001Today's December 18th, 7:30. We will begin the special meeting of the board of education. Mr. Zinski, roll call, please. >> Mr. >> here. Mr. >> Here >> thank you. Please join us for the pledge of >> allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> First line item on the agenda would be audience participation. Um I will read the disclaimer. The board welcomes public participation and ask the speakers please limit their comments to three minutes. Speakers may offer objective comments on school operations and programs that concern them to protect the impartiality of the board. We would not permit any expression of personal complaints or defamatory comments about board of education personnel and students nor
002against any person connected with the cher public schools. Such issues should be brought to the school administration. The board will not respond to comments made during public comment except to clarify issues. When appropriate, district administration will follow up at a later point in time. If you do wish to speak, please go to the mic and state your name and address. I think I'm the only one, which is nice. My name is Jared Pinkis. My address is 385 Hedge Court. I have lived in Cheshire my entire life. I went to Darcy then Norton school, graduated Cheshure High School in 2004. My mom taught in Highland School for quite a long time. I have a third grader and a fifth grader, both of them at Highland. We are currently and hopefully finally going to Norton school next
003year. While it's not our ideal decision, we know it's the decision that had to be made. We know that our kids are going to be split up from their friends. We know that our as parents, we're not going to have those same accessibility to our kids, friends, parents. We know this is happening. It's hard for everyone, but we know we have to get through it. So, thank you for taking all this time for presenting all this data to us, but we all just want there to be a decision and we're hopeful that tonight there is. One thing I just wanted to say is the priority waiver situation. Up until November 10th, my part of our neighborhood was going to Highland and the rest was going to Norton. Now, there were five scenarios at that point.
004We assumed two of them were the ones that we were looking at, but then there was some back and forth and finally we're at one where we are all going to Norton. But 536 kids, I think it was, are getting redistricted. The priority waiver is only considering [snorts] 166 of those students. So that's a third of the redistricted people are getting this potential opportunity to be priority. On top of that, there was discussion of dedicating $180,000 towards transportation for $136 people, 30% of the redistricted, which is even a smaller percentage of the entire school population. You could get two new teachers, five pair educators. The list goes on for that amount of money. So, just asking you to consider that we got rid of Spanish last year for the sixth graders. you know, some of
005those models that you showed. I think I forget what slide it was last time of the worst case scenario where all current Chapman students who are moved to Barnum decide to go back, sorry, move to Highland decide to go to Barnum. The worst case model still had Norton school with 24, 25, 23 kids split across four classrooms and I believe it was fifth grade. >> You could add a teacher there and get the class sizes down. So, I just urge you to consider when you're talking about $180,000 that you think about putting it towards all the students and not just that small percentage. I feel for everyone who was re who was misled or thought they were misled in Chapman. I really do. But I just hope we move on and could get a decision
006made. So, thank you very much. >> Thank you, Mr. Pinkas. >> [cough] [clears throat] >> Mike Olison, 130 Woodland Drive, Cheshire. This board should be ashamed of itself in all of its actions. Since the beginning of this new school process, you've lied to our children. You've lied to the families in this town. You've continued these lies until these redistricting plans were put up. Of course, according to the superintendent at last month's recorded Chapman meeting, it's okay that you lied because if all the Chapman families voted against it, it still would have passed. So, we're teaching our kids it's okay to lie as long as it doesn't affect the outcome of the vote. That's unacceptable. I'm wondering if all the families had the proper information if the vote would have turned out differently for your funding.
007The level of level of negligence for this board is staggering. The fact that the number of students affected was not part of the guidelines for redistricting or the primary guideline used to developing these plans as going by the superintendent's presentation the other week isn't excusable. There should have been a 15 to 20% cap on students affected for any plan. I wonder what the plans would have looked like if we had done that. I understand the high cost of transportation, but if you look at all the half empty buses in town, we could cut transportation and reduce traffic at the schools, especially at the junior high and high school. Any student with a parking permit, not just seniors, should have to forfeit their bus seat. Any student that doesn't take the bus at least once a
008week, forfeit their seat. There's your $180,000. While I fully appreciate the option of having a waiver for my children to continue with their friends, it's not enough. A lot of families aren't able to take advantage of the waiver because they can't provide transportation for their kids. People shouldn't have to apply each year. The board should do the right thing and grandfather the Chapman kids into Barnum as they were told all through this process. I filed a complaint with the state board of education and essentially there's little they can do. However, they did tell me with 1% of our electorate, less than 300 people, we can call for a recall of this board. I've sent that information to the town council and the town manager and is still waiting a response how we move forward to
009have the board removed. I understand I've been very outspoken and direct about this, but you have harmed our children and when you harm people's children, you bring out the worst. This board needs to do the right thing or step down. >> Thank you, Mr. Olison. >> Any other speakers that wish to speak? Seeing none, um, like I said before, we typically don't comment, but I will ask the superintendent if he so can to provide some additional information. >> Yeah, I think I'm just going to walk through some of the process and include a couple of highlights. um to address some of the some of the sentiments shared uh through the comment. Um first of all, thank you for being here. Uh I want to just kind of walk through some of the process. I could
010go all the way back to um about 2021 when the community was making the decision to uh build these new schools. Uh certainly the the facilities we have are um ready to be uh beyond ready to be updated. Uh the community saw that is part of the conversation at that time. Uh certainly redistricting was uh a part of that conversation. And when we were looking at locations for uh Chapman school when we did the first or um we when we did the first walkth through we looked at actually could we even build on the Chapman property. Uh we looked at a scenario there. Um, we decided on ultimately a North End school when the community identified the corner of Marian and Jarvis as a potential home for the building. So, when our initial redistricting scenarios
011were drawn up at that time, we didn't even have a location for the building. Um, but even in those scenarios, it wasn't 100% of Chapman students going to the new building. So, there was a lot more talk back then around redistricting than there has been for the last several years. Once the plan was approved, as I said, almost 5 years ago now, um, and the schools were starting to be built, we moved forward and focused much more on that. And I I certainly regret any sort of messaging that has been given to Chapman students and families that everybody would be going there. Um, uh, because obviously that's not the case. and and there are very few things that we can guarantee and we want to try and um you be mindful of that and certainly
012uh the communication could have been and should have been better and and we take ownership of that. I apologize for that and we need to um to reflect on that and improve that. Um as it relates to this process that we have before us today, uh the guiding criteria in charge that was given to MP planning group uh Mike Zuba who has been to some of our meetings uh recently to look at how do we rebalance all of the students in our community. We know that Highland is substantially overenrolled about 950 students. Uh we knew that they had to move out. Doolittle is also overenrolled. That's why we're building two larger facilities to accommodate uh those students but also um absorb our prek program from Darcy school. So, we needed to develop attendance zones that
013align student enrollment with the design capacities of those schools. Those design capacities are dictated by the enrollment study that that Mike did years ago and uh state guidelines. We needed to improve utilization across elementary schools, meaning that schools needed to be balanced with their enrollment. we can't have a building or shouldn't have a building at 95% enrollment, another at 70 or um in some of these initial scenarios that we're drawing up, we were in excess of 100%. Uh they need to be uh sustainable for the long haul. um that we do not want to be changing attendance boundaries every 5 years uh to get to that balance that we need and make sure that our class sizes are appropriate or school sizes are appropriate and we needed to look at efficient and cost-effective transportation options.
014And I say efficient not just from a financial perspective but uh for our students and their travel time on the bus. Uh an additional consideration as I've reviewed before is the Chapman community expectations where it had been shared with them over the last several years that uh everybody will be going to Barnum and building that expectation and I appreciate uh I think as Mr. Pink has said that we we build strong school communities at all of our schools and that um it is a significant shift for all of our students, parents and staff by the way who are also um having to change schools and how do we consider all of this in the process. So the initial scenarios were designed. I don't need to go through all of those, but uh at the end
015you we needed to refine that process to make sure that indeed they were balanced, but also really considering the transportation efficiency component. Uh based on all of that, the proximity to the buildings, uh the students, the neighborhoods that are within that proximity, how do we balance this? Working again with Mike Zuba and the MP planning group, we identified what was ultimately called scenario B2. in those projections. If we look at the fiveyear average um over the course of of a 10-year span in the four new buildings, Barnum, Dittle, Highland, and Norton, the four uh ultimately the four elementary schools will have the utilization rates are 89% 89% 85% and 90%. which um is, you know, as good as you're going to get when you try and balance buildings over a long period like that. That
016might have addressed the initial uh criteria, but it didn't address the Chapman component because in that B2 scenario, about 50% of students from Chapman attend Barnham and about 50% of students from Chapman attend now Highland School. So, um, we very, uh, diligently dug into our enrollment and who those students were that were being moved and ultimately design devised what we called the legacy uh, priority waiverss. And in those uh instances, the students that uh from Chapman that were redistricted to Highland were given a priority waiver into uh Barnum, as were the the 29 families that were kind of late identified from Moss Farms to be able to return to Highland. Now, the the priority status uh what that does is is kind of twofold. First of all, um you know why we don't have that?
017Maybe going back to Highland. Highland has much different uh space capacity than Barnum does. Um is not that we're looking to have 950 students back at Highland again because we were able to wave. We we see what happens when we overenroll a school. We currently have students in Highland uh receiving support services in the hallway, in closets, in rooms like a library workroom converted into a makeshift uh intervention center. It's not uh in anybody's best interest. So, uh that being said, we looked at the enrollment in Barnum and Barnum is going to be tougher to approve waiverss into than other schools. So, um, in giving this priority status, it allows the Chapman families who were redistricted to Highland the first opportunity to wave back to Barnum if they choose. And, uh, I think it's also
018important to to recognize the waiver process itself is not new for the Cheshire public schools. We have about 80 students today that attend school in another area outside of their attendance zone on a waiver basis. When we And by the way, uh in the 10 years I've been superintendent, I've never rejected somebody's request once they're already waved in to remain at that building. Uh we try and honor that through the process. That being said, it's never been guaranteed. And the reason I wouldn't guarantee it here, although I think it is really unlikely, but um I I gave an example that that was timelier than I imagined the other night that if Norton Farms all of a sudden was developed into a 10-story condo complex and it got overrun, well, I probably couldn't guarantee waiverss into
019Highland in that scenario. That's certainly unlikely. And then of course the next day I read that it's going to be 25 homes likely. So um even in that case I mean we did factor homes into it but certainly not a 10tory condo unit but um you know like I said well it's not a guarantee there's very high probability and and we have a track record that's literally 100% of once you're waved into a building that we um make every effort to keep you there. the the point uh again that Mr. Pinkis made about the uh class sizes. We staff our buildings based on student enrollment. We don't set the staffing first and then you know the class sizes blow up. They blow up. Um and that's why it's really important for us to engage in
020this waiver process. Um assuming that you know the board um you know approves the legacy priority waiver and you know asks move forward with that like we would want to start that right after the new year and we would like to wrap that up um as quickly as possible so that we know how many students are committed to each building. When we know that, we will then staff that so that the class sizes are within the tolerances that we have today across our school system. Now, that being said, I think I shared with the enrollment growth we've had over the current school year and projection for the next school year, that itself will likely take five teaching positions to sustain the class size averages that we have today. So there are economic strains in addition
021to those five class sizes. We would need additional specials teachers u potentially administration as well to uh sustain some of the ratios that we currently have based on our current growth. So the legacy priority waiver again while not guaranteed for the time that the child is there provides a strong degree of likelihood barring some real unforeseen development that you'll complete your time within that school. Um, so, uh, when I when I projected the quote worst case scenarios, that was 100% of students, uh, that were districted from Chapman to Highland, 100% taking the waiver and all going to Barnum School. Um the data that I shared at our last meeting, we had solicited families in that circumstance to determine what their preliminary interest was. It last week we had uh 50 I think it was like
02252% of the families had responded to that survey. I had asked at the time that the survey if they could submit it by today. um those families received emails and text messages about this. Uh as of today, we had 73% of the um Chapman to Highland families and uh Moss Farms families combined. 73% of them have responded to the the survey. of the students that were Chapman students seeking waiverss to Barnum School, 72% roughly have sought the waiver. Um, meaning another 28% obviously are looking to attend Highland and the number is almost identical for Moss Farms families seeking to go to Highland. Um I know that uh the point about transportation was raised um when I think it's uh the board's uh effort at that point to consider all variables all circumstances and the consideration
023of transportation based on the survey data that we had and the fiscal constraints. It was not my recommendation to move forward with transportation in part because of all of the people who responded to the survey approximately 67% have indicated that they don't need transportation and that's a you know a pretty significant fiscal commitment um in the face of other fiscal needs uh to to make that commitment. So, in in closing, um I just want to walk through what we're projecting. Assuming the board um directs a legacy priority waiver be instituted, we would initiate that uh on or around January 5th um and ask people to actually make a commitment to the school. And uh if you are going to take the waiver or you're not going to take the waiver uh because again I I
024need that information. Uh all of our staffing is predicated on that. uh we would initiate that on or around the 5th uh seeking to um close that initial legacy priority waiver on the 19th of January um and notify families on or around January 23rd depending on how that process is going. Uh right now the second layer of waiver options um the folks that already have waivers into our schools as well as um those in other schools. We have students from Dittle being redistricted as well as um Highland. Obviously we would initiate that around the 26th of January. But again, I I would say maybe we'll start that sooner if we have um have a good trajectory on the initial process. It's working well and we don't have any uh elements that we need to iron
025out. We may even initiate that sooner because the sooner we initiate both of these, the sooner that process ends, the sooner um we can start to work on the staffing component, the sooner we can start to uh bring the new communities together uh at each school. Every school will have new members of their community, students, staff, families. It is then our priority to uh help those new communities gel together. uh as they they begin their their new uh experiences together. So, um that's just my quick overview. Certainly, I'll take any questions. >> Board members, Mr. Dwight, >> thank you for that, Jeff. Um, so one one of my concerns is I do feel like we're effectively setting up two classes of families, parents, kids. Um, with one being prioritized and one not being prioritized, but
026and and we had discussed this previously. So I just but I just want to be clear on this. And um, with regard to people who families who are not prioritized, the way I see it is this. There would be a um the interest would be waving into a school for which you are not designated districted. That would be Dittle, Norton or Highland. Norton is largely unaffected by all this with regard to um kids who would be there's basically no kids getting districted redistricted out of Norton. So it's unlikely any kids would want to redistrict into Norton just but with regard to and then there are kids being redistricted out of Dittle and Highland. So you mentioned Highland's about 950 and you're looking to take that down by about 200 or 250 kids. Dittle right now
027is about 650 and you're trying to take that down to about 600 kids. And you can jump in here and correct me if I'm like way off base on anything. So the the basic idea here is with regard to kids, parents, families who are not prioritized because the idea is to bring those school populations down. There would be bandwidth available. Not that it's an ideal situation, but it's a far different situation than we have with Barnum right now. Just to be clear on that. And I know you were saying this before. I just want to try to put this in my own words to be clear on it. So there's there's three other schools where people could wave in. >> One of them is unlikely. Two of them there's a good chance kids would want
028to go back to their what they've what's been their home school for a while. But the expectation is there will be bandwidth for the kids to wave back in if they request it. Not a guarantee, but I'm just talking likelihoods here. Yeah, I think there's a a great likelihood that there's bandwidth at places like Highland um to wave back in. Uh and to your point, we can't accept 250 waivers, you know. Yeah. >> Because then we're right back where we started plus the students from Barnum or from Chapman, excuse me, that that were scheduled to go to Barnum that are or excuse me that are scheduled to go to Highland that want to go to Highland. So, um, we couldn't accept everybody if they wanted to. I certainly don't anticipate that, but the there's certainly
029more space at Highland to be able to accommodate than there would be at Barnum, hence the priority waiver. Um, and the fact that they had been told that, you know, you're going to be going to Barnum. So, uh, that that your statement is accurate. >> Okay. Thank you. Um, with that, I think that's I think that's my only question. I could jump into comments about voting, but >> that's the next item. Dr. >> Yeah, thanks for all that. Jeff, um, can you speak just briefly to this idea that is bouncing around in my head because I've spoken to a couple, not all of them, not even most of them, but a couple of the teachers at Chapman School. The teachers have not been under the assumption that they're all going to Barnum. they they're they
030were pretty clear that that it's there's going to be some shuffling around because and and they were in fact asked based on after we uh set our school start times. Um so um can you speak to that? I mean, it's my impression that the teachers have been pretty realistic about how >> I mean, [clears throat] last last spring we did talk about um Marlene and I went and met with uh it might have even been before last spring that we met last >> Yeah. with each with the union leadership at each elementary school to tell them that, you know, uh there there might have to be some adjustments made in terms of the staffing uh because, you know, we wouldn't staff our buildings based on seniority uh or uh you know, just just sheer interest.
031if we're going to staff our buildings based on the number of students who are attending the building and ensure that we have uh a diverse talent base within the school. So we want to make sure that you know the number of people that have been trained as mentors in each building is appropriate. The amount of people that have uh maybe more background in reading than math is is relatively balanced. We we want to make sure that we're uh continuing to deliver an exceptionally high level of instruction across the board and uh we don't believe that you do that by just putting in, you know, the the most recently hired folks or the most senior folks. So, so uh we're looking to build schools that are are balanced. Um and that might mean that people have
032have to shift and that started last fall continued with a message in to the all the faculty in the spring and then again uh this this fall. >> Thank you very much. Any other board members comments >> over here? Skulling in Mike. >> Yep. There you go. >> I just have a comment. Um at the last board of ed meeting um Dr. Jurgen and I mentioned that we would take a ride around the town and I just want to confirm that we did do that. Um, we drove around Academy Road, South Meridan Road, Melrose, Cheshure Street, Riverside, Oxford, Quinnipic, Foxill, Squire Hill, Wexford, Knobill, Vista Terrace, Beacon Hill, Side Hill Drive, Sutton Place, Wolf Hill Road, Moss Farms, Jarvis, Marian, Stacy, Chattam Woods, Moss Lane, Woodland. Um we timed travel times on the bus that
033we looked at um driving to Chapman and then driving um those students to Barnum. We looked at Highland School. We felt it was important to report out on this that we did u make a promise that we were going to do this drive around um because we felt it was important for us to really understand see the different plans um understand the neighborhoods and um so I'm just reporting out I don't know Dr. Harrian if you wanted to add anything to it. She was the driver. I was the designated driver. Um uh I would just say that and as you can see Amarie was the notetaker. Um I would just say that yeah it was important to us and it hopefully also shows that this board has done their due diligence in terms of uh
034looking into everything that we considered to be important in uh making the decision for the redistricting vote that we're going to take tonight. So, thanks for bringing that up. >> Any other board members? Mr. White, >> thank you. Yeah, I just wanted to um follow on what Ann had mentioned a few minutes ago about uh teachers, not necessarily Chapman teachers going over to Barnum as sort of a one forone switch. And the reason I mentioned specifically is because I've had a couple parents mention to me their expectation that their kids would be moving from Chapman to Barnum with the same teachers. And yeah, there's just I've never heard I' I've never heard any discussion about it. I could easily see why people would think something like that and there would be an expectation like that,
035but we've never had any discussion. And it gets it gets to start times and where they are at home. some of them might have kids and stuff. So, uh I just want to reiterate that for parents who are thinking about that just to be uh be aware and not talk up things like that in case they're thinking that a teacher would be going with them from one to the other school. >> Any other board members? >> I do have a followup, Dr. Solen. um our last meeting we did request if you could um get in contact with um at least the before and after school program if you have any information on that end. >> Sure. So I spoke to Doug Leven who's the executive director of the Cheshire Y um and we talked about
036the continuity of of care and service that they provide in our elementary schools. Now uh they are committed to offering before and after care in each of the four buildings. uh to the point that uh Doug has talked about if enrollment is such at the early childhood center that that might be a separate location unto itself. Uh but right now they are definitely committed to at least all four buildings uh in the 26 27 year. >> Thank you. Any other comments from board members? Okay, I'm going to move to um we kind of had some discussion, but we do have two motions in front of us. Um we're going to need to take them separately. So, if I can have the first motion, please >> move that the board of education and cut me off
037if you're thinking something different because there's a blank here. move that the board of education adopts elementary school attendance zones as defined in the scenario B2 to be implemented beginning with the 2026 2027 school year. >> Is there a second? Dr. Herrian discussion, Mr. White. >> Thank you. We the board haven't done a good job with redistricting, including me specifically. I know that when we started down this path a few years ago, I referred I personally referred to the new Chapman. I shouldn't have done that and understand how even that would start to give many people the impression that that many people now have. Uh my words were not intended to mislead anyone, but they did. And for that, I'm sorry. I believe that I can relate to the parents who are facing redistricting. I
038have my own kids at Norton in fourth and sixth grade. Although my fourth grader isn't moving schools, I have been speaking with him about how Norton's fifth grade will change next year with lots of new kids. It's to me it's a serious conversation um and far easier than the conversations about changing schools. Um, but it's still I'm acutely aware of what's going on with redistricting in in households and I I feel terrible about this situation. I wish we weren't in it, but we're here and based on everything the superintendent has explained um for both balancing both the here and now as well as the future which needs to satisfy state requirements. Um B2 is in my opinion the best option and we are hopefully in the second motion hopefully we will be allowing for flexibility
039for parents and kids like I was mentioning before I do I do feel like we're effectively creating two classes of families prioritized and not prioritized which is a problem but as I was alluding to before I think the um for students who want to redistrict back to Dittle and Highland, it will hopefully be workable. And the last point, uh, with regard to busing, I am, as I've said before, it's I'm not in favor of it. If there is a motion or amendment tonight, I'll second it for anyone for discussion, but that'll strictly be seconding it for discussion, and I will not be supporting it. Um, very much in relation to the comments that were offered by is it Jared? Jared Pinkis, one of the speakers here before it just um yeah, I would prefer to
040focus our finite funds on teachers in the classroom uh rather than on transportation. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Any other board members for discussion? >> First, I'd like to thank you, Dr. Solen and your entire staff, Marlene, Vinnie, Emily, Luther, everybody involved with the process. Um, it was clear to me as a new board member that you guys engage with our community, solicit feedback. Uh, and I I there's no one-sizefits-all solution, but I hope that the community sees the legacy waiver program that we'll be voting on tonight as sort of a thoughtful way to balance the concerns of families today and the long-term needs of the district. Uh, as most of you, my colleagues know, I was first involved with the new school project in 2019 when I considered joining the school modernization committee.
041And the time wasn't right for me back then. I had three kids under the age of five. But I followed the process closely. And in 2022, when the board of ed and town council voted, both voted unanimously to move forward with two new elementary schools, um, I followed the process, you know, very closely ever since. And from August of 2022 until that referendum in November, I was a vocal advocate for the new schools. And the major reason for my advocacy was seeing the long-term need, the condition of our buildings, the age of our buildings, and our enrollment trends. And it was clear to me that, you know, we needed these schools. And our community did, too. We passed them 60 to 40. And one thing I thought of today was, you know, at the time
042of that vote, the only enrolled Cheshure public school children that would had any chance of seeing the inside of a new school were in grades K through two, right? Otherwise, you were too old to come into a new school, no matter what the districts were, which meant we had very broad support from the community. no matter how old your children were, if you're retirees, empty nesters, like the community saw the long-term need for this. And it's that long-term need that, you know, I brought to my perspective and and my analysis of these districtricting scenarios. You know, I would not want a situation based purely on minimizing disruption today. That I think that would be irresponsible of us to do that. uh the school, you know, especially Barnum would be at capacity pretty quickly and over
043capacity pretty quickly and we'd be right back into a situation that we don't want to be in. Um [clears throat] so um some some members of the community have also asked us to think of the children and and go beyond the numbers. But you know, in my view, looking at the enrollment data, looking at the data holistically is thinking about the children because I know some are going to get redistricted and it's a difficult transition for them. But I'm also thinking of today's preschoolers, today's newborns, and kids that haven't even been born yet. Right? As I think it was Dr. Solar mentioned, I don't want those kids in five, seven, eight years to take classes in ad hoc instructional spaces or split the libraries or be having classrooms in the hallway because of the decisions
044that we make here today. So, I'll be supporting B2. And one of the reasons that I do support it is because of the waiver program that Dr. Solen and his staff is have put together. So, if you are an affected family uh and this works for you and you know I urge you to take advantage of it, apply for it, you know, whether it's start times, keeping your communities together, keeping your neighborhoods together, you know, definitely take advantage of that waiver. Uh it's, you know, again, no no solution here is the best one, but I think that's the best compromise we can we can have short term and long term. >> Thank you, Mr. Colour. Mitzgerald. Thank you Dr. Solen um and your team for all the work that's been done. Thank you to my
045fellow board members who've considered all this information and thank you to the families who have given so much feedback during this process. I am very sorry for the way uh information was communicated to the Chapman community and I'm deeply empathetic to the confusion and frustration it has caused families. But after much analysis, public input, and difficult discussion, I do believe the plan before SB2 is the best path for Cheshire as a district. It creates the most balanced use of our elementary schools over the coming years, and allows us to plan responsibly in a way that serves all students. Um, I do believe the inclusion of a priority waiver provides a meaningful transition for those families most directly affected by this redistricting. At the same time, I don't believe our budget allows us to allocate additional
046funds for busing for those students who receive waiverss. We have limited resources and I believe they are better directed towards staffing, programming and other supports within our schools. Um, investments that benefit children of Cheshure as a whole. To be clear, all of our elementary schools in Cher are wonderful places of learning. Each school offers a strong academic foundation, a caring and committed staff, and a close-knit community that supports children both inside and outside of the classroom. No matter which school your child will attend, they are part of a fantastic school community that is dedicated to their growth, safety, and success. With a continued commitment to supporting families through this transition and keeping students at the center of every decision, I will be voting yes to the plan before us today. >> Any other board members?
047Mr. Draki, >> I haven't prepared a whole lot, but um I just want the uh community to be fully aware. This is one of the most contentious issues that I've experienced on the board. I'm just starting my third year. We and I want you to know that we heard and read every email. We we listened to the complaints. We talked amongst ourselves. So, you know, I feel awful that the perception that the Chapman community was going to go unmass to to Barnum. That message was out there. I never communicated that message because this was started before I was on the board. Um, but you know, that being said, I think what what we'll find is that the communities that each school has, you know, we've been very fortunate uh to be out in all of
048the our elementary schools, they're great places, okay? And the the kids are going to find and the parents are going to find uh strong communities wherever they go. And as far as our priority, our children, it doesn't matter what school they're in. They're going to be upset for a little while, but they're going to get a great education. And you know that the staff, uh, Dr. Soul and his team is are figuring out exactly what teachers are going to go where to make sure that everyone gets the best opportunity they can in the in the elementary schools. And I think that B2 gives us the best opportunities. you know, when you look at the numbers and again uh echoing uh comments from before, we have to look long term and you know, when you look
049at all the open space in town and you hear about possible develop developments here and there, when you're looking at a 5-year projection of 89, 89, 85, and 90% that you can't get any better than that, we have room to grow in in each of the communities. And I think that you know that's that's the responsible move that we can make as a board. Thank you. >> Thank you Mr. Jackie. >> Miss Colin. >> I also am supporting um the scenario B2. And I would like also um to thank Dr. Solen and his staff for the amount of data um that he has supported us, you know, has given to us to um help us understand how our students are our priority. And we want to make sure that we meet their needs, their famil
050family's needs, um the staff's needs. And I think we have um done that through looking at um all of the data, driving around, um reading all of the emails that have come and I want to thank the public for sending us those emails. It gave us a real good indication of what people were feeling and I also want to thank Dr. Solen for answering them um because I also read his responses continuously day and night. So, um, I'm proud to be on this board of education. I'm proud to be in a community that really puts our students first and are advocating for them. And, um, everyone who came and spoke to us tonight and over the last few weeks, um, I thank them for having, um, the advocacy, uh, for our students. >> Thank you,
051Miss Colin. Dr. I would echo most of what everyone um before me has said and I will just add that um this process is continuing. Uh there are still things that we can and will be doing and making decisions about as we go along. But as has been said quite eloquently by others um we have um we need to do what's best for the community. We need to think long term and short term. And um I believe that this scenario B2 with the um with the uh legacy waiver to come next um is is the best solution for uh meeting the needs of students and families today and and uh in the future. So I will be supporting this scenario as well. And thank you to Dr. Solen and everybody at this table and um
052and many people behind the scenes not at this table. And I also appreciate um all of the public information that we got uh because that's it's important that people are letting us in on where their views are coming from too so that we so that we have a complete picture when we make decisions like this for the whole community. So thank you very much everyone. >> Thank you Dr. Hagan. Um before we take a vote, I'm going to try to pretty much encompass everything that you've said here. Um a little emphasis on a few other items. Um but it's clear that, you know, our decision tonight is is centered around students, you know, their sense of belonging, their emotional well-being and stability. So throughout this process, we um Dr. soul and an administrative team. We
053work to minimize those disruptions so that students learn in wellsupported and inclusive school communities. So scenario B2 does offer the strongest balance between long-term planning goals and responsiveness to enrollment trends, staffing needs, and more importantly to our fiscal responsibility. It addresses the current challenges which you heard uh without relying on short-term or unsustainable solutions. Um, and it's allowing us to plan intentionally for our future enrollment shifts across the district. So, I'm deeply grateful to the parents, students, families, and community members who engage very thoughtfully, I might add. And while some may have opted for a quicker decision, the board intentionally proceeded with care to fully consider community input and explore all viable options. So, your voices were essential, and I encourage continued support of both current and transitioning school communities. And while temporary transportation support
054was considered, it became clear that this approach would not be fiscally responsive or sustainable. Rather than a short-term fix, it's more impactful to prioritize resources towards retaining highquality educators and sustaining strong instructional programs that directly support students. Now, at present, as you heard Dr. Solen, the district will require five additional classroom teachers as well as I believe two and a half specialist teachers and I anticipate that this will be reflected in the superintendent's January budget proposal. And as we plan ahead, it's critical that we continue building on the growth and excellence already established across the district. So I also encourage the inclusion of additional administrative support in the budget. Hopefully Dr. Solden's taking notes. um particularly because it's you know as the enrollment increases and student needs become more diverse especially Barnum um they would
055benefit from assistant principal support to help maintain a strong inclusive and supportive school climate and in speaking with enrollment as well you know the enrollment trends continue to evolve we have to begin proactive discussions around future middle school capacity so based on current projections Odd Middle School may reach capacity in the coming years and I believe it's important for the board to begin exploring potential solutions now rather than responding reactively later. So for all these reasons again I believe B2 positions the district well not only for the coming year but for sustainable growth, stability and especially long-term student success. And I finally want to add to that you know the work doesn't stop here with this decision. We have to stay focused and remain thoughtful in the transitions that are coming. We have to meet
056school opening timelines which right now as far as construction were under our timeline and under our budget too, right? And so yeah, knock on wood for sure. So I I and I do want to emphasize that we need to continue maintaining clear, consistent communication with families to ensure a really smooth, welcoming and joyful start of next year and beyond. So with that, I will be supporting B2. So all those in favor of the motion that is on the board, Mr. White, can you just read that motion one more time? >> Move that the board of education adopts elementary school attendance zones as defined in scenario B2 to be implemented beginning with the 2026 2027 school year. All those in favor of the motion, unanimous. Thank you. We do have a second motion. If I can
057get the second motion on the floor, please. >> Moved that the board of education direct the superintendent to execute the priority legacy waiver program for the 2627 school year. >> Is there a second? Mr. White. Discussion. Mr. Cole. Uh yeah, seeing that we were going to uh have a motion on this, I also just wanted to add Dr. Solen, I know that you would need the data from the survey um the waiver surveys, but I I would urge you once we get that data. I fully recognize that we can't predict everything. A lot of things are, you know, uh you know, you mentioned the the Norton development project. Um so things often can change. Um but you know once we get that survey data if you know it looks like it won't be the worst
058case scenario in terms of all of the students wanting to waiver back and forth um and I'll be supporting the prior priority legacy waiver program but I would ask that once you get that waiver data you consider potentially extending it to a two-year just to provide a little bit of added stability. I think one of the things we're seeing in the data is a higher uptake of waiverss for the older students that want to finish out their their you know career at their elementary school. Um so if if that is all feasible, I would just ask that that you revisit that when the data allows you to do so. >> Any other comments? Yeah, concerning the waiver um program, it really was an important part of for me and I think others for adopting uh
059the scenario B2. And the reason for that in my opinion is it puts the um decision- making back in the hands of the parents. It's the parents who need to decide what where's the best p place for their child and this gives them um the power to uh make those decisions for their families. Um, so I'm wholly in favor of of the waiver and um I I think it was really the the perfect addition to um the scenario so that we can accommodate some people um who are being redistricted. >> Mr. Dwight, did you have comments? >> Thank you. Yeah, I'm not going to repeat my comments with regard to this motion uh comments I made in the prior motion other than to say yeah, I think this is I'm supporting it and I think
060it's an important piece of this. The one comment I just want to add what I mentioned previously um at a board meeting is the and I've seen it also from parents for the superintendent just to be monitoring to the best extent you can uh drop off and pickup because that could end up being a problem that will need to be addressed. So however whatever we can do about that that would be good. Just trying to anticipate that. Thank you. >> I think is there potential doubt stolen that we can probably have that um I know it's not possible at this moment but you know before opening day just to get a sense of what the drop off and pickup scenario looks like, >> traffic patterns and so forth. >> Oh, sure. Yeah. I mean um
061Mr. Assiana, we we are already looking at and and we've done a lot of work already around enhancing at our new buildings what parent drop off looks like. It looks way different than it did 25 years ago. Uh a waiver program will put strain on that, but uh particularly at Barnum with two entrances. Um we're looking at strategies to mitigate the impact of that. >> Thank you. Any other thoughts, Mr. Right. I do believe I am in agreeance with Mr. Colar um concerning the potential of revisiting this, but I do want data in front of us. Um so if we can propose this at our next planning meeting or a year from now after we kind of get past next year, see how that looks, especially with the drop off pickup. Um I know there's
062still talk about sidewalks and so forth too, depending how this works out. Um so I do think that if at possible um one of the board members would bring that up in our planning meeting to move forward too. Any other discussion? >> Okay. Um if you can just repeat the motion, Miss Cullin. >> Moved that the board of education direct the superintendent to execute the priority legacy waiver program for the 2026 2027 school year. >> All those in favor of the motion that is on the floor. Unanimous. Thank you. With that, I will take a motion to adjurnn. >> So moved. >> Miss Colin, Mr. Eckie, all those in favor of adjournment. Thank you. Thank you everybody for coming out.