanted to bring up that the Cherrybook PTO on election day collected uh 12 over,200 items and $3,200 in monetary donations. And I just wanted to add that because I think that was really commendable of

061them. >> It was fantastic. >> Yeah, it really was. It >> was amazing. >> It was. So, and one of the members is here. So, yeah. But the PTO did an excellent job. They were out there in the pools all day and I think it really helped the food donations to the can. So, >> yeah, >> great job. >> 1,200 items, $3,200 in monetary. >> Yeah. which is they say was about just less than a month spending about just less than a month. >> Thank you. >> Sorry. >> Make sure. No, that's good. Um, okay. Good business. We're back to >> Yeah. So, Dr. You want to kick us off? >> Yeah. So last last week the board of education was able to visit the intermediate school I think we have six board members there

062middle school already next week middle school and Jeff's just going to give a brief overview each of you were able to go through the report and six of you were able to attend. So Mr. Good evening once again. Um, as I shared with you during the walk, I'm extremely proud of the growth that Caitlyn Middle School is having. Uh, the hard work of our teachers, the dedication to students, diving into data, the curriculum work that we are doing. There's a there is a great professional culture at Cam Middle School that is resulting in uh better outcomes for each and every learner. The plan I'm going to summarize here is our continuous improvement plan to make sure we continue to move in that direction. um the different categories are aligned with the plan of the board

063of education. You'll notice that also every action step that I'll talk about is aligned to appropriate components of the board's fiveyear strategic plan. So um first in the area of student growth and achievement, our priority action step will be to implement year two of our turnaround plan. Um you'll recall we wrote a pre-ear plan now two years ago. Last year we implemented year one. we are in year two and we will implement all the parts of that that are speaking to our continued school improvement. Um all teachers are working on the areas of high expectations and deep thinking and instructionally what that means is we're looking to continue to increase student independence really focusing on the effective questioning strategies that we utilize and the visuals that help encourage student independence as well in partnerships and

064community engagement. Uh we also have a wonderful PTO. We're going to continue that partnership uh making sure that it is sustainable and supporting all students and making sure that everything that we could dream of at Kate Middle School is able to happen. Um we're going to proactively communicate and improve our communications with families. Uh improving things such as the weekly newsletter, team websites, and more. And then I'd like to build on the sentiment that just came up as you talked about your student reps and their involvement and how their voice makes things better. We're going to involve students uh and community members on the school climate committee. So we actually just recently held our first meeting of the year of our CN school climate committee with student reps at the table and their contributions were

065uh the best by far. >> That's different than your Congress or your government. >> Yeah. So student council has their leadership the school climate committee. There's new legislation saying that discussion of school climate matters and the development of a school and district school climate plan needs to have its own standing committee and that should have representation um from the community and from students if it's developmentally appropriate and we think it is very developmentally appropriate middle school level and those students are um have incredible insights to add to our work. Great. In the area of financial sustainability and efficient operations, our priority action steps will be to as always make responsible budgeting uh decisions and recommendations based upon projections. We will maintain planful updating of our books and materials and we look to you wisely use

066our commissioner's network funds to further our turnaround work for a learning environment. our learning environment and belonging. That school and climate plan that I just talked about, we will have our own school-based school climate plan in alignment with new legislation. It has certain components that the state says you need to plan it in this way. So, we are we have a draft of that already done with student input. And so, we'll be executing that school climate plan throughout the year. We will continue to embed the CMS way and vision of a graduate in all aspects of our school community and use school climate data to drive our goals and actions rooting it in data so that we can measure the impact of it over time. Um in the area of embracing equity our action steps

067will invol include empowering student groups to shape school events and drive student action steps. There I'm thinking student council plays a major role there. will promote instructional practices that engage and support all students. Making sure that what we're doing on a daily basis reaches and is effective for every member of a classroom. That that's key. And then we'll make sure that we address any barriers and inequities through our school climate uh work. And then uh perhaps my favorite is to continue to develop our workforce. We will make sure that teachers have professional development uh in our focus areas. And as mentioned earlier with our instructional focus that will be uh really thinking about the teacher moves that increase student independence. We're also doing a lot of leadership training making sure that our department chairs evaluators

068coach coaches and some teacher leaders um build the skill of giving really uh targeted feedback and uh improvement improving the coaching that teachers receive making this a sustainable culture in which we're always talking about everybody growing and doing better including ourselves. and then making sure that our curriculum is uh written and documented, standards aligned and effective for all. Um it is my belief that if we execute this uh improvement plan as I'm sure that we will we'll continue middle school's uh great performance for all students and our continued improvement over time. I'm happy to answer any questions. >> Good report. Questions questions? You know, we we u when we were at your school, we said if anybody has a question, they submit it in advance. No questions. >> You did a great job. So, thank

069you very much and thanks for taking time out. >> Absolutely. Thanks for having me. Thanks for your support. Greatly appreciate. >> Okay, Dr. Gman board and education meeting dates. >> Yeah. So, in your packet, um Mrs. Darling provided this to you. Help me out if I don't get this right. Each November, you need to vote on the next year meeting. So, she provided to you the meeting dates for the next year of all the board. We did the same thing last year, then it doesn't require a first read. This requires you to approve. And if we need to amend, we certainly can amend. It would just be the next would be special meetings if we needed to do that. So that's what's in front. Any questions on Jordan? >> So for the finance committee, is

070there any appetite to move that to a 9:00 a.m. start? I have nothing. >> Okay. It's Michelle and I are both on for right now. We both have trade one students. Drop off starts at 8:20. 8:30 is really difficult for us. Um I think >> I think that's okay. Right. >> Okay. Make that change. >> Any other thoughts on on meetings times? >> Starting now or starting >> No, that would start in January. >> January, >> which is fine. Well, I would keep everything the same for next month because >> as the chair said earlier, in December, you're going to be electing new um >> new leadership and then the leadership will determine who is on the committee. So, uh, but I I think a nine o'clock start is absolutely fine in the future. It

071will work for the administration and I think Miss Robbins would actually prefer 9:00. Mrs. Robin's schedule, so it's fine with administration. >> I'm also going to make a note um before I file these that finance um policy both will have hybrid access rather just in person. Right? We discussed that we're going to do hybrid correct for those two meetings. Um, so I'll make that known. >> And just speaking so everybody knows I'm glad Mor for now on any meetings that will be hybrid will be via Zoom. We won't be using Google Meet for hybrid meetings because there's just some things that can happen. So we're just going to use Zoom. >> Okay. >> And that's just for committee members, right? That's not >> No, for the public. >> Oh, so they will be open. >>

072Yeah. for those not for curriculum because curriculum is during the school. We may have kids at like that >> for policy policy and >> finance. >> Why is communication not on here? It's not >> sorry. >> Um it's not an official um committee. It's more of like a working group. So it's not officially town agenda. >> Oh, okay. Okay. >> Thank you. Any other changes, questions? Let's move on. So we got So, may I have a motion to accept this uh calendar meeting? Thank you for first. Second, Russell. Thank you very much. >> Further questions? Sure. >> Does does this motion vote? Does that include changing finance? >> I should state that motion >> and adding hybrid for those. >> Any other questions? Call the vote. All those in favor I >> Thank you. Okay.

073School calendar. Dr. G. >> Okay. So for the district calendar, this is always an interesting part of the year and I've actually brought it to you earlier this year and with Ally here, we'll make sure that Ally is at least involved in the discussion because she will be one of the board members that are going to have to vote on this at the next meeting. So in your packet, I presented you a draft of the calendar. In the meantime, since we presented that that calendar for the past couple years, if you remember, some of the discussion that we've been having is around November conferences. And three years ago, we made a change with November conferences with the high school being in November around um their semester, their quarter, excuse me, in November. And as you

074could see in the proposed calendar, if I turn to it, in the draft one that you have in November, it is November 10th, 11th, and 12th. And then the elementaryaries, there was talk from the teachers two or three years ago and from some parents that they wanted it to line up with the end of their first trimester, which was December 1st, 2nd, and 3rd. And that's the draft that you have in front. The rest of the calendar is similar to what we've had the past two years. Our senior day has worked really well that our seniors will start early and we had 99.9% of our population. We had one student that was out and we knew where that student was. So that happened beautifully three days in the beginning of the year. But I do

075want to make I'm going to give you another calendar because I have had some conversation with some families and with some teachers over the past um week since the agenda went out. So I have a yellow she and if we can make sure Ally gets a a copy and Julia since you're here you can get a copy. We're just going to wait for everyone to get it. The only change on this calendar is November. And you could see that I went back to where we were four years ago with November 17th, 18th, and 19th being conferences for the entire district. My recommendation is I'd like to go back to that for next year and see how it works with some of the curriculum models that we've changed. I've also spoken to Mr. Deipo because well

076I spoke to all administrators today and the union president just to of the teachers just to get a a baseline for us a week and a half is really not going to change anything. It was just really for the elementarymentaries that they would have a report card when they're talking to the teachers. But I actually heard from more people that we don't need the report card. We want to meet with the teachers earlier. Okay. So, we'll give that a try. But when speaking with Mr. Dipo, there was a concern that the middle school and the high school conferences were on the same day, evening conferences. Nothing that a board would decide. That's an administrative decision. But the reason that four years ago, the 17th, 18th, the 19th, that the middle school and the high school

077are on the same day, is because they have the shared staff and things like that. So, what we're going to look at, and I'm not saying that this is for sure, Mr. Depo actually said, "I got no problem if I went on a Cherry Brook night." Because the chances of a parent having a high school student with a Cherry Brook student are far in between. Um, and then we can work it out with the parents if they needed something else for their conferences. But that that's not what you're voting on tonight. I just want you to know that that's something that administrators are talking about the the the conferences at the conferences. What I would like to recommend is you have the one that was in the packet, the the white copy that has how

078it's been done. I'm giving you a new copy. The superintendent's recommendation is to go with the yellow copy. Let's go back to where we were three three years ago. Three years ago wasn't here. Three years ago going the 17th, 18th, and 19th. I checked with some other school districts to find out how they do their conferences in two days. Um they have less attendance show up for their conferences, so they squeeze it in to two days. We have very high attendance coming to our conference. It it would be a mess for us to put it into two days. It would help if there were people that needed babysitting to put it all on the line. Um so my recommendation is that that it it looks the same as what we've had in the past and

079the only change in this would be to go back to where we were three years ago, 17, 18th, and 19th. and then we'll look at it next year again and see how it all work out um this time next year. >> Is this um aside from a scheduling perspective is this to eliminate the half days? >> This would still be half days the 17th to 18th. >> No, but there's no there would be half days in December. So we would have >> there would not be the half days. >> So is that one of the reasons? No, I just I heard from some it was more Cherry Brook families that were they thought it was a little bit too late >> on meeting with their teachers even though we said you could call our teachers

080anytime. I mean it if if two weeks helps then then that's fine. >> It doesn't change the half day amount always those schools are different. >> Yeah, it's the same amount of half days that we have. Does that answer your question? I just want to make sure. >> Well, I really appreciate your taking feedback seriously because I actually um had notes tonight from people who had concerns teachers having to meet two times. They meet in November and in December because parents were feeling it was too long. So I don't need to share my list of concerns because you took feedback very seriously which I think is great and I definitely support the calendar in yellow. >> So this would be a first read. So I would ask for you to um take a look at

081it tonight. The one of the things you're going to look at is you're going to see graduation is June 4th and two years ago we had graduation early too. Um it that's just how it works out. Um that it just seems early, but that's just how the calendar works out. The 180th day is on that day. So let's take questions to see which one we're going to go with and I would recommend we go with superintendent suggestment. Jordan. >> Okay. I just have two quick questions. The first question is in regards to our calendar and then coinciding with our meeting dates. So, if we have a half day and we have a walk through, that's no problem. No problem. >> Okay. >> Just wanted to make sure. And then, um, the second question is, if

082there are emergency closings and the last day of school is not June 8th, does that impact graduation? >> No. Because once we set graduation as a board, as long as the students go 180 days, graduation is set for June 4th. >> Okay. Let me rephrase that. Let me rephrase that. The state allows you to set graduation as long on the c as long as the proposed calendar as 180 days. If we have five snow days, they still graduate on. >> Okay. Thank you. And then I wanted to thank you for providing this with us. I too got feedback from the community and I'm supportive of the yellow version. So is everybody in tune for the yellow version? A quick question. It looked like you moved the PD half days to Fridays. I'm trying to go

083through it here. Were they always there? >> No. No. Fe every night is a Tuesday. Um March 2nd is a Tuesday. >> They were always inconsistent. But is there a thought to having them be on Friday? Yeah, I I I wouldn't before having them on Fridays right now. Um >> the ones are on Friday because it fell. >> Yeah. I just I I wouldn't feel comfortable right now having them on Fridays for a variety of instructional issues and um I just wouldn't feel comfortable right now with that. Lucas, >> yeah. Um I just noticed that the professional development full says professional time full days. listed as November 4th, but then in the calendar it's the November 3rd square. Assuming it's supposed to just be November 4th, but it's November 3rd. >> The third. >> Okay.

084Well, then down in the list, it says November down here. On the side it says November 4th. >> Oh, so it's two places. >> And then the shaded area in November is accurate. >> Good call. >> I found another. >> Sorry. >> May 22. I think it should be May 28th. >> Correct. >> Yes. Y >> the more people that look at it, the better. >> This is not one that I'm afraid. This is the first read. Continue to look at this. >> What I'll do is I'll take a motion as a first read. Um and then we'll we'll come back at it December. >> So I have a motion. >> Thank you Peggy. Thank you Jordan. Is a second for a second. Any further questions on this? All good. Uh, all good pickups and

085thank you for the option, too. I think it it demonstrates, and Tim said it, I think George said it that the administration is listening and you're flexible and trying to make things uh as easy for folks as possible. So, we have first and second. All those in favor, first read. I approve. Unanimous. Thank you very much for that. Thank you. Okay. uh quickly we're going to do well now we have the budget workshop and the reason why it's there is I just wanted comments on the CIP capital improvement we we have that set up I think the 26th of November the last >> 24th of November Russell myself uh I believe that the board of select is is putting on Mr. the width host is going to serve and he's going to make another select

086and then wait for finance. But are there any things that you've seen um that you would like to bring forward as far as capital improvement goes? Uh you'll be getting an update on this in December after this November meeting, but I don't know if there's anything that sticks out in your mind. Um for example, in finance finance, we talked about >> slide >> or the slide playground >> potentially the playground in general. Yeah, which is kind of a small cap, but we talked about >> Yeah, >> we talked about the playground eventually having to be replaced at CIS and maybe that's out three years. I'm not sure what capital is going to come in with that, but um it's it's old and it'll probably have to be replaced at some point. So, does anybody have

087anything that they want to bring up? >> Was there anything with the tile at the high school on the first floor? >> The basement? >> Yeah, >> I don't know if that's the capital. It will be under capitalis >> the bottom of the the um by the shop shop area we pulled the tiles but we never replaced the tiles >> but there's there's asbestous tiling all over this district and so it's a huge asbestous project. It's safe because it's encapsulated. Um but over time we want to get rid of that. Yeah, we'll have a look at it where it is >> anything. Think about it a little bit further. We'll bring it up in December. Okay. Again, but um it could be for example could be something extremely large, but it's up to the fifth

088year and it may get in the fifth year it gets pushed out gets pushed out. But we should be identifying needs of our district relative to our infrastructure and our buildings and things like that. There's a CIS cafeteria. >> Yes. >> I have a comment about the tennis courts because the girls last year >> but it's in there for an overall they have a whole configuration of those pounds going on for this next budget that next >> they were playing in the parking lot redirecting traffic. >> Okay. Uh hearing none. I'm going to go quickly to the uh standing board reports. Russell Bush finance, please. >> Yep. This morning cover the October financials already. We're going to get a budget update. I think Dr. Administrators forecast small business. There was a motion to allow Dr.

089engrossment to reallocate some money that was allocated for a front street maint our front street maintenance facilities to other items that needed to get addressed felt more important and then I think that most a very important thing to talk about is interviewing uh there's interviews this Friday for a superintendent superintendent of building the ground specifically for the schools I think that's we're not sharing that position with the Right. >> Thank you, sir. Any questions for Mr. Bush? Finance heading over policy. Mr. Sh, we met before the meeting tonight. The policy committee was tasked looking at class size policy. It was a policy, not a policy anymore. more going to be a recommendation. We're going to suggest bringing it back as policy at the December meeting for a first read. Uh we've worked it pretty worked

090over pretty hard for research discussion debate almost unanimous on our recommendations. Uh and we'll bring that policy to you at the December meeting. Um and some other cleanup policies from the state a couple things. Two of those will go down tonight hopefully. Next time >> questions for Mr. Sh. Thank you. Um curriculum final report. >> Yeah. >> Um so the bulk of our October meeting um most of our discussion was about the new Canton High School course proposals. We had Mrs. HS in there, the math department chair and Miss McCarski, the social studies department chair. And um the two new courses that they are recommending are uh advanced algebra with financial applications, the math department, and then in social studies, AP psychology. agreed the committee agreed that um the proposals look good and >> is

091there a financial impact for 2026 on that? >> Yeah. So it they they now has to go through May financially to see if we could afford those choices. Is that recommended by the state or just the >> Yeah, just the department chairs. They they see a need and this is how they filled it there. The AP psychology in the past has been a virtual high school class because we don't we haven't had that but it's been very popular and so now we're going to offer it in house the staff. Yes. Yep. We have a staff for both. So, there were no issues with that. And then the other thing we did was we had a couple of different discussions. One on the Canton constellation and one on consumable resources. >> Does that continue the next

092meeting post discussion? Um John probably was it was a it was an activity to be able to make sure that the board has an understanding of what it is that we're trying to work on and what we're trying to be able to as high head practices for us. And then the other was a request for information provided. >> Thank you. Any questions on curriculum? >> The next the next meeting is November 26th at 9:00 a.m. >> Thanks. Communications. >> Uh yes, we had meeting yesterday. Um generally meetings are first Monday of the month because it's election day. So next meeting is Monday, December 1st at 1 p.m. We talked about the newsletter coming out soon. discussion on digital versus print. Constantly offering print options at like places that you know people travel through a lot

093school offices possess. Just looking at options with that. Um also talked about an up ahead update on internal communication that K's been working on and then always exploring options to connect with the school community and the community at large. just taking feedback, always sharing the email address to provide more feedback and then um update on the students center that was filmed and I think that's releasing next week. >> Great. Any questions for >> sure. >> So I know I had emailed you about concerns from a member of the public who was not in district. Did we ever figure that out? If we're if people are able to sign up for district communications who are just members of the community, >> they they will not be there's an email address that they can email. Okay. >>

094But we're not sending communications from the school to the general public. If we need to do something to the general public like our newsletter, we send that out through Q notify with town. Okay. So something like girls volleyball championship like >> so and then they can sign up through the through the town like >> and I apologize for not circling back. I did ask that question but I probably didn't circle back. >> No it's fine. and I had to leave early at the last board of bad meeting. So I was wondering if it was because I asked in September. >> So okay, thank you. Thank you. >> Okay. Uh I don't have prep report. So calendar events is in your packet. There's some a lot of stuff going on between now and and December. So

095if you can I know they appreciate when they see a board member there. um if you can attend and some of you will attend because you have family members or children seeing problems. So that's that would be great. Uh move to the consent agenda. So we have October 9th, we have October 14th and October 20th. First of all ask are there any changes or edits to any of those minutes? Okay. Hearing none, I will take a motion on that because there are three. Uh move that the board of education approve consent agenda. Motion, please. Thank you, Joe. Second. Thank you, Michelle. First, we second. Any further questions, add modifications? >> I have a modification. I was at the tri board meeting and I'm not listed as being met. >> That's a good addition. >> So,

096those those minutes are done by um the finance clerk. So, what I'll have to do is um reach out to Zoe because then all the minutes will have to be a >> good point. >> Would we would we approve then? We'll approve and hold out there. I thought I was >> I submitted my the minutes for our board which has >> Yeah, she I think you're referring to the tri board meeting which those minutes are done by the town. >> Yes. And I had ours we can use to back up theirs to correct or amend. >> Okay. >> And I was there virtually. I don't know if they're not looking at people. >> Yeah, you were. >> She may not know. So why are we even the tribe board? Why don't we just use ours

097since it was our meeting? >> It's the minutes. So what we normally do is we use the same agenda that they file and then we take their clerk's minutes and >> Okay. We just need to get >> Who made the motion to start this? >> Michelle, >> Joe and Joe. So would you withdraw? >> Yes. So would you withdraw second? Okay. So we'll start again. So, can I approval for the minutes of October 9th and October 14th? We'll hold out October 20th. So, I'll take that motion. Okay. Thank you, Michelle, for a second. So, we are going to Any further questions? We're going to we're going to approve October 9th and 14th. All those in favor? I opposed. Thank you very much. Um, we're going to review and possibly approve the following policy. calculation actually

098you want that you got under representative action just do that motion so can I have >> okay final motion so it takes a while for the books to be audited the books were finally audited for the 20 uh 2024 2025 school year. As everybody knows, we were running a deficit because of primarily because of special education. That deficit is 341,48320. That's the audited number. So you um we're going to ask you to approve that camp board of education request an additional appropriation from the Canton board of finance in the amount of that $3413 $341,48320 to fund the shortfall for the year 25 general fund budget. So, I'm going to ask you for a motion to that so that next Monday we can go to them and ask for that to level our books. Everybody understands

099that? So, I'll take a motion in that regard. Thank you, Erica. Well, you guys are attentive about this one. >> We moved in the beginning. That's what we Yeah, we moved that in the beginning to add this to the agenda. That was the very first thing. So I have a first. Can I get a second? Thank you, Kim. So I have a first and a second. Any questions on this appropriation? So I'll say it again. There's a motion on the table to move to approve that the camp board of education request an additional appropriation from the camp board of finance in the amount of $341,483.20 20 cents to fund the shortfall in the year 25 general fund budget. All those in favor I opposed. Unanimous. Thank you for that. >> And just so everybody knows,

100Mr. Daniels will go to the board of finance request that then the board of finance will have to go to the select to inform them to set up the town meeting because supporting the charter anything over $100,000. Let's go to town. What happens if it's voted no? >> I don't know the answer to that. >> Well, they can't. >> So then why is there a vote? >> Well, you you it's just a process, but they can't they cannot not give us the money. Okay. >> I mean, >> or a board by the state. >> Okay. >> Yeah. No, no. I think it's good question. >> Yeah. They would uh they would have to somebody could say no. It's an interesting question. >> Oh, so it's not a town meeting. It's okay. >> They move to

101town meeting, right? >> Okay. >> Now, your question could be what happens if the town okay >> get into that. >> Yeah. No, that's fine. >> Okay. Um I'm gonna turn it over to Mr. SH is going to talk about the way that grading and calculation of grade point averages were used to approve today language new legislation courtesy of our friends ship. John, can you review the specifics quickly for us? >> Sure. They revised the policy to comply with public act 2447 which makes changes to the requirements for the Connecticut Automatic Admission Program, CAP. Previously, class rank percentile was a determining factor for eligibility. Instead, the act now establishes that a student's unweighted grade point average is a determining factor for eligibility. Well, not in the act on its website, the CAP also has weighted

102has a weighted GPA on it. So, it's just adding both >> and this leads to potentially automatic admission to colleges in the state system, not not your is that right, John? a number of different colleges within the Connecticut State College and University system based on grade point average. Yes. Automatic permission automatic payment. >> So I'm going to take a motion and I'll take questions. So we're I need a motion to move the camp board of education approve policy 60 tenant weighted grading and calculation of grade point averages. I have a motion. Thank you Jordan. Second Joe. Thank you very much. Now I'll take questions on the motion. Okay. Uh we'll go to vote. All those in favor I thank you. Okay. And finally, we're going to review uh and approve policy 1515, which is approve

103completion rates of the FASA as the first week. >> Same deal in terms of language clean up courtesy of the shipment. John, >> yeah. moving from requiring it in 2025 to 2027 based on public act 244. >> Michelle may know this but Allie may not know this. So we have we on retainer is shifted a good that handles all our policies. So they will update us from time to time on the changes that we need. This is these are some of the the changes that are required by them. certain things reviewed by the policy committee to make sure it fits with our own policies because sometimes we do customize a little bit but for the most part we follow in a good way. Reason being is because something goes right with that policy, they'll defend

104this. So we're getting the legal opinion from them, we also have to defend the policy somehow. Have a first second. No, I don't have a first. >> All right. May I have a motion that can board of education review and possibly approve policy 5015 which is improve completion rates of the FAFSA as a first read. >> Thank you Erin. Thank you Joe. First and second. Any further questions? All those in favor? I post. Okay. Thank you very much. Any reason why we should adjourn tonight at 87? One more thing. Where am I? >> Insurance. >> I don't have that one. >> Oh, I'm sorry. >> Okay. All right. >> All right. So, we we added this. So, the town is formalizing insurance committee to be more than just a study committee or an ad hoc

105committee. It's going to be an official committee with one person from the board of education, one person from selector, one person finance, and then two at large. Is that how it is? So, I'm um I'm appointing uh Jordan as the um as our representative and um based on my insurance background, I'll be the alternate for that because our policy says the chairman can appoint. There's no need to take a vote. I'm just informing the board that Jordan will lead the uh be our lead for the insurance group. Any questions? >> That's it. >> I talked to Mark. He said whatever our policy says for appointments, we're okay because what we're going to do is we're going to forward these people and then they're going to vote to approve them. >> They will approve them. I

106saw Mark as if we were to vote tonight. Would that just cover us? Yeah, we could we could do that if you feel. Yeah, >> I'll take a motion that the motion is that Jordan will be our primary and I will be the alter. Michelle, thank you. Second. Thank you, Felicia. All those in favor, now is there any reason why we should