001roll call please here here here here here thank you please join us in the pledge of allegiance alance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands under God indivisible liy and jusice for all all right um Dr Solen sir if you'll do the honors before our student reps give their report good evening everybody and uh thank you madam chair uh I hope your your palms are in good shape because we'll be doing a lot of clapping tonight uh there are so many incredible folks in the audience that we need to recognize some of our students and then the teachers who have committed so much time to providing the incredible education and supports to our students to allow them to do such great things and so I'm
002thrilled to be able to kick it off by a couple of recogn recognition of familiar faces that are in the crowd all the time at our board meetings and that is our student reps Andrew Elliott and Ella Paul uh they're both graduating seniors who have dedicated uh a couple of Thursday nights a month uh to come to the board meetings to tell tell the board uh what's going on at chesher high school all the great things the the challenges the the ups and the Downs uh the always occur throughout the course of the school year and you've done so so admirably it's amazing from the first board meeting to the last board meeting you guys are so eloquent uh put together and incredible representatives of your school and your community so uh we just wanted
003to take this opportunity to say thank you and we have parting gifts for each of you so congratulations guys [Applause] more thank you Dr Solen Ella Andrew give us one last one so I'd first like to begin first of all by thanking you all for having both L and I throughout this year um I've thoroughly enjoyed this experience and speaking to you all um each month up until now in this our final Board of Ed meeting um moving on I'm very glad to say that treaser sports are doing very well right now despite a tough loss in the state state playoffs for girls lacrosse girls golf placed fourth in division one Championship with Julia pek being Chester's first state champion boys golf came in third in the division one Championship also congrats to Alex Orleans
004Chester's back-to-back state champion in girls tennis boys came up short in the semi-finals both boys and girls track and field are also full of SEC and state champion athletes as well as we're here right now boys volleyball is playing Simsbury in the state championship in newt New Town additionally boy lacrosse just beat Simsbury last night and is headed back to the state championship Sunday at Sacred Heart also softball will be playing on Saturday um who also won the SEC Championship congrat congratulations to all these three teams for making it this far in order to commemorate me Memorial Day and and celebrate our local veterans the brave Club organized a breakfast and ceremony in the Commons it was amazing to be able to speak to and see every veteran and attendance to celebrate Memorial Memorial Day
005with them at our last meeting we had mentioned the future Fest event organized by British literature now that it is complete I can say that it went very well and it is a very creative way of not only learning about but teaching our ideas on envisioning the future in either a utopian or dystopian society as we end the school year a seniors are passing the torch down to our current Juniors or shall I say rising seniors class selections were yesterday and I'd like to congratulate all the winners and those who didn't um didn't win additionally most of the clubs and organizations at CHS are electing new officers for next year us seniors as the year is beginning to come to an end have been doing many great things together to um to bond with each
006other and just make make the best out of our last few days most recently was our senior picnic out Holiday Hill which I thought was an amazing experience just get us all together one last time have a bunch of fun eat a lot of good food and um and just uh bond with each other before we go off to college or whatever we're doing in the future so I also have a few follow-ups from last month first of all we had our honor cord and Senior Awards night ceremonies as mentioned at the honor cord ceremony there were hundreds of cords given out to seniors from our various departments and the awards night awarded 10 T of thousand dollars in scholarships to Chester high school students which is an incredible opportunity there were scholarships for people
007doing College trade school military all the above we also have had so many amazing opportunities for the seniors to create memories like Andrew is saying um the senior walk right now during study halls and lunches has been filled with yearbook signings and things like that we also talked last month about the chestra High School drama Department going to the son times Awards and I wanted to share the exciting news that we won best choreography our choreographer was in from Florida to achieve the award so very exciting we also I had mentioned the opportunity for the first time of the biliteracy exam and the results came back and we had a huge number of students pass the exam which means they received an intermediate five level which is right below Advanced language speaking so it's a
008really great opportunity and they're planning on expanding the administration in the future so that more students can get this certificate with their diploma so that's very cool opportunity moving on back to CHS drama they just had the Aries show performance which is a class and then also miss torney the director of that show announced that for the fall play next year they will be performing A Midsummer Nights Dream It's her tradition to do Shakespeare only every four years so it's a special year next year um we have finals prep going on at Chester High School lots of review sessions lots of review packets seniors don't have to take too many finals but our underclassmen are in a little bit of stress mode but luckily the teachers have been very helpful and accommodating to students we've
009had lots of end of the year Club activities going on I brought everyone a copy of the Rampage grad Edition and then we also had B1 day which was an incredibly successful event we had a flower garden planted that's being taken care of by Mr Manning special education life schools life skills class we had 40 blankets made that are going to be donated to children at Yale New Haven Hospital we had letters and cards made that are going to be delivered to Elm Park and also some to um children at Yale so it was a really great way for the treasure High School Community to realize that we have the power to do some good and then we also had the fun volleyball tournament of course and for that there was $1,000 donated on behalf
010of the winning team so aside from all of that really our big thing right now to look forward to is gradu ation for the seniors and of course the all night grad party but we are really excited for our time to come to a close because as much as we're going to miss chra high school it really has prepared us for our next steps so we're very excited graduation is going to have the chorus singing um four Chester High School speakers including Andrew and I and our impressive valoran and Sal salute atoran you're going to meet soon and just to kind of wrap up I want to reiterate what Andrew said this has really been an incredible opportunity and it's so been so nice getting to know you all so thank you so much board
011members have any comments questions for Mr P question thank you for the Rampage I of course looking forward to reading this now every year good um before I pass this down so the all night grab party I I assume as with every year still looking for volunteers um donations if people are interested who do they contact how they go about contacting to help so I can write it down for you we have the emails of the two people who are in charge of running it actually do you have a Chester Public Schools email cuz I could forward you there I do that I'm sure Dr I just so someone ask I'll Point them to the emails I know I know it's always a a big ask and but it's very it's always very successful so
012I hope it's a good success this year too and it's been a pleasure having you this year look forward to seeing you again and please enjoy your summer much deserved anything Mr gri yes thank you um Andrew and Ella it's been great having you um this is my uh do this me my eighth PA Tony of uh Representatives I think that's it I think yeah but you're my favorite but uh again uh thank you for being able to report to us this year and I wish you all the best um and I I know that the C CF awards were a couple nights ago I think I was unable to attend but uh congratulations so thank you thank you Miss Cullen I also just want to offer my congratulations and thank you for keeping us
013up to the minute with everything that's going on so congratulations and best of luck to you in your future thank you I I Echo everything that's said up here I am super proud of you it's been a pleasure to watch you in action providing us up to the minute news of all all things chesher High School um and you know it's tell me again where you guys are I one of you is a husky soon we're both going to be hus actually yes hopefully coach Hurley is still there um it's a sore subject right now but definitely congratulations good luck you're going to truly add some value to this world because we've seen it here already so thank you very much um and I do want to REM kind of set up Ella I might
014have to pass my speech to you because you just seem to you know be able to do it without an emotion agreed Vinnie right I want her to do the finance report cuz she can make anything entertaining please come back and do the finance report we'll be awake for it for sure Mr gripple um I was just looking through this and I was so impressed and I was talking with Tony about this like wow this is a really incredible newspaper and I was like gee uh please send our regards to editor and Chief and that I turn to the back and I see who it is so excellent job Ella to you and your team this is really fantastic nice job and we will see you at graduation for sure good luck thank you up
015next Dr grad please present to us our valorian and salutatorian good evening it is my absolute pleasure to present our Val Victorian and salutatorian tonight our two students embody the achievements and success of the graduating class and all that we value at chesher high school so first I will introduce our salutatorian Adia Jen aditia is the son of Ja and Barat Jen Adia is a phenomenal person and student he is intelligent highly driven and genuinely caring in addition to his academic achievements AI is an intensely caring person who served as a role model to younger students through a variety of clubs and organizations some of these include the science National Honor Society where AI has been an officer for two years The National Society of the the National Honor Society of which he is vice
016president and the student community outreach program for Education where he tutored children during the pandemic and worked his way up to math tutor to meeting administrator and then to vice president it's in ai's nature to want to help others he is a golfer and grew up playing at hopbrook golf course in ngat for a school project he had the idea to start a camp for young younger kids in nagat for which he created a 27-page comprehensive golf handbook he then pitched that idea to the mayor to the mayor of ngat Pete Hess who loved the idea within minutes and within minutes of the start of their conversation and was thrilled to have it in his town ai's goal for this event was to provide other kids with the opportunity to learn golf skills and etiquette
017but beyond that to learn lifelong skills such as Integrity commitment passion and also positive adult guidance which is everything that AI learned as a child and wanted others to experience another part of ai's life that he's very proud of is his commitment to his Hindu religion AI spends a great deal of time volunteering and participating in a variety of events through the Hindu Cultural Center in Stratford ai's an incredible person who will continue to do amazing things in his future he has committed to attend the University of Connecticut in stores and will be studying medicine and majoring in molecular cell biology [Applause] want be do you here wait [Applause] and now it is my honor to introduce the Val dictorian for the class of 2024 Daniel Souza Daniel is the son of Fiona Fernandez and
018Bernard duza Daniel is an extraordinary student who consistently distinguishes himself as a scholar and a leader with a remarkable 4.93 grade point average Daniel stands at the Pinnacle of his class a testament to his unwavering commitment to academic Excellence he pursues the most rigorous curriculum including numerous advanced placement courses reflecting his intellectual prowess and insatiable curiosity his ambition to pursue a degree in health and Medicine underscores his passion for helping others and his exceptional intelligence dedication and hard work and those ensure he will excel in his field furthermore Daniel is an active member of the National Honor Society and serves as the vice president of the National Science Honor Society showcasing his leadership and commitment to The Sciences his dedication extends Beyond academics as he selfishly volunteers at Midstate Hospital and passionately contributes to to
019conservation efforts at riverbound Farm a wildlife sanctuary additionally Daniel is an avid Runner participating on cross country indoor and outdoor track teams and this of course reflects his discipline and commitment to both physical fitness and teamwork with his with his outstanding academic achievements leadership qualities and dedication to service Daniel duza is poised to make a significant impact in the field of health and Medicine in his community at large he plans to attend and we are now four for four the University of Connecticut in the fall majoring in molecular cell biology our Val dictorian Daniel [Applause] duza I know I look better the further away you came would you like worries this is you don't get a lot of opportunities this [Applause] to [Applause] you're still up Dr Gad I'm still up it is now my
020honor again to introduce our National Merit Scholars the National Merit Scholarship program is an annual academic competition among high school students for recognition and Scholars and and college scholarships uh this program began in 1955 the program is conducted by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation a not for-profit organization that operates without government assistance United States high school students enter the National Merit Scholarship program by by taking their preliminary SAT National Merit Scholarship qualifying test the PSAT as we know it which serves as an initial screen of over 1.3 million entrance each year and by meeting published program entry and participation requirements students are awarded recognition and our two National Merit Scholars are Daniel duza and Austin Blair come for [Applause] thank you Dr Gad Dr stolen our student wck so I know that the next student
021that we're about to recognize will not be attending Yukon next year um I'd like to invite Alexander gulis to the podium please how you doing buddy awesome so uh the reason that Alex Alexander's here tonight to be recognized is that he participated in uh something called the 19th annual es smarts student contest uh Alex is a third grade student at Norton Elementary School and there were over 600 students throughout Connecticut who submitted projects for consideration basically students were asked to um give some sort of project presentation on energy saving and why that was important uh so young Alexander who wrote A limmerick on Energy savings and out of those more than 600 students who submitted for this award he finished second in Connecticut so we are very proud to congratulate you tonight buddy great job
022give me so we have a certificate for you oh my God stop crying [Applause] thank you Dr Solen next item is our recognition of our retiree Personnel thank you very much um we have uh and you know as I mentioned at the outset the opportunity tonight to not only recognize some outstanding students but the teachers who played an important role in helping them become outstanding uh people that have dedicated cumulatively hundreds of years to this community uh into teaching in general to uh make the world a better place and uh it's it's challenging work uh they have in many cases Advanced degrees and have labored over many years uh to become the Specialists that they are and The Talented individuals they are so it's our honor this evening to recognize them and thank them for
023their years of service here in the Treasure Public Schools U so pardon me for I think Kathy you doing Chapman Chapman and okay so um to recognize our retiree from chap school please welcome assistant principal Kathy carluchi good evening everyone so I am going to start with Chapman school it is an honor to recognize an outstanding Chapman teacher Cynthia atanasio upon her retirement Cindy leaves behind a legacy of dedication passion and unwavering commitment to the students she served Cindy earned her Bachelor of Science in media broadcast production from Lynden State College in 1985 Then followed by a teaching certificate from St Joseph's College in West Hartford Connecticut she first started teaching in 2004 in Watertown and then in 2008 Cindy joined chest republ Public Schools where she has spent the last 16 years imparting knowledge
024shaping young minds and leaving an indelible mark on the Chapman in excuse me elementary school Community her dedication to her craft coupled with her innate ability to connect with her students made her a beloved figure in the school I have personally had the pleasure of not only working with Cindy but also having my own two daughters in her classroom my older daughter Emma had Cindy three different years in elementary school and she still remembers how Mrs atanasio challenged her with creative opportunities to go beyond the curriculum and explore Math Science and Technology a field she's still pursuing today in college this is the impact she has had on her students not surprisingly Cindy still keeps in touch with many of her students and one former student even invited her to his wedding Beyond her professional
025achievements Cindy's warmth and kindness endear her to all who've had the privilege of knowing her whether she is guiding her students through their educational Journey or collaborating with fellow Educators to enhance The Learning Experience Cindy's presence illuminates the halls of Chapman Elementary as Cindy transitions into re into retirement she does so with her husband by her side they will surely be spending time in their new home in Florida while still traveling back to New England to spend time at their house in Vermont and with their son TJ in Connecticut on behalf of the entire Chapman Elementary School Community we extend our deepest gratitude to Cindy for her years of service her unwavering dedication and the countless lives she has enriched May her retirement be filled with joy relaxation and the Fulfillment of all her dreams
026congratulations Cindy on a truly remarkable career [Applause] [Laughter] [Applause] you want me to do Norton we'll do a picture of all the [Applause] retired so while I'm up I'm going to announce the two retirees for Norton school as well Terry lechance served the chesher public schools for 32 years 32 years educating our students and while simultaneously filling their lives with music her other passion in 1983 Terry earned her BS in elementary and special education from Keen State College in New Hampshire upon completion she joined the Peace Corp where she taught prek through adults after three years in the Peace Corp she began her teaching career in Connecticut and worked in various districts including Farmington New Kanan and Andover then in 199 2 she joined the chesher public schools as a fourth grade special education teacher
027at Highland Elementary School she was then appointed as a kindergarten teacher at Darcy school and most recently second grade at Norton Elementary when I walked into Norton every morning I would typically hear the melodious sound of guitar music coming from Terry's classroom it was how she started her day Terry approached her teaching the same way with passion and Harmony she cared deeply for her students academically and emotionally and her warmth made them feel confident and safe she gave her students many gifts and touched their lives in memorable ways we will miss ter at Norton and throughout the district and wish her all the best for a relaxing enjoyable retirement [Applause] I'll [Applause] Jean Jean Aspen well celebrated her 35th year in chesher this past school year and her impact has been as deep as her
028lengthy career she knew she wanted to go into education ever since she was a child because she had a desire to help others this was solidified when she was partnered with a deaf student in seventh grade science and together they had to navigate their lab work through collaboration with an interpreter so in 1989 Jee attended Southern con Connecticut State University and earned a BS in special education she was hired at Chapman Elementary and taught special education for six years before transitioning into regular education where she was excited to have a class of students on her own she spent seven years teaching fourth grade and decided it was time to push herself further so while teaching she earned her second master's degree in School counseling that transition in 2002 brought Jean to Norton school as a
029school counselor where she could help students in a new way at Norton Jean's office is in the center hallway truly the heart of the school this is no coincidence the support Jean has shown staff and students through the years is boundless and that office will be hard to fill she is an integral part of the Norton family and these people are what she will miss most looking back at her time at Norton Jean notes that her partnership with Kelly gillo former principal has been her greatest gift working side by side they tackled the complex decision-making that goes into caring for a school full of children Kelly was the most influential colleague of her career and now one of her dearest friends as a new AP at Norton as a new AP at Norton I spent
030much of my first year Watching and listening and learning from the two of them Jean showed me the Fine Art of building relationships with Primary students as I transitioned from the world of middle school she trained me without even knowing she was doing it and for that I will be forever grateful in retirement Jean will spend more time with her precious Sons Tyler and Logan what lucky boys you are always know that your mommy is a very special person who touched so many lives here in the chesher public schools [Applause] after you I was going to make it to 10 I remember it [Applause] punch punch unfortunately uh uh due little principal Amy O'Brien fell ill this afternoon wasn't able to make it so presenting on our her behalf is assistant superintendent Marlene Solano this
031is for Christine MCN Christine received her Bachelor of Science in elementary and special education from Central Connecticut State University in 1983 she went on to earn her master's degree in special ed from the same University from there she was a special education teacher for grades 1 through four at the Newington children's hospital she was a first grade substitute and building substitute K through five at Yalesville Elementary School in Wallingford after which she transferred to Rock Hill Elementary School and Morgan Middle School in the same district as a special education substitute Christine joined chesher public Public Schools full-time as a special education teacher in 2004 and remained at dittle school until this year Amy O'Brien writes we have been so fortunate to have Christine at dittle school as a special educator I am not looking forward
032to starting the 2425 school year without her she has been a rock and a constant at dittle and someone that we all have been able to rely on as a team member not only has she been excellent for all the students she has worked with but she has has been a mentor to many of our general education and special education teachers we had the opportunity to celebrate her at doitt recently and her colleagues spoke from the heart about she has how she has helped them in both little and big ways personally and professionally she will be missed dearly congratulations on your retirement Christine thank you again for all you have done for the students and staff at ditt school for the past 20 years [Applause] way I really want to make it last from DOD
033Middle School please welcome principal Kelly gillow good evening congrat congratulations to all of our retirees and to our fabulous students in all your accomplishments we wish you the best of luck um so I am I have the pleasure of introducing two of our our retirees from DOD and Mr Murphy our assistant principal will um help as we have four total in total I'm going to start with rose denzo oh I'm gonna put my glasses on Rose received her uh BS in Health Service administration at Providence College and earned her MBA from Southern con conut State University Rose first joined chesher Public Schools as a districtwide substitute teacher teaching prek through sixth grade she then went on to be a special education power professional for Darcy and then eventually du little elementary schools from 2000 to
0342003 Rose was a homebound Spanish tutor for Chester Public Schools she loved that work so much that she pursued an alternate route to certification then became a full-time Spanish teacher for our district in 2004 while Dad was always her home school she also had the Good Fortune to work at chesher high school and humiston she's retiring after 20 years of service in retirement Rose is looking forward to traveling with her husband who is also will be retiring this year and she hopes that they will explore places like Portugal Spain Italy specifically Sicily I think um and eventually South America she's excited that retirement will bring her time to volunteer as she hopes hopes to do so for women agencies or translation services Rose told me that she will miss the kids the most in her
035retirement but I'm sure we will miss you more rose on behalf of all your students and colleagues we thank you for your service to chesher Public Schools Felisa dates Rosa [Applause] no you did good you did good we [Applause] our next retiree is Mr Alex yaan Alex completed his studies at the Rochester Institute of Technology earning a degree in computer science in addition he obtained a degree in General Studies from tungus Community College and Bs in mathematics from Central Connecticut State University in 1992 in 1991 he worked at as an eighth grade math instructor for New newington's School District teaching basic math pre-algebra and algebra in 1992 he served as an instructional aid for grades 9 through 12th grade um at chure in chure public schools for mathematics while also tutoring for science earth science
036chemistry and physics in 1993 he became a math teacher at DOD Middle School where he eventually taught both seventh and eighth grades after dedicating 31 years of service Alex reti hred this past December because I only had a few short months with Alex I asked his teammates how they thought Alex would spend his time in retirement and they exclaimed with passion Faith Family math and motorcycles which I think tells us a lot about the man Alex is his teammates lit up when they shared with me how much his students loved him one teammate shared his students adored him and loved math because of him what a gift that was you gave to our students we thank you for that and for your 31 years and we wish you the best of luck Alex [Applause] good
037evening I get the pleasure of speaking on behalf of Mary McCormick a Spanish teacher at DOD Middle School mary originally received her Bachelor of Science in business education from Central Connecticut State University which is where she also earned her Masters in elementary education a few years later she began her career teaching business at w at high back in 1986 where she taught students accounting keyboarding computers speedwriting and other professional skills for 3 years before taking time to raise her own children she returned to the classroom in 2004 working in the nguk public school system teaching fifth and sixth graders keyboarding skills she first made her way to Chester public schools in 2009 as a substitute teacher working at both DDD and cheser high around that time she went back to school to obtain her certification
038to teach Spanish even traveling to Spain to immerse herself in the language and the culture as a part of that process she joined cheshire's World Language Department as a Spanish teacher full-time in 2011 and is now retiring after 13 years of service in the district Mary's excited about getting the chance to spend more time with family but also the opportunity to travel with her husband somewhere warm and beachy Mary you're going to be missed at dot but you've last a lasting you've left a lasting impression on your students we got the chance to speak with some of Mary's current students and these were some of the highlights that they shared somehow she's able to make Spanish class fun she has strategies to help us remember and correctly pronounce our vocab she's there for us and
039is easy to ask questions to when we need help she's flexible and finds ways to solve problems and fix kids Chromebooks nice value added bonus from your pre-spanish days she gives a feeling of wanting to help and I'm actually excited to go to her class which if that's not the biggest compliment coming from a 13-year-old Middle School student I don't know what Mary we're going to miss you but we're so happy for you to have all of the well-deserved experiences that lie ahead congratulations and I'll see you tomorrow morning at 11:30 for your end of your evaluation [Applause] our fourth retiree at Dodd Middle School this year is Sandy Fern Sandy received her BS and special education from Southern Connecticut State University in 1981 she earned her ba in early childhood education from Metropolitan State
040College in 1988 and her ma in special education from Southern Connecticut State University in 1995 her special education teaching career began in 1989 as a fifth through 12th grade teacher at Deo glenholm school in Washington Connecticut then she moved on to a fourth through 12th grade special education position in Fairfield and from 1994 to 1996 she was a K5 special education instructor at Easton Sandy joined chesher public schools in 1996 as a special education teacher at Highland Elementary School Sandy has done just about everything as a chesher public schools special education teacher following Highland she created a life skills program at DOD middle school and then a behavior program at our homon Alternative High School for middle school students that program was moved to DOD where she remained until this happy retirement after Sandy retires
041she is going to be a bigram hot yoga instructor and plans to race BMWs at Lime Rock racetrack after her training her husband will be her pit crew Sandy also will finally have the opportunity to travel with the Special Olympics for the world Gam and she will be sailing into retirement sunset at the new Yacht Club that she belongs to Sand's not here this evening but we thank her for her passion for teaching here in cheser and the caring and support she has brought to her students their families and to our [Applause] staff and finally from Treasure high school please welcome treasure High School principal Dr Mary gat thank you oh good evening again and I am first speaking on behalf of Teresa LeBron who is retiring after 27 years in education 24 years at
042chesher high school Teresa received her Bachelor of Science in accounting at post College in 1979 she earned her master's degree in Business education in 1997 and her sixth year degree in experiential health and healing in 2004 at the graduated Institute her education career began with teaching grades 9 through 12 business at William H Hall High School in West Hartford she then went to teach the same grade levels in subjects at Rocky Hill in 1998 Teresa then transferred to chesher public schools in 2000 teaching business at chesher high school as Teresa has completed her last few weeks at CHS uh I want I she received an extraordinary uh recognition by the national FBLA organization she will be featured on their wall of Fame and this distinguished honor is for her many many years of service to
043the FBLA as an adviser since 2005 she will be formally recognized for her achievements at the national leadership conference in Orlando in June so she has just kept on learning and kept on growing right on through so Teresa thank you for being such a wonderful teacher such a wonderful colleague and for supporting our students to truly find their passions we will miss you [Applause] I'm sure you go anywhere without run yeah probably not [Applause] Terry morau Terry is retiring after 43 years in education and 38 years at chesher high school Terry received her Bachelor of Science and business education at at Central Connecticut State University in 1981 she earned her master's degree in Business education in 1985 from the same University and went on to obtain an additional 30 credit hours at St Joseph College
044and 30 credits at the University of New England in 1987 throughout the Summers of 1980 to 1982 she was a liaison coordinator for summer youth in Bristol Connecticut her first teaching position was at planville high school specializing in personal typing in shorthand then she taught typing one and two speed writing at business Careers Institute in New Britain Terry transferred to chesher public schools in 1986 teaching business education at cheser high school Terry has also been an Adjunct professor at tungus Community College and she's been on the Leading Edge to create a strong curricular alignment between chesher business courses and the college level courses Terry also gave her time and Keen insight to support the Mastery based performance assessment process and she has been a kind and stalwart support of her students and Department Terry we
045will will miss you you've left an indelible mark on chesher high school and we're so grateful that you spent the last 38 of your 44 year career with us teaching and caring at chesher High School [Applause] Kathy Sullivan is retiring after 44 years in education and 40 years at cheser high school Kathy received her Bachelor of Science and physical education from Springfield College in 1980 she went on to receive her Masters in PE and uh and for handicapped children in Southern Connecticut State University in 19 1985 from 1980 to 81 she was a fifth and sixth grade physical education teacher two days a week and the junior varsity girls basketball coach in Foxboro Massachusetts in 1981 she was a home tutor and substitute at the boys and girls varsity at the boys and girls club
046and varsity assistant track coach in sh Sharon Massachusetts Kathy joined chesher public schools in 1981 and throughout her many years of service she taught at Norton and Highland Elementary School before coming to chesher high school where lucky for us she spent the bulk of her career she's taught physical education and health at all grade levels and she's run intermural programs coached inter Scholastic field hockey basketball indoor and outdoor track been a class advisor Club adviser and K12 Department leader and dear friend and colleague to so many people in the district and school Kathy has led a department that has been on The Cutting Edge and model for physical education programs in the state during her tenure as leader of treasure Public Schools phys physical education and Health she has brought in leadership opportunities for students
047project Adventure several programs that have been recognized by the Connecticut Association of health physical education Recreation and dance she is widely recognized as a leader in her field across Connecticut and she has a deep regard for her colleagues and is Led with a true north belief in the importance of physical activity physical education and health education for all her work to ensure inclusion across all PE health programs is noteworthy it is nearly impossible to capture everything she has done and what she means to the chesher high school community and the chesher public schools Community Kathy thank you for your incredible service for the past 43 years and we will miss you time words [Applause] our retirees come up'll aoup photo the math here's a service I'll wait till her done while they're G Dr Dr
048Sol Dr Solen so my quick math says that this group represents a combined 300 years of service within chesher alone is that amazing everyone [Applause] adoring [Applause] fans I just want to say thank you for your years of service to our retirees um you've clearly touched many lives and we're grateful for all that you've done um especially your hard work and dedication to our students and families so congratulations again on a well-deserved retirement the next portion of our agenda is uh audience if there's any audience members that would like to go up and speak please do so seeing no audience members we're going to move forward with our agenda um we would like Mr jensi to um propose a motion to move the Personnel committee up to um before Finance so if possible can we
049have a motion to amend the agenda motion to amend the agenda to move the Personnel committee to the next item before finance committee is there a second Mr perini thank you um vote to to amend all in favor it's unanimous we will move the Personnel committee up before Finance thank you and with that um we have Miss cullinen for personnel committee hold on no we have um we skipped cons I apologize I skipped the consent I was just so excited we changed it oh my goodness um consent calendar so the the consent calendar we just need a motion to um you got it Mr White that the chesher Board of Education approves the consent calendar as presented is there a second thank you Mr eki um all in favor I unanimous thank you okay now
050we can move to personal sorry that the chesher Board of Education apply a 4% compensation increase to Dr Jeffrey F Sol's total compensation package to a new total of 27,43 it is further moved that the superintendent contract be extended through the 2026 2027 school year there second Mr White um call for a vote all in favor any discussion any discussion I apologize discussion Mr White no yeah no I just want to say uh to the superintendent thank you I appreciate very much the job that you've done in the past year um I won't say that everything is perfect but you are doing a really good job and I appreciate that um probably going to i' I'd like to see a little bit more uh you know focus on math School climate but overall you've done
051so many things well um school modernization is a huge undertaking you moving forward with Personnel you've got a number of shifts and changes that are happening over the course of probably two or three years significant changes in Personnel um uh there's there's a lot more going on uh it does not all come to mind we've had all these discussions in executive session but I just want to say overall thank you um I support you and I hope that you hang around for a while board members Mr gripple uh Dr Solen uh happy to support this motion um we've uh certainly grown together over the last eight years or so so uh couple of bumps here and there but uh uh overall uh I think U we've done pretty well and certainly you have done very
052well and um I support this motion tonight and uh continue to uh support what you're doing here thank you any other board members me Miss cullinan um I'd also like to say how happy I am with this motion and the collegio approach that the um committee took the Personnel committee and the committee of a whole um to discuss the um superintendent's contract and how happy we all are with um what the job that Dr Solen has been doing and again I I second it that I hope he continues here for a very long time we are very appreciative of his work um and time that he puts into this job thank you thank you Dr and I Echo everybody's statements um I I have some comments during my report for you actually but I I
053do appreciate most importantly your leadership um you continue to impress and innovate and basically check everything off the box that we've asked of you um and I I just think this is uh welld deserving for sure okay so we're calling for a um can you just reread the motion if you don't mind the did it again that the chesher Board of Education apply a 4% compensation increase to Dr Jeffrey F Sol's total compensation package to a new total of $270,400 Mr White all in favor of the motion it is unanimous thank you thank you madam chair and to everybody on the board um I know this tonight was about my contract and I appreciate that and I appreciate the the kind comments but you know the people that are in the audience here the the
054folks like U Mr massana Miss Solano and M Jen you know that they deserve all the credit in the world for what we accomplish in the school system I'm just proud to represent the work that they do uh they are incredibly hardworking people that are also very talented and I'm I'm proud to be a part of that team and I also uh while I'm at it would love to acknowledge the board I've been in this community for 20 years and the last nine is superintendent and um the as Miss cullin and said the collegiality uh the honest intention to support all students be successful and in that process supporting our teachers staff everybody who works in the Chester Public Schools is genuine and uh very much appreciate I think that's uh really a pillar of
055our success obviously along with our talented folks so thank you so much for the um recognition this evening thank you Dr senen moving on to the finance committee Mr maiana I believe thank you good evening or do you want to hand it to Ella before she leaves the building I I would like to do that because she can make everything sound great so the um board members do have the finance report I will be very brief this evening if you do look at the finance report you'll see that we are projecting to balance with a zero at the end of the year and our accounts as we've gone through the month of May where we've started to make the encumbrances for our yearend purchases and our summer maintenance and other projects um I I do
056see that everything will fall into place very nicely we still have quite a bit of work to do as we get through the month of June we have two more payrolls we have purchase orders that we will review and close if they're not going to be expended we do have to apply some of the grant balances to close out the year um and and finally finish up on any new additional purchases and projects that we have to encumber for that we will be completing over the summer so we are looking good I look forward to the fiscal year-end board meeting on June 28th at 7:30 a.m. and we'll present final reports and a list of summer projects at that time any comments the finance report I know you too well to know that you're not
057looking forward to any meeting at 7:30 a.m. but we'll let it slide this is one I do look forward to and not just because of the Neil's Donuts what your bringing Dr Solen will be bring gotcha thanks V you're welcome next item on the agenda is policy committee oh I apologize Mr GES go ahead I just wanted to ask I'm guessing because of the uh the earliness of the month we don't have any medical benefit reports that is correct Mr grippo so bad from that this evening we so bad he keeping it from right no no no never do that we don't have the report yet you're holding out for the 28th thank you Mr eki here are next sir policy committee so we met on uh Monday God was it only Monday uh so
058we're moving along um with our equity and diversity policy uh getting some great input from the public and we're bouncing some great ideas off of each other as far as language and and how we uh the verbiage in in within the policy that's moving along uh transportation is moving right along and then we're we have a motion for continuing education tonight so uh do I have a motion for the second reading do I make a mo no okay so we have a second reading of the policies for 05 523 equity and diversity and 3541 transportation and then we are making a motion tonight that the cheser Board of Education give a third and final reading to policy 6200 adult continuing education and direct superintendent to put set policy into immediate effect second by Mr gripple
059is there any discussion no public comment none out there all right uh call for a vote to approve the motion all in favor unanimous thank you anything else Mr REI for policy nope we're good all righty next item is any other standing committees I'm going to pass this to Mr perini if he has anything from legislative or cab no uh I think next week There's a cab board director meeting and I think we'll get a a debrief of what happened in legislature and how it might affect education so I'll definitely share as I get it but but thank you for asking awesome thank you sir next item is approval of minutes if you take a minute to review our minutes from the May 16th 2024 meeting can I have a motion to approve the minutes
060please Mr uh moved that the uh Cher Board of Education approves minutes from the meeting held on May 16th 2024 is there a second Mr eki are there any deletions corrections additions that need to be called out none all right vote to approve the minutes of May 16 2024 all in favor unanimous thank you Mr Caro is there any correspondence yes there is oh please do share um we have an email from a uh Mr levit um and he requests that um these words be read aloud at the next meeting so here we go um the Mary and Webster dictionary of the English language def uh defines the term equity as Justice according to natural law of right uh specifically freedom from bias and favoritism virtually all of the other meetings of the word refer
061to the stake one holds in a property or an interest in a property in excessive claims or leans against it thus the equity you have in your house or stocks owned in a brokerage account have been Prim have been the primary interest in the noun for several several centuries the current interest interest in equity uh stems from its current second meeting of freedom from bias or favoritism and this is a meeting which should interest the chesher Board of Education it is my understanding that the board may now be considering uh adopting a so-called Dei principle in hiring of Staff in in hiring of Staff it is my further understanding that this would in capitals entail F favoritism of one group of people over the others in granting employment this is the exact opposite it of
062the meeting of equity and constitutes a perversion of the meeting intent in plain old fashion understanding and caps of the concept any intelligent person in chesher would want the most qualified individuals and whatever subject is being taught to fill those positions the Dei concept as I understand it seeks to make some people more equal than others now this governmental intrusion has been practiced in Connecticut for a number of years but let's call it for what it is patronage connectic style of patronage has helped the state earn its unofficial model corrupt corrup corrup in the past any number of school districts use Pat patronage in their hiring practices I have no idea what cheshire's past history in this Regard in this regard is or was but what I see now is the alarming reappearance of the
063concept being forced upon school districts which are currently trying to do the right thing and seeking the most qualified individuals to instruct their pupils patronage is a corruption by an meaning of the term if the voter if the voters want the system in their state go State government's everyday hiring practices let them vote on it but this should never even rise to the level of serious consideration in any school system thank you for your kind consideration of this matter your is truly Steven levit cheser resident 24 years plus and that concludes um any emails to the board thank you sir Dr San you are up Sir next item is your report thank you very much um going to keep it real brief tonight uh two items one is uh on the school modernization front uh
064Slash our capital budget planning process uh Mr masana and I had a productive meeting last night with the Town Council as we were reviewing our capital budget uh that ties in with school modernization and that uh in this group's meeting the Board of Ed last month there was an expression of of interest in pursuing phase to I it was really noted in last month's meeting but it's been an ongoing conversation with the board for many months and uh we had the opportunity to engage with the council last night on that front there's a lot of interest in how do we move forward as we try and identify projects uh for our facilities it's hard to do that without knowing what the district plan is with respect to uh updating so I hope to kick off
065next fall you know collectively between the board and the council uh the same way we did in this last round looking at our facilities the needs the future all the different factors that weigh into that and hopefully have an update uh early next year or at least by mid next year um as it relates to our current projects we had a walk through at the North End and a walk through at Norton it wasn't required for uh biders to attend to do the site work that's necessary in both locations this summer but we had more than 10 people uh attend which is good news for us in terms of getting a competitive bid that work should start in July uh you'll start to see fences go up and it's going to get real it's exciting
066uh this dream of many years is is coming come into fruition the other thing I wanted to just mention uh was that uh our team you know I've listen to parents uh board members uh certainly Educators uh and even students Express concerns about the impact of social media on our students and uh what that really entails uh just recently um there's an author researcher Jonathan hate who had put out a book The anxious generation how the great rewiring of childhood is causing an epidemic of mental illness I had the opportunity to hear him on a television broadcast and I it was really uh pretty impressive so I'll be inviting members of the board the our faculty and staff as well as our parents to engage in summer reading opportunity and talk about uh how this
067uh Modern Marvel the cell phone and social media is influencing our students and what we as a school system may need to engage in uh to make sure that our students remain um healthy happy and able to effectively participate in school so um look for that soon coming to an email near you so thank you that's it for me any comments questions for the superintendent no Mr Grio uh Dr Solen are you suggesting the summer reading is the book that you just held up one and the same yes sir okay thank you thank you um any old business no no old business new business um I just want to kind of take a point of personal privilege first off I said this before I I want to thank my colleagues on the board here um
068you know first rookie year as as a chair has um been uneventful not gwood um and you know I really thank you Tony for kind of being my mentor um but the rest of you just supporting me through the process Mr jinsky for writing the script thank you um but I do want to end this with thanking you Dr Solen because I felt I wanted to say it at graduation but I think this deserves I have grown with you my children have grown with you since you were AP a do to principal at DOD me being on your PTA at DOD and just watching you through Treasure High School principal and superintendent and then sitting next to you here so I want to personally thank you and appreciate all that you've done for our kids
069here not just my own so and I do Echo like before we would like to see you stay um we feel as though you've done great work there's much more to do um and you're the right person to lead the pack thank you any comments questions thanks um next up is just announcing the upcoming meetings we have a Monday June 10th curriculum meeting um at hingston boardroom 7 p.m. and on Friday June 28th at 7:30 a.m. Vin the fiscal meeting as mentioned before at humiston and then um the elementary promotions I will be there on Wednesday June 11th hopefully all the other board members can join us for the tour of promotions and then Wednesday June 12th would be the dod promotion in the morning um and then the chesher graduation later on that day
070and last day of school for students would be June 12th and that I believe is it is there a motion to [Music] adjourn M ja second was calling all in favor unanimous we are adjourned thank you