001here all right we are [Music] um I'll give it to two minutes just in case I don't want anybody to I'll get an email tomorrow [Music] oh I mean order of the board of education for February 22nd this is a regular meeting and uh due to weather today we're going to um we'll be foregoing some things we'll be shortened up the meeting a little bit uh I I gave the students excuses students for being here tonight because I didn't want them traveling with the weather and then I'm glad those that could make it by um uh by video that's great and I remind you anytime that you don't feel that it's safe to come out and you always have the hybrid uh option so with that we'll stand in pledge allegiance please I pledge allegiance
002to 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 thank you okay um the um the finance committee met uh today and uh I know we're going to take a vote later on on the uh on the budget but we are using this time for another public hearing for anybody that wants to give any input to the budget I'll say this is kind of interesting because this is my 21st budget that I've worked on for the town from the time from park and rec through selectman and now Board of Education and I've never seen so little interest at this particular point there was there were times that literally this room would be maybe half full of parents
003uh voicing concerns or giving us thoughts and so on and so forth but this is our second hearing and um you know I'm glad that we have our board members on online but I don't know if we have anybody that wants to speak on the bug on the budget time we have with five attendees online so if any of view is like to make a public comment you can go ahead and use the raise hand feature zoom and I will call on you by your Zoom name and you'll be allowed to talk again if you're joining us online tonight and you'd like to make public comment on the budget this evening you can use the rates hand feature Zoom it's on the bottom of your screen I will call on you by your Zoom name
004and then you'll be allowed to talk foreign okay well the parents who emailed questions we've directed them to you and Kevin so you'll get back to those parents on budget well I've received one I haven't received any okay so I think one parent was gonna CeCe but but Kevin has it and he responds well I have the same parent that he he received on the budget I think okay so with that there's uh no no other uh conversation on the on the budget so we'll move right into reports and we'll move right to the superintendent's report yes okay thank you so much good evening everybody great to see all of you tonight um a couple of things to report on before we um talk about the budget I listed the budget under um my report
005as well for our discussion um we did meet as you know last week on Tuesday and the last two days have been um school holidays so I don't have much to report since the last meeting but I do want to let you know that we had a parent meeting regarding the raid 7 through 12 student assistance program for student health and wellness we had approximately 14 parents online along with the two representatives from hmsa health health Management Systems of America which is providing the resource thank you we also sent out that reporting along we send out the recording of that informational session with the high school newsletter on Friday and with the Middle School newsletter this afternoon to get the word out so we hope that parents will be signing the consent forms so we
006can begin implementing the program right away and so they need to print that off fill it out and send it in to the nurse actually goes to the guidance secretary oh okay Ian Beeman at the high school okay or Amy brindle at the middle school okay and they can fill it out scan it and email it to either office oh okay so they don't have to do a hard job they don't have to okay it can be done either way okay thank you for asking last at the last meeting we reported the good news that the state approved the state legislature approved free breakfast and lunch for all students in the state of Connecticut we found out yesterday that program will begin on March 1st um I believe that's next Wednesday March 1st in the
007meantime families will still be required to pay for breakfast and lunch right through Mark's first um and of course families that qualify for free or reduced lunch that continues through March 1st as well but the good news is beginning on Wednesday March 1st free meals will be offered what's your communication plan for that so there is a uh um I was going to say there should have been a notice that went out today we'll also put it in the newsletters right yeah and there was one last week too great and I want to let you know this week is um bus driver Appreciation Week so all of our schools ptos have special recognitions planned for our bus drivers this week we very much appreciate the great job that they do I want to remind all
008of you and the public that um next week Mr Bishop our assistant superintendent and I will be at each school next week beginning with Cherry Brook primary school on Tuesday night February 28th um the community will have a chance to come out and ask Mr Bishop or I questions about our district so I'm calling these coffees with the superintendent and assistant superintendent so again Cherry Brook School Tuesday the 28th at 6 30. 6 30 to 7 30. on Wednesday March 1st from 6 30 to 7 30 we'll be at Canton Middle High School um we will meet in the library media center of the high school that's just before the high school choral concert so for those of you who are planning to attend the Quorum concert come earlier and join us in conversation and
009then on Thursday March 2nd we will be at Canton Intermediate School from 6 30 to 7 30. and for those who find it challenging to come out in the evening if you'd like to talk with us in the morning on Wednesday March 8th at 10 30 uh we'll be at LaSalle's for anyone that wants to come out share feedback as to how we're doing as a school district and also ask questions and I'll also have information about our budget to share with anyone who's interested so Mr Bishop and I are very much looking forward to that seven is six thirty to 7 30. because that's you know you're offering a lot of times will you just be there the entire time or if nobody shows by seven o'clock do you leave or I'm just curious
010no so we won't be there the entire time okay people can go throughout that yes and you reminded me even though we're at one school a parent who has children at another school can attack it's not just focused on that one school it's whatever is a works for their schedule absolutely I really value the feedback we receive when we do this it really helps us improve as a district and I hope people come with questions that we can answer is there a presentation coming that starts the um anymore I like to know what people's questions are first and then I do have a presentation ready one set once everyone has had their questions answered any board members planning on attending I think I think it'd be good if a board member to be there I
011don't know if anybody has time you don't have to tell me now my choice you don't have to tell me now but if you can make it that would be great and this is going to go out or did I already got like bulleted quick about the dates and times and locations yeah so um so I have um I'm not sure what Kira just said but I'm hoping [Music] so I'm hoping we'll get a message out tomorrow morning if you adopt the budget tonight I want to send that message out as well with another copy of the budget with these dates also so that was my communications plan for for these coffees any other questions about that I had a question coming back to the um the counseling mental health program how are we planning
012to get the word out to students I mean my biggest concern about that is that people are not going to take advantage of it and so I think we really need to be focused on getting the word out marketing it whether it's handing out little business cards or the number on it so that people can actually add the number when they need it and we'll feel comfortable to call it great question Erica so we have a plan to talk with our students about it we also have brochures and posters that will be visible within the schools but today may be the first time that some parents are hearing about it we wanted the parents to hear about it first and then communicating to the students okay so we had the informational session a week ago
013High School newsletter went out on Friday in the Middle School newsletter this week so um now we'll talk with Mr Moore and Mr depipo about communicating this out to students the new chats and the guys I feel like they're gonna need to hear it multiple times absolutely okay the posters are going to have a cue card like QR code QR code okay I'm so with it uh QR codes it'll be easy for them that'll be great you know it's interesting the um the best place to communicate these things is on the back of a laboratory door so believe it or not that's where we get our greatest um our greatest um amount of initiative there so that's that's probably what they'll suggest and there's also a video that they offer the video yet to you
014there's also a video yes yeah okay and then throughout the years they'll make effort to um to communicate because our year has already started right like we've already been paying since January one all right so we go through next February oh so it's one year through February okay yes all right thank you for bringing it up because that's such an important part of the plan so thank you um related to dates I also want to let everyone know that we have a conflict with um our Board of Finance we are giving our budget presentation for the board of Finance on March 15th we had originally slated that as a Community gathering on diversity equity and inclusion we're needing to change that date we're in we are in communication with the facilitators to arrange a different
015date but I just want to let remind you and let the public know that we're coming up with a different date now for our community conversation any questions about dates I have a quick comment sure um in regards to the coffee dates I just feel like some of that gets Lost in Translation when it's paired with a bunch of other Communications are we able to send a district-wide communication that's just around the coffee dates with those dates to the public so they're able to take part in that absolutely okay it's a great Point Felicia it's something like you are invited you know make make it a little bit special if we could yeah I just feel like when they're when they're at the bottom of an email like obviously I I see them but I
016feel like when people get tons of emails they may not see the dates at the bottom and I really want people to have the opportunity to take advantage of that and mentioning Kevin like you said no it's it's not based on your child's School these These are the offerings you're basically doing it in different locations and around town and stuff because I think people sometimes will get focused on oh it's a cherry but I must can't go right no I appreciate that feedback that will go out tomorrow thank you Felicia Kira is Kim herthan she is yes okay please thank you so you will um you'll recall that um we had um a citizen during public comment um share with us her concern about not accepting cash at um School events as payment to get
017into the event so we use um an online ticketing program called ticket I think it's spricket um and um you know following the the public comment uh Peggy asked that this be put on tonight's board agenda so I've asked Kim Hearth our athletic director Kim Church Hearth our athletic director to be with us tonight so she is joining us virtually to talk about our procedure for purchasing tickets now for athletic events so I've asked her to speak to how we do it now so that you are aware in case you get further questions about this and then we'll determine next steps if there are any more related to this process what I can tell you is that for uh the School Musical and concerts we do continue to accept cash although we we really would
018like people to purchase tickets online for a variety of reasons and Kim will talk about what those reasons are related to athletic events so Kim thank you for being here tonight you're very welcome so uh so you just want me to kind of go through uh if I'm buying a ticket what's the process that I'm going to do and then just give some rationale for why we are using online ticketing is that uh am I hearing that correct yeah so Kim if you can explain why we uh why we implemented this procedure and what are the recommendations by ciac as far as purchasing tickets for our athletic events because we're not the only High School to do this correct I think it's important for the board to know why we went in this direction okay
019so yes so first off uh with regards to the ciac and other state schools that are using online ticketing um there are right now there are multiple online platforms ticket is the one that we use uh the ciac for every single state tournament game that they have uh this last school year and for this school year have used online ticketing only they do not accept cash at uh state tournament games either they use go fan uh and then there's there last year there was Hometown ticketing as well but then they've merged with ticket so ticket spigot and go fan are really the the main uh platforms that the states State high schools use um and then I did some research the fcac conference the SEC the swc the ECC and our conference C and Triple
020C are all using online ticketing for their basketball tournament games um and within our conference uh Ellington smsa and Rockville this school year use online tickets for all of their regular season games as well um so now to get into the nitty-gritty of why we do this uh the the big umbrella reason is it's more efficient and underneath that there's a multiple different uh reasons why it's more efficient for one it eliminate eliminates human error uh there's multiple people I uh I did it in I took a look at it in my head the cash turnover when we used cash we turn it over five times it goes from the person giving the money to our ticket taker then to me then to the business office and then to the bank um and every single
021one of those people need to count the cash and so therefore we could have some human error and Counting cash um and then also tracking the attendance for instance our student ticket price and our senior ticket price are the same number it's three dollars per student three dollars per senior um with cash you don't know how many students and how many seniors attended the game you just know that this you sold this amount of money and uh this amount of tickets went for three dollars this amount of tickets went for five dollars with online ticketing you get a printout report of exactly how many seniors attended how many students attended how many adults attended um and then I also I have to keep the cash in my office and so uh with online ticketing there's
022no cash there's no security needed there's no lock boxes needed um the everything is all the cash is accounted for and it eliminates human error from counting the cash and moving it from one place to the next um and then another reason it's a Time Saver uh when after when we did cash after the game I would have to go down and count the cash and then write down how many potentially potential tickets we sold for seniors and students and adults and then uh put that all in a ticket report and then have to go give it to the business office and then the business office has to count it again and then take it to the bank and that's when the bunny finally gets deposited into our account um with ticket spigot I click
023a button after the game is over and it gives me the entire ticket report how much revenue we've made and how many tickets we sold and it direct deposits the money into our bank account so nobody else touches it um uh we can customize attendance as well this is a big one um and the example I'm going to use if any of you remember in 2000 20 it was right before the pandemic hit we hosted a boys 10 Triple C final basketball game where we did sell out our gymnasium and before the game I was sitting there counting actual paper tickets for How many seats are available in our gym and I told my ticket taker once you get to this give out this money uh tickets stop however um so that was time consuming
024to do that count all those tickets with ticket spigot and the other online forms uh platforms you can uh say Max the ticket uh sale at 500 Max it at whatever number you want um and then that's an easy way for managing attendance at the games um and then uh the tickets are always accountable as well they'll never get lost so we have paper tickets what if somebody needed to go run to the bathroom and then they come back and we're asking for their ticket they lost it it got thrown away and now they're not going to be able to go back into the game but with tickets picket and online tickets your tickets are on um our ticket takers uh app and so we can see that they bought the ticket and they can
025get back into the game um so that's those are all the and then oh and then finally there's multiple ways to pay it doesn't have to be a credit card or a debit card you can pay via Apple pay and Google pay which is the way a lot of students are purchasing products uh these days with their phones just using Apple pay and Google pay and you can do that as well um so those are the the big uh reasons why we chose online ticketing thank you Ken we appreciate it that's a great presentation uh just for the board's um understanding Mrs Lynch came to the last meeting and she had a question on you know why why are we eliminating cash and there is some advantages to cash and uh the way of counting
026but obviously Kim just outlined 10 or 15 reasons why it's just so much more efficient to be able using that and as Kevin pointed out we continue to collect cash when we have to for mute musicals and uh concerts and things of that nature so there is still the ability for people to use cash the fact of the matter is we are going to a cashless Society during the pandemic you may remember it was credited many times it was credit cards only I got used to just bringing in my debit card everywhere I went so um this was really for us to understand and uh and Kevin will report back to Mrs Lynch I'm sure uh why we're doing it this way but Kim that was a great presentation any questions for Kim okay sure
027do we turn a student away what if there's a middle schooler who goes to a high school game or a basketball team or do we turn students away if they have cash only and they're not did you hear that yeah yes I heard that and absolutely not uh I don't go spreading that rumor around for uh kids trying to sneak in but correct we will never turn anybody away if they don't have anything on them we will never turn somebody away but if they only had cash on them would you accept cash if they only had cash not not at this time that three dollars is not gonna mean a whole lot in the long run any other questions Kim thanks for joining us tonight you can go oh anybody online I'm sorry Peggy do
028you have any questions for Kim no we lost Peggy I scared her okay I I'm sorry I pressed the wrong button um no um I I just think you know um I don't know I'm looking at the notes from Margaret Lynch's uh statement and one of the things she was saying if there's an act concerning acceptable forms of currency as payment in local businesses um so it just you know I I think the thing that I was interested in I mean I see that cash isn't being handled as a former High School teacher and person who collected cash for fundraisers um I can see why you know it's not great to have cash on hand um for a variety of reasons but I also thought that the fact that you know maybe marginalized people in
029the communities or low-income people don't always have the resources or maybe the debit cards or whatever so I don't understand Google pay or Apple pay I don't know if you need a bank in order to do that or not so you know that's just a question foreign I'm not sure how to use it either I'm I have not I haven't I've not used Apple pay or Google pay before um that might be a high schooler's uh question to answer if the students were there I'm sure they would be able to help us out with that one but um I I'm not sure either how that works uh but I I do know that many high schoolers do have that on their phones rather than um cash or cards on them okay yeah to answer that
030question Peggy um you can put money into Apple or Google pay like you can someone can send you funds you can have it on there almost like a instead of a debit card like just just a fun balance so someone can send you like 20 and you can have that on there to utilize um as a form of payment um the another question I was thinking of was what about um venmo Kim is that an option as well uh not with the platform that we use but I have heard a lot of um vendors using venmo uh with schools and I that's something that myself and administration and uh Donna would have to talk about if we wanted to set up a venmo account for our school um but I do not believe that uh
031tickets picket uses venmo for uh yes yeah I think ticket spigot definitely doesn't because I think I asked about it before but I didn't know like the school or the district had a venmo account that you're able to just you know pay that way as well just just as an option I think this is something about Tempest and a teapot I think um I mean if there is somebody uh you know if there are folks who who are really having an issue with with not having a debit card or a credit card that would probably be a pretty small number and I think as a community we would certainly you know tell folks tell us if you know come see with somebody Kevin whomever and say look I'm having a problem do this I want
032to go see games I'm sure they will take care right I don't think we have to worry about um I think Kim is very young yeah she's she's pretty good at the door and uh if somebody a senior comes in a little yeah confused like I am sometimes yeah I mean to that point though not to not to keep going with it but to that point I don't think it's someone like you know not being able to but I think in that case people don't necessarily want to point themselves out in being in that position so I think that's something that we have to take into account as well um but you know I'm hoping that people feel that we're approachable and able to take take care of you know a certain situation or you
033know one-on-one situation that that happens but I think when people are in that situation they don't feel comfortable and and pointing themselves out any other questions for Kim go and watch the rest of the Yukon Providence College game for me all right thanks Kim okay you're welcome thank you Kim okay the last item and the very important item is discussion of um the superintendent's proposed fiscal year 2023 2024 budget uh the finance subcommittee met at three o'clock this afternoon and uh I'll turn it over to Russell's report on the committee's discussion and recommendation yep so the discussion went similar to what we talked about last week and that we're gonna it's our recommendation to have Kevin move forward with the budget as he has right now there really isn't anything to cut it's basically flat
034everything in there is fixed costs and then in addition the only addition is the Thrive program which we think is going to be a cost Savings in the in the long run whether that's a year or two it should be a significant cost savings we're basically in the same spot we were last week kind of did go and speak with the administrators to see if there were areas just so that we would be prepared and there really isn't anything to cut without moving backwards thanks so that's a good report Finance is going to finance inside a whole pat on the budget we're recommending to the board that we move forward as presented that vote will come at the end of the meeting but any any questions for Russell or miss Mr Case Donna what are
035the three biggest cost drivers in the budget uh the fixed cost increases the special ed program and the Thrive the initiatives right you know the only comment that I would make um and I fully support the budget as is but I think you know and I recognize that um the special education costs are kind of Beyond are Beyond canton's ability to to Really impact their state level I would just you know I think in in the long run when you look at these costs um the state in particular I'm just saying is just going up for the record um really needs to consider some sort of cost-sharing method with folks who can afford um to share that cost right um the state puts an enormous burden on municipalities when there are folks who have the
036means to contribute um there are folks who do not have the means to contribute and they should not be penalized or have a child's education impacted in any way shape or form but there should be some kind of means test from my perspective um rather than simply everybody gets the same deal regardless of our means that seems just like I mean that's how the state does it we don't have a lot of say over it they are trying to change that it's Bill 5003 that's before the legislature that would change that uh and put it on a more as needed basis I don't know if that's going to pass yeah so but they are lobbying everybody's on your bandwagon call your legislature yeah call your legislator speak with them let them know that this is
037important because we simply can't continue to flip the bill I think for everyone um if those folks have the ability to at least contribute you know and obviously they're folks who cannot and I would never think about penalizing them or their child but if if you can afford it um I don't know what that Benchmark is but that should at least be a conversation right I agree any other questions on the budget online Cindy Peggy Felicia okay anybody um no okay and we'll take that up at the end thank you all right Mr Case okay that's all for tonight okay so that leads the chair report there's nothing for me to report tonight um that would lead to the public forum uh the general public forum or if anybody has any comments on the budget
038or anything they've heard to this point we'll open it up again Kara please sure so if you're joining us online this evening if you'd like to make a public comment you can go ahead and use the raise hand future zoom and I will call on you by your username I don't have any race okay thank you I'll close the public forum we'll move to uh where we're going to uh not um we're going to delete the Canton High School trip to Peru for now uh that may come up again in a special meeting um just be prepared for that um it's more I need to find out more information yeah there was a change as you know so uh assistant superintendent report uh I have nothing new to report tonight um thank you for the
039conversation during our committee work thank you business manager report I have nothing to report tonight you are my best friend that is great okay we're done [Music] consent agenda Mr Case as part of the consent agenda tonight the consent agenda consists of only the approval of minutes of our regular meeting of February 14 2023. okay uh promotional proven Russell gave the first second is Felicia any conversation discussion all those in favor aye um okay unanimous so consent agenda passes thank you approval the following policies Mr scheidler both policies were discussed at the last meeting and I haven't heard any questions from anybody maybe I have some now freshman involves graduation requirements it's a very small change uh realigning our math curriculum with the state regulations I get that right John essentially it's a very small
040change really only one one line second policy uh updates are Exempted from instruction uh that allows parents to exempt a child from their child from certain areas of instruction and a form that would be filled out with that if you have any questions about more specifically certainly can get into that so take a motion to move that the Canton Board of Education approve policy 6146 which is graduation requirements and policy 6144-1 exemption from instruction per state guidance can I have a motion thank you Erica second thank you Russell first and second so any conversation on those motions any questions for Mr scheidler any concerns now okay all those in favor aye three eyes cross nine oh okay thank you very much thank you Mr Sharon Mr Case possible approval of sabbatical proposal for Michelle Trump
041[Music] yes so you will recall that um at our meeting of January 24th 2023 Michelle tribe A World Language teacher for the Canton Public Schools presented her proposal to take a sabbatical beginning a year from now from next um January 2024 through June of 2024 so she presented this proposal um to you in that meeting you also have um you were also given a written proposal and it's at this meeting that you need to decide whether you approve or not approve of that sabbatical proposal the language and the teachers contract reads that the approval of this of any sabbatical proposal is at your discretion but you must do so by March 1st this is our last meeting before March 1st which is why you will need to decide this evening whether to approve or not
042approve the proposal and your recommendation is Mr Case my recommendation is to support uh the sabbatical proposal this tribe put a great deal of thought into the proposal anytime a World Language teacher wants to travel to um in her case because she teaches Spanish she's traveling to Spanish-speaking countries again to immerse herself in the language she is not a native Spanish speaker Spanish is not her number one language so anytime she can immerse herself in length a Spanish-speaking country and immerse yourself in the language that's extremely beneficial even more importantly is a world language class is not only instruction in how to speak that language it's also educating the students about the culture of various Spanish-speaking countries and so she will be visiting countries she has not been before two before and will be able
043to bring Great Value back I consider the fact that Ms tribe teachers at Canton Intermediate School Canton middle school and Canton High School has a wide impact on a variety of levels of students students at different grade levels and she also runs the global awareness Club at Canton Intermediate School the global awareness Club at the middle school in our high school interact club which is all about service about self especially in a global Society so for those Reasons I'm very supportive of The Proposal but I know ultimately it's it's you as a board of education that needs to determine that right so thank you for those words and maybe I'll kick this conversation off and up so I think Michelle Trump is just a wonderful educator and she is a special person I think her
044presentation was was uh was exemplary and um I think she's standing her case very well however I'm going to vote no tonight and the reason being is because because something like this has not come up before the Board of Education Mr scheidler and I were trying to talk about this in maybe 40 years the problem with this is we do not have the proper qualifications in place to approve a sabbatical if we were to prove approve uh Michelle tribe's request um it would be a little bit thinner in the wind because we don't have defined qualifications that uh an applicant would have to mean this is nothing against Michelle this is the fact that it's it's kind of a wide open thing and if we approve Michelle tonight on what criteria do we improve Michelle
045on and then next year when somebody or two people come up and we say no to one and say what yes to another we've not defined the sabbatical component uh properly for us to approve this so with that said um as much as I um I think Michelle's presentation was worthwhile I I don't think that we can approve it based on the fact that it's just too wide open it's something that maybe we have to put some policy around or at least some tighter qualifications but I think we we open up um we open up for the Board of Education um a situation that we may not be able to defend or actually defend in the future so it's for those for those reasons besides any Financial implication which there is a financial implication but
046um I don't think that that is the driving a driver on this um and it could be uh if if we put the qualifications in place that you know we have to be in such a position financially and so on and so forth so for that reason uh I think that it's it's a no vote for me so I thought I would leave that off you don't have to pile on to this you you can State whatever you'd like to state but um we'll go we'll go around and um I'll start with with Russell and we'll go all the way around to the folks online so Russell I agree with the a lot of what you said I feel like it seemed really loose in the in the contract of how you requested what where
047do you say no it doesn't say you can't have five teachers do it the same time so yes I agree with you Erica I well I I have a question I'm not sure if you answer this or not but um as part of her presentation she had said that she was gonna go whether it was approved or not and so I'm just wondering if they're what if it wasn't approved how would she still be going what path would she be taking you know I do so that's a great question okay um so the only way that uh this tribe could do this would be to resign her position there are no other avenues that she could pursue she couldn't take like a leave of absence no we don't have any provision for that within the
048contract okay okay so she was essentially saying in her presentation that if we don't approve this shoe will resign well I can't speak for her but what I can tell you is in order for her to do this she would have to resign um that part of it I find troublesome um you know this is a it's a tough thing can you tell us more what you're thinking well I I mean you know she's a great teacher she's a phenomenal person the kids love her they're inspired by her my son had her I mean she's wonderful but um I I do have a concern about the precedent that it says and I don't think being a small District I don't think we are prepared for multiple teachers to request sabbaticals um you know it's it's
049just I'm conflicted about it when you have three that comes in front of you and you and you're all worthy who's up first that's what I mean about the qualifications yeah well I have to say I really wanted to vote Yes for this uh that it was a wonderful thoughtful proposal given by a highly regarded teacher wondering I have a lot of respect for for the job she does and I want to vote for it I find that the arguments that you may clue are very very persuasive but it hasn't been invoked in the contract I believe once and it was about 1980 it remains ill-defined in the contract and needs more specificity I don't know what we'd say to somebody next year or the year after or why you and not you need to
050Define that I also have trouble with the uh the budget being what it is adding to it in this regard and reluctantly I'm going to have to vote now okay yeah I would agree with everybody's thoughts tonight and you had me thinking as well too I would like to vote Yes I would like to see this happen for her I think um she's well deserving of it however the same thing I think I have to vote no based on the everything you've said and the veil said my concern is about I wish there was something where we could provide a leave of absence because I want to retain good teachers and you know you know don't wanna we don't want to lose her to the situation so I don't know if there's any loophole or
051anything for that but it doesn't sound like theorists so the reasons of it not being you know like you said contract you know set up between the board and for the budget I will have to vote now right I think um yeah it's a bummer because it's a really cool idea and I like the idea of our teachers taking sabbaticals and going out and doing new things and I'm coming back even stronger as Jobs obviously an excellent educator I I hope that I I'll vote no for all the same reasons um but I think it's an opportunity for the board to come up with that policy and I would you know anyone who's thinking about doing this whether it's Miss trout or anybody else you know give us you know give us six months or
052so to get a policy in place um we don't want to lose anybody obviously um but I think it's a it's a it's an opportunity for us to come up with the policy because we want people to do this but yeah we can't keep ourselves open to you picked him but not her and thank you thank you Ryan Felicia uh my vote is yes um but I do agree that we need to look at what we have in place so it's fair for all I don't believe that the implication of the budget is too great however I do feel that it kind of opens the doors for opportunities for other people to think that they can all go on sabbaticals I don't want to lose I'm a good staff member a good teacher within our
053district I do think it's important to have sabbaticals for expanding cultural um education and things of that nature when it comes to this particular situation but I do think this you know gives the board an opportunity to really look at what we need to put in place for future um positions of people that that are looking for opportunities like this thank you thank you um Peggy you're on mute yeah sorry um I'm gonna vote Yes because I think that um you know someone said earlier that Canton is a small and a secluded town and I think that this would be an opportunity um to kind of become a little more Global and bring in new cultures or new uh experiences and language back to the school um I think if Joe is correct Joe scheidler
054you know the last time somebody uh applied for this is 1980 I think most people probably have um families and mortgages and you know other obligations and this is a single person single teacher I believe and um or free of some of those responsibilities and has the ability to do this so I think within you know a very long period of time nobody's done this so I I think it's fair to say yes you could do it but I also think that we should you know look at the policy and look at you know how to how to deal with this as we go forward because uh just because nobody's applied for it for a long time doesn't mean that we should you know we should have some sort of standards in the policy it
055you're you're right I mean we're being a little bit reactive unfortunately we couldn't be proactive for this uh at this particular time but Cindy so um I needed more clarification I I thought that uh Michelle trubbs presentation was was fantastic what was a little bit lacking for me was how this uh sabbatical was going to benefit the children of Canton Public Schools and uh Michelle has been afforded um time to travel before uh and you know for me the bottom line is how is this going to benefit the students of Canton Public School so at this time okay thank you Cindy okay uh have you heard everybody's commentary um we'll take a motion somebody want to make a motion either up or down foreign first and second that way three minutes after I said I'll
056motion um for allowing the sabbatical for this job hi thank you I thank you again shelf valuable position s I'm having an issue with the audio me too we blocked you so just by talking directly at the owl can you hear us now yes thank you all right all right thank you for that vote everybody Mr charity emails will you write a letter to I I will write on the other half of the board I will I will I think I think we owe that much and um I'm sorry you see that we're going to lose a great educator but uh I totally understand her position hopefully we won't yeah yeah I hope she does come back um okay the final item for tonight is the adoption to 2023-2024 budget can I have a motion
057to approve the budget is presented um by the superintendent with no changes by Finance or the board can we read that so the motion is the camp board of education adopt the budget for fiscal year 2023-2024 of 31 million 911 000 90 we couldn't make that an even number huh which represents an overall increase of of two million three hundred and forty three thousand seven hundred ninety eight dollars or a seven point nine percent increase I have a motion please thank you Erica thank you Russell we have a first and second any further conversation hearing none all those in favor please raise your hand I nine nothing okay motion passes any other comments for the board tonight concerns thoughts so the budget is zero-based budgeting that's why I came out to that number if we
058ever um get the results of the Nature's Classroom survey of that so in response to the email regarding Nature's Classroom um tomorrow I'm going to send you information I have from Mrs Corton okay about Nature's Classroom so I have a memorandum from her uh that I will send to each of you to give us an update and more information right so what um what Mrs Hayes is asking about is um that unfortunately um we will not be having the Nature's Classroom trip this year for a variety of reasons um we are in ha we are having an experience for the sixth graders that the staff has planned through Empower leadership which is a great opportunity that um took place last year took place this past fall it'll take place again this spring and I will
059communicate to you on behalf of Mrs Corto the reasoning for that by the staff and by her and so when you say it won't be happening this year does it is it off the table for the foreseeable future or is that is it just going to be a year by year consideration yeah so that's up to the school principal and the teachers um so again I can find out like as a board other guys to take more control over that I don't if this whole Nature's Classroom being kind of felt out of our control um I think we do have the capacity as a board to kind of you know pull it back in and to be a little bit more insistent um if we deem it in a central part of the curriculum um
060that might need to be factored into contract negotiations with teachers who there's there's lots of different ways that we can approach it and I I think I was sort of surprised to hear about the amount of resistance not from you know leadership just across the board um and I think the board may have to reach in and get a little bit more involved not because of a lack of Kevin just I want to understand more and ask some questions and figure out how can we avoid this in the future yeah I think um I understand and I've heard from many of you you're supportive Nature's Classroom I must have gone to Nature's Classroom for 20 straight years both as a fifth grade teacher and as a school principal I see the value in it um
061but there are many reasons as I said why it's not going to happen this year it may happen again in the future I think the board could consider through the curriculum committee um what kind of experiences you would like our Canton students to have but I think the Board needs to be careful not to um micromanage outside of policy and so so a board of ed should not be telling the staff what kind of field trips should be taking place you know I'm just going to stay to the roof trips all the time I'm just going to state that as your advisor you approve them because the staff brings them forward as the educational experts and they say this trip aligns really well with the curriculum that you all have approved you'll know it'll be
062a great experience for the students it normally doesn't happen the other way around however Ryan I respect what you have to say and I think we should explore it as part of the curriculum committee so so John I think I think that would be a topic and you could invite Mrs Corto the administrator to be part of that the subject just kind of there's a sensitivity by the board I think unanimously that we feel that that was an important part of the experience for the uh for the CIS students to go through so um I think I think if you can make that um known and if it requires additional stipend to get a champion I think we talked about that or uh to get the chaperones necessary I think the board would be in
063favor of of meeting um you know that that kind of halfway fan so just I'll leave it at that I don't want to get into debate about Nature's Classroom tonight I think Kevin picks up on the vibe we want to see that thing happen again we did though discuss several times getting at our curriculum committee and here um just like we have all curriculum laid out like a curriculum map of our experiential field trips activities and we're still waiting on that information so John's still working on I know because there's been so much that has changed and gone away Aaron's come up to all of us as board members often and and ask about is this happening is that happening there is no where that has that information pre-k through 12 and that may be
064helpful giving some gen you know information and transparency to parents and us as board members um that should be laid out just like curriculum is laid out and we don't have that current ly so we don't even know what's happening as parents as is you know as board members and that's lacking right now just like just like fourth grade always for 30 40 years went to Sturbridge Village you know I don't know did they do go this year are they going this is like a very valid request and I think we should get that for 23 and 24 of what the plans are for those type of extra curriculum obviously there's room for flexibility creativity teachers changing of course we want to support teachers and and we want them to feel good about what they're
065doing but without any plan without any one pager or map of anything we don't we don't have any idea or anywhere to find it or any place to look what are experience I'm building that for for all of us right now to in a conversation with our our Administration so I did hear that loud and clear and I will be happy to be able to bring that forward in the in the near future thank you look just very quickly just just to wrap up this conversation I think you know Kevin very respectfully I think that there are instances when you know this board is very Hands-On and very deferential I think that when the board gets um concerned enough to start talking about intervening then that adds extra weight to the boards frustration or displeasure
066that we are still that when we're talking about you know why aren't things happening we have to take a larger role that's really only when we get really frustrated so I think we surely take the advice and and stay hands-off um but if there's anybody out there questioning why would the board get involved with that I think it's because of orange particularly pissed about it I hear you okay I'm not saying it's right no no I hear you have no way dumping this on your plate we cross the line all the time over here and I also know the um School principal here's all of you loudly and clearly good yeah I know we want to run out of here but we had our last executive session sounded like we're gonna get a follow-ups not
067prepared yet I don't have the information yet but there was going to be an announcement at least of what was going to happen in the interim it can't happen yet parents are gonna ride like a like a shield and a sword yeah tell me what the plan was I'll take it offline with you okay I'll give you a call I'll give you a call okay all right I love it when these meetings get down today all right beautiful teachers for all they do and you know how hard they're working we do and we work hard at this too we just like I said we're not here to run the schools we're here to make sure that schools run well and that's what we're trying to do so with that I'll take a motion to adjourn
068Kim and Joe thank you ladies for being online first and second any uh discussion all those in favor nine thank you very much have a good night