001to order. You can stand up for our ROC. Come back. Oh. Oh, heat. Read that. Arms. I pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> Order. Arms. Host. Right. Or you may be seated though to have a seat. Roll call. Louisa >> Al >> present. >> Teresa >> present. >> Michelle Kate >> here. >> Glattis >> here. >> Mary >> Lauren >> here. >> Anita >> here. >> Rich Julie in here. >> Okay. We have a qu take care of things. Okay, we have don't have any recognition. Okay, we'll move on down to public participation. And if you want to speak or address the board tonight, there's a slip in the back
002and you sign the name so we can um know who's going to speak. Learn >> the board welcomes public participation and ask that speakers please limit their comments to three minutes. Speakers may offer may offer objective comments of school operations and programs that concern them. The board will not permit any expression of personal complaints or defamatory comments about board of education personnel and students nor any person directly connected with the Dbury public school system. >> Thank you. >> Our first speaker is Melinda Scott first. Happy new year everybody. I figured if I was going to be here and sit in the front row, I might as well talk to y'all. So, I'm Scott, fourth grade teacher at St. Buff. I wrote nothing down today, which is very unusual for me. So, you know, it's going
003to be positive. So, I I just wanted to say a couple words uh from a teacher perspective who is on lunch duty four days a week in the cafeteria with two classes of kindergarteners and four classes of fourth graders. There is some really positive changes in this new lunch program. Really positive. There are a lot of bumps in the road. I'm not going to lie. There's major supply issues. There's major transportation issues getting food to the buildings. But the quality of food and the presentation of the food is so much better. We had roasted broccoli yesterday. >> I know. But it was roasted broccoli that was still green. It was still green and you actually had to chew it when you ate it. and it had seasoning on it. This is major major improvement. So
004again, if I'm in there with 5year-olds who are eating school lunch for the first time and they're saying things, this is a good thing. So I'm hoping very much that they're going to be able to work out some of those bumps. I did meet Carrie at our building the other day. Um she said they're working on it, so really positive. And I just wanted to say that really, really nice change. Thank you. Anyone else want to address the board tonight? >> Melinda, thank you for those positive words. Thank you very much. >> We'll move on to the uh consent calendar. Uh Wanita, would you uh do the motion for the consent calendar? Motion. Motion that the board of education approve consent calendar exhibits 25-116 and 25-117 in accordance with the 62525 minutes the finance committee
005and the regular board meeting. >> Motion made by Wanita. I need a second for that motion. Second by Teresa. Any question concerning the minutes? Seeing none, all in favor, could I hear? I >> oppose. Motion so carry. Are anyone anyone from our educational staff want to come before the board? Thank you. Aaron Good evening everyone. >> Good evening Chairwoman Cooper, members of the board, Dr. Casemiro, and all of our DPS community. On behalf of the dedicated educators of Danbury Public Schools, we want to thank you for your attention tonight. As we head toward our last session of negotiations tomorrow night, we come to you with a spirit of collaboration and partnership. We believe that together we can build a contract that not only reflects the values of this community, but also strengthens the foundations of
006our school. But before we jump into the reason why we're here, I want you to look around. It's hard not to look around. Um, look around this room. Behind us tonight are the masses of Danberry educators, teachers, social workers, counselors, specialists, coaches, and support staff who are the boots on the ground for this district. They are the reason that our students are welcomed at the door each morning. the reason that learning continues even in our crowded classrooms and the reasons families know that their children are cared for. And these amazing educators behind me, they're here tonight because they love their students and they love their community and they believe in Danbury public schools. But they're also here tonight with one clear message. Danbury educators deserve a fair contract. So why do we deserve it? Uh
007because every day these educators do extraordinary work in extraordinary circumstances. Danbury is one of the fastest growing districts in the state. Classrooms here can be crowded. 28, 29, sometimes 30 students, sometimes more. Uh far more than most of our neighbors. And yet our teachers find a way to reach every child. That takes skill. It takes patience and it takes incredible dedication. This is a community that's beautifully diverse with families speaking dozens of languages, bringing so many different experiences into our classrooms. Our teachers step into that challenge with open hearts, connecting with families across cultures, making sure every student knows that they belong here. I know teachers who built entire lesson plans around a student's background just to show them that their story matters. That doesn't happen everywhere, but it happens here in Danberry area. And
008serving one of the most diverse communities in Connecticut is something we're deeply proud of. >> And let me tell you, our teachers do it while stretching resources that don't always keep up. Too often, they reach into their own pockets for books, snacks, winter coats, or supplies because they will not let a child go without. They spend their evenings calling parents, weekends grading papers, and countless hours writing recommendation letters or helping students fill out financial aid forms, opening doors to opportunities that can change a child's future. >> And still, our teachers, sorry, and still our teachers don't stop there. They're coaches, club adviserss, and mentors. They're at concerts, games, and plays. They're calling parents in the evening, writing recommendation letters late at night, and sitting down with first generation students to fill out their college applications,
009right? And that's not extra. That's what we do here at Danberry. >> But here's the truth. Our teachers do this all the while watching colleagues leave for other districts, districts with smaller classes, fewer challenges, and better working conditions. districts that are actively recruiting, even poaching the very people that stand with us tonight. But still, they all stay. They stay when districts pay more. They stay when the challenges continue to grow. They stay because they believe in Dan's children and in this community. That loyalty, that level of commitment deserves to be respected, not with words, but with action. An action means a fair contract. We deserve a fair contract because we've chosen to stay in Danberry. Our loyalty shouldn't be taken for granted and should be respected and rewarded. And that's why we're here tonight. We're
010asking for a contract that does three things. We want it to respect the educators who are the backbone of this district. It must ensure safe working conditions so teaching and learning aren't disrupted by unsafe behavior. And it has to provide wages and benefits that keep pace with inflation with our neighboring districts so that Danbury can stay competitive and keep its best educators. >> You know, we're not asking for more than what's fair. We're demanding what's right. And after years of proving our commitment through larger classes, through growing needs, through challenges no other district faces, Danbury educators have earned this. And let's be honest, our teachers have shown extraordinary loyalty. They've chosen to stay despite having every reason to go. And that loyalty deserves recognition. It deserves respect and deserves to be rewarded with a fair
011contract. And that means a contract that retains the dedicated professionals standing here tonight. And you know, a contract needs to be a contract that keeps pace with the cost of living so our educators can continue to live here and raise their families here because no teacher should have to choose between serving the city and supporting their own family. And I do want to make something clear. We're not here as adversaries. We're here as partners with you. We want to work with you to create a contract that reflects the respect that our educators deserve, but the priorities that we all share in this room. Safe schools, strong retention, great outcomes for our students. >> And as with anything teachers do, we're not here tonight advocating just for ourselves, right? We demand fair contract because we know
012that our teaching conditions are really our student learning conditions. A teacher in a classroom of over 30 students is just not going to be able to provide the same quality of instruction as they would with smaller class sizes. When a teacher has the time they need outside of their job to take care of their mental health, they're more likely to have a positive impact on their students mental health. And when Danbury educators wages and benefits remain competitive with surrounding and similar districts, we experience less turnover and a deeper sense of community in our schools. A fair contract will not just benefit the educators who it belongs to, it'll benefit Danbury as a whole. And we continue to work to build a destination district that educators, families, and community members can say that they are going
013to be uh proud to be a part of. >> So, we believe that this open dialogue that we're trying to forge, mutual respect, and a shared commitment to excellence, we can reach an agreement that honors the work of our educators while keeping our students at center focus. We have a shared goal of making Danbury that destination district to work for once again. >> Our educators are ready to continue doing what they do best, inspiring, guiding, and supporting the children of Danberry. And we look forward to building a contract that reflects that same level of dedication from the district. >> Because, you know, this is not only about fairness for educators. It's about ensuring that Danberry remains a district where our students thrive because their teachers and staff feel supported, respected, and secure. So, as we
014head towards the finish line with negotiations, I want to remind you that a fair contract isn't a luxury ask. It is the foundation, the foundation in our schools. >> We come to the table ready to partner, ready to collaborate, and ready to make progress. It's about making sure the child who walks into a Danberry classroom tomorrow morning is greeted by an experienced, valued, supported, and respected teacher who is all who is able to give their very best because the district is behind them. >> So, let us close by saying this. The people standing behind us, all of these folks and all of those at home right now working on tomorrow's lessons, they've already done their part over and over again. They've gone above and beyond for our community. All Dander educators have done their part
015through every challenge. We've shown up every day for our city's children. And now we're here, united, a strong force to say that we deserve a fair contract. Not today, not tomorrow, now. We really thank you for your time tonight. I just want to make one audit. Um, someone did ask me who the gentleman next to Aaron was, and that is Julian Schaefer, and he is the vice president of of the union. So, I just wanted to introduce Julian um, who's been a welcome partner. Um, I do want to say thank you to everybody who showed up tonight, please know on behalf of the cabinet team and the board that we do appreciate your loyalty. We do appreciate the work that you do every day. We understand where we are. Um, and our goal is always
016to to get a to to make it better for everybody. Julie and I wrote down the quote, "Our teaching conditions are our learning conditions." That's what I'm walking away with. And I I I too believe that as well. So, um, please know that. Um, and thank you all for coming out tonight. We appreciate you. Thank you. >> And we'll give you some more air space in the room. >> Yeah, that would be lovely. Good night. Thank you. [Applause] Thank you. You know, we have one of our neighbors, um, he's from Portugal. But the way he talks about it, you know, [Music] >> any of you were around when I used to be here. [Music] Yeah, there's Kim circling. She's like soon as they leave >> as they move out. Do we have any students that
017are >> here tonight? Good. Thank you. Come and identify yourself. >> Hi, my name is You know what? Just wait one second. teach students. >> Hi, my name is Alexandra and I'm speaking on behalf of the um alternative center of excellence. Good evening board of ed members, cabinet and community members. Thank you for allowing me to represent and speak on behalf of the alternative center of excellence. On Thursday, September 25th, ACE will hold its annual beginning of the year community building day at Hatteris Park. The day will start in in a whole school circle led by John and Henley. Next, guidance group will engage in team building activities and challenges like the human pass, the skiw walk, the tower of power, and the guidance pyramid picture. Lunch will be hamburgers and hot dogs from the
018grill. And after lunch, students will have time to interact with each other. Make dream catchers banner ace scarecrow for the city center danberry while playing in a kickball game. It will be a great day to build our community and forge new friendships. Ace will hold its humanity department grade level benchmark on Tuesday, September 16th. The ACE humanity department has created a benchmark school classroom that the entire student student body participants is based on. your highest grade level in English and social studies. Thank you ACE humanity department for all your diligent work on this schoolwide learning activity. The benchmark process takes place during a 4hour block and students will have an opportunity to demonstrate their skill level with regards to the task. After the benchmark are completed, ACE will be holdo hold a large guidance assembly
019to present upcoming events, opportunities, and measures regarding school expectations and goals for the ACE community. The first ACE parent night will be held on Thursday, September 25th at 6:00 p.m. Parents and students will begin the evening together to hear about upcoming events and school goals for the 2025 2026 school year. After that, the parents and students will have the opportunity of all their students schedule and meet with a staff. Katy will be taking her and and environmental students to be to the White Memorial Conservation Center on Thursday, October 18th. Students will visit the museum as well as as well as complete a pond crawl on the grounds collecting samples. AE will be administering our schoolwide PSAT for 9th, 10th, and 11th graders on Tuesday, October 7th. Our pre-administration day will be will prep students for
020the test as well as providing valuable practice on sample test questions. Thank you all for allowing us to share what is going on with our ACE family and have a nice evening. Stay healthy and remain a strong. Thank you so much. >> Thank you. Thank you. [Applause] >> Now, we move on to the superintendent report. >> Alexandra just left, but you could tell her pen that she did a great job. That was her first night. >> I'll tell her tomorrow. >> Thank you. Her face is here in the house. She did a great job. Uh, okay. Um, let's see here. So, we've got a couple items tonight just um more about just more updates about the opening of school. So, we had a very smooth opening relative to everything that was going on. School lunch
021transition, retaring of the buses, opening up an entire new campus. Um and then, you know, of course, trying to staff the same way that everyone else across the state was trying to staff their buildings and fill openings. And um you know, like many districts, we had you we always have a little bit of a I don't want to say a bailout just before school starts, but um folks who applied to multiple places tend to uh make decisions at the last minute and then we're kind of stuck at the last uh in the last 11th hour trying to fill slots. Um but I have to say I want to commend um the not only the cabinet team, but the building teams as well for working diligently around the clock to continue to fill positions and we're
022still filling some positions. Um, Kim Kim comes, I'll have her do a staffing update. She's got a little bit information about some places where we still have some persistent vacancies, but overall we're in much better shape starting the school year this time than we were last year. Um, so I, you know, I I definitely uh >> Yes. And she walks in. >> We'll give you a chance to breathe and then you can go last. We'll have you go at the end. Um, so very smooth opening. I I have to say in the last couple of years I I don't remember I think a smoother opening where you know all the calls coming in where we weren't on fire in central office with issues and problems. So um and we kind of checked individually with buildings
023and they reported yeah don't say it you know very smooth opening. So things went really well and that's a testament to a lot of people putting a lot of time and attention uh into the details of opening, welcoming schools, um having um schedules really ready to go and well vetted so there's not a lot of chaos at the beginning of the day u in the first couple of days. Um the transportation I'll kind of flow into the transportation a little bit. Um as you know we combined the 612 run with DHS and DHS uh Westside Academy and DHS West. Um the first couple days were a little bit bumpy because students were kind of dismissed out of DHS West and were like which bus how are we how are we doing this? Um so that
024was all just new normal natural kind of progression to establishing routine and over the course of that week they made a lot of adjustments uh with the with the way that they onboarded where the buses parked how many buses came around. Um and gradually the the the pull out time, the target time um got closer and closer and closer. So I think we're in a pretty good spot right now. Um we're still always uh work out the bumps across the first couple of weeks. Um whenever the high school run is late, then the middle school run is late, then the elementary school runs late, and it's a tiered effect. So the first couple days we've had some kind of wild times. Um but we're starting to get more into a routine and I expect that
025to be more refined over the next couple of weeks. Um we also get um surges of registration late registrance after labor day which also changes the bus routes. So just when you think you have your route plan uh you get um five or six more students on a bus and everything changes a little bit. So, um, those are just the normal es and flows and, uh, I think we expected them to be a little worse this year, but they pretty typical. And so, given all the volume that we had going on, I think it was a pretty good opening. Um, overall, um, uh, we mentioned school lunch about the school lunches. Um, it was probably one of the first school lunches I wanted to eat myself in a long time. Uh, when I saw how
026fresh the foods were. Um, so not something is not, you know, not coming out of a can, if you will. it's being chopped up in the back and it's fresh and it's made that morning and um it just looked very appetizing, very fresh and um I I sat with some of the students uh and asked them how they what they thought of the food and they were raving about it. They're like this is amazing. So, it was a really big shift for them and and the food definitely the food quality is um 10 levels up from where where it was. Um but and we're working through some of the logistical uh um the ordering system, the process, new uh staff that we've onboarded um staff that has gone to different places. So we're trying to
027fill those holes. And there's a slightly different organizational structure with this company compared to the other ones. So everyone's getting used to um to the management and the procedural pieces that go in with um with the transition. But overall, we're we are getting there and and people who have tasted the food are very very pleased with it. Most importantly, the kids. So, and if it doesn't look good, the kids will need it. So, the kids have been eating it. So, that's a great report. Um, from a leadership update, I I have emailed folks kind of offline. I've been sort of sending out updates as we go, but I just want to announce kind of publicly who all of our new administrators are in the district. So, at Broadview Middle School, um, he's been in place
028for a little bit. Andrew Lambo, who replaced Dave Kimell at Westside Middle School. Mike Flynn, who was our interim, replaced Jen Blue. At uh Westside Middle School, the assistant principal was Jessica Hill, who replaced Mike Flynn, who took the principal role. At Rogers Park, uh Michael Boucher, who used to work with us uh and for us at Danbury High School, went to New Milford. We stole him out of New Milford and now he's our principal. He replaced uh formerly Christy Zelita who is now our chief of schools K12. Reaching Endeavor principal is Bill Kirsten who replaced Jenny Lopez. Jenny Lopez took the administrative position, assistant principal position back at Stadley Ruff where she came from. So she's happy. Stadley Ruff is happy. Um Park Avenue Elementary assistant principal Stephanie Rafini uh who replaced Mary Johnson
029and she's going to be a great partner for Dave. AIS elementary principal is Jin uh Jeannie Pukowski who is replacing Laurel Jackson. She starts on Friday on the 12th. Danbury High School assistant principal is Melissa Teal who replaced Andrew Lambo. Stadley Ruff assistant principal already said that one was Jenny Lopez. And our new associate superintendent for teaching learning is Allison Breedy Johnson who will start on the 24th and she's coming to us from Norwalk. So another big urban district and she has a lot of great experience that we can't wait to tap. So, um, it was a very busy summer. I for those of you who participated in the panels, you know, was was a long one. I think that's we spent a preponderance of of our time between opening the new building and filling
030all of these roles with the multiple panels uh that are needed. And so, we appreciate everybody's time, attention, and work. Um, HR department was non-stop uh with the hiring process this year as we knew that was going to be. But um the fact that we're here and first week of school we're able to open with this many positions filled um is important for stability and important for um just sort of the critical nature of being able to open the school without having any issues and people are settled in their place in time. So um we're excited about all of that. U talked a little bit about transportation. I'm going to kick it over to uh Mike for summer projects. give us a little update on some of the things that were completed over the summer
031months. >> Sure. >> Thank you, Cara. Welcome back, everybody. Um, I'll be brief. Um, there were certainly this summer DHS West stole all the headlines, but um, there were a number of different things happening um, that we're going to spend a lot of time in Tuesday's site meeting going through. We have, uh, pictures and updates, but everything from lights to flooring to, uh, roof replacements. uh we'll get a little bit more into the weeds 12, the different projects we did um and some of the things that we're looking forward to in the coming year. So, we hope you can join us on Tuesday and uh we'll we'll take a deep dive into the uh the long list of projects that we accomplished over the summer. >> Thank you. Now, Kim, that you've had a moment
032to breathe and to park. Um if you want to give us just a little update on where we are with staffing and I mentioned earlier we couple still a couple holes that were we're filling, >> right? So, um, just to recap where we've been, um, remember the start of the summer, we did about 400 summer school employees. Don't forget those. Um, so we ran all of the summer school. Um, we did 10 administrators that, um, Carrie has talked about. Um, so far to date, we have touched in one form or another 190 certified people. Um, that means worked up their folders, called them. Um, we've had some who've declined, but we've touched 189 certified staff members so far and about another 125 non-certified staff that we have touched, meaning called, contacted, um, worked of. We
033still have a series of polls um, in the areas we know about. Math and science continue to be challenging. Um my team's been working with the high schools to run overloads and to work on trying to market and look for these teachers in these high need areas as best we can. Um we are not alone in searching for a limited pool of these folks that are certified in these areas. um special ed is another um but to date we've managed I think to get either um temporary staffing in the case of our non-certified staff members and also um we've brought back a few retired teachers some substitutes to plug some gaps as we continue to look and earnest in these high need areas. So that's going to be continuing a challenge for us. Um with
034regard to the PAR educators, we spent a lot of time this summer focused on hiring that group still. Um hopefully you all saw in your travels on social media if you were there. Um some popup ads. We did some work with our media. We did some work with social media. Um Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram. Um I had a team that thought about a Tik Tok video. We didn't quite get that. I I don't even know what that means. So I was leaving that to them. Um but we've been trying as many different places as we can to try to search for PAR educators at this new 21 2021 rate. um is better, but we are not getting the traction I would have thought. Um I just saw a report that just came out this week um
035from I believe it was from the state department of education showing across the state the trend again for the last couple of years and highlighted this year a real shortage of PAR educators. We're all fighting for a limited pool of them. Um I know anecdotally that the other urbans are also looking for high numbers of them. We opened, I think, much better than we have in years past by leveraging um Stepping Stones, by leveraging Kelly Education, who now has a different group of parents that are a little bit more trained. Um so we have we managed to open I think more smoothly than we have in years past. Um but we're continuing that push of trying to really get the non-certified staff and that's really a challenge for us. It's trickled into safety advocates. Um
036again, working to continue to put that to full capacity. Um, and school lunch has also been a bit of a challenge, although I think today we may have turned it more into that group. So, they should be fairly fully staffed. Um, the I've been working closely with this substitute teacher um pool with Caliad. Um, they now have 240 substitute teachers in the pool. That's a very robust number for us. All of our building subs are in place. Also very robust for us this year. um with the exception of the high school where we've started with a smaller group rather than the full complement um and we'll continue to add to that group as well. So um I think that's also very good news for how we open this school year. So we've been super busy.
037Um I'm actually looking to replace one of my newer HR generalists. So I'm working on that now um to make sure that our team is back up at a full complement. Um so we'll continue to push forward, but it's been a busy summer. Um and inspiring that we've also been working on five contracts. So those of you who are participating all these committees have been busy as well and thank you. It's been busy. Thanks Kim. Um I failed to mention about the cell phone policy um that and how that is going. So um I did have uh Dr. Zelita kind of poll the middle schools to see how that's going. Um and I did contact uh Dan Donovan to kind of get a a sense of how it's working particularly between the two campuses and
038and the lock boxes. And I know ACE is also implementing the lock boxes as well. Um, but so far everything has gone very smoothly. Everyone was very pleased with the level of cooperation with the students. There's only been a couple of instances where uh the cell phones have been a bit of an issue um one or two uh in terms of like refusals, but most kids have absolutely been wonderful uh in terms of complying with the with the policy. Um, we've had a couple parent phone calls and emails about wanting to get a hold of, you know, a little bit disgruntled with, um, the idea of not being able to get a hold of their child during study hall or whenever um, they needed to contact them and we've had um, some exchanges on that
039and have come around that. It's understandable uh, in this day and age that there's a natural worry about that. But by and large, the feedback from the teachers has been fantastic. um they feel like they've able to teach again in many cases where the issue was a little more problematic particularly at the high school level and I'm sure Rob you can uh you can attest to that. He's shaking his head over there. How's it going actually Rob? >> Actually it's going very well. >> Great. Great. Okay. Thank you. I just curious um from a teacher perspective. Yes. What is like the policy if there's a real emergency like so say it's not a fake fire or it's not a alarm, it's like a real thing. >> How does that like so so the students um
040keep they're allowed to have their cell phones, they can transport them to and from school. Um, one of the issues with students like so there's an emergency. Let's say we're in a lockdown. One of the problematic components that we've had with the cell phones and um situations like lockdowns is I I'll give you a classic example. We had a a situation where we called a lockdown in an area where there was a police chase and and someone had jumped out of the car and it was had committed a robbery or something was running through the neighborhood. Um, students were texting, had gotten wind of some information and were texting their parents. Now, when you're in a lockdown, the last thing you want is parents flooding the school with misinformation, coming to the parking lot, go
041to the door, my some my son or daughter's texting me that there's that there's a a shooter or there's, you know, like they're using terms and getting misinformation um spread very very quickly, which actually is dangerous and causes more problems. So, um, it's actually this actually helps that in that case. And intuitively, the first thing you want is your child to have their cell phone if there's that kind of emergency. But it actually has the opposite effect in in actual emergencies. But the students will still have uh their phones. They were able to transport them to school will be in their lockers or a cubby. Um, and so, you know, this is our we we are implementing this year, but we're going to get a lot of feedback on different processes and scenarios as it's
042tested over the course of of the year and uh we'll make refinements and and recommendations um to the board and to to the schools to to refine that work over time. And some of the implementation is for the most part the same, similar with some iterations that are a little bit different. So, for example, Westside Middle School, they don't have lockers. So they're doing a little something different. They're allowed to keep it in the bag and not take it out. Some of the school one of like Broadview is has to stay in the locker or the bag. So there's slightly different iterations at the high school level. There's a locked case in every single classroom. Um so it's okay to have a tiny bit of difference right now as we get feedback on how each
043of those different scenarios and those nuances are playing out. And that's a little part of the innovation piece that where you see how things are going and then um if we need to completely standardize it um we'll we'll determine that towards the end of the year. >> Can are we going to do a survey again this year? >> Um a survey >> regarding something >> like last year of >> a board survey. >> We absolutely can. Yeah, I think we should do >> I thought it was something that we we were going to do every year or am I wrong? Yeah, I I'd have to go back and look when we imple what month we implemented that if anybody has that. >> Who was survey? >> The board staff. >> When was that? >> I
044think it was around close to November time frame. >> Was it before? This was >> you could absolutely take a look and um it's also a good way to get feedback on on new policies that have been implemented. I thought it was something >> I could uh >> a good tool ask to us. >> Sure. >> Any other question Louisa? So, I was able to chat with some students up at both on main campus and west and the westside students at the west side campus are elated at the new school and main campus students also happy like there's more space for them. They're noticing a difference. So, you know, it's it's great on both ends. It's just something that was so long overdue and now we're seeing, you know, the benefits of it and the
045kids are really really excited about both. So, it's it's good. >> It seems it feels good. It feels good. We're we're definitely feeling that and we're working really hard to make sure that the west side the the the main campus. It's funny cuz a lot of students are like, I don't want to go to that other campus and leave DHS main. And um some of the kids that went over to go see it were like, whoa. Um, but the questions then came, what are you doing with the main campus? Are you going to, you know, we want to make sure that that environment is equally as appealing and inviting and attractive and and have the tools and resources that the main that the new campus has. So, we'll be working on that over time. And
046we did order some new equipment for some of the with title 4 with for some of the uh like the art and architectural lab. Got some new desks and uh we'll be sprucing up some of the engineering components so that there's definitely equal opportunity on both campuses. But that's going to be a work in progress over time. >> Um just a couple of things. So Lauren was asking about that in the event of an emergency. Do robocal calls go out or um >> Yes. >> And so parents are notified where they can >> Yes. >> So thank you. And I'm Got it. If I missed that, I'm sorry. >> No, you're good. You're good. You're fine. >> Okay. Um so yes, we send whenever there's an emergency, one of the very first things we do
047is um almost sim simultaneously I'll be I send something out through Michaelelsson Parents Square in real time about whether it's a lockdown. this is what we know right now. Kind of stay tuned. >> gas leak. So, right, we got that information in in sort of real time and very quickly during that time period, lots of things happen. Um, and so we're, you know, making sure that the scene is secure and that we're getting good information. We're waiting for the fire department to clear us. Um, and then we let parents know that there's been an all clear. Um, so we do do parent square. We do that pretty pretty uh religiously. We're pretty good at that. Um parents usually get the text message and the email and depending how they sign up for their parent square
048messages is um based on their preferences. They they do get lots of information um to them and we do do updates occasionally if it was a complex or a very messy event particularly in a lockdown with something that was really serious. We usually follow up at the end of the day once we've had a chance time to debrief and get all the facts together kind of an explanation sometimes. So they'll sometimes they'll get a letter as well. Um in the event that we have to vacate a building and they can't go back in. Um communications have also been sent out. We've scrambled buses. Buses can take about sometimes anywhere between 30 minutes and 45 minutes to scramble buses um and and have announced where those pickup places are. So, um, the the best parent tool
049that we have with accurate the most accurate information that's clear and devoid of rumor or speculation is the the parent square message that goes out pretty regularly. Um, and and you know, in any sort of event, um, I I can depending how long the the situation is, a shelter in place or a lockdown, parents can receive anywhere between two, three or six messages depending on what's what's happening. So, we do have a very good strong communication stream. um you know the the students being able to go and make a phone call in the office should they have an emergency or I'm not feeling that those all of those protocols are still in place. Um they can go to any level parent call in um we can go and seek students out. We call into the
050into the room. We bring students down. Um, and you know, our our principles have, you know, already made some concessions where, hey, my mom is calling about this very specific thing around 1:00 and is it okay to step out or step into the office to to take this call? And, you know, of course, there's been accommodations made with that already. We've already had those discussions. So, um, I think our students are in really good hands. Our our staff is very well trained. Um but the clarity and the communication streams um with the cell phones kind of being out of the mix are are greatly vastly improved. The other problem that we've had before um also with communication I'll just mention opposes to what you asked earlier um is the phone lines kids texting some misinformation
051about what's happening and the all of the school phone lines getting clogged up with phone calls you can't even dial out because of the number of students parents calling in um andor trying to to get to the school. So, um, you know, the cell phones really have been less helpful in emergencies than helpful, but we do have a good parent square communication. >> Have we noticed, well, I know it's too soon, but um, any behavioral changes now that cell phones are out of play? >> Yes, the kids are very engaged um, and and engaged with the teachers. And what what will be interesting to see over time and we'll have to find a way to track this. Um the incidences of students like an a fight, a squabble or a problem between two students almost
052always had started with well she texted this in the group chat or he texted that in the group chat or so and so posted something on social media. Now we can't stop that. Teachers are shaking. We can't stop that uh outside of the school day, but I can tell you that things can whip up pretty quickly in the school day um just even during class and and it happens on a regular basis. So that part uh we could track those incidences, you know, over the course of the year and get a general sense of that. But um yeah, you know, we we definitely there's a lot of reports already that uh things have just kind of calmed down a little bit. So it's early ask in a couple months. Yeah. >> As well as most
053of those incidents being taped and then online >> by Yes. a fighter skirmish or a um a an argument investigated. >> Yes, absolutely. >> As far as the parent square >> do each of our buildings keep some type of data on which parents have signed up for it, which ones still need to sign up for, and then do we contact them? >> Yeah. Yeah. Mike, do you want to talk a little bit about the um the parent score? >> Sure. So, we we do have data on the back end that shows how many people have signed up. It'll get, you know, granny will tell us how many people we've we've actually reached so we can see who may be getting an email that hasn't signed up for the app yet. So, we do send reminders
054and and principles are active and telling people they need to send them. >> But, it's a good it's a good point to especially with we have a lot of new administrators um that have started. So, a good reminder to make sure that they're that we don't have any holes or gaps in our our >> Julie. Did you finish one? >> We do it too. Classroom teachers do it too, especially at the elementary level. >> Sorry, that's not my place, but it's important to hear, right? So, I I'm constantly using my analytics to track down parents who are not using it. >> Did you finish one? >> I I'll come back. Okay. No, I just want to run up on my only concern was based on safety and is based on the latest news that we
055have seen the trend um of the last starting of the school year is everywhere in Utah um and the other one around. So are we taking extra precaution because the way I see it is this sign every time that we see this start like a trend. So are we taking extra precautions on like um I don't know with the I mean police and >> yeah you know our first align defense is making sure everyone has keeps their doors closed. There's no prompt doors and all you know those are reviewed at the beginning of the year as part of safety procedures. Um, but also having all of our safety advocates in place, we're working to fill those. So, we we're, you know, we've had some a little bit of turnover right at the beginning of school
056year. Mike is working feverishly to try to replace them. Um, and we may even have to use some agency staff to keep up with that. Um, but yes, so we do we do that's one of the reasons why we maintain the safety advocates also in our school system. Um, because it is it is very important. But, um, we do have some pretty good protocols in place. Um we have verification at the door with ID and the raptor system. So um anybody you know not anybody can just walk in or say that they belong there or say to pick up. There's kind of a vetting system at the door. So we do have that. Um but it is concerning. We are we do live in a day and age where there's just increased unwell people um
057that are you know are cause for concern. But Mike, did you want to add or Kelly? Sorry. You're both kind of leaning in. And I was going to say also it's regular review of our protocols. For example, we had a meeting this morning with all of our administrators in district where we extensively reviewed all the protocols in case of an emergency. Um, you know, our incident command, what our chain of command, how to expect communications, and we do that very regularly. They're also required to have drills in place each month. Um, and that's to prepare in the event of an emergency so students and staff are aware of the protocols to follow. And then they also test out those procedures so that if there's a need to make an adjustment or correction, they're able to
058do so um in a practice situation. Um but that is at the forefront of what we are doing and I would say it's something we review no less than monthly at the cabinet table. Um and then certainly um as needed in individual situations, we will follow up. >> Thank you. >> Thanks, Billy. We just did that today. So, I appreciate you >> and and I do um want to thank the administration and our board for addressing that safety issue at one grocery. So, that as a result um fencing didn't go and that's a good thing. Um can I just kind of go down my list? >> Sure. >> Yeah. Okay. Good. So um for the um hiring the question that I had is um can you Kim tell us kind of step by step for
059the interview streaming how does that work? I applied through that >> the new the new program that we rolled out. So um let me take a step back by saying that all of our hiring into buildings is decentralized. So we task all of our building administrators with hiring the teams that the staff that go into their buildings. So when we purchased Interview 3, it was to give them an additional tool as part of the process. So um we just purchased it over the summer. We rolled it out. Um we did some training for anyone that would like to use it as a screening tool. So those building administrators are um doing what probably is most akin to like a paper screen. They go through Apple Track. they look and see who's applied for their positions.
060Um, in some cases, people have applied for multiple positions and they have the option of using this interview stream if they choose. We also used it a little bit in the administrative segment like the secretarial pools that we were running as a way to kind of give candidates an opportunity to provide more information if they'd like to. So, we post some questions. Um, and basically the way it works is you can upload a video of yourself answering the question and it was really just to use as a streaming tool. Um, we're going to unfold it a little bit more this year because we've also can use it as a way to survey. So, we'd like to use it for some of our new teachers that came in to give a kind of, hey, you know,
061answer this question in a minute or so video and tell us, do you feel like you got some good training when you came in? Is there something we could do that might help you? You know, just to use it as another way to outreach. It also allows us to do some marketing embedded in it. So, we could link um the questions in interview stream to maybe it's principal. It says, "Hey, my name is, you know, Jane Doe and I'm the principal of whichever elementary school. Let me tell you a little bit about my school and now I'd love to invite you to answer these questions." So, it really was intended to be a tool. We did not because of when we bought it, I think it was in July, um we didn't require anyone to
062use it. Um we sort of offered it as another alternative. So I think that we will try to embed it more. Um part of what was concerning us about some buildings were that there were only brief virtual interviews of some candidates. No demolescence, no inerson, no tour of the school and that just didn't feel like um enough of a contact. So this was really the first contact and then that other process of bringing people in and having them do like I said demo lessons interviews with teacher panels was really to flesh out the process. >> Okay. So yeah, I bring that up because um hearing back some comments using different um hiring, interviewing um at different levels, different ways, not standard. Um and as you said, virtual in some places and in person in others.
063Um, and I'm not I'm concern that concerns me. And so whereas one person may feel, gee, I think I would have done much better had I been in person, but I was only offered a virtual. Um, so I'm not sure how it was done done in the past. And I I think I hear you saying that it really was left up to the administration in each building how they wanted to run their interviews or use the um the program that was purchased >> kind of um you know in addition when if someone were to record the interview I know that building administrators shared those videos you know you can look at anybody can look at those so that it was another way for an administrator to say hey I filled my spot here's somebody you
064might want to take a look at. But I just want to be clear with you um oneita that um before before we purchased interview stream everyone was subject to a paper screen essentially. So it's just administrators leafing through Apple Track going through looking at all the credentials. They're still doing that. It's just that this and we did use videos um some time ago to great success maybe two or three years ago here. You might remember when we screened um we had a lot of administrator candidates, a lot of internals and it was a way to help administrators to to whittle down the group but the selection process remains the same. So they bring folks in as I said except I had heard in one or two places that that wasn't happening. Um and again it
065doesn't run through us. So we don't necessarily centralize everybody's process but but everybody's going through the same process in that they have to do some kind of an initial screening and then they go through the process of selecting the candidate in their building deing interviews bringing in the candidates. So there is always that continuity. I agree with you that we should make sure that um we have a fair and equitable process that gives everyone a chance. And I will tell you that I did have a couple of people contact me and say, "Hey, I had difficulty doing this." And say, "Okay, no problem." You know, we'll send an email off to the principal. Um, we'll let them know. It was not It was really not intended to be exclusionary. It was intended to provide another
066dimension for candidates who were going through this paper screening anyway. >> Yeah. I just don't think that um for some it may not give a clear indication of who they are, what they can bring to the table, and what they can present. And so there's always to me there's a difference. And I don't know if they're even when you're sorting people out um maybe virtually versus in person. I I'm not sure that you can really to me get to the meat in an in um virtual whereas I've been in interviews where people have had their full portfolio they've passed it out and I don't know if that's the second step in the process that they've been asked to come back or come in or or things like that but yeah I think there's a disadvantage
067for some people >> I think remember that there are some position positions have literally 100 125 candidates. There's a large pool. So there and and certainly you know we can have a larger conversation about how the screening happens. That's really what we're talking about the initial screening. How do you get down to a manageable group that you can bring in for a more detailed interview and we have to do it somehow. So you >> uh you have uh other questions. >> Yeah. But it's on a different subject. This is >> Well, I wanted to uh say that Wanita brought up a good point. Uh the standardization across the board, it sounds like it's will kind of willy-nilly. Yet, when I've been on the few administration, administrative uh s uh interviews, we all had a standard
068set of questions. >> Uh are we getting away from that with teachers. >> I want to know >> or is it is there a standard? I think Wanita brought up a good point. You know, across the board, okay, this step, next, this step, and this is the questions. I mean, to be consistent. >> Yes. And and no, we're not moving away from that. Again, we're trying to tackle the problem of if you have a 100 applicants, how are you going to get down to five? That's what we're trying to tackle that problem. make just a just a quick comment on that. Um the the way and we've been involved in a lot of the administrative panels and I I don't sit on teacher panels anymore. Um but from an administrative from the administrative panel side
069um again we get a we do get a lot of applications for those and we can only ever really bring in or the way that we I mean bringing in four or five if you've sat on the on the panels before five is really a long day and it's pushing it and it's almost unfair to that last candidate. the fifth one because you're exhausted and you're just not as maybe you know in tune if you will but um what the interview screen has done for the on the administrative side and is that if I'm looking at doing a paper screen and I'm looking and I'm looking at who we want to bring in it allows me to go you know what these are I think the five best but these couple of people here four
070or five other ones are pretty interesting I'm not sure I'd bring them in if they if it was just a paper screen these folks would have never gotten in. So, what it does is it allows for a cast a wider net on the process so we can see more so that we we choose of the 10 people that we send these this uh information to to answer questions, we have a better sense of fit um and a likelihood for better success in the in the actual pool that we bring into to um for the administrative panel. Anyways, so that has been helpful. Um in cases where only two or three people have applied, that's not necessarily uh needed. uh if you will because you're not trying you're going to bring in all three people. >>
071And I think to your point Tesa, we always need to when we bring those five in, we always need to give everyone the level playing field we can. That's why we say the same questions. Um you know, make sure that everyone gets asked the same questions because you don't ever want to create an appearance of, you know, different treatment for different candidates. So always buy that last level. This is really a discussion about how do you get to that level? And so, um, I want to go back again to the hiring and and our staff that filled the room earlier today. One of the things that we've sat around this table and we've talked about is Dandere being the best urban district. And I hope that that is the message that we're we're giving across
072the board to our teachers, our administrators, our staff. Um, and certainly we've talked about retaining um getting and we've used the words competitive salaries. And if we are talking about um being the best urban district, then I think what we heard here tonight um that our and we heard also through our our survey um that our staff is looking for. They said three things. Respect, safe working conditions, and looking to retain who we have, who we hire through uh competitive salaries. And I know what was brought back to the board that that certainly has been a consideration in the prior negotiations that are going on. So I just wanted to um express what I heard here tonight on that. Um I have heard back from st some staff members especially on the middle school level
073with regard to the cell phones working very well only well in their building because of the block schedule. So the students report to their last block class first, store the cell phones, then go through their day and the last class is that class that they've stored the phone in. And so that's when they retrieve um their phones back and to them it has worked well. again when we did our surveys here and not that anything has happened so far but the concern is the if students are not following um the protocol with cell phones and the teachers now report that they want to hear back from the administration what were the steps taken to address that they don't want it to get too far and too out of hand um with the next steps. So
074they weren't really sure about what are the next steps going to be even if it just getting back them to them to say so and so had a warning cell phone was held in the office parent was contacted and they will pick it up after school. parents were notified that if it does happen again, that sort of thing. But they want that kind of communication upfront um and happening sooner rather than later. Um the only other thing that I have on my little list or two things, I'm sorry. Um, I really want to stress this year uh our board moving forward with the dress code policy. Um, I am personally sometimes offended and certainly appalled at what I am seeing our students coming to school in. Now, you know, we certainly could say to the
075parents, did you see your child leave the h? I I don't know that we can even do that um anymore, but I want to make sure that we have good solid policy from our board going forward that our uh staff can certainly use to support them in honoring a dress code. And if I I'm I'm not exaggerating. Certainly go visit our schools. Um and and you let me know what you think. Um so I am going to certainly be asking the board to look at our policy um on the dress code. Um and so the last thing that I want to put before you is is looking at our um reach and endeavor. Um we name that programs those programs for a reason. It's not just a name. It had a mission and a vision
076behind it. And so again, I am looking at are we looking at the resources that we're placing there? Um we talked about restorative practices. I'm not sure that we have the staff there. Um not I'm not saying train wise, but enough to work at that level that our students are there. The reason they are there um and also looking at the building that we've housed that program in. Thank you for listening. >> Thank you. Kelly, you'll talk a little bit about some of the updates there. >> As you know, uh, Bill Carson has been named the new administrator of the program. Um, starting out at the start of the school year um really to support the restorative practices as we looking at um their systems and structures that are in place to support PBIS work
077in the building. um including um they follow a a schoolwide uh point system for students to get ongoing feedback on schoolwide expectations and behaviors but also to help students to self monitor and self-regulate um and provide ongoing feedback in a consistent fashion across classrooms. So that was their uh PD prior to the start of the school year. that will continue to build over and across the school year. Um, including a team of his staff members participating um in additional um uh PBIS uh training by one of our uh sorry circus corrector circa trainers. Um so that is some of the work that they're doing. We are also in the process of adding one additional staff member to the program. Um and so we have been um we onboarded a new person but this will be
078an additional new position as we need to backfill one position and we're adding another staff member and you guys I share the concern I think as as we continue to grow and develop that program looking at staffing and resourcing needs to be an ongoing focus um as far as providing um in the general budget we did increase uh the support in a financial way to that building as far as access for additional um materials, supplies, equipment, resources, professional learning for staff there. Um and we'll continue to monitor that. Some of that is also supported by our special education budget as well as some of our LEA budget because they service students in a multitude of capacities. Um and we have provided some support also through the mento for that building. So it's there's the general
079building budget and then there's some additional lines of support. as far as curricular access, they have access to all the, you know, all the same resources that the rest of the district does. Um, but we need to recognize that the learners in that building have different needs at times. Um, we're also looking over time to increase the amount of community involvement that the students have. So, one of our first steps is increasing actually the amount of time that they go off-site. Um we have a partnership with the Powell center to do some uh both their um sorry their PE requirement but also some team building exercises um in space outside the environment. Uh additionally it it is no secret that it's an ongoing effort I think of all of ours to continue to explore a
080different space for that building in which I said we found a place. We are not there yet but it's something that we're continuing to do. Um, and with the community outings, we'll be looking to expand and giving students some experiences um, across the the Dbury community in some real life settings, some job shadowing. For those of you that don't know Mr. Kuren um, prior to this um, he served as a he has been a special education teacher in our district for many years, but he also ran our I'm going to call it the original academy program, the academy program. What I mean by that is our vocational education program for students 18 to 22 years old. and he was working with um his staff and students across the community um supporting job training and coaching
081and development skills. Um so really kind of building that into the programming at the reach endeavor program. Um really focusing first on reach as our older population but we are still in the process of um transitioning students in setting expectations and so forth before we expand into a larger community but those are goals that we have collectively over time. So I can continue to provide updates. But I hope that gives you a little lesson. We also we've been looking at administrative support in that building because I don't think there's enough there for Mr. Kirsten right now. They have kind of a shared arrangement with um ACE. So we're looking at seeing if we can push in any more administrative support and safety advocate support as well. So they have a full safety advocate now. So
082that we accomplished. They we also increased I should have added this our nursing support. um it is a a shared uh staff member between Reach and ACE or Reach Endeavor and ACE. Um that person previously was working um6 or three full days a week. Um and uh we have increased that to full-time which has also provided an additional support and help to to that facility. So there are a bunch of smaller little things over time that we're adding in um to really build into the program. I do think expanding the space will also give us the ability to further expand that program. >> Thank you. >> And they are fully involved. [Music] >> I I just want to say I ran into Bill at the PAL building this week and I know him very well
083and the PAL building staff was just thrilled that he was there and the difference in the children they've noticed already is just phenomenal. because he's so good at what he needs to do there. >> So, I just I think it's just phenomenal that they're already noticing and that you know the children are like coming in and saying like please and thank you and making eye contact and you know it's just the the director of PAL building he's like it's a change already which it's hard to but he's got support and he can do it. >> The thing about Mel is that he has very high expectations for students. Yes, he does. He has a firm approach when needed but super soft in coaching and supporting and teaching. Um and and that is what we have
084seen. That was one of the reasons, one of the many reasons he was selected for that program. But I will say being in the building, you feel a change in that. Um and I really think the staff is looking for someone to bring some stability to the program. Um you know, they've had a number of administrative changes um over the past couple of years and I think he's been able to set a tone of we're here in this together. we're going to do this together and and reframe some of the expectations for our kiddos. So, it's been a very positive thing so far. >> Thanks. >> Okay. All right. And just to wrap uh superintendent report, you're actually still on it. Um so, Spotlight Your School will start October 8th and will be every meeting
085through April, but in a much more reduced condensed 5m minute format so that uh they have a consistent template um so that we really just get the highlights of what's happening in the school. Um it's really important that we have a presence all the time about what's happening in our schools in a meeting because that's the core work that's what we do. Um so I think it'll be a nice touch but um you know we've definitely curtailed um sort of the longer um lengthier uh presentation so we have a nice succinct way to present that. Um and then we did get we two nice donations. one. Um I'm happen to be friendly with the superintendent in um in Reading uh and he had some really nice classroom desks and chairs that um they were getting
086replaced at his end that were too gently used to to get rid of. So he gave me a call. What >> I live in >> Oh well he was going to get rid of them. So he gave us first dibs on them rather than putting them out into the into the ether of the area here. Um and so Mor Street was the beneficiary of that. We were able to get 52 desks and uh Tina was very happy to receive them. Some of the desks there were quite um in disrepair. So, it was a great opportunity. Um it didn't quite come up to $1,000. I got a little updated information. Um but uh we don't really have to pass anything, but I did want to mention that it was a lovely donation from that school system.
087So, we're very thankful from that. Uh we're also in contact with someone who's going to be making a very nice art donation um specifically directed to our elementary school. and I'll give you another update at the next board meeting. Okay. Okay. Any questions? Uh committees, we should not have any committee reports. If you have read your minutes from June, all the the information in there should be what we don't want to talk about or want to talk about at our next meetings. And Carol has sent out all the emails for the next couple of meetings. And please when you get the invitation to the meetings, please click on yes whether you're going to attend or not. Okay. Please uh are there any committees that someone want to say say now? No. Wanita, you want to
088give a little report on the uh workshop that you attended? We do it now. Okay. Um, just passing out some information. I went to the summer leadership conference um in Westbrook, uh, Connecticut, August 7th. And, um, I'm just coming back with some suggestions that came out of that conference. And one of the things that really stuck with me was, um, on boarding our new board members. And so actually um assigning a board mentor when we have a new board member come on um and just about every district that was there agreed. Yeah. You know because it takes a minute to um find out what's going on, who's who, what do you ask, what's the protocol? And um so they left us with some great suggestions um of what we could do in that onboarding process.
089And they even talked about um it doesn't matter which party. We're not there about parties as far as mentoring on the board because we are supposed to be under have the same vision, the same mission, and therefore we're there for students. And so whatever mentoring we do would do would be in that direction. Um, one of the things that they passed out and it was um, enlightening for me, maybe not when I pass it down to you guys, but one of the things that they uh, passed out to us was a questionnaire on whose responsibility is it? That was uh, one the the big big question. and um we had to answer this and then speak on it, you probably wouldn't believe. And I mean I I was only two year I'm only two years
090on the board, but some of even the veteran board members were that were there were not able to get all of this correct. So it's just something interesting that I I'd like to leave with you. Did I have enough to guess all the way down? >> Do you have the answer, Pete? Did you guys >> use I AI? Just use AI. >> Did you give that? Oh, >> and somebody um yeah, >> um but we also um >> had um speakers um one being the chair of the state board um of education, but they talked about the board culture and consensus building a collab collaboration and um Okay, thank you. They talked about belonging and so if you have board members that are still feeling um isolated that that's not a good thing. And so
091belonging um it says belonging is not about fitting in but about being accepted, loved, respected for who we are. um feeling included and um then they talked about advocacy. And so um as I was saying to uh Cara, I I just felt that we had a good collaboration with our superintendent and above the board members uh last year and I just hope that that continues. Thank you. And I hope you all get a chance to um read information that was passed out to us. Um Mike is here. So I don't know if we want to leave him out just here. You want to say anything? >> We don't have our uh finance committee uh yet. We will next week and we'll present the financials to the following that. >> Okay. Thank you. Okay. I will
092be be very brief. Uh sorry. Yes, go ahead. We have an action item on each. >> Okay, let me do the action item. I'm sorry. Teresa, would you make a motion for the uh action item? >> Sure. Action item A, Morris Street Family Resource Center continuation of services application. Motion that the board of education approve the application to the Connecticut State Department of Education for a continuation of services at Morris Street Family Resource Center in accordance with 25-118. Okay. The motion made by Teresa. Could I hear a second by Kate? Are there any questions concerning this motion? >> Seeing none, all in favor could I hear I? I >> I oppose. >> Motion self carried. >> Sorry, I'm getting a little bit ahead of myself. >> I want to talk about us answering emails. And
093if we go back to the minutes of June the 25th, we talked about emails that comes to board members. And I had stated then that if you receive an email, I know we want to jump on the answer. I'm glad you, you know, whatever you want to give them the the whole go. Okay. and we talked about that. You can also get yourself in trouble by communicating certain information if the superintendent has received the same email. There's no need for you to forward that email to the superintendent. Okay? Let her take care of it. And if she can't take care of it, her and I and whoever that we need to talk to to make sure that we take care of that business. So, you know, she has enough to do than for you to
094forward all these emails that we're receiving from people and not that many. But I'm saying just be careful not to forward the emails if she has already been copied on. Okay. Next, if you are going somewhere or you want to speak on behalf of the board and if I'm correct, I was elected chairperson and we decided that we have one spokesperson for the board. I don't expect any board member to say that I'm going to speak for another organization, civic, community organization. If they ask you to speak on behalf of the board, >> you should be able to say we have a chairperson and if she cannot make it, then let her decide or let her ask a board member to take her place. That's the proper uh uh way to do things. And that's
095I try to I try to do things the right way. And I know I long belong to another lot of organizations. I'm not going to speak on behalf of the president when I know I'm the secretary. Okay? So please follow instruction without getting yourself and the board in trouble. Thank you. Okay. The last thing I want to say, uh, when we get ready to go to the cave convention, whoever is going, please do not register yourself. Do it through Carol. Let Cara take care of the registration and everything that she needs to do. Okay? And I think she's already sent out information concerning the cave convention. and it's November the 21st, 22nd. Okay. Last, I want to thank everyone, especially board members that sent me flowers, that sent me beautiful cards, sent me beautiful messages
096on the passing of my brother in July. And I just want to say I thank you and I appreciate it very much. Okay. And I love you all. And I need a motion to adjurnn. Okay. Move to re all in favor. >> I am approved. >> They beat me to it. Is this going to be a new