001here here thank you all rise to the pledge to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liy and justice for all good evening everyone um chairman perini couldn't make it tonight he's at a I don't know a fancy something cave conference that some of us will be attending tomorrow as well um so I will go right to our student Representatives Ella and enu go right ahead hi everyone I hope you are all doing well um so I will touch late on things regarding our Sports around our school um so last night boys soccer unfortunately lost last um in the state semi-finals but the senior boys have had an outstanding career in their past uh couple years at the school three
002straight semi-final appearances two straight two straight State final appearances in the 2022 class L Championship um girls volleyball and cross country came on top of the SEC winning the SEC championships the other day in the past couple weeks um and girls swimm and dive had some amazing representative with uh different titles for different girls um winning SEC and States um so next week coming up we have the ramland Super Bowl um so it used to be between chesher and Southington but now it's between chesher senior Juniors and Junior and girl Junior and senior girls um so they will both compete in a flag football game um it's it's a great event for our school it acts as a fundraising event and an amazing event to just get everyone together for another time um because we
003do that very like a very limited amount of times throughout the year um and then the day after that we have our Thanksgiving Day game against Southington um we're the final fall team still going at it um hopefully we're here until I think December 10th when that's the state championship but um we've been working hard all year long to achieve our goals of beating Southington and winning the state championship um but the other day I thought was important to touch light on um the chesher and Southington Chambers of Commerce hosted an annual luncheon with the captains coaches um and other athletic Personnel at our school along with Southington um it was nice to see both teams despite our rivalry sit down together and enjoy a nice meal together um I was talking to our captains
004Matt Jeffrey and Evan Russo and they talked about how they heard from principales superintendent um Chamber of Commerce members and others about the Rivalry and what it means to them and how important it is um to have a nice rival nice rivalry between a town next to us um but despite the Rivalry we still respect each other very much and um are athletic and town goals um and finally the other day our band uh they do they've been doing this for the past couple of years but they competed in the Nationals in New Jersey at MetLife Stadium the home of the New York Giants and New York Jets um that's an amazing event that I think everyone there enjoys and just finds it very exciting to be a part of moving on to some things
005within the school Community I would love to start by talking about some of the recent charity events that have been happening first of all was a volunteer event this past weekend where students on sports teams and clubs were able to sign up and help and help Lea rake in the homes of elderly people in chesher I know our field hockey team did it we did three yards and we did so many bags of leaves but it was really very sweet to see how appreciative all of the folks were and it was there was a great turnout this year Mr tarelli said all yards that signed up were handled and he got some good reviews from Town members so that's nice we also have some holiday drives that are going to be coming up as we
006move into December um we have the traditional um our young Republicans do a Toys for Tots Drive the student Senate picks a new Drive every year the last the two years ago we did a toy drive for TCF we then did a warm Gear Drive and this year we are going to be doing a sock drive because that is actually the number one thing that homeless shelters need during the winter and we learned that and so we're going to be donating them to different homeless shelters in the area there's also there was recently the town food drive that some uh Chester high school students helped at but the peer health and NHS food drive is going to be coming up as we get into the holidays with the um big collection on December 16th so
007students sign up to be captains of their streets similarly to Lights of Hope and they get all food from their neighbors and bring it and we stuff a bus and then lastly the annual Winter Fest is in the works that is also on December 16th where young students in town can come and enjoy all these activities run by different sports teams and clubs and groups at our school and it is really a wonderful wonderful event uh moving on to some of our theater and music things we have um multiple band and students um trying out to be a part of the cmea Southern Regional Music Festival this weekend uh we have I believe 10 chorus students and many band kids and they all go to foreign high school and we audition and then perform at
008a festival in January this weekend is also the weekend of deadline the fall play tonight is opening night and there are shows at 7:30 tonight tomorrow night and Saturday night and tickets are $10 at the door they've been working really hard and I've been seeing a lot of pictures on social media and I cannot wait to go see it two of our last things is that we have our NHS college fair the day before Thanksgiving it's a half day and alumni get to come back and represent their college they bring pamphlets and talk about their experience so far and get to see friends and old teachers and it is so sweet there's a lot a lot of laughter in that room like people are just so excited to come back and teachers of seniors and
009juniors are able to bring their classes down to meet with these groups and help them kind of explore a little bit more of this college process for those students who are choosing to go that room and then lastly this is kind of a district thing today the peer health class hosted the elementary school Leadership Summit for students from our elementary schools to come to the high school and get to mingle with the high schoolers engage in team building activities and it was so cute the kids did all these little like you know like the golf ball going down the PVC pipes and all those things and they got to hear from a panel and it was a very well organized and nice event so that's our stuff yeah thank you for that wonderful report uh
010any questions or comments I go ahead just a quick comment a quick question and a quick comment for Ella so how old does one have to be to get in on that leaf raking because I could be considered a senior by by some some measures and there are a lot of leaves in my yard right now my lawn people wouldn't put down the fertilizer because they left a little note saying there were too many leaves oh no give them a call when they're up no in seriousness um contact me when you get ready to collect socks because I have socks for you awesome thank you thanks Tim yeah this is probably more a question for the superintendent they mentioned uh is it NHS College event only colleges alternative Pathways do you have any events that
011are similar to that for trades and I know you're doing something pretty serious this past summer yeah we've been pretty robust in the trades department but um I'm not sure if any trade students uh committed to come back I'll follow up with the board you know and I'll talk to Miss D'Angelo and see if we have anybody presenting that today but they're welcome certainly they're in the trades yeah yeah just I mean maybe communicated to the seniors who are graduating this year in some way hey we even if it's a different event because I don't mean to like interfere I'm not involved in creating the event at all so that's not the point the point is just to remind students about alternative Pathways yeah I think it's not this isn't a uh a path that's
012designed to be exclusively for students that have gone down to college it's for students who have gone on to um further education in any way shape or form and it's really about Connections you know I think Ellis said the laugh you know the and you know we've worked a lot on intergenerational St I don't know if that's a stretch on intergenerational but um you know our students connecting with kids that are older and younger uh from their Community their school community so I'll I'll ask um Miss D'Angelo if if we have any trades folks coming in but to build off that idea Al look like you're ready to jump in maybe you have something to add but that um the kids from the treasure High School National Science Honor Society were just down at Chapman
013uh earlier this week too teaching kids how to build trust Bridges so we have done a lot we continue to do a lot national uh excuse me the the Pure Health educators are do a lot of that work but uh We've branched out in other places too it's pretty cool I do want to Quick add there actually have been two events this year one of them was last month a trade event with a panel I don't have all the details on it but I could definitely bring you some details next month yeah no I'd love to hear it um and I'll just just based on my own experience in the past year I've been speaking with electricians plumbers and Carpenters and I've had this conversation with them about you know getting students gr recent High
014School grads to go that path and they're like if you know anybody tell us this is uniform they they're the trades from my perspective that limited group of people they really want help yeah Mar manufacturing has been very involved with us too we have some recent grads who work there um who've been great about coming back on panels and things like that as well yeah okay anyway so I I'll ask U where we are with it thank you sure thank you any other questions Ella did you clarify how much are the ticket sales for the deadline show yes they are $10 at the door at the door okay are you I assume it's opening night you're not in it I thought one no I'm not in it but I will be supporting thank you okay
015well Ellen Andrew thank you very much for your report as always you're welcome to stay but now we get into statistics and sorts of other fun business thank you very much have a nice night thank you have a good night appreciate the tie Andrew yeah thanks um moving on uh Dr Solen I don't know if you guys want to sit down here we have a presentation on the screen sure J all right thank you um at the last meeting we talked a little bit about uh the Next Generation accountability report a couple of weeks ago the state of Connecticut released Statewide data for the Next Generation accountability report so I'll take a few minutes to go through uh this should be pretty brief but to go through uh what that really is and how pressure
016performed this year and then historically so you know what is the accountability system basically it it provides an opportunity to track progress uh over time and also you know year and and year out uh helps us take a look at this accountability system provides a much broader uh spectrum of Target criteria than say the smarter balance does so it it gives a fuller picture of the District uh and helps us identify you know areas for growth and areas that we're performing uh particularly well well in and of course it satisfies federal and state requirements so uh really uh this this uh slide um more or less uh reiterates some of the things that you know I mentioned in the last slide um and then you know it was developed by sde uh so it wasn't
017just the SD group though uh it was a collaborative group that created these parameters and I will tell you that um I know years ago I had a real issue with how the state uh measured college readiness and uh it was really exclusively through the AP exam that they were doing that and we at the time had shifted really away from the AP exam and into ECE AIT galopar Krishnan is is the the data Guru at the state we talked a lot to him and that change happened in this form so we appreciate the give and take um and the updating that's available so what are the 12 measures uh the state's looking at acade academic achievement strictly from the perspective of overall performance uh they're looking at growth um and progress um assessment participation
018rate so the state threshold is that 95% of students participate in the various assessments whether they be uh science smart or balanced sat uh they want to see that uh people are participating not just students uh all students but they want to see U groups that they consider High needs students so multilanguage Learners uh students who receive free and reduced lunch and students who receive special education services so 95% of that population should be tested as well uh postsecondary preparation again we talk a little bit about ECE there uh postsecondary Readiness uh how are students um performing on uh the sat on uh courses the uh our CTE courses or AP or ECE courses uh how are our student students doing there are they on track to graduate at the completion of ninth grade how
019do our students do on a four-year graduation rate a six-year uh adjusted cohort um some students extend beyond uh postsecondary entrance rate physical fitness and arts access so uh this is the report for the chesher public schools for 2223 uh the green indicators the highlighting represents areas where we received 100% of available points based on our uh performance the uh you can see I'm not going to read through each of these obviously but it you can tell how I uh explained that the indicators don't just reflect performance of all students but how did students that are identified as quote high needs students perform as well I'll give you a minute to to take a look at that there's a lot of data on that sheet this uh chart here reflects uh 21 and when it
020says 21 and 22 that's fall of year so this is last school year versus the prior school year um pretty self-explanatory but the yellow indicates where we remain the same in terms of percentage of points earned green uh represents Improvement and the beige represents areas that uh slid back um you know chronic absenteeism for all students you can see it's it's 08 that we slid back we don't want to slide back at all but um you can see that there's a difference between sliding back point8 there and progress towards English language profic proficiency uh in literacy uh for our multilanguage Learners fell for nearly 14% that's uh a population that is growing rapidly within our school system um and we're focused on you know particularly uh with this new cohort cohort how do we better
021support their needs and ensure that they find academic success at the same uh pretty high rate that everybody else is finding success in the school system where do we um where do we stand relative to the state of Connecticut uh we had had the ninth highest outcome rate percentage uh in the state for for districts that are large enough to qualify and the state publishes all even like one building districts so um but they don't have like 1400 points possible 1300 points even so uh we perform exceptionally well uh against the rest of the state Connecticut how have we done over time um so dating back to 2015 on this measure uh we were 23rd overall um obviously now moving to 9th at that time in 2015 we're also 35th I guess and smarter balanced
022overall achievement and now we're also top 10 there as well in the state so obviously substantial growth over time or Improvement I should say the I mentioned the um couple of things that the the state looks at obviously I mentioned the participation rate but they also look at achievement Gap so how did the district do when you look at all students relative to uh High needs students they have a uh statistical calculation of a standard deviation and a half I think it is about where do where do those gaps fall and and do districts um to their High needs students perform uh within that Gap um and many don't uh we do um there's no outliers there when you look at Ela Math Science and graduation those are the four areas where um they want
023to ensure that students are performing uh with students with high needs are performing within the uh non-high needs population participation rate uh is very close but not exactly at 95% uh we're in the process of reviewing that and looking at how we could improve that um you know when you look at 94.8% you're talking about a handful of students taking the assessment and uh Ela that would cross that 95% threshold so obviously we're quite close at 94.8 94.3 and 93.7 but there are areas obviously that we want to take a closer look at and identify why we fell a little bit short and what we could do to improve on that sometimes it's you know crazy stuff like illness in a classroom could be enough to knock you under 95 and with some of these
024numbers um other times it could be opt outs or uh PP an IEP team would not opt you out of this so uh we're still trying to look at that see how we could improve that building by building performance this gives you a snapshot from 21 to 22 performance it um also uh identifies where participation was none of our schools had any sort of achievement Gap uh between the high need students and the U non High need Student uh part performance but um we have really high achieving schools the uh Highland uh I felt bad for them they had the uh High overall accountability index but their Science High needs participation was like literally 94. 89% and we looked at it I was like wow that's three students from 95% or something like that so
025you know they they missed out on achievement recognition but um those are the standards and we want to review them and see what we can do to improve that next year they don't throw you a parade or anything but still it's nice like to be recognized um so CPS strategic priorities you know when we review these things these align really with uh my goals that have been shared with the board previously but uh chronic absenteeism you know beyond certainly has nothing to do really with um achievement or recognition in that sense but it has a lot to do with achievement uh social emotional skill needs and everything else the more you miss school uh the worse off you are period end of story so uh we've been working really diligently uh to support students who
026are missing more time and uh We've made some some good strides this year and we hope to further improve that uh and that would be evidenced in next year's report the SAT we still want to focus on improving there um and you know we've never been Believers in uh teaching kids testing um but really we know that improving instruction the high tide raises All Ships and so we have focused intently uh on instructional strategies uh specifically math English and science to reflect more complex thinking visible learning you saw the U the board Workshop um the showcase at the elementary school at Highland a couple of weeks ago uh it'll be interesting to see I know some people were challenged by the elementary wait till we do the high school uh con content inv visible learning
027it'll be fun seal um you know I know Marlene has reviewed the pass uh the pupil attitudes about self and school survey our students just completed taking those and so we're looking forward to being able to discuss that and uh Identify some areas where we could gauge growth uh We've focused oncl for eight years uh seven years and so uh it'll be good to to try and identify and and measure how are we doing and supporting those skills so that concludes the presentation uh certainly if there are any questions I'm happy to go ahead Tim right near at the beginning of the slides I just want to understand this yeah right there so I'm looking at it and I'm seeing the top row says 100 points earned for all students 100% of points earned yeah
028so the um and I apologize because there is a lot of data on here and it's relatively small so the first index rate gives us the percentage of students that met the goal so Ela performance for all students was 78.2 uh this is grades three through eight plus the SAT so 78.2 the target was 75 for the district so there were 50 possible points and we earned 50 points it's 100% of the points does that make sense okay I think so yeah um all right so thank you for that uh next question has to do with the high needs so the high needs if I recall correctly it basically falls into three buckets one of the groups of kids is foreign language it's one bucket comprised of three populations okay so one of the populations
029that's what I'm wondering about in particular so I know at uh Norton school there's a one of the students came last March from Ukraine sure the impression I get is that she probably doesn't speak English really at all it seems to me that there's like a lot more conflict in the world I'm wondering if you have an uptick in students from overseas who are not English speakers because you're we we've had you know refugees um arrive in Cheshire um but relative to say the prior year or two years prior like is it a bigger number and you might have even gotten caught off guard by it I I don't know I'm just wondering if there's anything to because your numbers I forget what the periods of time are here but the numbers went down yeah
030I can't I can't say that that's a refugees uh are a substantial driver of the growth they are part of the growth but I wouldn't say that um our growth is due to Refugee students I think that'd be totally yeah yeah I think that would be you know overshooting it but um you know certainly we've had as you indicate refugees arrive here yeah no it's what I see in the headlines is more where I'm coming from it's not as dram IC here is it is in some other communities um so thank you sure s so can you go back to I'm a little confused at norn in 21 they were 18 82.5 then 22 81.1 but yet they obtain the growth distinction how does that happen because the 82.5 is a compilation of those 12
031indicators broken out a million different ways uh in the growth area there was a substantial jump and what I could um share too is that for anybody who's interested it is very easy to find this data you can go on Ed site Next Generation accountability and and this is my own preference but I like the old layout better than the new and you could select whatever School District um you know if I selected just any Community any school and it'll it'll po populate that information so you can see the full report for every school in Connecticut it's very transparent Tim and and Adam I know you both have questions you arm wrestle I'm just seeing it again I didn't jot it down the the six-year cohort is that basically the kids who start ninth grade
032together and then you're looking at it for anybody who didn't graduate four years yeah it's it's typically has to do with more um High needs populations that drive that uh so you know we do have special ed popul populations that extend but then we also have uh students that transition that go to transition uh populations so you could be here till 22 um Adam you had a question to um yeah the uh on the rankings page um some of the schools were or most of the schools were out of was it 14400 yeah and but there were some schools that had 13 yeah 1350 1300 so if you don't have enough students to qualify in specific areas that's not calculated in your count um so there are school districts with like so so new Canan
033this will give you the District overview they have 1350 points they don't have enough English language proficiency students to qualify which I'm sure you know is Tim was alluding to impacts other performance areas as well obviously sure again this is Ed site . c.gov and it's edsi ght not sit Sam I think just going forward I mean there's clearly some areas that we're doing very well in and some obviously we need to improve upon so just kind of getting a sense of what are the strategies and tactics that we're going to be utilizing to do so um especially within the high areas that population is somewhat bringing our numbers down Essence too so are we especially the multilingual Learners you know what is it that you need support wise to ensure that they're receiving the
034education access to great question stay tuned for January 7th or whatever our budget proposal is yeah you yeah right in my wheelhouse um yeah I mean certainly we're considerate and we evaluate the resources that we have dedicated to the PO ation and you know um I I certainly don't want to paint a picture that our overall performance is hampered by students with high needs that I would never want that um idea out there uh students who have high needs actually their performance is really good compared to the rest of the state um and and we do very well there however you know we want to make sure and those kids deserve access to instruction at grade level standards um we spent a lot of time actually today with our admin team talking about how critical
035that is that was if you recall too when we talking about bounce forward coming out of the covid acceleration focus on students having access to grade level standards is critical the idea postco that we are going to um just go back and teach two-year-old stuff to help you catch up you would never catch up by the time you graduated so uh We've focused very much on teaching gr grade level standards and uh scaffolding where necessary to support students to access those standards and so we've had good achievement that way but we have to continue to make sure because I think it's easy with great intent ention to lower standards for students with high needs um thinking that you're doing them a favor um but we know that's not accurate so it's counterintuitive um that we
036have to really push them to access grade level standards to be successful and I think that's something that our staff is continuing to embrace um and continuing to work toward it every day any other questions updated I know when and I know some of the data gets in bar gold and so sure so yeah I mean there it's kind of drips and drabs in terms of individual pieces of data throughout the summer and then um the actual publication of this occurs early November so this has been out a couple of weeks you think two weeks so so any I think it came out like days before the Showcase actually day or two before the Showcase Adam um would you say that our uh Improvement in rank um has to do with how we've used our
037resources from covid on in sort of bringing our school population back and kind of you know getting them back to the S of normal education uh I don't think it's hurt at all I I you know because this is such a big picture um it's hard to say specifically yeah definitely but I would say that um what's really helped our growth in this rank area is our academic achievement uh particularly in grades three through eight where we have focused a lot on acceleration strategies which were a byproduct of Bounce forward PD we spent a lot of time and energy there um Marlene Kevin our curriculum team everybody actually our administrators all hands on deck to make sure that our teachers were comfortable with those strategies because it it wasn't easy postco and our our academic
038achievement is really what's bolstered a lot of our growth in the overall ranking when you look at each of the indicators both all you know non and and or all students and high needs I know Robin is is particularly proud of that I mean special ed is a big part of that bucket and those the students have done really well there all right well thank you very much I appreciate you coming down to check it out [Music] [Applause] thanks wife thank you Dr Solen for that excellent presentation very informative sure I'll be using that going forward um up next is uh audience um for public comment um if there's anyone in the audience who would like to make a public comment you have three minutes come on up to the podium and have at it
039please state your name uh Marl soel 25 Flagler Avenue uh hi on behalf of the chesher food driving board of directors uh myself and some of our our colleagues are here actually to say thank you uh we recently held the 50th annual Cheshire food drive uh recently and the participation of the chesher public schools students was absolutely amazing we had literally thousands of food donations made in the public schools as well as groups of student volunteers on the church green to help us over the weekend as a nonprofit we are so grateful that chesher public schools permits us to have a presence in the schools and that you give students of every age the opportunity to help their neighbors and to realize that helping each other can be easy and in some schools can be
040very fun again this is just a small token that we'd like to give Dr Solen to thank you for being one of our Community Partners the chesher food drive would not be as successful as it is without the participation of the chesher public school thank you we'll do a quick picture yeah I I just want to add that um I have an envelope uh for Marina and the food drive family uh a collection from our staff was made uh $1,271 uh which is really pretty impressive giving giv given that we don't even have a thousand full-time staff and to get that sort of contribution rate is is great um so thank you guys I appreciate that and just so everybody knows um cheser fuit yeah um here I'll you you get that one um chesher
041food drive Inc is the sole financial support for the town's food voucher program so the money that we collect uh during the food drive and all throughout the year goes so that resident in Cheshire can go to Human Services get a voucher go to stop and shop or Big Y buy whatever food or personal care items that they want and then chesher food drive Inc and our Treasurer who will get this uh pays the bills so thank you and we really do appreciate it very good congratulations it's great to see such generosity in our town is there any other audience members who would like to make public comment thank you Ben Paladino 25 ler have so I just want to thank all of you for um the opportunity you gave us last uh board meeting
042for the chesher fencer team chesher uh fencing team to speak and some of you were here and just want to thank you for that um you know I do have a couple of um I'm just here representing some of the parents and the students tonight we have some questions that we have for the board um and by the way I I did email Dr Solen first I am I'm a chain of command guy guys so this what I do I I really believe in the process I believe it's a partnership between parents and the board in the system um it's not us against them okay um so take these off I can't read um just so you know a little bit about why we came here last time um I mean last year I met
043with Mr trone I met with him last year um during the season um I asked him about this whole situation about making the cheser fen team fencing team of VAR City sport um I told him we were gonna go to the board uh he expressed to me he did not want me doing that he wanted me to uh he said give me a chance to work on it is what he told me you know and I said you know I again I respect I respect that whole process if someone tells me the ad tells me they're G to work on it I I believe them I'm I'm a hopeful optimistic what can I say um and then he told me yeah we know we we can get you some buses and we will work on
044this um they gave us two buses last year and he told me if I knew ahead of time I would have given you more okay so again you know I thought I followed the process I contacted Mr perini Perino Perino sorry well I'm Italian it's okay we can get you know I get a buy um you know I asked and he told me you know you're a club chain of command you know go to the board maybe they can do something whatever so again um two buses were offered again to Heather Von Fischer um she took it but you know we have 11 away meets and she actually actually condensed it um so it wouldn't be as expensive because as you heard last uh month you know parents and and students have to carpool to
045get to these things um so I I did email and I asked and I know it's a lot of money but I asked for eight buses not the full 11 um I'm not sure what can be done about that so I'm throwing that out there to you guys to see if there something that can be done um because again it is a burden on the parents and the students for some of these meets and um I'm very hopeful that in January Ary you're going to put your strategies to boost those numbers which by the way those numbers were phenomenal I'll tell you my numbers someday Dr so where I work and you'll be surprised um but you know and I'm hoping that that'll be be brought up as far as making us a Varsity Sport
046but the other thing is um I do work in a school system uh I am familiar with the process of uh making something at Varsity Sport and it in case some board members are not aware aside from the financial part of it it literally is a phone call and signing a piece of paper that that's what it is that's that's what it takes um I was hoping um since we already self-funded this year that we could be um just recognized as a Varsity Sport on a probationary um well as a probationary period and with the hopes that it would be a VAR sport in January I said hopes okay so um like I said those are the two things that are concerns by the athletes and the parents and um they asked me to bring
047it up so that's why I'm here again I thank you for your time I know you guys are busy I know what you do I know it's thankless job what you do and I appreciate it and so does the F the chesher fencing team so I'm not sure what the process is going to be for my questions I don't needed to be opened up tonight and discussed tonight but if Dr senen if you just get back to me if there's a discussion just let us know okay thank you guys thank you Mr Vice chair if I made just a quick this um is the audience piece and usually we talk about any emails and I I don't typically receive emails literally 37 minutes ago8 7:43 I guess received an email from Steve Vado um and
048it's really just you know more or less advocacy for the fencing team um and that uh his daughter Sarah Vado part of the Fencing Club in 2018 at CHS and her success in the um in fencing and you know she was thrilled about you know what the participation meant to her it was also a a shout out I guess uh I was addressed as Uncle Jeff which is a a reference I made during uh graduation ceremony in 2016 it's one of my all-time favorites that one but just thought I'd pass that on his audience thank you Dr Solen uh is there any other comment public comment okay I'll just just say you know uh you know we normally don't respond to public comment um just know that um your testimony was taken under consideration last
049month um uh the board is considering actions I guess that's fair to say and I'll follow up you know tomorrow uh the Caps cave convention but next week I will definitely follow up with you before Thanksgiving okay seeing no audience uh we will uh move along to committee reports and first up is curriculum Faith thank you uh we met on Monday November 13th um and basic two major um or yeah two major um points on the agenda first were a review of um program study changes they're all before you most most of them are simply um we the there will be a um AP World History Class added um to the high at the to the high school curriculum um changes in um you know year-long half year um but they're all before you and
050you can also review the meeting uh the meeting on um the YouTube channel it's exciting um and then also we p uh passed on for full consideration to the board after a two week uh review period a change in text for uh chemistry so we um had approved or recommended the approval of world of chemistry um it's a new text that will comport with the ngss standards and um so that's the biggest plus going for it right now um also the old text has been basically discontinued so we have to do something um but it's it's quite an impressive um a textbook so uh it will be on review in the public library and in Marlene's office so for the public to um take a look at um and again you know it's pretty well
051it's very well summarized here we also just heard about two outof State field trips one which was actually last week in Belfast main for the cross country team and we did very well up there and then um the ball is rolling for the dod Middle School DC trip in May which will be here before we know it so very perfunctory meeting um this is my last and I do want to point out something and going back to the uh CHS program study changes there was a little um notice in there that there was something called the MB PA the Mastery based performance assessment which few years back the legislature in its Infinite Wisdom decided to make a full credit course for all students to graduate or a single credit course requirement to graduate from high
052school um this involved so many man-hours to put together uh Dr Moren Reid was in charge of it um and we already have it as an elective but the state decided that every student in the state should should be doing this and it was basically a Capstone project um as I said it was a lot of manh hours um some money and um potentially taking a uh valuable time away from the kids to do this they for unfortunately never really got into it and then it just disappeared and my my point is um I hope that our legislators think long and hard before they start putting in mandates that they have no intention of keeping and I hope that the board coming forward will um put our legislators feet to the fire to think long
053and hard about some of the courses that they so actually mandates at all levels that they put on our district and perhaps give us a bit more autonomy in what we do and um the things we do for our students because we do know them best so thank you thank you Faith uh any questions or comments Sam were we making a change to I'm I just need some clarification because it was an ex it was an extra credit that needed to be to graduate for the upcoming class and districts had the option of selecting what it was the kids could choose to do and I thought we had a pretty good laid out plan for it Capstone wasn't an option there either so if you could just refresh my memory um so at the meeting
054on Monday uh regarding the program of study changes in the mbpa they are moving that to um an elective offering so that will probably include 30 to 40 students who might take that but it will no longer be a requirement okay that's what I thought thank you sure there's a very quick aside the state also requires now uh financial management personal finance uh We've required that since maybe 2012 um so that won't impact anything just in case anybody's paying attention out there so can I just understand um uh several of us have advanced degrees on here and uh we uh have to do a Capstone course for graduation what you're saying now is that people can volunteer or elect to do a Capstone course to what just improve their GPA essentially or what what is
055the goal of a Capstone course if it's an elective it's an elective course where they can go deeper into any particular area of study that they're interested in and that can culminate in a in a presentation um it can culminate in an activity in a video there's almost no limit to the ways that students can demonstrate their learning but it's no longer because it's no longer a requirement for the Connecticut uh from from the state of Connecticut it's no longer a requirement for our students as well they're putting forward that it can be an elective but they're not requiring every single graduate take that course before they can be issued a diploma so it's now more of a application college application booster enhancement I guess it could be um it's a passion project for a
056lot of kids but uh it's also you know one of the things that I appreciated about it and the fact fact that you know we had a number of students that leveraged this one it wasn't a requirement was that it's a great um way to demonstrate application of acquisition of the chesher performance standards um so I I think that's that's nice if uh a student wants to engage in that process and um maybe wants to do something a little off the reservation um it's that's a great opportunity so I if I recall because I we had to deal we had to at least adjust our policies a few times to accommodate for this um and there are always questions about Staffing and there was going to be a large amount of Staffing devoted to this
057because I it's not I I recall students could begin as early as their freshman year on this on this Capstone course and it was going to require a significant amount of staff so is this now going to just be like one person or like is you know a Capstone coordinator or how what what's like I'm guessing how much staff do we have to voted now compared to what do you anticipate we will have going forward so one of the things that you're you're right Adam one of the things that was talked about when this first came out was who was going to manage all of it and who was going to be who's going to have oversight and who was going to support each one of these students through the process and so there was
058talk about hiring staff to do that we were able to um Moren Reid took on some of that responsibility and then she worked with a committee who who um took that on partially as a duty partially as a professional responsibility some teachers actually had it as a course where they helped students so we will no longer need to allocate that there so there's going to be some reconfiguring going on plus we'll still have 30 or 40 students who will be taking it as a course okay I yeah that I'm done thank you go ahead I would yeah yeah yeah yeah I would just add that I went several years to um view those presentations those projects and they're actually fantastic projects and if we can look at uh learning especially with high school student well
059all students if we can look at learning as not just a something you put on your resume to go forward but as actually engaging in something that you're passionate about um I think these kind of projects are fantastic from from a teaching learning point of view um the part I think that that I agree with faithon is when you're told that you have to do this for all students as a requirement for graduation it's a it's a pretty heavy load but the the the projects that come out of this and the students that participate in them and there's nothing wrong with that as an educational experience so and cric me if I'm wrong don't the each of the projects have each of the students that that are doing those um capstones they have a teacher
060Mentor reader assigned to them yes and and just to go back to Adam your question we did not hire any staff to manage this I just wanted to be clear about that can I just I just I I my gripe is with the Mandate and and I would encourage as many students I I'm with the I've seen a number of those projects and and those kids are so into into what they have pulled together it isn't about getting into Harvard or Yale it is about pursuing something that they really loved and exploring it beyond what this what the course work the required cour work um offered so it was practical application it was passion but um you know again my point in raising that is it just it was um a rabbit hole and the
061state tends to send us down rabbit holes a lot which is unfortunately and that's where I offer course caution um for and and um a strong stand so that's all thank you any other comments or questions for curriculum okay um moving on to finance oh that's me and Mr maiana thank you Mr gripple good evening everyone the finance report and medical benefits report will be very brief because I need additional time on the next two items that we'll be discussing however the finance report is is very simple we're a third of the Year through the uh board members do have the report in their packet tonight we are uh expended or encumbered 74.8% of the budget all of our major encumbrances are completed which is primarily payroll and transportation are the largest ones there are
062no um issues that I see as of right now in any of the budget line so that is holding extremely well and of course we will continue to manage our budget and um work towards a successful budget close this year so that's it on finance and I'll just jump to medical benefits and then if there's questions we can address them for the month of October our claims were a825 um as the board knows the expected claims per month is 1.1 million so we were just below the 1.1 million on a year-to-date basis our um um net change to the reserve fund dropped by $27,000 so as of October 31st we're at 2 m2297 that gives us 1.84 months of claims Reserve um we're down a little bit from last year at the same same time
063um about 1.37% so we're tracking just about 6% over budget on a year to date basis on our claims as we go through the next couple of months and then hit January February March it looks like the the claims trend is is good and we just hope that that continues and that's finance and medical benefits thank you um any questions Tim yeah um just with regard to the medical benefits longterm a year or two ago we had someone in here from our insurance provider giving some updates and one of the programs that you have within the school system is trying to encourage Better Health yes and I'm just wondering 30 seconds on that is that ongoing any changes well it's ongoing and we've we've increased our you know health and wellness initiatives within the district
064just two weeks ago we had our annual health and wellness Fair last week we did biometric um um availability at chesher high school that's not my phone I don't think it's my watch sorry about that I don't know why that started uh so we've we've actually increased the number of opportunities for our employees to engage in health and wellness including things like walking challenges um encouraging people to do their doctor visit and um take advantage of to the extent that they employees that are taking out medical benefits through siga take advantage of siga's offerings you know which we encourage them to do it's very difficult to correlate you know those initiatives to improved claims it's it's the one claim that you avoid by having employees be proactive with their health that you can't measure the
065impact so we continue to look we continue to do health and wellness because it makes sense to do so for our employees do you happen to know what the average length of services for School Employees I mean we've got lots of teachers who go 30 40 years overall I mean is it 10 years 20 years do you have any idea I should say among the group who have insurance I'm not sure if every group has insurance or just generally speaking is what I'm wondering about are you asking for an average employee tenure yeah and not that you know it but I thought you possibly you would that's okay no worries I don't want to drag this out I can get that but I don't have it tonight yeah and it's not urgent don't worry about
066it we have long-term employees and the health outcomes are after a long time that's the only reason I asked that's good okay thank you VIN you're welcome uh my only question is um you said our incumbrances are up to 70 almost 75% um that seems a lot higher than last year if I recall you were you're really sort of dialed back so it seems like things are much more stable this year and there's a lot less worries well the encumbrance percentage is based on you know primary primarily payroll right we encumber salaries for the teachers we encumber for the cost of transportation that we expect for the full year so I I think that's uh in line with where we were last year at this point in the year and then as every month goes
067by that encumbered and expense amount increases as we continue to expend funds the um we still have you know the uh 60% hold on that's what I'm talking I'm sorry I was yes I was getting confused yeah so we still we're still at 60% of budget where our department heads and our principes can't expend more than 60% of the non-par line items so we're holding there that's always our buffer and we'll increase that probably when we get into January great okay thank you you're welcome any other questions okay um oh oh do we have two items for executive session right so is there a report so we have one from personnel and one from planning is that correct um so are there any reports from Personnel or planning that need to be done before we
068go into executive session no we may not need Executive session um I I don't believe we need it for the secretary's contract it's pretty straightforward but that is up to the board to decide if you do want to do that and the planning committee met on the dco contract yesterday so you know the planning committee members can decide on that um well the thought is that we're discussing um contracts I think it's probably a good idea contract resol right and then we would with possible action the follow correct okay even if it's only five minutes okay to discuss very good we have to dis disclose why right it's to discuss the secretarial contract and contract I make a motion to go into executive session to discuss the secretaries and technicians contract as well as the
069the proposed contract and the proposed bud bus contract inviting in the superintendent the COO Vin massian and marleene too okay as well as the assistant superintendent possible action to follow with possible action to follow okay and there was a second Andrew all in favor all right we uh recess to Executive session thank you okay move that the chure Board of Education approves the collective bargaining agreement with the chesher educational secretaries and technicians United for the period of July 1 2023 through June 30 2027 further that the Board of Education authorizes the superintendent of schools to sign the contract on its behalf that right do we have a second Tim uh are there is there any discussion on the motion yeah no I would just I'd just like to ask uh then to run us through
070the high level on it yes I'll be more than happy to do that this is a uh agreement that was reached um after negotiation sessions that began in March of 2023 um we ended the um sessions in mediation on October 25th 2023 that's when we arrived at a tenative agreement the high level terms of the contract are a four-year contract that is retroactive to July 1 2023 and running through June 30th of 2027 the um this particular bargaining unit has 51 employees that includes 10 and 12 month secretaries our technology assistants our library media technicians our benefits specialist and a payroll superviser on the employee benefit side the uh HSA plan will remain a plan but the HMO and PP plan poo plans that are currently offered will be eliminated during the first two years
071of the contract the deductibles remain the same at 24,000 in the third year of the contract the employee deductibles increased to 4500 the board will continue to make a contribution to the employee HSA of 1,000 or 2,000 1,000 for single and 2,000 for two person family in all four contract years so that hasn't changed from the current contract the employees for the HSA will have a co-share that increases to 133% in 2024 as of January then increasing to 14% January 1 2025 and then 15% effective January 1 2027 wage increases are U stepped based on where the employee is in terms of their tenure so employees step one through four the contract wages per year the increases per year are 2.625 2.75 2.75 and 2.75 in the last year employees that are at step five
072meaning they've been here five years or longer their wage increase will be 2.875 followed by 3% 3% and 3% there is a wage concession on um overtime currently the employees in this bargaining unit receive time and a half pay once they work over 36 hours under this new agreement the time and a half doesn't begin until they work 40 hours or more and those are the highlevel financial um Provisions that have been agreed to through mediation for this group all excuse EXC me any other questions uh Tim yeah well just a comment I think the I think this contract is reasonable fair I plan to support it and I thank you VIN for your time working on it and I thank the secretaries and Technical technician Union for working with vin in good faith working
073with vin in good faith thank you um any other commentary more questions um I also uh according to the little script here I have to open this to public comment is there anyone uh from uh the gallery who would like to speak on this uh contract okay great uh seeing none I'll call for a vote all in favor it is unanimous thank you um I believe there is a another motion perhaps maybe sure do we want to discuss this uh we should read the motion first make the motion first y think that I know this after four years right um move the chesher Board of Education recommends that the chesher Town Council waves the bidding requirements and approves entering into new agreement with dco in accordance with their proposal date October 12th 2023 to provide
074transportation services to the cheser public schools for the period from July 1 2024 to June 30th 2029 with annual escalation escalations of 6% 4% 4% 4% and 3% do have a second and seconds great um van again highlevel summary that would be great thank you for the for public consumption of yes thank you this is a um request for the Board of Education to approve um going to the Town Council to request a bid waiver to enter into a new five-year agreement the board cannot um approve a bid waiver only the Town Council can do that so the board is recommending uh a bid waiver as as stated in the motion this is a um proposal that is being recommended we've been negotiating for a new contract with dco for several months now they have
075proposed through a term sheet a new five-year agreement that would begin July 1 of 2024 so the contract isn't expiring until June 30th of 2024 that we're in now the high level terms would be a new five-year agreement however at the board's option if we wish to extend that agreement for another five years we can do so under state law however state law requires that dco would have to make at least one electric type one bus which is a large us operational again that's that's an option at our discretion um in the motion the contract increases are 6% in year one followed by 4% in the next three years and then the last contract year would be 3% that is below where the market right now is based on a survey that was B done
076by the school business officials Association the average Market increase right now is over 7% and years forward if you look at this proposal we're averaging 4.5% over the five years and currently the rate that we're paying per bus is below market and with the lower increases compared to Market we will stay below the average Market under terms of this contract um as part of this agreement Deco will replace approximately 50% of the bus fleet with new buses all diesel in the first year of the cont track they also are making sure that the buses will all have the latest technology including GPS tracking video cameras um if we would like the buses will enable us to offer parent a parent app where the parent can trct where the bus is um and then in the
077future turn by turn driver navigation if the state permits that right now it's not permitted and the last Financial term is that Deco is going to get give us a one-time $20,000 Credit in year one if we want to add any additional features to the bus fleet such as the extended stop arms so the one comment that I'd like to make is the increases that we're seeing here in the last two contracts we have had very low increases two contracts ago when we went out to bid the average increase per year was 2.4% in the current contract we're in the average increase per year was 1.6% the important thing in the current contract we um signed it in 2019 three months after we signed the contract and our rates were fixed the governor uh announced
078and the legislator passed an increase to the minimum wage law and so when we executed the contract minimum wage was $10 and in the next four years the minimum wage went up by 50% to $15 and as a a result of that Dao's cost for wages certainly increased and then on top of that there's been a driver shortage which pushed and added pressure to increase driver wages further so the fact that we are seeing an increase of 6% in the first year it it makes sense simply because the wage costs have gone up and our pricing prior to this it hasn't changed so I think that the um hos terms are very attractive for us as I said they'll keep our rates below the the current averages that we're seeing deo's been a our bus
079provider for 25 years they've done a very good job for us they've been very responsible they're always responsible they are located in New Britain that's where their headquarters are um and you know if necessary just to just to talk or deal with an um you know we can reach the president Don devivo you know by phone the uh CFO that we negotiated this contract with Scott bant has been with d for about a year he happens to be a cheser town resident and um you know Deo I I think um has earned you know our business and they are very aggressively trying to keep it through this proposal I'll stop there otherwise I could go on the rest of the evening as you know just a logistical question so does this go pretty quickly through
080the Town Council does it go to their next meeting it would have to get on their agenda it would be on the December 11th is their next uh business meeting I believe so if the board approves this tonight then Dr Solen will send a request to the town manager to add it on the next Town Council agenda okay thank you Tim thanks Adam so J generally I I don't like bid waivers but as I have learned in the past or come to the conclusion in the past that the school bus Market is unusual I don't think Vin mentioned it but when we we went out to bid in 2009 I was on the council at that time and I voted to send it to bid despite the recommendation of the assistant superintendent at the time
081Paul cowo and in general in principle I do believe I don't want to wave bids but for this I do think it makes sense we got the town got burned I was wrong in 2009 what was predicted to happen did happen we went out to bid it came in with higher rates from the same company dgo we would have just been better off if we had skipped that whole process gotten better rates the other another another Point um that the numbers don't even make that much sense to me but the point about the 50% wage increase getting baked into this seems like a big factor labor has got to be a big piece of this contract and we had very small increases even before anyone knew about the 50% hike from t uh $10 to
082$15 I'm happy with the Ser I'm happy with the service I we have a good relationship which is very important this is not where chesher is but there was a strike in Meridan just this past year school buses went on strike and I just don't even want to imagine what could happen in a situation like that with a new relationship that goes south the traffic it it would just could be awful so maintaining a good relationship is my point about that this past year dco has visited us visited us here in chesher uh twice want to share their thoughts on how chesher can Electrify our bus fleet that I thought was enlightening I I and I think other members would probably be interested um over the course of the next five years to get more
083get a few more school bus companies to come see us to give us their vision for electrification but generally speaking and I I follow this stuff a bit school bus electrification it's not something that's going to happen for us right now based on the current economics it's not just the dollars there's just there's supply chain issues getting getting them out the door is difficult so I'm hoping I'm hoping that'll change over the next few years but I think doing this for the next five years I think this contract is um is good for us and I'll just mention the other time that dco came to visit us visit the board I guess was not just making a presentation over in humiston but they actually brought uh one of their electric school buses to us to
084give us a tour and it was I the feedback I I visited the bus I didn't actually go on the tour with it but what the story I'd heard afterward I thought was uh pretty interesting and Vin correct me if I'm wrong on this but basically the parents at one bus stop there was what 20 or 30 kids get off at one bus stop and they were just in shock when the bus pulled up all of a sudden because they didn't hear it coming and you hear the diesel the rumble of the diesel engine coming and I personally think that'll end up if we can Electrify and I do believe we will be able to I think there's a big benefit with that um keeping the bus quieter having less yelling more calm fewer behavioral
085issues on the buses dco is very interested in getting us there as soon as possible I think that could really work I want to hear from more people but right now at this moment in time I think maintaining the course with that go is the right thing to do so I'm going to be supporting this motion thank you any other comments okay um is there any uh commentary from the public on this motion okay not seeing any a call for a vote all in favor it is unanimous thank you thank you Ben um moving on to policy uh yet another exciting policy meeting on H November 8th right November was that yeah November 8th um we reviewed um let's see how many policies did we review like six policies something like that um let's see
086so we reviewed um uh s uh what it changing the uh title of a uh from let's see assistant superintendent for instructional services to assistant superintendent um let's see Transportation uh we discussed a transportation the transportation policy uh that's going to be going back for further review and refinement um we discussed uh student admissions uh I believe there is a oh yes uh yeah change in legislation and uh we are going to be uh uh what what would be the term not supplemental kindergarten but transition a transition program for one year which we discussed that the uh which we approved at the last uh uh business meeting um uh age of attendance uh which was I believe also a statutory change uh organization of instruction um let's see we I think we decided decided to
087uh leave that one for now um status level sports program ah yes so this this is um a new policy that uh we will be uh I guess beginning to construct um uh dealing with uh uh how to qualify a sport for Varsity uh sort of sort of vaguely answering the question uh for our uh citizen who came before um we're we're trying to sort of uh figure that out um and that'll be handled in policy uh at least that's the thought process anyway right now um and then uh a new bylaw for uh board member orientation um so at the end of that discussion um we moved for first reading uh policy 2132 assistant superintendent for instructional Services um 5111 admission placement 5112 ages of attendance and bylaw 9230 new board member orientation to
088the full board and just again for for clarity that the status level sports program is still in uh its preliminary phases so there's nothing to be B for any kind of reading or consideration right now um and then uh we had um additional instruction um on a bylaw for what was this for bylaw for uh board self- evaluation uh we had a discussion about that um bylaw uh and bylaw code of ethics uh which um we had a discussion about and have decided decided to take no action currently um that the required further review um and with that we adjourn the meeting um so um is there any questions or comments about any action or discussion okay great that concludes the uh policy uh [Music] report uh let's see I don't think we have any
089other standing committees at this time correct no all right um approval of minutes would someone like to read motion and go ahead I move that the chesh board of I move that the chesher Board of Education approve the minutes from the meetings held October 19th 2023 and I move that the chesher Board of Education approved the minutes from the meeting held on November 2nd 2023 is there a second Sam are you seconding or is that a okay great a discussion on the motion seeing none uh call for a vote all in favor unanimous thank you okay miss harrian any uh correspondence I'm just gonna check with there is no correspondence this no correspondence fantastic there is I mean it'll be filed under correspondence I only mentioned that email earlier because it was Germain to the
090the initial speaker Mr Paladino okay but that'll be filed under correspondence like I said just came in thank you and now to the uh always the most anticipated point in the evening uh the superintendent report lot of pressure uh but uh I I want to try and keep this quick given the hour but um I'm just going to buzz through a few things it is American Education week this week so I just want to take this time to acknowledge everybody in the chesher public school system who makes our school system run and is as successful it is uh thank you to all of our our staff we have a tremendous team and to you our board members and uh politicians in the community to help provide the resources to help make us successful so thank
091you earlier this week we had the superintendent Awards dinner where we recognized 21 students from across the district uh for their character and accomplishments and it was really a great event available on YouTube check it out um the nextg school building committee has met and approved the design of both the North End and uh Norton schools if anybody's interested you jump on our Chester Public Schools website School modernization bottom left uh the latest designs are there for you um just in time for uh seven building 72 unit property on Route 10 to be approved this week uh great so um they're hoping to rent in the summerfall of 2024 um so to be determined um the question was raised earlier about how do we uh what are we doing to support um Health and Wellness
092in our school system you may be aware that last year we were acknowledged by the American Heart Association as a uh the the silver standard for health and well-being in the workplace um and we do do an awful lot to and we've continued to evolve in that respect and now we are a gold level Community yeah then the shock on his face it's exciting but um you know it is in all honesty something we're proud of and we'll look forward to sharing more information with you about that in the coming uh weeks um I will be joining Dr Gad and our security salt consultant Tom Vivia tomorrow at the Caps cab convention uh we'll be presenting uh a addressing Teen Mental Health and threat recognition uh that and intervention uh I know that you guys
093are familiar with our Teen Mental Health first aid program and a lot of the work that we do to uh provide supports for our students along theal Continuum and we're looking forward to sharing that with the Connecticut uh superintendent and Board of Ed Community tomorrow uh last night I had the honor of attending the Connecticut teacher of the year ceremony in Hartford uh it was really nice I uh the governor made comments that I always appreciate when he makes this statement and we talked about it when the governor came to our admin PD just we invited him and he showed up uh uh which was nice and he talked about um how different states have different natural resources and Connecticut has education as its natural resource and so um that always makes our our staff
094feel proud our teachers feel proud and I appreciate that uh we got to celebrate kathern zukas who's a first grade teacher at Norton school and the chesher Public Schools teacher of the year last night well-deserving she's an incredible teacher um there a surprise thrill for me though as I was leaving I got a tap on the shoulder from Molly condrin who was a chesher high school graduate when I was the principal there and um she's the Gren Public Schools teacher of the year so uh it's really awesome to see our kids go on and Achieve at such high levels uh to be named a teacher of the year from your district is an incredible honor so congratulations to both Katherine and Molly and last but certainly not least um I always tell groups that I
095talk to anytime Board of Education comes up that uh the commitment that is made by individuals uh who give up their time their energy their thoughts their ideas over a fouryear stretch is really uh impressive and really meaningful for our school system and community and tonight we are proud to recognize two folks who've given four years of their time uh may feel like eight but it's been four uh and faith I just want to say thank you for everything that you've done the time that you put in um you've tolerated Marlene many days for coffee no I'm kidding I really appreciate that you've put that sort of commitment into it and you're a stalwart Advocate against um mandates which we also appreciate uh and so certainly maybe not on the board but uh we be
096I hope a familiar face at the podium uh like marinaa was this evening and then Andrew uh I'm glad that you know you may be gone but not too far away you still work across the street and um like Faith you've committed so much everything that you've done for planning uh to help us achieve something that I know Vin and I thought was a pipe dream years ago uh to have that come to fruition uh with your support has been really meaningful and I don't know you know it's not just your support on the board with guidance through planning but also so uh what you do in this building to the economic development will substantially ease the financial burden of our uh evolving school system and so on uh for the two of you again
097thank you so much for your service and we have some gifts for you um so that it's a $10,000 bonus uh from Adams paycheck so don't be shocked when you open it up if you think marinaa got a nice envelope earlier look out so congratulations treasure yes yeah it's uh don't don't you know show anything off on camera but congratulations disregard that those checks are written in a [Laughter] pencil I just want to quickly say to Faith and Andrew it's been a pleasure over these four years and um I hope that many people come up to you on the streets when they see you and say just say thank you because it is a big deal to serve four years so so I'm saying thank you and if I could um I wrote something if
098that's okay um it's it's it's a little bit longer than I originally anticipated to be but I sat at the computer and I said like I had to like obviously the board is going to change and obviously we have all everyone here Sor Tony's not here tonight we've all been through a lot over the past four years and so I I kind of sat on my computer and I wrote something and so I hope that you guys could give me like five to seven minutes um and if it's too long I I'll stop but I think that you might appreciate some of the points that I bring up here so if I could is that right okay all right hope I don't cry all right it's hard for me to wrap my head around the
099fact that I've been had the honor to serve on this board for four years four years when I considered running I was at PTA DED Highland School having worked from home I had the ability to run class parties and volunteer as my daughter enjoyed her time at Highland decades earlier having always followed chesher in the growth of this I knew I could Lear something to the town I had a career in project management with school of construction in the great City of Waterbury and felt like I could add something to the discussion I attended an open form ma chestra High School a few years earlier and listened to the plan for a new Middle School I watched as that plan never saw the light of day by divided Board of Education and a Town Council
100after some coaxing I decided I wanted to seat at this table I felt I could help I felt like it was my turn to get back to my town my hometown into a district that shaped who I am today stop scrolling on Facebook and actually make something happen it gets better I'm not going to recap four years but we had this whole pandemic thing I took the oath of office in this room on December 1st bright-eyed and ready to tackle the riggers as a board service to only be thrown into the global pandemic in March after a mere three months I barely had my feet wet I hardly knew any of my fellow board members what ensued over the next several years was an experience I will never forget but one that helped to shape
101who I am and one that I'm immensely proud of this board some before you this Administration these families this town government and most importantly the students collectively made the best of an absolutely awful situation Tony you led this board we pivoted we reallocated funding we made hard decisions we wrecked tents to keep lunches we doubled down on buses to keep the annual DC trip to do at DOD we attempted to run polo grounds for graduations we sent staff to people's homes to work on it issues this District did not stop other districts were closed and we simply weren't we all put in the effort and care to make it happen and selfishly we all deserve a round of applause for what we did whatever the hell it is that we did Jeff now Dr Solen
102coming into this I didn't know you having grown up watching Dr Florio as cheser superintendent I was used to the tailored suit stoic kind of a superintendent you my friend are a bit different you are a leader you're a collaborator a hard worker and one that always seems to find the way this community is lucky to have you you're relatable to parents relatable to faculty and students alike and you're funny as hell you are Ram through and throw even if you still decide to live in Wallingford Vin always in a suit always prepared your budget books will always confuse me but I know I've never had to pay my own money for a budget shorefall and I'm simply thankful to you for that I trust you I feel you have the district's best interest at
103heart you're a good negotiator but you're also kind and thoughtful the day I received the call from the town manager that this is a true story the day that I had received the call from the town manager that had gotten the job at Town Hall you were the first call that I made afterwards I even called you before I called my mom also true I don't know exactly why but I just wanted your opinion and you said I can't think of anyone better for that job you're gonna do great kid I'm so excited for this town that's exactly what he said Marlene I'm so glad that you got the official title of assistant superintendent other than the fact your last title was a mouthful you certainly deserve it you care about these students and this
104District during some tough meetings over the years namely at the dod library in Jeff's absence you shined you commanded a packed house you led a constructive conversation address parents concerns you listened you diffused a very volatile situation you took parents concerns and you made it right you didn't take the easy road but you took the right Road I've really enjoyed working with you I look forward to seeing what you do for our district and for your future professional growth Carol you keep us all organized and informed I've yet to master the pronunciation of your last name but we're neighbors and so I'll figure that one out as time goes on the sport Administration takes management you provide just that I'm sure your day working for Peter de George God Rest of Soul helps you to
105be able to Pivot and deal with just about anything and I'm glad we have you in this District so I something for Tony but he's not here do you guys want me to stop or keep going all right is this good all right because Adam you're next Adam your humor and charm your humor and charm are understated as a your great head of hair in Tony's absence you run hell of a board meeting as we saw here tonight you take the Deep dive into the budget you read and analyze every account line item and funding area to discover any potential savings you care about the fiscal responsibility of this board and you keep us all accountable you have the taxpayer in mind I've really enjoyed getting to know you and hope that under the new
106board composition if they're listening they respect your knowledge and your care and now the budget faith when you and I were elected four years ago you said next to me at viron as the numbers were posted on the screen right you kept saying is this possible am I winning am I really winning you tugged on my sweater and looked at me when the final count was called with this look of shock little do we know then what a journey we would be on sometimes you have a hard time at first getting your point across but you always make it you stand by it even if it's unpopular and you're afraid to cast and you're not afraid to cast a no vote we don't just vote no you give a thoughtful rational explanation as to why
107you voted that way you do your homework you attend committee meetings that aren't even your own own you keep up on National and World issues you've had much to this board and has been a pleasure working with you and coming into this I didn't know you on a personal level I've really en the person that you are we haven't always agreed on every vote um but you are thoughtful caring and want to make sure that every voice is heard in this community you make sure your points are heard and what you share and when you share your core beliefs I've learned a lot from you and look forward to your visits with Christmas cookies at my town hall office if I'm still on your list I'm almost done I'm almost done Tim you were that
108guy with the aggressive wave and sweater on the corner of Route 10 and Camy road back when I was in high school when you were making your run for Town Council in the early n in the early 2000s I used to wonder who the hell that guy was I learned that guy as one that likes to serve his community you served this town for years as a member of the Town Council you went off to see the world and you came back and you chose cheser as a place to raise your family the busy guy is indicated by your tardiness to each and every one of our meetings raising a family working and researching all things sustainability I enjoy the way you think out loud and break down the items that were discussing and make
109sure you bring the board and audience along with you as you work to understand and make an informed and educated decision we joke about your solar you're not zero and other sustainability comments but honestly it is relevant needed timely and immensely appropriate Sam my dear friend Sam when we ran against each other four years ago I rooted for you I voted for you and you should have won the seat you're a mom you're an educator and you're truly a self-made individual over the past two years serving on this board with you I have been more and more impressed with what you bring to the conversation and to this community you know your stuff this district is lucky to have you and I know that time progresses Mike selling me will figure out a way to
110lower the volume on your mic in order to bring to bring the conversation down in just a bit all right in conclusion I would be remiss to not end with school modernization we did it we thoughtfully reviewed debate and pass a referendum as a first step on the path to updating our schools infrastructure over the next few years we will welcome two beautiful new buildings to our town and finally give Jeff a new median age of school buildings to add to all of his reports please please please don't stop there let's start planning for our next phase of modernization and I will help to grow the grand list to afford just that to our new board members if you're listening I hope that the spirit of collaboration that currently exists on this board continues I
111hope that the conversations remain constructive balanced and respectful and that yearend dinners and board Retreats continue because it's great to have a little fun together as the board and finally to my dear daughter Savannah thanks for allowing to be serve our town and putting up with my endless meetings and coming home sharing details you really didn't care all that much about but you pretended to has been an honor and privilege I hope that I leave the district just a little bit better than I found it and I upheld my original oath of office that's it um I'm guessing that concludes your report yes sir thank you I supposed to pick up after that thank you Andre for those wonderful words um I guess um as we move into the uh the Chairman's report um I'll
112first read a statement from uh chairman perini uh who um was able to be here tonight and uh so he explains fourth in this uh email here says uh Team I'm sorry I can't attend tonight's meeting due to the cave delegate assembly tonight ahead of the cab conference tomorrow I wanted to say a few words to to our outgoing Boe members faith and Andrew to Faith and Andrew thank you for your services last four years with your arrival to the Boe in 2019 so too did covid arrive shortly thereafter to say you sered during the most demanding time in the history of boes is a severe understatement yet you uh preserved and help us get through it you also helped your team navigate difficult situations as well as take advantage of incredible opportunities Faith your
113tireless work on the curriculum committee has been inspirational you demonstrated effective leadership by advocating for all voices and concerns while also working closely with our Administration to ensure that our curriculum is on course pun intended Andrew uh your leadership with the school modernization committee and planning committee helped us finally move forward to an actual School construction plan this is something that sadly took over 10 years to deliver I think thank you for uh all the hours you spent on SMC and Boe meetings not to mention your other day job I believe you were the bridge and helping bring school modernization to F to fruition I will miss working with you both but I know where to find you if I need you lastly thank you uh thank you for your trust in supporting me these
114last four years stay close and keep in touch PS if either of you uh does run for Boe again in the future maybe don't bring plagues and outbreaks with next time we have enough challenges already I joke or do I respectfully Tony on as for myself uh I just like to comment that uh it's been an honor to serve in leadership for the last four years I think it was um to me uh serving in leadership uh means to uh improve in organization and leave it better than you found it and I I think that uh Tony and I along with the team uh did just that and I hope that the uh incoming board and the new leadership uh continues in that uh vein so thank you and it's been an honor to serve
115as your Vice chairman so uh with that motion to adjourn Tim Andrew all in favor all right we are thank you