001here tonight. Mr. Jesse, can you roll call, please? Sure. Here. Thank you. Please join us in the pledge of allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for it stands. nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Great. First order of business, Lydia Malachi for the student report. Good evening. All right. Hello again, everyone. We're so excited to share a few more updates with you all before we go our separate ways to April break. Our sports spring season just kicked off and our athletes are training hard for their competitions in the coming weeks. Back in the classroom though, many CHS students are studying just as hard for their upcoming AP exams, which will be held during the first two weeks of May. Meanwhile, while we start wrapping
002up our school year at CHS, we're getting ready to welcome the newest generation of Rams in our Cheshure Nope. In our freshman transition program, Chesher's eighth grade eighth graders will be coming to our school after spring break to learn about the high school experience from our peer advocates and link crew leaders. and we sure hope they don't forget to mention one of the best high school experiences. We're thrilled to announce that our junior prom will be on April 26th at Laabella Vista and our senior prom will be held on May 10th at Arya. We hope our upper classmen have a great time. April at CHS wouldn't be complete without outstanding performances from our choir and bands. Our spring coral concert and band concert will be happening during the last week of the month with the
003band concert on the 29th and the chorus concert on May 1st. So, even though the school year is ending, there are still activities around the school that are just beginning to bloom. We hope to see you at some of these events, and we hope you have a great night. Any questions? Well, thank you for stealing my thunder, Malachi. But yes, any questions from the board members? Dr. Hagan, I don't have a question. I just want to give a shout out to Lydia for uh her stellar performance in Foot Loose. Oh, yes. As as usual, I thoroughly enjoyed the musical. Thank you. Any other comments or questions from board members? I just want to add too that I I did see Foot Loose and it was wonderful. And I have to comment on the Friday nights
004that I've had in the past month going out. There's a lot going on. Dr. Solen in Cheshure. They do come here for the night life. Schools, for the nightife, dinner and a movie, a movie, dinner and a spring musical. It was wonderful. So was the um let me think the dad play and um Ed Foundation trivia night. We had that on a Saturday night. Yeah. So there's a lot going on in in the in the town. So and thank you. That was a wonderful course, wonderful experience. That's a shot at me because I always say people don't move here for the nightife, but then we can't say that school is the night life because you guys did a great job of making the nightife. Had a great time at the play. My wife and I
005really enjoyed it. So, uh, you sounded fantastic, Lydia. Great job with the whole cast. The dancing was amazing. So, congratulations. You guys did a great job. Awesome. And a shout out to um Don Deo and Kristen Jurns. Yes, they always do a fabulous job. They put their heart and soul into it. So, thank you guys. Thank you. Any other board members? Well, thank you both as always and good luck with the AP exams coming up. All right, have a good night. Next item on the agenda, we have um several presentations I'm really excited about. Dr. Solen, um the first one would be science and engineering. Sure. I want to invite Mr. Hanlin and uh Miss Barker to the podium to recognize three of our students who participated in the Connecticut Science and Engineering Fair. Sorry.
006Uh, give us just a second to get organized. So, I'm very proud of the students at Cheshure High School who participated in the Connecticut Science and Engineering Fair. We have three three students that participated. Wendy Kai who received third honors up Janda who got second honors and a finalist award. and such navasan who got first honors and a finalist award and was also invited to go to the Connecticut invention convention as well. So if you get a chance to read the whole list of awards, it would probably take too long tonight, but they were all high awards and they did a great job with our science fair uh presentations. [Applause] Well, [Applause] So as we continue recognitions this evening, you may recognize this next group from many aboard meeting in the past. Uh please welcome
007uh Mr. John Parisino, our athletic director, who will recognize one of our teams, newest teams. All right. Good evening, ladies and gentlemen of the board. Uh tonight I have the privilege of recognizing and celebrating the historic seasons of two exceptional teams along with the extraordinary accomplishments of a coach who will soon be honored on the national stage. The purpose of our athletic programs is to provide student athletes with meaningful experiences that help them grow not just in competition but as individuals prepared for success in life. We also strive to compete at the highest levels across Connecticut and New England. The student athletes and coaches joining us tonight represent that mission with and those goals with pride. First, we recognize our fencing team. This year marked a major milestone as our fencing program officially transitioned from
008club status to fully recognized varsity sport at Cheshure High School. The program has long been known for its inclusive culture, a place where athletes of diverse backgrounds and experiences come together to push each other, support one another, and grow as a team. This year, they even welcomed an athletic director who did not know much about fencing. Their accomplishments speak for themselves. First, their men's epi team won their conference and for the second year in a row won their state championship. Their men's saber team finished sixth in the state. Their women's foil team placed second in the conference and sixth in the state. And their women's saber team, one of my favorite stories, when they came to my office, finished third in states, a first in Cheshure fencing history. Even more, yes, please. Even more impressive,
009over 50% of our fencers earned conference academic achievement awards, showcasing the balance of athletic and academic excellence that we strive for. Congratulations to coaches Heather Von Fischer, Kyle Mezi, Elizabetha Keranova, Adam Kazus, and all our fencing student athletes on an incredible season. I I was well this was um I was I was coming here actually to thank all of you. Can you hear me? Is it coming through here? Okay. Um over a year ago we've attended several board meetings and council meetings. So yes, we you know our faces by now. Um and the kids became a successful quest for varsity status at the high school and you know as a coach and as a representative for the whole team you know I thank you all for granting us that recognition. Um the board and council
010members recognize the value of fencing in Cheshure and Dr. Solen, Mr. Parisino and even Mrs. Murphy, you can give her a little shout out. Um, they helped us achieve that successful transition and it's really appreciated. Um, we know that town administration is not easy at all, especially during budget seasons and it's important for you to see the positive impact of your decisions. Um, you don't always get that from people and you've expanded the opportunities for so many boys and girls. Uh the transportation has afforded fencers access to the competitions. The funding um for coaches and equipment has allowed us to grow the program overall. And the kids experienced firsthand that advocating for themselves and following the process, you know, as we attended these meetings actually brought wonderful results. So, thank you. Um, we've had many
011successful seasons over the last 20 years, but this season w was historic like John was saying, and we truly appreciate all of your support and hope to see you at some of the matches. So, anyway, we want all of you Don't set yourself. believe Thank you. Congratulations. [Applause] science team to be honest with you. Okay, great. All right, with that, our next recognition is our Cheshire High School cheerleading team. Yeah. I think anything I say will only be second to Miss Rosenberg's incredible shout out at the beginning of the meeting. Um, all right. The time and commitment put into by our Treasure High School cheerleaders is second to none. Their season begins with the fall sports spirit season in August and runs all the way through the winter competition season into late March. This year's
012team had an historic run. They consistently worked to improve their routine, getting better with each competition. Their hard work paid off with a second place finish at the Class L state championships, the highest in school history. And they qualified for the New England Championships for the first time ever. At that meet, they delivered their best performance of the season and placed third in all of New England. Additionally, three members of the team earned all state honors. Congratulations to Coach Emily Funk, who unfortunately couldn't be with us tonight. She didn't want to fly back from Japan for some reason. Um, and our dedicated assistant coaching staff and of course our talented student athletes on a truly remarkable season. You got to get into a formation. Squeeze in. [Applause] away. [Applause] All right. Lastly, I am proud
013to recognize coach Barbara Heden of our girls outdoor track and field team who is receiving national recognition for a career of excellence and impact. This June, Coach Heden will be inducted into the National High School Athletic Coaches Association Hall of Fame. Barbara has served as our girls outdoor track and field head coach since 1992, following five years of coaching outdoor track and field at Mercy High School. In that time, her teams have compiled an incredible record of 279 wins, 75 losses, and two ties. At Cheshire High School, she's coached two state runner-up finishes, three division championships, four league tournament titles, and four league championships. In addition, while coaching at Mercy High School, she read led their cross country team to two state championships and two runner-up finishes. While her win loss record is impressive, it's
014her coaching philosophy that truly stands out. When asked about her approach to mentoring student athletes on and off the track, Coach Heden shared, "I have dedicated my coaching career to helping my athletes and teams fulfill their potential, strive to be better athletes and people, and give back to the team and community. Even with teams of 70 individuals, each individual mattered. Each held a special role. Coach Heden, congratulations on your upcoming induction into the National High School Athletic Coaches Association Hall of Fame. A well-earned honor for a truly extraordinary coach and mentor. [Applause] Uh, I'd like to thank everyone here for coming out and supporting um all of the teams that are here and all the athletes. You all have done a wonderful job. I'd also like to um thank not only my team here, but
015also my coaches. Any coach who has coached for a long time knows that you don't do this alone. It is a joint effort and I am blessed to have uh three assistant coaches who really strive to work together and fulfill the same uh dream that we all are searching for. And that's to make our athletes not only the best athlete that they can be, the best version of themselves, but also an all-around athlete. um someone who gives back to their community, who recognizes other who volunteers and grows within their athletic career at the same time. Um one of the things I'm most proud of as um a coach through all my years, I have had teams that have included nationally ranked athletes that have competed alongside and with special needs athletes. I have a no
016cup policy. I accept all athletes on my team and I strive to make each of those athletes a better person and a better athlete. And I am always proud of the fact that both my athletes who are nationally ranked have worked side by side and alongside with those special needs athletes and they've all grown together and worked together. Um, I'm really proud of the athletes that I've had and how hard they work, how much they work together, support each other, and my captains this year, um, have just been phenomenal. Bri, Cam, Aubrey, um, and they are, you know, the athletes that I have this year, the athletes that I've had all over all the years, they're the reason why I come back year after year. um because they make it fun and I like to
017have fun with them and I like to see them grow as people and as athletes. Um so this is really not just about me. It's about all every athlete I have had on my team in the last you know and I started coaching in 1982 with a cross country team and then went to track. Um so it's about not only US athletes but all the athletes that I've had before too. Um, and you know, so that's what makes it special is them. [Applause] She got to have other people haveever. little slide over. [Applause] How are you? [Applause] there just and Rob will tell me I'm never just like, you know, done, but um he's been coaching ing with me for too long. He knows that I'll keep on speaking. Um, I just also wanted to
018say that, you know, you don't do it alone. And uh some people who I really appreciate all they they do for me, the other athletes in our team is our current athletic director, John, but also Steve Tofone, our for now former athletic director. Um and uh Sue Murphy, who is our um administrative assistant, or she just runs the show at the high school. Been the athletic director the whole time. I don't know what we would any of us coaches would do without her. So, I really appreciate all the help that I get from all of you. And um yes, and for those of you who remember Wayne Candela, too. So, um thank you for all your support. Thank you. And congratulations to everybody. It's really great to celebrate and I wish this was done during
019our previous prior meeting to this um because somebody said it best. This is the product of what we support. So congratulations. Keep doing your thing. You make us all very very proud. So you're welcome to also say for the remainder of the agenda. Please do unless you have AP testing soon. So I ask that you go study for that. But once again, congratulations everybody. [Applause] Yeah, if you guys can wait. Um this is the the audience portion. So I invite uh Miss Nichols if you could to um address. So good evening. Thank you. I'm sorry it was a very very new thing that came through and um not only the team but the kids are very excited that one of the fencers got invited to compete internationally. So she gonna compete in Brazil and also
020in Spain. Um what you have in your hand is the formal um invitation convocation from the Brazilian Federation so Victoria can attend and so we are very proud and I hope the school is proud as well. Yes. Awesome. Congratulations Victoria. If that's okay with you, she would like to take a picture with you guys. Oh yeah. Come on. Thank you for your support. Would you like toach? Come here. Come on, guys. Take a picture of everybody. There you go. All right, we're good. Although you guys don't know about that. Awesome job. Obligato, Miss Nichols. I thought I was having summer. All right. If there are any other audience members that would like to also go to the podium, this is the audience section of the meeting. Seeing none, we're going to move on to our
021committee reports. First committee up is curriculum. So I'd ask Miss Cullinin. Mike like to start with the mic and then um put a motion on the floor that the Cheshire Board of Education approves the survey questions as recommended by the state department of education. Motion's on the floor. Is there a second? Mr. Ek second. Um discussion of the motion on the floor. I just want to point out that in the packet there are the three um surveys that would be going out that we would be using for parents, students, and staff. Just a quick question. When are we um what date is it slated to be dispersed? The idea is to administer this a after the April break. Okay. Questions from board members for discussion. Miss Harrian. Miss Solano, could you um explain how the
022survey will be distributed not only to students, which I assume is during school time hours, but also to um staff and parents. Sure. Happy to. Um, as you mentioned, the student survey is going to go through to grade students in grades three through 12, and that will be done in the classroom. The parent survey will be sent directly to all families via parent square. In addition, because this is a student survey, a letter will be going home to all families and letting them know about the survey, giving them a PDF copy of the survey, and as with all surveys, giving them an opportunity to opt their child out of the survey if they would like. And then the staff survey will also be going to all of our staff, not just our teaching staff, but
023any staff that works in the building, so that they can also give us some valuable feedback. After we get the survey results back, we look at them. We analyze them. They are analyzed at the school level by each individual safe school climate committee at each of the schools. We also look at them at the district level and then we will talk about them at the district safe school climate meeting in May. From there, we'll analyze these results along with other information that we have like disciplinary data and past results to inform our safe school climate plans which will be um which will be put together over the summer by individual safe school climate committees at each school. And then those improvement plans will be posted to our website and shared twice with the community. um
024once at the beginning of the year and once um later on in the school year and the questions came from these are standard questions. Yes. Yes. That was something that um was new but and I mean not exactly new but due to the new laws we they had given this guidance um just actually last week from the state department we had sort of gotten an early preview of them. So yes, all of the questions that are here are taken straight from the recommended list. Yeah, the board members questions. So we're administering after break 10 minutes looks like for each one of these surveys. Um and is there a particularly cut off time? We usually give people about two weeks. We send reminders. We try to get as many participants as possible to encourage. What is
025the response rate in past? Do you have I had that for our last meeting. Okay. It's pretty high for the students. It's above 90%. Um the high school sometimes a little bit less. Um and as you can imagine, K through six, we have a really good turnout for parents, probably 80 to 90%. Um and then it it dips a little bit as the kids get older, but still pretty pretty robust. I I'll be sure to share those with you after this administration. Do do we give the kids class time to do this or is like advisory? We do. I believe at the high school they're doing it in advisory. At the other at um Dodd they may be doing it during their type of advisory period. In um in elementary schools they'll do it with
026their classroom teachers. Any other questions? Discussion. Okay. So, um, all those in favor of the motion that's on the floor, Miss Cullinin, can you just read it one more time for clarification? The motion, can you just read the motion again? That the Cheshire Board of Education approves the survey questions as recommended by the state department of education. All those in favor of the motion that's on the floor, it's unanimous. Thank you. Any further comments uh from the curriculum committee? No. All right, we move on to finance. Dr. Herrian, good evening. Um, we have in our packets lots of financial documents. Um as reflected in the summary that we see before us um the summary through March 31st 2025 our approved budget for the 202425 fiscal year is 89 million uh 542,609 and we have expended
027and encumbered 82 million 109,965 during the eight months of the fiscal year which includes our income encumbrances for our largest accounts, namely payroll and transportation. Um, uh, with that, I am going to knock the finance report over to Mr. Masiana. I'm sure he doesn't mind. and he will take us through also medical benefits claims and um also if we have if anyone has any questions on the energy price locks he'll he's available for that those questions as well. Thank you Mr. President. Thank you Dr. Harren. Good evening board members. I just one correction I just uh saw in the memo we completed nine months of the fiscal year. Um, so with three quarters down, we only have April, May, June, so one quarter left. Overall, the budget is in good shape. There's not really much
028in the way of pressure points. Um, we are still holding at 70% of non-payroll expenditures, meaning that the departments and schools can exceed 70% of their approved budget for their line items. Um, in light of the discussions we've been having around the 20 u the 25 26 budget that we may need to contribute 200,000 from this year to next year. We'll keep that 70% hold in place for at least another month till you know we're comfortable that we'll be able to meet that that $200,000 requirement. I don't see that as being an issue at this time. On the medical benefits front, it's April uh 10th, so we don't have March claims yet. So, I don't have anything to update there. Um, and then the energy price locks, nothing has changed since our last meeting. Those
029price locks, you know, either expire at the end of this fiscal year and in the case of electricity, that goes on into next year. So, that um that really concludes the finance report for this evening. pretty straightforward. Any other Mr. Gribble? Um, several questions actually. Well, we'll start with two. Several would be more than two, right? Um, so, uh, as in regards to the hold back, the 200,000. Um, what line items are you eyeing to hold back? because it looks like there's a couple of candidates, but you know, so um you know, clearly maintenance is one, you know, there's a a reasonably good balance there. Um some of the supply lines still look healthy. um you know as as much as we've got only three months to go you know there are still expenditures that
030will um reduce some of the balances including some of the salary balances. So the um overall 200,000 will come from when we know better bunch of different places but maintenance and supplies are the ones that we typically go after first because it doesn't affect you know classrooms. Um we will as we do every year part of the remaining budget balance we will start to make our purchases for equipment and supplies for next year. supply bid comes out later in the month of April and we have to make those purchases so that they're received in time for the new school year. Um, all right. So, so now now I'm on the several I guess if if I'm allowed. Um, so student activities that that line item that's the one that kind of stuck out to me
031at 62%. Um, so what is included in student activities? So, we have not paid out the stipens for the spring sports. Okay. And that will eat up most of that balance. So, that's coach's salaries essentially. That Okay. Yeah. So, that's why it still looks I was like, wow, that's really sticks out. That will get to zero. Okay. Yeah, that'll get to zero. Um, but it's a good observation. Well, you know, I try lowhanging fruit, man. It's 200,000, you know. Um, uh, let's see. So, what was my second question? Uh, oh, gee, I had a like I had a real question there and everything. Um, all right, come back to me. Unless I'm the only one. No, Mark, you're not me. Go ahead. um the gentleman before who spoke about renegotiating health contracts. Yeah. Is that
032is that a real thing and is that something we can look at? So it's not I think he's if I recall he is pretty knowledgeable on this subject but you know so just a couple of you know a couple of my thoughts on that because we do you know shop certain portions like our stop-loss insurance is stop is shopped every year. the medical benefits themselves, the fact that we are self-insured, no matter what carrier we go to, claims are claims. So really the, you know, the benefit of shopping would be if you can reduce the fees you pay for the processing of claims. It's not to say we shouldn't go out to bid, but doing it every the gentleman said, you know, every year just not practical in a in a setting where all your
033bargaining units have certain parameters around what happens if you do change carriers, benefits have to be like same. So, you know, the fact of the matter is since we moved to Sigma, in addition to having, you know, frankly, a better service and administration from Sigma than we had with our prior carrier, Sigma has not changed their management fees at all since we started and moved over to Sigma. So, there's not, and by the way, the fees that we pay are $300,000 per year. So there's not a lot of opportunity to reduce that. So there's certainly no opposition to going out to bid, but doing it every year or two is just not it's not practical with a self-insured plant because of the complications. So there's not a lot of upside is my point. So are
034you saying that in a nutshell the primary cost drivers are uncontrollable costs? It's the claims. Yeah. Okay. And it's only on our side for whatever reason it's because what was it the uh the town proposed to kick back what 200,000 on their side. Um so right and the the town is in a is in a better position because their claims have been relatively stable and their reserve balance is you know well above five months of claims reserved. Wow. So we haven't been there in a few years. 2018 if I recall. I know that's not a lucky guess from you Adam. It's not um you know and as we've been you know you know planning our budget every year as we are this year the way we budgeted is so that the claim the uh reserve
035balance we start with at the beginning of the year is what we're hoping to end with. And it looks like we're tracking you know for for success with that again this year. But, you know, we're talking two months claims, so we don't have much room there. You know, I will add on the shopping front, um, Sean Kimble at our budget workshop meeting the other night did show that one of the things we did do is look at can we move from self-insured to fully insured plan and we didn't do it because the cost is higher to go to fully insured. Um, and we also looked this year at does it make sense to look at the state plan? And the state plan, fortunately for us, we're managing our medical cost well below the cost of
036a state plan. If we move to the state partnership plan on family coverage, it would be $40,000 per employee. And right now, we're at 30,000 per employee. And employees pay for a portion of that. But you're comparing, you know, two different plans, but there's no doubt the cost would be higher. And so we've not seriously considered the state plan at this point. So for the public's enrichment, um, if we go to full coverage, does that mean that we no longer have to have a trust fund? Do we no longer have to fund a trust fund, but at the end of the day, the total cost of the plan essentially ends up higher because the premium covers the the total and projected costs of what could happen in our risk. The carrier the carrier is going
037to make sure they have a premium sufficient to cover all their claims and the profit that they want to make. And so that's why those premiums are higher. They're guaranteeing that they're going to provide the coverage for that fully insured premium and they're not going to take an undue risk, you know, to lose money based on the premiums. So once they quote us a premium, they can't charge us more. And if they underquote the premium, then guess what happens when you go to renewal? They're going to make sure that your renewal increase covers, you know, whatever loss they had and whatever anticipated claims they expect going forward. Does it allow us to participate in a larger risk pool? Like would it help us flatten the uh the increases at all? Like you know, you're saying
038you know like in what was it 21 and 22 we were up I don't know what was it 12% or whatever whatever it was a huge amount. um by having that larger risk pool, would it allow us to flatten over time or is it just as bad either way or Well, we combine um town and board of ed and so we would keep it that way, but our we're big enough that they would look at our claims and they would provide a premium based on our actual claims. It's not like we're going so it's not like a like a total risk pool for like teen drivers or something when you go into like a just it's everyone's just priced the same, you know, for like every driver in the state or whatever. That's that's how
039the state partnership plan works. Oh, so you're not rated individually, you know, you are rated by county, but again, it's not cheaper. It would be more expensive for us than for our employees. Okay, no easy answers. No, but we're always looking, you know, are there opportunities? And and certainly we've made um a number of improvements over the years, including moving to to um CT Prime for our stop loss. You know, with each of the contracts that we've negotiated, employees are paying a higher percentage of the total cost of the insurance. We have managed you know with the teacher contract we're finally by year 2028 we will no longer have the HMO or PO plans for any of the employees. So we we do take an active role looking at what are the changes that we
040can make within our plans. Um, but you know, I wish there were an answer. And the only other thing, and I know I shared this at the budget workshops, is if you look at what's really driving claim costs, and the fact is that the medical inflation, you know, in the United States last year ran at about, you know, 9% um on a gross basis and over 7% on a net basis. And even though last couple of years were not good years for us claims wise if you look we've been at about 5.1 to 5.6% you know gross in net. So we are doing better than medical inflation but still a cost that you know does affect our budget and I get that. Thank you. Welcome. Thank you for the questions Mr. Next, um, Mr. Masiana,
041you're still on deck, sir, because we need to talk about the energy performance contract. Very quickly, the update that I wanted to provide the board is that the interviews with the three firms that submitted proposals, Amoresco, Johnson Controls, and Honeywell, they were completed um last week by the there's a working group that um includes Mr. White from the board. Um, and on April 21st, we've scheduled a working group meeting to make a selection for the firm to go forward and do take us to the next step, which is a very thorough investment grade audit. And so we should have the results of that in the early fall. And that's the update on that. Great. Any questions about that, Mr. Gribble? Um, not directly to the new con contract, but there was an inquiry from the
042council about our current contract, and I wasn't sure what relevance there was, and because if it's a contract, it is what it is, or is it? Now the the question uh was raised by um John Milone about you know the 600 you know $89,000 cost that's in our budget that is for the our portion of the annual payment for the contract. His question was well where's the offset because we've got a $689,000 cost. And the answer is the offset is what we have for electricity and natural gas and heating oil is lower than it would have been had we not had the contract. But we don't it's basically netted out in our utility costs. And that that's what raised the question. So what we offered is, you know, we'll send you an a fact email
043and copies of the documentation as to the amount of energy savings. Every year we receive from Amoresco and our owner's rep, which is now Enia, a summary of the guaranteed savings that were supposed to be achieved each year of the contract and the actual savings that we achieved. And every year over the first eight years, um, we've had more savings than were guaranteed under the contract by roughly $34,000 was the average. So, you know, we are saving more than that 690, you know, thousand that's in our budget line. So, that's why that I know Dr. Solen shared the email, but that was the background on that. Thank you again. Welcome. Great. Thank you, Mr. Masiana. Uh we'll move on to the policy committee. So, Mr. Eki, if you could report on that, please. So, we
044had an interesting meeting. We talked about the uh community relations use of school facilities and Emily updated the entire uh the entire regulation regarding fees that we hadn't uh changed in quite some time. and uh who qualifies for which building or which classification and all of that. A lot of it is anticipating the new buildings and getting us caught up to speed. Um did did everybody get a copy of the regulation or am I the only one? I think it's in there. It's there's a link on the uh on the agenda that talks about uh the cost and how it all breaks out. We also spoke about uh we have a second reading on our electronic devices policy and we added in AI glasses to our policy. If Dr. S would you like to share
045the impetus behind that? Yeah, sure. Um, we watched a video. It kind of highlighted, it's it's kind of alarming. It's making um its way around social media and whatnot about uh the use of meta glasses and how you can quickly write software to take pictures of people and things and learn, you know, personal details. the same way you could technically search somebody that you know their name, but here it just takes your picture, finds your picture, finds your Instagram, whatever. Um, and so I think our students need to learn how to use those appropriately, but we're not going to permit them at the high school level just uh, you know, out out of caution until we know more about them. The other thing that we examined was deep fakes, which is taking an individual's face
046in her name or voice, excuse me, and uh basically, you know, creating a fake video where it looks like they're saying and doing things that they aren't actually saying and doing. So the power of technology is important for our students to learn about but it's also uh important that we're u judicious in how we permit these things. So we did indicate in the policy that you know creating somebody you know deep fakes about somebody else is also not permitted. Um we also had uh two other policies that were involved in a second reading. Uh one of which we have just tabled completely uh on the advice of council and that was the uh regarding undocumented students and we also put a school climate on hold per the lawyer. Um, and if anyone is interested, our
047policy on sexual harassment, Title 9, has reverted back to what it was previously. So, uh, we had adopted a new sexual Title 9 policy, uh, under President Biden that is now reverted back to what it was prior in the during the Trump administration. questions from board members. Mr. Gribble, some chatty tonight. Um I just wanted to comment on um the electronic devices. Uh we did have a discussion about at the high school level how I think we discussed this before how we're more airing on the side of personal responsibility instead of banning. Uh in case any anyone was concerned and or wanted to ban that's the direction we're heading, right? I think that's fair to say, right? Is there any consideration just because you brought up the AI um example that we would possibly do
048two separate policies, Dr. Solen, in that we do a use device usage and then a complete AI policy in and of itself? Yeah, I think that's a good question about uh the AI piece and it's evolving so fast that uh the law hasn't even gotten there yet. Um and so uh we're conscious of that. We talked about it a lot and we had a professional development last month that Marlene and Ran really I mean with bringing in folks from um at advance and it was really powerful for our staff to understand what the capacity was just in their own professional capacity. Um but I think they also better recognize what our students are doing and that'll help inform our policy. We focus a lot on creating what we call durable tasks. Tasks that are uh
049I wouldn't say AI proof but a lot less susceptible to being um easily completed through AI. So we're learning these things. Uh I think as we learn that we'll probably be looking at that policy next year. Is it possible we could possible we could just let AI write its own AI policy if we if we wait a few months? Next year's policy meetings are cancelled. Thank you. Sorry, Mr. Gripple. Um, at the risk of revealing that I don't really read any of my cave emails, um, is, uh, is there, uh, an opportunity for like a webinar on AI, like perhaps the presentation that the the staff received or or that Cab put out that maybe I just missed, you know, is there anything like that? I can send you the link to that we have
050on our web page that has all of the presentations from all of the presenters from that day and that might get you what you're looking for. That'd be fantastic. Thank you. I appreciate that. I'll send it to all of you. Yeah, I'll send it to the That'd be great for just our community as a whole. Parents, I don't think parents understand the the speed at which AI is growing and how that not only just impacts the school system, but even their everyday lives, too. So, thank you. Any other comments from board members? Okay, we move on. Um, if there are any outstanding committees, I know Mr. Perigeni couldn't make it tonight. He had a work commitment, but he did want me to um publicly congratulate um officially Mr. Lockheart, uh, Leonard Lockheart at CA, who
051has been officially appointed as president of the NSBA. So, congratulations, Mr. Lockhart. Um, next item on the agenda is the approval of minutes. If board members can please just um, take a look. I do need a motion for the minutes. Dr. Herrian move that move that the Cheshire Board of Education approved the minutes from the showcase and business meetings held on March 20th, 2025. Second was calling in second. Any corrections necessary? No. Okay. All those in favor of the minutes as is unanimous. Thank you, Mr. Secretary. Any correspondence, sir? Um, I am not in possession of any correspondence. Great. Thank you. And we move on. Dr. Solen, superintendent report. Thank you very much. Uh, couple of quick updates. The school construction is motoring along. Uh kudos again to Mr. Salamini for uploading some great video
052footage of the schools. At this point, basically where we are is that uh a lot of the underground utilities have been installed. We're laying concrete right now at both locations uh to fill out the foundation and create the floor. Uh next month, believe it or not, we'll be having steel delivered and we'll start erecting the actual uh structure, the actual uh skeleton of the building by the end of the summer. It'll look close to the school is there. So, it's really exciting uh how quick the outside goes up. Then there's a lot of time and energy spent on the inside. The other um update that I want to provide is that uh we're excited I say we as a a member of the YMCA board of directors that uh we've made a purchase of the
053church across the street from uh uh Norton School and so that will you know take time and be renovated but uh I'm the new we on the Cheshire Board of Ed side of things is helpful that uh hopeful that you know we can use that space for parking in the uh fall of 2026 when we're demoing the existing Norton building. Uh so that would be a tremendous benefit for us and um you know Vin and myself are working closely with Mark uh Mark Per and Doug Leven from the Y to see what we can do toward that end. So, uh, that's that's good news, a nice development for us. Um, the budget update, I think most of you were here at the 6:00 show and, uh, if you weren't, that's available on the, uh, website,
054uh, the town website, and we'll put the link up on our website tomorrow. Uh, basically uh, the town council had asked me to present what our budget would look like with a $2.2 million reduction. I've shared a lot of information with the board and the community, very detailed information about uh what a draft would look like. I can't say that it's finalized because ultimately you guys have the authority to make that decision. Uh but I think even more so, you know, I need to spend a lot more time with Vin, Marlene, uh Emily, our principles, uh to take a a hard look at once that number is allocated to the board. What would be the most sensible recogni uh recommendation that I could make to you about where those reductions if any I say that
055ultra optimistically that it would be fully funded but uh if any reductions are necessary where those would come from. So there's still a lot of time there. The town council is slated to finalize their budget uh as of today anyway. I think this date is kind of up in the air. Monday, uh, or Tuesday, April 22nd. Tuesday, April 22nd. Thank you, Carol. Um, so that's the the budget update. Finally, school start times and redistricting update. Uh, with the this is for 2627. And I want to be really clear about that that we're not looking at changing start times for 2526. Uh the demolition and and closure of a couple of buildings and and construction of a new building that's geographically pretty far from where other buildings are at the moment will certainly require uh not
056just redistricting but tweaking the start times for each school. And I have to credit uh Emily Taylor who spent a lot of time taking a look at what are the different options. And I I've said to her, you know, we want every option on the table, every option. And we will methodically work through those options to determine uh logistically are these options feasible? Uh financially, what are the implications? things like um and and we met last earlier this week with uh Doug well not Doug Levens but from folks from the Y Lisa and uh Luther Miller our transportation coordinator director has been very involved with this. Marlene's been very involved and we think about things like well if high school starts late who will cover afterare uh at the elementary grades if they start early
057because many of their staff are are high school students. And so we're working through a lot of these things logistically. What are the sports implications? What are child care implications before and after care? And so it's important for us to uh do our diligence so that anything we do present publicly has been pretty well vetted and uh we hope to do that later late in the spring, early summer uh before we start taking a real look at what start times might look like. Uh so that's it for my report. Questions for the superintendent, Mr. Gri? Yeah. Um, as far as start times for the high school, um, what is the duration that the time shift would need to occur? Is it like a month or six months? I'm sorry. Like when you you you'd mentioned
058that uh the high school would you would consider moving having the high school start late for we're considering everything. Right. Right. But if you did, how long would that be? Would that is that six months? How long was the demol like what was Oh, no. No, this would be for permanent. Oh, so when we move into the new buildings, we need new start times just by virtue of location of the buildings and everything like that. Oh, for bus routes and Yeah. And so we're looking at, you know, what what would that how would that play out? Um because it's going to take longer to get from the north end location where we are. We'll have a couple of buses out there now, but in when the new building opens, we'll have a lot of buses
059out there. And so, what does that do to transportation around town? We're taking another close look at, you know, our times now are not good because Cheshure High School ends and we dump a lot of buses onto Route 10. I don't This is no news to anybody who lives in town or has driven through town. Um, and it gets really, it's a log jam and so our buses end up late to the next building. So, those kids get dismissed late. So by the time you get to our late opening schools, Highland and Norton is pretty backed up. I mean there's a lot of issues. We have met with uh not just uh Luther and Vinnon and myself, but uh with um Chief Drife, uh Sean Kimble, uh Dan Bombaro. We're trying to evaluate what other
060options might be available to help ease the congestion and facilitate better transportation around the whole town, not just for us, but for everybody who lives and works here. So, um, we're spending a lot of time on it because we we see an opportunity to improve traffic flow for the community if we can. Uh, and so we're looking at a lot of different things. Thanks for that clarification. Sure. Yeah. I I just want to thank you and the team for um taking the time to really look into that because as you said it is an opportunity to um get some things right and we'll probably won't have that opportunity again for a very long time. So you Well, interesting that you say that the thing is because there was a uh a bill in the Connecticut
061legislature this year that was going to require later school start times for high schools and that was put on hold, which would be really upsetting if we spend a lot of time and then set up our start times and it comes after that. So, you know, um I think we're going to have to decide on this unfortunately before the state does. Uh because for us, it's got significant staffing implications too if teachers are we're looking at moving teachers to different buildings because the north end build Barnum is going to be significantly larger. And so there are a lot of um ramifications of this move that we've spent a lot of time on already and we're trying to uh be diligent but also do it as quickly as possible so that people have as much advanced
062time as possible. Well again thank you. Thank you. Just a clarification. How many buses do we have on the road now? Vinnie within the fleet. I mean DO's fleet is about 45. We have 10 of our own round numbers. So first round would be high school and middle school. How many buses there? High school 22 middle and some elementary because we have the staggering time in that already. Three tiers typically three tiers and we can't even meet the next time slot. We drop them off and then we have to rush down to go get the other. Yeah. Yeah. But you can go to I mean I mean that's one of the options that are being looked at. What if you did two tiers? Yep. You just need more buses, right? And more money to do
063that. Well, that's not happening. It doesn't sound like Yeah. So that's why we're looking through every possibility. When I say every possibility, we're really looking at everything. And um and when I say we, we're talking about Emily and um you yourself and you. So the the transportation Savant is sitting in the front row and uh will help us with this. Great. Thank you. Well, can I just add it does make sense to consider at least that the state is considering that. So, let's not be unaware of things that might come down the pike. But thank you, Emily. Awesome. I I do think um that I I did hear that if the state did decide on different times. Um I think they'll give districts some initial time to put it into effect. So it may not
064be that they pass legislation and then that September we'd have to do whatever. I think we'll have time turnaround time. Do we are there a lot of uh districts that have started that early later start times for the high schools? Not really. I mean there are more that have started it than more that have finished it. Uh I know Guilford made an adjustment. It was minimal. Um the the interesting thing here is that there is overwhelming evidence from a physiological perspective that it is undoubtedly the best thing to do for our high school kids to have a later school start time. There's also a lot of logistical issues um that make that pretty challenging. you know, uh, athletics being a big one, daycare being a big one because like I said for the Y there
065are their employees and, um, so we are we want to be able to put everything on the table, including acknowledging what some of the limitations and strengths of these different options are. U, but we're not going to put anything out there that we haven't vetted to make sure that logistically it works. And then also to be able to share what the pros and cons are and the financial ramifications of any decision we make is sorry I guess that the the mouse rolls out my brain. Um so if you move the high school up to 820, right? Then are would we we would have to maybe Vin you said this already we would have to add an extra like wave of buses or would we push all of the elementary schools forward after that or Yeah.
066So we're putting that puzzle together right now. Right. That's what you're doing. Yeah. So that's what we're putting that puzzle together right now and saying like all right if we kept X number of buses the same exact number of buses we have now same number of runs what could we do if we adjusted that in any way shape or form? What would that look like? you know, and moving things around where, you know, you have to be considerate of Barnum School and walking distances. You and I were talking about that the other day. So, like, do we need more buses in that area than maybe we would have needed at Chapman because there are less kids able to walk, you know? So, we're evaluating all of these different uh elements that that contribute into it.
067And it's it's a lot of work. Um, and so like I said, we want to make sure that we're putting out a product that has been vetted before we throw it out to the community and they either love or hate something that's not even feasible. So, we're going to continue that work and try and get a product out ASAP. I can't wait to see the fully animated uh traffic model that I'm sure Yes. [Laughter] Any other comments, questions? Thank you, Dr. Solen. Next item is we do not have any old business. Um chair's update. I just you know I I just want to really publicly thank the community for coming out earlier um in support of we we saw a large number of residents and citizens really trying to um encourage the council to not
068impact our already approved um BOE budget. Um so I want to thank those that were able to come out and those that were able to write um to the council. Um and hopefully we have a um resolution on April 22nd. Is that Dr. Soul? They're that's what they're shooting for. They're shooting for April 22nd. So appreciate that. Um I I also appreciate that you just used Barnum School. It's going to be really, you know, have to get used to it a little bit, but um it sounds great though. So really excited. Um and and I do watch the drone videos that you send. It's really awesome. So thank you Mike back there. Um, other than that, I'm just going to read out the um upcoming minutes before we adjourn. Um, we will be calling for
069a motion to adjurnn into executive session. So, we have next week would be our spring break, so no school for students. Um, which is April 14th to the 17th and then April 18th is Good Friday. Both schools and central offices are closed. May 26 is Memorial Day. Schools and central office are closed. Our upcoming meetings are uh when we come back from April break, which is Monday, April 21st, the curriculum committee will be meeting at Human Board at 7. Thursday, May 1st, um middle school showcase meeting will happen at DOD at 7:00. Monday, May 5th, policy committee at Humon Boardroom. That's 7:00 as well. Thursday, May 20th at 7:30 will be our regular business meeting here in town council and chambers. Then we move to Thursday, June 5th, regular business meeting at Chambers here. And
070then we typically have our last Monday, June 30th, 7:30 a.m. our fiscal meeting here in the Human Boardroom. Um, no possibility of changing that. Dr. Sen just Okay, great. Neils is always a, you know, motivator. Thank you. Dr. Heran, did you have a comment? I like I'm all for Neil's donuts. That's all I'm going to say. Yes. Thank you. Coconut and those coconut. Okay. Um all those in favor uh I do need a motion please for us to move to executive session. If somebody can make that motion move that the meeting be adjourned into executive session to include the superintendent of schools to discuss superintendent's evaluation. All those in favor of adjournment into it's unanimous. Thank you everybody.