001be walking to tonight's special meeting of the board education 7:30 p.m. we're gonna start with a call it order mr. zesty have a roll call for corn please short mr. carbone here miss helen here miss ham here miss Harrigan here mr. Martelli mr. Farrow Janie beer mr. white here mr. chairman you have a quorum Thank You Carol I asked Lee now please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance and I'm not sure Jeff if you're gonna show the flag thank you sir if we're ready I pledge allegiance to the flag hello to the public for two stands one nation under God again welcome everyone thank you for joining us thank you falling board members on behalf of gesture public schools and the Board of Ed I hope this meeting find you your families safe and well
002being is unprecedented times before we dive into the agenda I do have to make a statement make it a announcement set the tone for tonight's meeting so bear with me tonight's meeting is driven in large part due the recent school opening guidelines made available last week as well as the 50-plus page got document available today so we're tending Saul and his team lastly recommended that the treasurer Public Schools and the Board of Ed begin deliberating reopening options and light up these guidelines specialist that were just delivered so we have some preliminary talks last week we felt that it was very important to get this going there's a lot to be done I know what mr. solo and his team Monsoor dress our community and what ins team has learned in a path forward on how
003we get to a full reopening there's much discussion in work to be done or the next few weeks on this it is no small matter as many of as many of you out there point out to us it may very well be the most important time in the history of public schools with this unprecedented pandemic booming that being said before I continue with the agenda client do I need to address a very public matter that's come to our attention and your the respected serves actually give you all of you out the respect you deserve in an update to everyone has contacted Cheshire Public Schools and the board of there was support and/or concerns over coach trust thank you based on responses we received it's obvious this is incredibly important to our community the outpouring that
004we've see is a fine example of our community valued education system so on behalf of awesome CPS thank you I know it's taken time for the correspondence but I could tell you there's a lot of it I have read some of it I am still going through it I think I'll be reading for a few days that being said there's some information out there and I'm and I it's understandable it's odd that Cheshire Public Schools has controversy let alone anything related to perhaps a personnel matter but what I can share ompletely expect what I can and can't share the matter is a personnel matter between the administration and mr. dressed and I am using mr. knows entrust names because he has been named so frequently in the communications that it's assi public knowledge whatever the
005matter entails right now rest between these two parties at this time the board of that this body before you as not I repeat not taking action I have read some comments out there I've seen emails where the board has made a decision the board has decided that is not the case often the term Board of Ed is used to represent this body in this case the matter has whatever it is has not come before the Board of Ed because this is a personal matter sanella matter we are not allowed to comment or discuss let alone speculate Boards of Education have to abide by state laws around privacy in process these laws are met to protect those involved and ensure fairness we cannot intervene in personnel matters unless otherwise requested and is a process for that
006the public is gently unaware and it's against quickly understand that the only personnel we can as a board hire and terminate is the absolute superintendent schools in fact the only personal matter in our agenda that has been an agenda this year last night in tomorrow morning is the annual review of a superintendent which we will be doing an executive session in this meeting Board of Education czar not involved in hiring a termination of staff we are not privy personnel terminations discipline much like FERPA laws state laws are very to sit about protecting employee information in short we simply cannot comment on this matter there are specific circumstances where the board can become involved but at this time and that materialized in short we simply cannot discuss it and I respect for every involved I ask
007that we cannot go there so I apologize for that I know it's not what you wanted to hear it is not for lack of transparency we have to be fair we have to follow the law and if ensure that fairness is always a case in any situation comes before to school the last thing I want to say it's the numerous correspondence of support we received also lies a great deal speculation accusations and sadly even personal attacks against members of her expose including for some reason Town Council members and Families it is uncalled for it is unfair it is unfounded cheshire public schools is often referenced in the state and in our country in terms of best practices our curriculum our student achievement our staff sports not to global but pretty much everything we do and
008how we conduct ourselves especially as a community tonight move forward is pleased I'm not trying to stifle your freedom of speech far be it for me to do that all I ask of you all of us on behalf of Cheshire both schools that were that in our community is let's lead by example and conduct ourselves and respectful manner I asked please stop the accusations let the process play out I understand this concern and rightfully so this is something that's doesn't come up often the situation understand is still very fluid and hopefully can resolve however there are only two parties of the table at the moment the Board of Ed is not one of them and the public is not either it's very unfair for anyone to really speculate or provide information on this we just
009cannot do that so I respect to construct the Cheshire school system everyone please trust your board of a trust by the school system will ensure that there's fairness let the process play out but we have heard you loud and clear I have no doubts will continue to receive more correspondence again it's it's refreshing to see that it just reassures everyone that education is a big priority in our community we all care for one another but because it's a personnel matter we just cannot answer questions or comments and any communications received around that we can certainly acknowledge we received communications if superintendent Solon if he's even able to you may comment but if you cannot please respect the reasons why let's see how this moves out moving forward I wish I could tell you well those
010you have know me in all most of the board I'm not one to hide be anything we are not hiding we're being respectful but a process ensuring that things are fair thank you for that that short opening statement when I suppose expectation for those that might be watching this evening this matter is not on the agenda it will not be discussed again due to personal reasons you've heard the board for allowing you to say that that being said item two in our agenda tonight is a presentation we have recognition of retirees dr. song the which like to give us the presentation thank you very much Tony you know we did if you recall in our last business meeting honor six retirees from our school system who had submitted their retirement paperwork at that time and
011as you know we offered an early retirement and sent a package and the deadline for that was very close to that last meeting so tonight it's my privilege to roll the video do you in our community to extend our gratitude for another group of retirees so without further ado I'll I'll share my screen and present our lay back of retirees hello everyone I'm very happy to be able to talk today about Lisa Melina Lisa Melina is a fourth grade teacher at Doolittle school and I have had the opportunity to work with Lisa this past year at Doolittle when you meet Lisa you are immediately taken in by her kindness her soft tone of voice and her smile she is someone who radiates a very positive and calming energy she is one of the most generous
012people that I have ever met and if you ask anyone at Doolittle school that is also something they will tell you she is going to be greatly missed at Doolittle Lisa was very very proud of her extensive book collection and it was always available for any student or adult in the building her love for reading was very contagious and everyone she came across and her students knew that she would be very willing to help them find their their favorite book Lisa celebrated everything with joy her smile and her positive outlook on life could bring happiness and laughter to all recently Lisa told me when she cleaned out her desk there were many many thank-you notes because one should always make the time and appreciate all the good in life she loved talking with her colleagues
013she loved learning from them the student teacher she worked with found her to be someone who always found ways to give others credit she had an incredible amount of patience felt her job was to help people become the best they could be she loved and cared for the environment and she tried to get all the coffee drinkers in the building to recycle their growing grinds and use them for compost Lisa shared her love of nature with students going into nature's classroom over ten times across her time in the Cheshire School District at Chapman and then at Doolittle school Lisa has also shared with me that some of her most important moments in her career have involved running into former students talking to them about their college experiences and career goals makes her very happy she
014has touched many lives throughout her teaching career and she will be greatly missed at Doolittle school thank you for everything Lisa I'm Melina Jim began his teaching career at humston school in 1999 he is a valued and beloved member of the Humiston school community and has successfully taught science to our students for 21 years the entire Humiston faculty contributed their thoughts to this testimonial on Jim's behalf Jim's angrist is known by his colleagues to be supportive compassionate dedicated kind-hearted funny flexible honest and giving and positive outlook even when things seem bleak his bubbly personality and his unique ability to do a headstand on a second snow tiss we will miss his every other week diet plan and his love of anything or nearly anything edible we will miss the start of the day every morning
015Jim was at home in school to greet the students and the staff with a big smile on his face he has been a positive influence to every member of the home esteem community with his funny jokes and witty personality and his relentless support and care towards our students he has impacted both current students and former students in such a positive way due to his compassion and commitment Jim will always be part of the Humiston family after all he was one of the founding fathers who started out at almost and teaching in the back trailer he goes above and beyond for everyone around him even if it means putting his own needs aside he has a great heart and many of the faculty describe Jim as a best friend or a brother from another mother he
016is a piece to our puzzle part of our family and has helped keep us balanced we have all felt blessed to know him as a colleague and friend and we will miss him terribly Jim is planning to pursue his work in a private practice as a licensed clinical social worker next year and we wish him the very best we love you Jim Terry average Terry began her career in the cheshire public school system in 1994 as a school psychologist she has worked throughout our school district for the past 26 years terry is described by her department colleagues as humorous caring kind patient witty intelligent supportive and spunky a Dolittle student who currently works with Terry described her as energetic and awesome Terry has consistently shown support towards her fellow colleagues or students and families she
017could often be found offering her guidance and time to new psychologists and new faculty this support has made people feel welcomed and valued as new employees in Cheshire Terry has been an advocate for children for her too and for her profession and often attended Board of Ed meetings forums and professional development opportunities whenever there was a calling for extra support in any of our school buildings Terry was the first to volunteer although she is seen as one of the remaining old souls of the counseling department she has always seemed perpetually young maintaining the same passion now as when she began her work many years ago she is tireless energy and enthusiasm she is accepting of all colleagues and compassionate towards students and families and always does her best to help others and to bring out
018the best in the schools she works in and in her department would be a particular challenge for all of us even when we were discussing the closing of schools for koban 19 Terry could always find something to smile and lighten the mood people have always appreciated that about her in times of stress Terry was able to see some levity Terry will be very missed by her students colleagues and families we wish you the very best in your next chapter Terry congratulations Patricia Shastra began her career in education getting a teaching job right out of college at the foundation school in orange patty was fortunate enough to be able to be a stay-at-home mom for eleven years spending time with her three daughters as they grew up Patty's returned to her teaching career in Cheshire began
019as an instructional assistant at Doolittle School in 1991 she was hired as a special education teacher in 1992 and taught special education at both Norton and Zulu patty then had the opportunity to teach first and second graders loving their excitement and finding their engagement to learning to be second to none in 2009 while at Dunkin Donuts patty found herself behind a now retired special educator Pat Mariano she was lucky to find out from Pat about an opening in the special education department at Chester high school patty transferred to Chester high school and has been there ever since now in her retirement Patty plans on traveling shopping volunteering time with children and most of all spending time with her husband Mike her children and her seven grandchildren patty dreams of losing track of time no need
020for clocks as she spends more time on all grown up her boat Patty's last day of our professional teaching career was filled with emotion and excitement as she begins the next part of her life I couldn't say it any better than dr. Seuss do not cry because it is over smile because it happened patty is well respected by her colleagues at the elementary level I trust her high school and by her students and their families she will be missed by many we wish patty peace good health happiness and love as she embarks on this next phase of her life in August of 1989 Chester public schools hired an ambitious health teacher in Donna B for the past 31 years Miss Bates has taught students helped that have included everything from the human body drugs and
021alcohol the AIDS epidemic and many more controversial issues that Miss Bates has navigated with our community over the years a tremendous resource and wealth of knowledge Miss Bates has taught our youth without opinion or bias and presented all of her knowledge with Grace and kindness will miss you Donna before it's difficult to replace some on part of our family as a valued member of our staff you provided a voice that embodied all that God stood for and more importantly always supported our students Donna you we miss greatly and I wish you nothing but the best and happiness during your retired years we'll miss you we are honored to celebrate our second retiree miss Deborah so icky Deb started teaching in North Haven in 1976 at Clinton Hill school as a special education resource teacher which
022included special education instruction for students and consultation with regular education teachers as well as a diagnostician she taught in North even for 12 years before arriving in Chester in the fall of 1988 as a special education resource room teacher at Doolittle school she arrived at Highland school in the fall of 2004 as a teacher of grade 4 and finished her career in the same position sixteen years later for a grand total of 43 years of teaching in that time she embraced many challenges that occurred in the teaching profession including embracing new technology instructional practices and curriculum content that's to the years her passion and creativity shine through as she found ways to make learning fun for her students Deb has always believed in lifelong learning and through the many years of teaching as enjoyed learning
023from her colleagues students in their families he always engaged in professional learning with a smile on her face and a funny anecdote to tell she will be dearly missed by all on behalf of the Highland school and Cheshire community Hugh good luck and all the best in your retirement it is an honor to share some words to recognize the amazing career mrs. patty I Anila Patty has been a valued staff member of Highland school for the past 37 years she joined the Highland staff in 1983 starting as an intern student teacher and instructional assistant to becoming a revered and highly respected classroom teacher for the past 34 years patty inspired her students through excellent instruction and well-planned and creative lessons always do their best and reach their potential patty was always happiest when surrounded by
024studium students providing them with personalized support she was not afraid of a little bit of tough love always with the goals of motivating children to do their very very best patty models for the staff and for the students each day out of persevere when faced with a challenge despite her own physical and health challenges patty continued to give 150 percent right up to the final day of her career over the years many of the students you stopped are now parents of her current students patty understands the value of forming forming partnerships with her parents and guardians for the benefit of helping her students grow she was a role model for many including a myriad of student teachers and interns she mentored many of the staff look patty seeking advice about student issues parent concerns or
025looking for a creative idea for planning a lesson patty has also served as a student council advisor science quest facilitator principals Advisory Council representative and school climate representative among many other leadership roles over the years her positive influence on our staff students and families is immeasurable and will have a lasting impact on our community we are thrilled that paddy gets to look forward to her new home and daughter's wedding this fall on behalf of the entire Highland School and the Cheshire community I wish you good luck and all the best in your retirement it is my pleasure to speak on behalf of Michael early after teaching in Cheshire for 38 years at every school except for Darcy school Michael early is retiring Michael spent nearly 10 years at Norton 10 years at Chapman and 2
026it dog before coming to CHS he spent the past 16 years at CHS and for the most and for most of that time he served as the district art department chairperson Michael is a is truly a dedicated educator he taught all of his students to value the process of making art the thinking structure composition and concept over the final product his students learn to deliver and accept constructive criticism and they also learn how to see the beauty in shape proportion shade and color Michaels creativity extended into every aspect of his work at Cheshire high school and the student work he shared with all of us brought beauty and joy to CHS and to the entire community of Cheshire what you may not know is in addition to his degrees in art and teaching Michael has
027an associate's degree in landscape design if you follow him on Instagram you can see images of his beautiful gardens at his home in Hamden Michael shared that he plans to spend the initial months of retirement unwinding decluttering and gardening you will also need to train himself not to collect anything recyclable that has potential for an art project which I'm sure his wife Christine will be delighted to hear Michael looks forward to spending time with his family his wife Christine and two sons Justin Zachary Michael we will miss you and we wish you inspiration relaxation rejuvenation and all the very best that life can bring in your returns congratulations and best wishes in September of 1974 Barbra Streisand and Robert Redford starred in the movie the way you were which also had the soundtrack that became
028the number one song of the year also called the way you work if you are familiar with the song lyrics I think it's appropriate to relate mr. Tom katulski teaching career to this ballad or it was one of the same month and year that an ambitious science teacher joined the cheshire public schools to teach science I Cheshire high school in all of his 46 years mr. katulski has made an impact on every child but has walked through his doors during his career mr. katulski made the wise decision to join middle school to teach young and impressionable teenagers about the mysteries of science and of life itself mr. katulski kind-hearted words and approach to teaching is one that could be mobilized for new teachers coming into their careers mr. katulski worked tirelessly to make science relevant
029and relatable to our lives as a member of the DAAD family tom was always one to have a silent voice but always encouraged his colleagues and his principal to keep staying the course when it came to new approaches in education I always appreciated his perspective as it seemed that every new approach had been tried before and tom would always tell me the historical context in which it probably failed one could say that it's cliche to say that someone has spent a lifetime of teaching but in this case I can make a slight change to say that mr. katulski has spent my lifetime teaching Tom you'll be sorely missed by your colleagues and we wish you nothing but the best and health and happiness during your retired years thank you has anyone done the math on
030the total years of experience accumulated with this I do have bad data and it's really quite impressive first I just want to apologize I didn't realize I wasn't on mute when I had a coughing fit there so sorry if I distracted anything and I had to grab some water but the total in this group of nine teachers is 274 cumulative years of service to the cheshire community which is fairly mind-blowing when you add the sixth other teachers that we honored last time and there are a hundred and fifty-one years it's a total of 425 years of service that we're losing this year and it's really you know crap like I've never seen in terms of total numbers of service over my last 15 years it's hard to to get to 425 years from our retirees
031so again a special congratulations to all of them is Mike said at the end they're out of this year's retirement class Tom katulski 46 years of service I mean Dean 74 and when I honored him at their end of your faculty meeting I asked how many people were born after 1974 and there were a lot of hands that went up and to know that he had taught for their entire lifetime is really quite impressive so again congratulate congratulations to all of our retirees thank you for your incredible service and you know I'll turn it back to you guys on applause for our retirees behalf of the Board of Ed in touch mode schools thank you everyone for your dedication your service I think you're a great example let's create our school system and educational over
032to our students and the impressions you mean of them are it'll shape them for life so so thank you I don't think the board members are gonna comment on this it's always refreshing each year well sad to see such expertise leave I know it's well deserved that there's so much service so again thank you seeing as there are no Borat comments on this next up on the agenda is another three audience dr. stone do we have any audience communication well I think you mentioned it mister peres Jeanie at the outside of the meeting that I've received literally hundreds of emails over the course of the last like 24 hours or so it would be you know impossible for me to go through each one I mean I'm trying to read them all as they come
033in all in support of you know a football coach coach trust and as you mentioned it is a personnel matter that I can't comment on but I did want to acknowledge I think one was a petition with approximately five hundred signatures so I think that's also gone to members of the board as well but that is the only audience participation for this evening correct that I will just iterate what Jeff has said I think all board members are very much well aware right well this is not a you know it's a serious situation in no respects I was joking earlier today I thought my gmail actually broke at one point there today because my screen actually froze with the number of items in there so that being said please we do know that we have
034acknowledged all the communications received even though sent to the administration perhaps the board once you see that we see we see those two in this matter most of us through all these is to be a little while if I go throw but summarize there's a lot of support i speaking to the candor the of coach trust experiences in on a fleets in the community there's that has meant much much more so please do note we've ever seen that can i comment on that matter i will sift through these emails and if anyone's asked to s to have anything red will try this so the next meeting and the correspondence but we allow this lot to sift through we hear you thank you up sorry I lost my place on the agenda but up next I
035believe as a superintendents report yes Thank You mr. Perry Jeanne first of all I would just want to begin by going back a couple of weeks and I give Marlene a lot of credit for conducting a dozen more interviews with our staff and we wanted to learn what was working through the remote learning period and what were your concerns coming back in Marlene talked to well over a hundred teachers in that process then we had six hundred parents sign up the following week and she and I conducted almost 30 different interview sessions with those parents and through google meets and it was interesting you know you'd have some google meets where you would see a group of parents while my neighbor or wanted to say something to and would jump in faith was very dutiful
036and tried to attend a great number of those and I know that some of our other board members who were parents also attended Marlene is updating me there was 38 meetings that we conducted over the course of last week so certainly we wanted to understand parent feedback where parents were at this point in time one of the biggest challenges that we face with kovat 19 is the fact that it's seemingly so fluid you know you can think that we're really trending well and for the most part Connecticut has been but then you look around you and see that the rest of the United States is seemingly in a pretty bad way and you know you hope that that's not something that we're gonna have to encounter again as the weather turns you know cooler in
037the fall but what happened today was that the state release this is Tony mentioned early on a document that's 50-plus pages we have already started meticulously going through that document tomorrow afternoon I know faith and Catherine will be joining me Marlene then some public health officials teachers we have parent representatives from various grade levels and town wide PTO we have staff you know teachers ia health so a high school student and so it's a fairly diverse group but about twenty people we're trying to keep it small enough that we can quickly understand the demands of the state understand is recommending in terms of you know protecting against spread of coronavirus and quickly establish some options that we can turn back toward the community in a hopefully toward the end of next week and receive feedback
038on so again this is gonna have to be a pretty agile group we have three meetings already scheduled the two this week and one next with the again the goal of trying to get public feedback next week a couple of key components that we're considerate of and they were that resonated through both our staff and parent meetings is that we want to try and return every student to school for in person instruction to the greatest extent that we safely can there's no substitute for the relationships there's no substitute for in-person instruction we are really working hard to do that another key element is that we want to be able to provide remote learning for students who need that one of the mantras basically through these meetings particularly parents's our goal is to provide every student
039what they need and for some students that might mean you know I have an immunocompromised situation I need home learning it may mean I need home learning because I have a family member who I live with who is extremely immunocompromised it could mean a lot of different things it could be related to learning or socialization but we are working to just like we do on a daily basis try and provide every student what they need obviously that's complicated by the circumstances in the world today with coronavirus but that remains our objective to try and support every student and deliver them what they need so those are a couple of the key ideas it's a little bit of the timeline it's a little bit premature because as I said it was 2:38 this afternoon that we
040received the the guidance from the state and so Marlene and I'll spend the rest of our evening going through that and tomorrow to prepare for our meeting tomorrow afternoon so I'd certainly you know entertain any questions if people have any I know my Leonore been all so happy to answer any questions hey Jeff you might have answered you know what I'm sorry Adam first and then I'm like right in hi Jeff Thanks um I in the the flurry of course our inbox has been very busy today I don't know if you had a chance to send us a copy I know I'd be interested in reading through it or you know to at least get a high level understanding sure I'd be happy to send that along to the group thank you Tim you had
041a comment yeah okay yeah I just want to know I I saw in regard to getting kids back in the school and I'm one of the parents who really wants that and I appreciate you hearing that and in moving that direction but just to sort of reinforce that I saw an article today was on there's on NPR and it was basically from the American Academy of Pediatrics it's a large organization pediatricians across us and they're basically saying they want kids back in school and there is cautioning to say there's something in here about you know even little kids don't you have to be safe but keep in mind the possibility that you know the little ones are not even wearing masks because of what we know what we understand today is they're just not as
042likely to get really sick or also they're gonna be itching their faces they're probably not gonna be mindful of know keeping your hands and with your mouth and stuff like that anyway it's just another another point of reinforcing where you know I as a parent like to go but it also points out that teachers are different they have they have a different you know in terms of their health they're also concerned about it so it's a it's I realize it's a difficult task for you right now and I appreciate you and Marlene working so hard on this but I just wanted to put that out there that there's some expert advice I'm guessing it's from the social-emotional it should be in school it's just my thing I forgot exactly that anyway that's it thank you
043I know that this group on the board has consistently been dedicated to meeting the needs of the whole child and obviously that means instructionally and and from that perspective but we are deeply committed to social emotional needs and we have to look at the that balance and I'm not saying you know we're willing to create risk in health but we I have heard from a lot of parents who say that being home has not been healthy for my child too so you know where do we strike that balance and I appreciate the point also about the masks because I you know any of us who have been to Lowe's or Home Depot or Walmart or the grocery store would ever see some adults that have a real hard time than a mask on at least
044even correctly for 15 minutes let alone for a full school day so we are very sensitive to that and to the health of our teachers if we don't have teachers nobody's getting remote or nobody's getting in person instruction so it's critically important that we protect their health as well so everybody who comes into our school community we're seeking to protect to the greatest extent possible a lot of times that means social distancing based on most recent CDC guidelines and so you know things like that hand-washing you know masks or face coverings will be essential as we restart school thank you with the the 50 pages of information did the State Department of Education acknowledge whether or not that the State Teachers Union had any input into the into the guidelines or is this something where
045it could potentially be a non-starter if the teachers didn't have any buy-in on this I'm gonna pass that off to Marlene because she spent more time with the state guidance today than and I I don't want to put her on the spot because I know you know it may be on page 48 that it says it but go ahead Marlene yeah I'm thinking more about even some of the conversation that Miguel had on the call last week and I know that there were teachers a part of this and that they they said they looked for all of these groups believes that on Thursday we heard that that group was included I know there's been rebuttal to that since then over the weekend on the news but yes in our teachers our union leadership for both
046for II's for administrators and teachers are all involved in this process of talking about you know what's best for return because frankly they're most likely to see some of their roles change a little bit as you know it did for teachers and remote learning in Ayase for remote learning and our administrators certainly and then you know VIN is representing all of our maintenance team the way we kind of look at this is we have this core group working together but it's got representation to be able to between meetings get back to constituents to get some feedback in this plan so I know our teacher leadership will be communicating with the teachers and administrative consideration from all parties as we formulate plans and I'll be honest you know it's a little bit like a bell curve
047that they're going to be you know a lot of people I hope in the center that feel really good about the plan but I acknowledge that it's going to be really you you know you're impossible to be conservative enough for some people and aggressive enough for others so you know we're really trying to broaden the to the greatest extent we can the people that feel safe and feel comfortable coming back to school so that's why it's important to get those various perspectives including our high school student I had a quick question Jeff I think you might have answered this at the last floor of that meeting but first of all it was a forty nine parent-teacher sessions counting thank you running Jeff for and those that attended especially the 600-plus parents that took part in
048that that feedback is incredibly helpful and I know there's a long discussions but thank you you know again I'll say it at a time and again that your feedback is it helps us shape a lotta so thank you that being said there were some parents that either could not get into the me and like I know there was a issue with one meeting where they want to be able to love to get in but I know some parents in at least three that weren't able to find a session at all and we're wondering if there will be any more I guess probably know at this point what opportunity is will to be around that if any sure thanks for pointing that out that you know we don't have more of those Google meets scheduled because
049we are in the phase now where we really have to start to develop a plan and we will be putting forth some options like I said hopefully by late next week in the interim however we are still taking feedback I literally received one this afternoon if you send it to CPS Cove in nineteen at Cheshire k-12 dot C T dot us it's on our homepage or if you you know contact me or Marlene Solano directly we appreciate that feedback and it's considered as part of the the process yeah we've been telling folks to continue emailing that that box it is being mined there and responded to we've also been telling parents you know they have specific questions waits they're their child's grade a sing-off their principal a teacher but by and large feedback still being
050collected with regards to the reopening team do we know if those meetings at least will be made public to view or visit or e to tell you yes they you know our goal is to make them available after the fact to get the scheduling for the live broadcast was difficult but the we can we are planning on recording and for rebroadcast and I just lastly under normal circumstances we would normally as a board to accommodate you know large feedback from our stakeholders we normally all hold open forums we've done that in the past and there's topics I know it's very difficult to do in this regard I do know that there are stakeholders as you know mmunity that certainly want to be able to still give some input is bore members we still received quite
051a bit of things I hope we can find a way once some option to terrorize and are digested if if the board can't entertain is some fashion some feedback around that that being said I do believe the Town Council is gonna resume a meeting in person to a limited audience soon other board returned to the same thing and not to discuss it tonight maybe for the next meeting or just more should consider if we're ready to resume in-person meetings although that would be a very limited footprint but if we could based on the state's guidance on number of public attendees if we could entertain such a forum although this was gonna close because nonetheless we're just trying to find the point of this is trying to find ways to interact with our community beyond just
052Google me so we'll figure this out as we move along as the police are they enter comments or questions from the board Tim thanks so I just wanted to reiterate where what I was mentioning before just a quote I'm gonna put one quote from this NPR article and it says the the American Academy of Pediatrics argues and this is my point is to go back to having the kids in school and supporter what you're saying Jeff the AAP argues that based on the nation's experience this spring remote learning is likely to result in severe learning loss and increased social isolation so social isolation in turn can read serious social emotional and health issues quote and here's the work gets really serious child and adolescent physical or sexual abuse substance abuse depression and suicidal ideation I
053mean I say I don't know this stuff that well I hope everyone bears mind as you're making the decisions of going back to school and recognizing that there is the the offsetting risk of covet there but that's it thank you thank you I'm sorry I don't see any other comments but anomie raise your hand yeah thank you um I don't know if this had been discussed already but what was the time frame as to after this committee is gonna be meeting when it's gonna be reporting back to the board with final decisions or at least final recommendations yeah we hope to have some information for you guys by the end of next week that's fast thank you yeah it's beyond ambitious but we also if we're we're really gonna move we kind of have to
054get something in place ASAP yeah yeah I would just be remiss if I didn't say after hearing Tim's reading of the quote we all need to be really mindful of how much our public schools do for our communities and I think a lot of what Tim said to us is reason when we come around to budget season every year we need to be mindful of what our schools do for this community it's not just education it's its health its social-emotional its safety its its many many things that our public schools do for our children and I think I saw on a Facebook forum post somebody said who's going to pay for all of this and you know there we're going to be we're talking about things that could potentially cost a lot of money to
055this town and we need to really weigh out you know what the worth is to keeping our children and safe healthy and educating Thank You Ann and I hear that that's the point hi there's always you know numbers driven folks and understandable but the wandering eyes just reminded when you brought that up in is just in general that we budgeted approximately two hundred thousand dollars for a potential reopening costs for the Fall and before we get into the next item and I'm sure if Jeff as well updates will get throughout too but we do have a board about the fiscal meeting tomorrow morning or child to details before the meeting is over we're gonna close out the books for the year we're still very much on track to get to provide back to the town
056a surplus and the range 1.1 - there's an foot-pounds should know that we also asked for and a town council approved setting up an account to set aside unused education funds $20,000 to help with some of the opening cost we don't yet know if that's gonna cover e up in cost it's gonna depend upon whatever options are off for before the board hey I wish I can be specifically b02 we don't know we shall see but most more than likely I did give chairman or Ursula town council a heads up that so when I saw in his team a border son discussed this and as soon as we have of what help we will Amy will certainly look them in I don't want the folks know that chairman ORS didn't say that Town Council's absolutely
057apni won't be part of the process and help out so so early but sometime next week we'll have a little bit better idea turtles wash and please stay tuned let's see where this leads us but we will be seeking your input and feedback is move forward so thank you I'm sorry Jeff was there anything else in your report no I mean that was it really I mean the we are at the the starting line here in terms of developing this plan and IA that's not even fair to say because we do have so much amazing feedback from our teachers and parents that we are beyond that we're starting at a place that we're not ignorant to the feelings of the community and it's really been important and I feel really good about where we're starting
058and I think it'll lead to better outcomes but that's that's it for my report tonight thank you cuz any questions on Superman's report next likely agenda I do have a motion I move that the board well actually I'm story before I get into that because I'm not sure how long that's going to last and will come out of that will adjourn this meeting we do have another war education meeting and trying to find that tomorrow at 7:30 a.m. it's 7:30 or 8:00 o'clock day it is it is gonna be 7:30 tomorrow well tomorrow yeah or morning same YouTube channel we have a Board of Ed and the year fiscal meeting where as a whole to discuss the financial close off of our books I believe also in the other agenda item is not an executive
059session with possible action to follow if needed further use of repentence Solon so I don't put that out there I'm not sure when will come out of executive session this evening that being said I do have a motion to adjourn the executive session the motion is the Board of Education adjourn to the executive session to discuss a super-dense evaluation with possible action to follow and this will include that phone to attend is there a second second am seconds Mobile seconds all those in favor thank you is unanimous the Board of Ed is now adjurned executive session mic please let me know if we're staying here and or cruising a different week and it's for ready to you you welcome back those that have been waiting this time we are moving out of executive session and
060back into a regular meeting did not have tune in earlier before we adjourned we are item number six on the agenda tonight which is we just completed on six which is possible executive session to discuss superintendents own valuation with possible action to follow I'm happy for that we do have action to follow mr. white do we have any motions do you have twice yeah all right I'm closing out I'll come right back in 30 seconds okay and say and I we see you and hear you Tim but we still see a frozen screenshot of your previous session there so I don't think it matters as long as I'm not a double-double speaking oh no I lost my chats I had to close that can you send that back over to me the proposed motions sorry
061about that all right thank you got it thank you so first motion the Cheshire Board of Education extends the contract of Jeffrey Solon Superintendent of Schools for the period of July 1 2020 through June 30th 2023 my second discussion yes what's happening here is the the superintendent has what is described what I've heard described as an evergreen contract and basically it's a three-year contract and after every year a third following year is added on so it effectively what has what has happened for years is it it basically is always a three year contract so as soon as the first year is up it gets extended into additional year and I think that's it unless anyone else I don't know superintendent you have anything Jeff you have anything you want to add to that I would
062just say that you know the reason that practice exists is because of you know security for the superintendent if indeed the the performance warrants that okay thank you thank you any other comments from the board yeah I mean I can jump in I'm just gonna make my comments in relation I'm gonna make it my plan just so people understand this is after this motion I'll make another motion and I'm gonna probably just try to let my comments stand for the two different motions got it well this current motion are there any comments yeah faith and then yeah okay I just want to state my position I will be voting against the extension for this little reason that I would like to see that the board move into what I would call a clean contract in
063which we have defined terms in that contract we work with Jeff over the course of it we provide and scented other incentives to keep him with us be it bonuses or whatever I will be raising this later on in as we work after we reopen but it's just my stated position I think we need a clearly defined contract and that is my only reason for voting against the extension Thank You faith and I think you might have had your hand open I'm sorry no I did and I'm I put a comment sorry Owen in the chat I will be supporting the adding the third year to the to the superintendent's contract I think it sends a strong message of support for the superintendent who otherwise has does not have the job security that our faculty
064and other staff do with when they obtain tenure then they don't have they have that job security and that doesn't exist for these contracts and I want to send a clear message that I am in favor of dr. Solon staying on and and doing his good work I will be voting in favor of the contract extension thank you Thank You Anne let me check the comments and I'm sorry you had your hand up cold minutes ago I missed that did you want to be back you said Adam or Andrew and my word find a slur it's been a long apology for that thank ya I will also be voting against the contract extension mainly because of the for the reasons that faith gave I still don't support an evergreen contract I believe that then in
065most contracts in the world you sign a a contract for annex for whatever length that is and then as you get closer to the end you can renegotiate in my opinion that could be advantageous to to both the organization making the contract as well as the person who holds the contract that does not seem to be a an accepted position in this field but that that's one that I personally hold though but I will say is that it's been a incredibly challenging year and I think that the jeff has risen to the occasion and it's not a meant to be not as supportive it's just a philosophical difference that I have thank you thank you Adam does anyone else I have a comment to close us out and Andrews having fun with his uh water
066bottle that was pretty cool Thoros let me know Stan listen you know I don't think it's any surprise this year has been an unprecedented school year this pandemic is it's not planned for came out of nowhere arguably nonetheless many many public school systems across the country some were prepared some weren't I think the main reason we've done well throughout this pandemic with the school systems and that's not to say that we're on issues but compared to other school districts that I'm privy to and board chair discussions I think one of the reasons we've enabled Navigant one of the reasons we navigate through this crisis meet as much of the needs of our students our staff learn the objectives and be able to do that in a manner that you know initially took less than two
067weeks if they have to get ready and throughout the course get feedback improve it move it forward and know it's not the best situation you know arguably there's gonna be a second of folks that believe that worked well some that dumped overwhelming the response we've got is it worked very well the long term we shall see so I do a test at the Jeff I think in that situation heroes and I think he's been able to lead his team rather them around this that's in a dedication come through so I believe we need that continued dedication on Florida have confidence and Jeff for the fall reopening CPS and his board to get us through that so I have no no no issues there regarding the other comments with the other contract that's unfortunate kovin for
068many reasons I see health and safety first and foremost topics that was mentioned never materialized and the committee was looking at various contracts to see if there's different options but there are but we are in no position at this point in time we never had a discussion about that so I respect their ones opinions afternoons will simply address that so many Personnel Committee at some point can schedule it in and hopefully not get to fun on the path next year where we don't have answers to that it's worth discussion whatever comes out of that will come out of that and of course when that happens well you know my advice we can and input and so forth so so the session will happen at some point if not now they're in start next school year
069or somewhere between so thank you for boomers on that unless there's any other comments yeah Tony yes so I support the superintendent with regard to remote learning I give him an A for effort and I mean that I mean that in a positive way it was you know just crazy what happened and where we are where we still are our academics are strong based on based on what I've seen the information that I've seen I want the superintendent to be focused on reopening and I also want him to feel appreciated in terms of the print terms of feeling appreciated money is part of it there's other things that I definitely go into it but he is near the bottom of his reference group durg be the district reference group and in relation to that he
070actually asked us for for a couple different items I'm just thinking now as I'm speaking about this this is probably better left for the for the next motion so anyway my simple point is that I'm gonna support this motion and I appreciate the work that the superintendent has been doing thank you to him so barring any further comments the the motion is that the cheshire bar education extend the contract of Jeffrey have Solon superintendent schools for a period of July 1st 2020 through June 30th 2023 all those in favor this v for all those opposed - opposed motion carries flighted to thank you Tim do we have another motion or someone make another motion if you're talking you're muted sorry about the tummy thank you the Cheshire Board of Education approves a total salary of
071one hundred ninety five thousand five hundred twenty dollars effective July 1st 2024 the superintendent Jeffrey Solon second Kathryn seconds yeah I was just going to clarify what the increase is I was gonna do that in the discussion that's all okay okay no because I think it was just it's not the total compensation that's it gonna be one ninety four five twenty that's the base salary that's gonna be one ninety four five twenty okay you know I mean okay sorry yeah so let me make a point of order here as good clarification I know we had a bamba's back and forth so then if you can make the motion somatic talks about the base salary the Cheshire Board of Education approves a based salary of one hundred ninety five thousand five hundred twenty dollars effective July
0721st 2024 Jeffrey Solon superintendent schools catherine ii yes i ii cover seconds discussion yeah so as i was just sort of moving to in the last motion and I cut myself off because this is really more appropriate as we as we started these discussions the superintendent had originally given us it had made two requests one of which was his tuition reimbursement so thank you again and congratulations again Jeff on getting your PhD your education doctorate this year he had been getting for the past few years tuition reimbursement of ten thousand two hundred dollars that to be moved into his base salary as well as a raise of four and a half percent and I think that's I think that's so the motion and so the motion that I just made does not include the it
073does not include any race of foreign half-sister what it does include is the tuition reimbursement being shifted into his base salary so his base salary in the current year that ends tomorrow is one hundred eighty four thousand three hundred twenty dollars and his tuition reimbursement was ten thousand two hundred dollars so the motion on the table is to shift that tuition reimbursement into his base pay and to not give him a raise of 4.5% or any raise per se in that way this year but if it feel free if anybody wants to add to that or correct me on anything so I mean and I think you can add them so there's a solely people will color around this I mean so for folks watching and I apologize it should explain little bit of history
074here I think we spent the last month going through some earth interview process this is a third or fourth meeting on this I think it's me number three they've run very late that's a good thing because you know the board has thoroughly discussed various aspects of just performance as we do every year so I'm very thankful the board spent the time getting feedback coming a census and a couple items one of the things that did come up there our discussions or folks that might be unaware is there's a DRG there'd be comparisons within a salaries so within Sullins ranks in there near to the bottom in terms of his peers in that category I think it's second or third I forget and I know that's all but one data point about that you know Fossum
075it sounds important one you know as far as we rank those peers I can't tell you if that's apples to apples and space and experience but that is a measure that often is included in every superintendent valuation likewise as our teacher salaries and other comparing districts during contract negotiations long story short there's a frame of reference here for me I I'm not going for this it's not because I don't have faith and Jeff or I think they poor job there are areas of improvement which was shared with left and in our sessions that look forward to seeing address not caring though you can't or light of the fiscal situation you know I'm concerned a number of fronts I don't know for enough money to reopen schools there's a lot of things there so from fiscal
076point of view that's not I don't think that Jeff doesn't deserve it I would rather try to address this in a better year when we can actually digest it but that's my opinion that being said there was a higher compensation number that why the board could not get consensus to again so but what kind of iterating is that these his base salary would increase by ten thousand two hundred dollars which was essentially Jeff's tuition reimbursement for instead college for his ph.d expenses which congratulations Jeff as always and a printed piece you could use a little bit color on here someone's gonna be wondering what that number is or any other comments from board members on this motion and thank you I will be voting in favor of rolling the 10200 tuition benefit into the base
077salary it's something that is in our budget has been in our budget dr. Solon has achieved all that he can achieve in terms of his education and I believe that his he needs to be rewarded for that in addition dr. Solon has brought our school district in four years that he's been superintendent from a very good school district to the top School District in the state of Connecticut and that's in addition to what was achieved how nimble we were able to recuperate when Kovan hipped hit our school district that he was able to do I believe in compensating people for their hard work so I will be voting in favor of rolling that tuition reimbursement into the base salary thank you thank you yes thank you so I you know I echo what and said
078in my view the performance of our district our student achievement numbers pretty much say it all and our focus as a Board of Ed should be always on you know sort of what's best for our students and what is going to help them achieve at the highest level and Jeff has shown himself to be pissed and talented and he's you know led his team to a point where as Ian mentioned we are a top performing district in the state of Connecticut that's not a mistake that's not luck that's that is from the top down you know I I think he has his focus is laser-like focus on are the most important goals for our community the complex thinking and social-emotional learning are it permeates the entire school system everybody is on board with it it
079is showing we are getting some great results from that and to me this is a time to celebrate Jeff's performance and you know I personally would have been in favor of increasing giving Jeff the 4.5 percent increase over this roll over of his tuition reimbursement it's it's not a huge amount of money and yet it is something that we could do to really show our support and our you know our satisfaction with what he's been able to accomplish so you know again as an mentioned this money is already was already in the budget basically and so it is not as much of a fiscal issue that as it might be in at another time and he's worth bass he's worth every penny so I fully support this motion and as I said I would have
080gone higher had I been able to but I'm definitely supportive of this increase thank you Thank You Katherine anyone else seem as you know there are no other comments the yeah yeah apologize all right as you know I get my no no no it's okay so yeah I reiterate what I said before I support the superintendent as Katherine and and maybe others just said I don't recall our academic achievement is strong I want to show the show Jeff that I appreciate him we appreciate him he is at the he is near the bottom of his turd Derby you know what is that Jeff about 20 is it about 20 school systems or something in that in the Derg I'm sorry yeah they're 1921 that when you drop out I dropped out in that comparison districts
081that weren't k12 and I dropped out Fairfield County because Fairfield County's kind of a different base scale so I'm second from the bus this the proposal would have made me second from the bottom I don't know what I am right now okay okay maybe last I do want you to feel appreciated you you would ask for four-and-a-half percent raise and in light of the you know the current economic situation I cannot support that right now nonetheless I don't first see any raise likely any significant raise happening in the next few years I don't care what the composition of the board of that is I think it would be difficult to get any serious raise you also the you're the superintendent there's no promotion for you so I'd like to take the opportunity to recognize you
082for the degree that you got similar to what similar to what I understand is in the teacher's contract where if they get a fifth year or six year above and beyond what they had they get a bump built into that so I am in support of moving your tuition reimbursement into your base pay it spiking up Jeff I acid ask a couple is to put things to quantify a number as two things unfortunately it don't have that district compared in front of me now a different name ballerina top salaries $20,000 $30,000 of pop your head talking Jeff it's like the our mute my apologies after the earlier coughing fit I incitive about muting myself so this is actually the list in front of you here this is the group I'm in red at 184 on
083the current base pay total comp 200 so the top of that to 55:41 240 um the average count was 242 without without oh I guess 295 273 the average compensation is 242 without Cheshire in there so right now my base pay is last and my total compensation second-to-last got it it turns our percentage increased him to the salary like this is a $10,200 that salary lying about 500 or 5% yarm you all right yeah B I mean it's just over 5% cuz it's 10,000 on 184 but I can do that for you really quick yeah yeah you know we can I'll just take you guys probably 5.2 forgives me whenever I'm going this is the offer folks wondering what the percentage is and has a range from you know literally zero to over 13 percent
084I think you know based on the salary so we ended up somewhere almost in the middle I guess or it is a just over 5% increase in salary the folks are wondering what entails so that's why I'm sorry to cut you off earlier but that was just opened at numbers feel more transparent as long I think we got that sure no it is a big bump but it's it's Jeff as Jeff had said you know I think it is fair to look at it as part of his compensate Jim that already exists sure so got it and that's not going away that piece lessons videos so I think it said any comments from the Board of Ed have this any further all right seeing as there is none if it's a great notes on the
085motion the motion before the board is that the Cheshire Board vacation approve a base salary of $195,000 from one ninety five thousand five hundred twenty dollars effective July 1st for the superintendent schools Geoff Solon are those almost a favor or favor I'll post your opposed the motion carries four to three thank you I am running out of steam tonight I don't we don't have any other board read business on the agenda for this evening I do want to thank the board dr. Solon for working through this process over the last 3-4 weeks we have a lot of work that one forward some some pretty big deal to work out with schools reopening which may be kicking off today that being said there is a Board of Ed fiscal meeting of the hall tomorrow morning at
0867:30 it will be on YouTube live we're reviewing the status of our imbalances as alluded earlier there we were on target to move two hundred thousand dollars into a bore education role of our account to use towards reopening cost response school year and I believe we are on target to surplus based on savings on items identified couple months ago about we willing to change exact numbers will be shared tomorrow morning during a meeting for those that wish to attend the agenda is on our website I will post a link the forums I normally do if you can attend please do at this point forward we begin paying careful attention to the budgets going to next year especially in my other code reopening expenses whatever they may or may not be so please stay tuned and
087always will try to shares once you can around that any questions as always you can contact the Coppa 19 email address will shed earlier on this agenda that's still live for parents that have concerns or questions about the reopening please send your feedback through there you're not getting response to that let us know which I fell for you there are no other committee meetings that there's no other board of business meetings scheduled for the immediate future if that changes I'm sure we'll just based on the nature of these meetings reopening we will post leader in there ahead of time we'll be on a website we got available and quite as much possible opportunity for public comment as possible to normally do that being said do I have a motion to adjourn Katherine first sorry face
088she beat you to it all those in favor is unanimous thank you team thank you Jeff thank you everyone that's stuck around I don't know how many we have and the meeting is officially adjourned thank you thank you they