001Education special meeting on July 30th. >> Uh, Miss Colin >> present. >> Mr. Ekie >> here. >> Mr. Gria >> here. >> Dr. Herigan >> here. >> Mr. Perini >> here. >> Miss Rosenberg >> here. >> And Mr. White to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. To the audience portion of the meeting. If there is anybody in the audience like doesn't look like it on to standing committees. First committee will be personnel and I am going to appoint or forward this to Miss Cullin. Okay. The first item on the agenda under the personnel committee is the appointment of chief operating officer. The recommendation is that the Cheshire Board of Education appoints Emily Taylor to the
002position of chief operating officer. Further, the board of education authorizes the superintendent to finalize a three-year employment contract with Miss Taylor. Second, any discussion? All those in favor of the recommendation. Do we necessary? >> Yeah. >> Okay. All those in favor of the recommendation, the motion that is on the floor, >> unanimous. Thank you. [Applause] [Music] >> I know you're not. >> Congratulations. [Music] >> We got to get her to move here. >> Congratulations. Congratulations on that. >> Taylor, would you like to state anything for the record or >> do I have to go in front or can I just talk to you all? >> You can just talk to us. >> Yeah, right there camera facing. >> Oh, great. Great. I'll make this really short and sweet. Uh, I'm a proud graduate of Cheshire
003Cheshure High School. I did K through 12 at Cheshire. never thought I would be back here, but I'm really excited and proud of the work that we're doing in operations and that we get to do for the kiddos of Cheshure. So, I'm very excited and just very humbled by this appointment. Thank you. [Applause] >> So, item number two, next item on the agenda is the appointment of Dittle School assistant principal. Uh, her resume is attached and the recommendation is as follows. That the Cheshure Board of Education Jillian Roman as assistant principal of your little school at an annual salary in accordance with the terms and conditions of the collective bargaining agreement with Cheshure administrative personnel. >> Is there a second on the floor Tony conversation discussion a little bit back? >> Yeah, please. >> Yes.
004So, um first of all, I know I speak for Marlene. couldn't be here this evening but uh and and Kristen Lopa the principal at Dittle is out of town unfortunately today but uh we went through um a very deep uh process uh spending a lot of time we had well over a 100 applicants for this position um and I think if you see Miss Roman's resume in her depth of experience. Um you'll appreciate the sort of candidates that we were considering for this position. Uh we had an initial screening interview um of 24 candidates. We had a subsequent screening interview of like 15 candidates. a subsequent interview with um our faculty uh parent representation uh of five candidates at that point before finally making this decision after thoroughly reviewing uh resumes, recommendations, um Instagram profiles,
005Facebook, whatever we could find, talking to neighbors, the the candidates's pets, anybody. Um it was very um very detailed process. At the end of the day, we couldn't be more excited about um bringing Jillian on to the team. Uh her depth of knowledge um was really exceptional. Um when you talk about instructional leader, she really embodied that throughout her career. But um at least if not more importantly was her enthusiasm. enthusiasm um in connectedness with kids and uh her colleagues. Um that doesn't make her a pushover. It makes her somebody who's able to connect with people and maybe get them um to places that they didn't see possible. Um and so we we are really thrilled to be bringing Jillian on as part of our Bristol feeder program. Um we had the benefit of hiring
006Azra redick as you remember about a month or so ago and um Azra also couldn't say enough great things about Jillian which further I think validated our our decision. So with all that I'm pleased to introduce you to Jillian Roman look forward to working with her >> um No. Um, unfortunately when we were engaging in it, it just had conflicts with different board members. >> We just did communications via email. >> I don't know if any board members were communicating. >> No, I I I kept on communications resume >> pretty comprehensive. I didn't realize you were starting a theater system. >> I think this is probably the end of the theater system, but we got really good people out of it. >> Yeah. >> So, any other comments, questions? >> All I say is I
007had an opportunity to be on the panel and I couldn't make it. So, all I'll say is I'll trust the process. >> Awesome. Um, all those in favor of the motion that is on the floor, unanimous. Thank you. [Applause] >> Congratulations. >> Thank you very much. I'd just like to say that I you bring me a little tear down as you're talking there. Um I am very very thankful for this opportunity and I'm so excited to join the do little staff. I got to meet 10 of them while we were part of that third panel and they are so happy and they just bleed that school in all ways. There was one thing that stood out to me. My parents said that her children were coming back and they said, "Every year my teachers are
008getting better and better." And that stuck with me because that instructional piece is so core for our students. And so I'm very excited to join the team. Thank you, [Applause] >> Miss Taylor. Must be a short hair. >> Item number three, um, approval of contract Education CSA and SEIU local 2001 760 m. >> Well, is the spirit of the return? >> Here we go. >> I will I will ask Emily to explain. I know the board members do have a memo. So, we did negotiate the contract together and I do want to acknowledge that Tiffany Balardi is here. She is the CSEA union president. that we negotiated with. So I will ask Emily to provide an open. >> Great. Uh so we started negotiations with the Paris back in February and we had six sessions
009that ultimately concluded in May where we discussed 78 different items. Um I'm going to go through some of the bigger ones. But I also wanted to acknowledge Tiffany just for the collaboration and teamwork and partnership as we work through this process. It was really a wonderful experience for me as my first union negotiation. So uh as we said we had 78 proposals. There were 38 from the board of ed and 41 from the union. We negotiated 50 of them successfully. Uh rejected 27 and then one was withdraw withdrawn. So we're looking for a contract a three-year contract term that will be retroactive from July 1st and will go through June 30th 2028. Some things of note is the wage increase for our paras. There was a pretty significant shift in the wages going up next
010year. you will see an outlay in the second page um that shows you a couple different things I want to highlight is you'll see that there's actually a delineation between the lunch and playground study hall monitors and the parent educators and hall monitors so those are differentiated which is uh change from our past contracts and you will see that the uh lunch and playground is 1725 the pair educ monitors are $18 is the minimum starting wage and then the ADA BTI state uh 258 Uh the reason that we had such an increase in the starting wage was that the minimum wage has went up in Connecticut quite a bit. It's projected to be closer to $17 an hour when we hit January 2026. So that drove a lot of our conversations. Um and to also
011acknowledge the work that our PAR educators are doing with our students as well. The annual impact of the wage increases was about 6.4% for this next school year. Um some other things that you should know the medical benefits we held the benefits flat so they have a co-share of 19% and there's a wellness incentive that we have for this union where they uh can get a decrease in their co-share if they participate in three components of a wellness the wellness incentive but all of the other items were held flat so the deductible remaining the same the board's contribution to the HSA and like I said the employee co-share will be 19% for the three years of the contract for all of the different groups of paras that we've listed. So, the lunch para monitors. Uh,
012another thing that's important about the medical benefits is effective year two of the contract and not this school year but next. Uh, the PO and HMO plans will be eliminated as options. So, that will meet the high deductible health plan. So, that's becoming a little more consistent with some of our contracts. Um, the teachers union is also phasing out the HOP but I That's a year after this this one. Correct. Yeah. So, some other key contract terms is uh you'll see on this last page just some other things of note. Although we you know we talked about 78 different things is clarifying some language about seniority. um just to make sure that I think that you know with our with excuse me uh for people that are having position transfers and uh not being uh
013essentially not continuing beyond their probationary period saying that we will try to return them to the position they previously held on a best pepper basis. We extended the amount of time allowable for a grievance submission from 5 to 15 days. And then we clarified some early dismissal expectations for the three different groups that I listed in the wages. Uh and that essentially has to do with completing some professional development requirements. And then that was a little different depending on which group you fell in that is listed on that little wage chart. So there is this is a pretty meaty uh memo but I want to now open up if anyone has any questions about our contract. >> Muse my ignorance um just on the chart in itself >> just kind of clarify what a red
014circle is and does that delineate specific responsibilities? >> Yes. I'm actually going to defer to the on the red circle. It's a very small group of individuals. I think there are three or four that qualify as red circle in the entire bargaining unit. they've reached their maximum pay and so their increase is below the other group. It's really it's I don't know where the term red circle came from probably because those employees at that that were above the maximum pay were at a red circle. But as far as responsibilities are concerned, are they >> maybe okay >> parents? Got it. >> How long does it take to get to the that level? 25 years. So these are our most senior parents. >> There's two. >> Thank you. >> Um how much of the uh wage
015and benefit increase was anticipated in our budget for next year? considering our significant decrease of our increase. >> Yeah. So we we budgeted 5% across all groups. Um so this will create a variance of you know roughly $45,000 for next year but you know I will say I think the board knows that we typically have a fairly high rate. We hope these wages will help lower that but you know to the to the extent we have turn have openings. The 50,000 will probably make up from just the vacancy. >> So I was actually on that um so we do anticipate that you know paying your employees a little bit better might um actually keep the turnover from >> Yes. I mean it's it's cheaper to keep the employees that you have than to spend all
016that time and energy and effort hiring. >> Not all the turnover is is specifically because of pay but they factor and working with you know Tiffany and the group they did um highlight that they felt the PAR educators which their starting rate would be $18 per hour was needed to be more competitive. It wasn't we didn't have to the lunchroom playground previously. So that was an important issue. The other thing that you know we've talked about during the negotiations and I've talked to the board about we do have a career path and a pay increase path with our PAR educators if they you know get certified to become ABA DTI certified and they're working with students have certainly a lot more needs their to the minimum there is $25 an hour. Some most school districts
017do not differentiate. So that is a differentiator for us. >> How many do we have percentage wise? >> ABA DTI. Um it's about 30% around 45 or so ABA DTI certified you know and that that count has been growing because of student needs. >> Yeah. and >> they're working with some of our neediest students. So, you know, I'm happy to see pay raises quite frankly. I know I'm not supposed to be happy about that, but I am. >> No, it's okay. >> Yeah. >> We're trying to find the sweet spot. Obviously, you know, I don't here nobody within the bargain would argue that they're overpaid or um I think we're at a place more competitive and we have an agreement um as these guys have mentioned uh in collaboration with the bargain unit who overwhelmingly
018supported this contract tells me that you know I think all parties are walking away feeling good about what we're doing. >> Well, thank you. Well done, >> Mr. White. Oh, welcome. >> Thank you. two questions which are you didn't really raise but um do the pairs does the contract include either a defined benefit defined contribution plan either or both I'm guessing that's probably a somewhat complicated answer but I'm thinking short answer to it >> yes yes so there is a there that is part of their um agreement it was not highlighted here No, no, >> but it stayed the same from the previous contract. >> It's a defined contribution for new >> employees since 201 15 or so. >> Okay. >> Um employees that were hired before then were eligible for the town pension plan.
019All new employees have a defined contribution plan. >> Okay. So prior to any employees that were hired before 2015 basically are in a defined benefit plan. >> They were eligible >> eligible for it. >> Yeah. >> That doesn't mean everybody enrolled. >> Oh, really? >> Yeah. >> Okay. Um Jim, uh so anybody who is I shouldn't say anybody, but most of the people there's probably a good number of people who are retired who are in the defined benefit plan still. >> Is that fair? Okay. Um, do you have do you have what are the I'm just curious. Do you have ballpark numbers? Is it 200 pairs? >> It's around 190. >> Okay. >> Not all Paris. That's in the entire >> I'm sorry about this contract. >> Yeah. So, the contract though includes lunchroom playground
020aids. There are about 40. We have study hall monitors. There's just a handful. We have hall monitors at the high school. A handful. The power group is probably around 10. >> Okay. And the to the contract >> DTI of 40, you know, 45 or so. So this contract has different members. It's not just PAR educators. >> Okay. So this bargaining, this this collective bargaining agreement has about 190 people. Call 200 to keep simple. I'm just curious of that. How many people are just a ballpark number hired since 2015 versus hired before? So, forget about who enrolled or whatever. I'm just curious. >> I can take a guess. >> That's good enough for me. >> Third were prior to 2015. >> Okay. >> Between retirements and turn, but we could get more. >> No, no, no,
021no. Um, and then my other question, uh, how do how does the contract handle, um, how do I want to put it? I'm specifically thinking of sick days, but then anything else as well, other paid leave. Is it is there a moment in time where it's use it or lose it or does it acrew indefinitely where some people have like six months or a year by the time they retire? >> Well, there is an approved for sick time. >> Okay. >> This This unit I believe has two personal days per year. They're on a vacation day. These are 10 month employees. >> Okay. >> They can acrew their sick time up to a max >> 70. >> How many? >> 70. >> Up to 70 sick days can be acred. >> And the union also
022has a sick bank that the employees when they join the borrowing unit can contribute sick days to a sick bank. And then if there's an extended illness and the out of sick time. There is a process where members of the bargaining unit and administration we review the request there specific parameters that have to be met to use 25 sick days at a time out of the s. >> Okay. Um and if someone when someone say retires the red circle or something retire and they have 70 days in the bank is that a payout of 70 days? >> No. >> Okay. There is a a payout of >> 20. >> Okay. >> Yeah. No, the the main reason I just remember when I was on town council 20 years ago and it was one of the
023smaller departments and they had somebody who had like it was more than six months. I think it was pushing toward a year. When you're looking at annual budget in a relatively small department of only three or four people and one person gets it all this year, it's problematic. So that that was where I was coming from. >> Yeah. And on the school side, you know, the other bargaining units also have a similar maximum number of days paid out at retirement. >> Okay. >> But there I think 20 is it that is the highest. >> Okay. Yeah. All right. Thank you so much everybody. >> And just for the attractiveness factor of position itself. precisely the opportunity to go into the path. Um is there professional learning along the way that they can participate into just
024for their own personal growth beyond going into that? >> Um well I I will start with this all the employees have to complete their mandated training every year and we use vector training. There are modules that employees can do on their own and then we do professional development. In fact, in Paris, not everyone, but the paradel, can you read the recommendation? >> Recommendations at the Board of Education approved the collective bargaining agreement with CEA SEIU Local 2021760 for the Cheshure Par Educators, lunchroom and playground aids, hall monitors and study hall monitors for the period from July 1, 2025 through June 30th, 2028. Further, the board of education authorizes superintendent schools to sign the contract on its behalf. Thank you. All those in favor of the motion that is on the floor. Congratulations. Thank you. [Applause]
025>> I will take a motion to adjourn. Those are all the items that we have on the agenda. Nobody wants to Mr. Gar is calling in. All in favor of journment. Thank you. We return.