001order at 6:00 we have a quarum the first thing on the agenda is the selection of a chairperson and before we select the chairperson I would just like to say I think at this stage of all our committees it sort of hurt us to select another person that have started out with the committee you know because first of all when you ch in a committee you have to have the time the availab ability to put into what you need to put into that committee and I'm not saying I just think it's better hold us like this is March almost at the half of the scho the school year is over to select a different person so at this time I would put forward to uh select Kate as the chairperson of the uh policy committee
002and I need a motion to that affection I make that motion that U Kate become the chairperson of this committee uh in there other any one else would like to chair this committee no but I second it okay so we don't have anybody Teresa second okay thank you Teresa okay all those in favor could I hear I I I I okay okay so we move on and I turn it over to Kate thank you very much glattus um and thank you everybody for the opportunity to chair this committee again um before we get going on the agenda uh is there a Committee Member who is available to uh take the minutes this evening please I do need somebody to do that I'll do I'll do it all right thank you very much Michelle I appreciate
003sorry I'm off camera you got it that's okay no problem um so uh Michelle if you need information about the first part of that meeting I did take a couple notes real quick so I'll be happy to relay those after the meeting okay okay all right um so Kelly thank you again for pulling together the agenda for this evening's meeting um as we have been doing we're going to continue with the 5,000 series um and we're going to start off with policy 5114 suspension expulsion and student due process oh my gosh okay so here is the model policy from cab on suspension expulsion and due process it is quite a lengthy policy that matches um exactly with rules and regulations and current Connecticut state statute um so I will um put it up for a
004moment see if there's any questions about particular sections and certainly if you want me to camera myself to walk you through it uh with an overview we'd be happy to do [Music] that make it a larger okay oh God okay give me one second for is that easier for people to say yeah I can see I'm okay thank you can I ask a question sure what are the changes the uh policy objectives number two is that what they're calling was it restorative practice is that the term um so there are definitely um restorative practices as highlighted under the objectives under number four um really number two is equity and fairness so basically making sure that we're Equitable that we're consistent that we're not displaying biases um in any of our disciplinary practices um so number
005two does not explicitly speak to that but number four under the policy objectives does thank you sorry about that that's okay no Teresa that's why we are here to ask questions uh Kelly I have a question um so um under number okay policy objectives number four guidelines number three um so by July we well we have a mandate about restorative practices is this where we are going to include that yeah yes oh I'm sorry this no I apologize I thought you were done with the question did you want to say anything else Wanita before I respond so is there another policy um like School climate is there someplace else where restorative practices um might be mentioned and a and more and a bit more detail on um training um I I know that this is
006the expulsion and suspension part so I'm looking to find out if it's somewhere else in policy also they're definitely as this new mandate is coming down you will see the restorative practices terminology um reflected in upcoming additional policies um so more particular to uh training um requirements around professional development and so forth um this one this one is just referencing it as one factor or consideration under uh disciplinary action um so that's why it's here but you will also see it in upcoming policies in different places thank you Teresa does that mean we're going to get rid of uh exposion hearings um so uh the I think the intent of all of this is um clearly communicating guidelines making sure we're fair and Equitable making sure everyone knows what is expected to try to intervene
007on the lowest level possible to prevent disciplinary actions um but this policy very clearly outlines that there are certain situations in which despite all of these um proactive approaches that discipline is appropriate and warranted including an up to expulsions um so the hope is uh Teresa that we will be decreasing um the number in need in that area but certainly um there are legal requirements behind of which an expulsion would be appropriate thank you Michelle oh thanks so are there changes from the older the prior version to this one are there any changes that we should be looking at or you can highlight sure um I will say that the changes between these two Poli IES is really bringing it up with um current regulations and guidelines so more explicit um the guidelines that are
008outlined here including references to things like restorative practices is new um uh or more explicit in this policy I should say um there uh I in my opinion I think the outline on clear expectations and Communications to families um and then it does a little bit more detailed um or explicit description of expulsions um and so those are the areas um in particular but that the two policies it's not really one you could do a match for match um because there have been some substantial changes I think the essence of the policy is very similar with our current practices but this new um update from cab uh definitely um is more explicit and in variety of different areas to help people to better understand the rules and regulations Teresa sorry oh I'm sorry just a
009seconda a follow yeah I'm sorry I just was hoping that it would be a little bit more cut clear cut because you know obviously a word even you know can change a lot um I didn't I didn't realize that it wasn't you know kind of like what we've been doing and we just kind of add a little twist or we say this isn't a requirement do we want to adopt it so I didn't have a chance to really look at what we're looking to change so that's all sorry if you would like me to pull up the former policy I could um but as I said that this one is much more substantial in explaining the details and and significance of the disciplinary procedures the expulsion process um it doesn't fundamentally change when we expel
010students um but I think it the intent behind it is to be much more detailed and descriptive Teresa did you want to ask a question um so these are C this is a c policy this is not a state requirement this is redone by C so this is a c policy but this policy is a legally required policy um so you have to have an expulsion on this topic here so this is a model that's been written by cab that coincides with the law and requirement there are other um agencies like Shipman and Goodwin that write their version of a policy um but this is one that the Board of Ed must have it's not a choice policy when you say we must have according to who Connecticut state law okay Michelle um just one
011more question I know we've had some expulsions and you know while we're talking amongst board members we've you know spoke about different things that we might want to implement to just you know as far as policy is this where we would um Implement that or would that be later like we have you know we've talked about where you know I think we've spoken past I'll jump in if you don't mind k um I think when we when we talk about sort of the specifics of how these policies are carried out that's that's under the jurisdiction of the administration our role here in setting the policy is to make sure that whatever guiding principles that we're applying align with um what the state requirements are and that's typically why we follow the cave policy here but
012if we're digging into like the some of the specifics of you know individual circumstances or if we're digging into you know the specifics of how the administration um executes the the principles of the policy um that doesn't really fall under the authority of the policy committee or the board okay perfect thank you for that any other questions from committee members um any questions from other folks on the the call here all right seeing none I'm looking for a motion to bring uh policy 5114 to the board for a first read please can someone please make a motion that we recommend policy 51 revised 51 policy 5114 uh for a first read to the full Board of Education please I make that motion and I'll second it thank you Al thank you Terry uh all those
013in favor please signify by saying I I I any opposed motion so carries thank you you all right Kelly did you want to move down to 51142 one extracurricular academic eligibility and there's a a note here about a revision discussion so if you could elaborate yeah so I'm going to pull up the existing policy right now for this one um this is not a mandatory policy so this is one that we can elect to have let me just apologize I have to zoom in each time um please remind me if there's reading um so this is one that we have let me try that again my apology thank you sorry thank you very much uh this policy is our extracurricular uh policy and it's particularly around um academic eligibility um meaning that students who participate
014in extracurriculars so after school sports clubs um Athletics different activities uh that as a district we expect them to have a a certain level of academic uh preparation or success um so really speaks to failures in courses so on so forth would not meet the criteria for extracurricular eligibility um there is a more detailed policy that is related for uh to our CIA rules that we will review actually in our next policy meeting which is specific to eligibility for sports so I do just want to alert you that a more detailed policy on that is forthcoming um but this is meant for any other club or other extracurricular activities um the question here uh for the policy committee is if we want to put any reference in this policy to uh discipline um related to
015eligibility for extracurricular activities um so that is one thing that we could Infuse in the policy as well um the second and that was a recommendation from um the cab policy audit for consideration um the other uh is just to bring to everyone's attention that this is not required policy um so for example uh for those of you that have participated in um expulsions for instance um that prohibits students from participating in extracurricular activities right when there's an expulsion in place they lose the eligibility or access to that similarly if you are suspended at a school on a particular day you do not participate in the extracurricular on that day um so that is already embedded in some of our disciplinary uh codes and policies so kind of two questions on the table do we
016feel the need to continue this policy to to explicitly state that we expect students to demonstrate academic um a certain level of academic expectation to partake in extracurriculars um do we want to include a disciplinary recommendation or or disciplinary Clause um if we want to it can be included in this policy or do we feel the need uh to have this extra policy because it's already embedded or covered in our other policies so I will turn it over to everyone for a discussion committee what are your thoughts Mich what are your thoughts um oh go ahead did you say that um somebody who is not doing you know is not um showing progress successfully cannot take this extracurricular activ is that what we're saying like if you're not doing well is this a summer school
017program is this within the school year like I think I'm this is meant for after school clubs and activities um and there is no spe specific um the policy is WR written pretty generically to be very honest which leaves some room for interpretation um uh and it just says suitable level of academic preparation and success so indicating to our students and families that we expect you to be um performing in school but it does not say you must maintain a c average or better um like I said for academic um sorry for C rules for our our athletic teams there are very strict rules around that which is why it's a completely separate policy okay thank you Bita hi um so just in Reading uh the policy I think it's um you say generic I
018say very vague to show evidence that there is successful progress progress um is to me sometimes individualized and um may not be as much for one student as it is for other but they are successful in their own right um and so I I find that where it says show evidence of successful progress in their educational plan um to be a bit bit vague um and just to note that extracurricular activities for some of our students is what um keeps them connected um and engaged in the school community so I just want to put that out there I completely agree with you other committee members any thoughts on this policy so I do want to just um sort of acknowledge that a lot of the content that's covered by the regulations following this policy are
019now covered by the previous policy that we're making a recommendation to the board for a read on um and so to that extent I'm not sure how much sense it makes to renew this policy um I do think you know to the point that was made by um Wanita um and and Kelly both um this is this is a very sort of vaguely worded policy um and I don't know how is it is that something that is helpful to our Administration in terms of handling different disciplinary cases or does it not really serve any particular function to to the work that you're doing and certainly Cara Kim please feel free to jump in I I think that this to your point Kate I think that um there's enough information covered in policy 5114 that we
020just reviewed um that you know if there needed if there was a disciplinary action for example um that it would give the administrator um uh the authority if they felt that that should also extend the extracurricular so I don't necessarily think you need a separate policy um and because of the vagueness of this policy I think it's left up to the individual interpretation which could be helpful in some situations but again I question do you need a policy that says that I agree so given this feedback um what is the appetite of the committee here do we want to um renew this policy do we want to um remove this policy what is the preference do we want to change this policy I'd like to make a motion that we remove this policy so um
021I'm just looking for a little clarification in um a case like this where we we do not want to renew a policy we want to remove the policy um is that something that has to come before the full board for a vote it is okay so well capes suggestion is to consider a more comprehensive model which I think you know we when we looked at policy 5114 the one we just approved um that is much more ex more a much more extensive policy than the previous version of it and it incorporates many elements that are covered um by the regulations that follow 5114 point21 and and that was one of the reasons that I asked Kelly you know does does this particular policy add anything substantial to that one that we just passed 5114 because
022that governs most of the the content around um discipline and um you know sort of what tools are at the disposal of the administration in terms of handling um you know a situation with the student's performance I kind of think that you need to touch you have to have some sort of even keeping the the blurb about extracurricular activity acknowledging that we expect a standard at least you know disciplinary standard academic standard yeah it says it only refs to academic eligibility uh and we're thinking discipline I think just keep it and the um the disciplinary part like said is in the other section so are sorry say I'm sorry if I could just provide some context I do believe that this policy was originally added if you notice it's still 5114 but it's 0. 21
023was originally added due to the um the original 5114 that was in place before we just made the recommendation for the new the new one more comprehensive policy I think did not cover enough of the um latitude across crost extracurriculars which is why they added this as an addition I think with your recommendation to adopt the more comprehensive new uh suspension expulsion and due process policy I think it covers all the expectations within this one so uh committee members what what is uh the preference here um can we take a quick consensus to see who's in favor of um renewing this policy and who is in favor of removing this policy please Thea I I say keep it renew it Michelle you're muted Michelle sorry I was thinking to remove it since we've you know
024increased the scope of what the other policy covers so um remove okay Wanita sorry uh remove Al remove okay um given the feedback here I am looking now for a motion to remove policy 5114 point21 uh to make a recommendation to the board to remove policy 5114 point21 so moved thank you w and Michelle you'll get the second there uh all those in favor please signify by saying I I I any opposed okay motion so carries um just one point of clarification does this have to go through a second read process similar to what we do with the uh policies that are being adopted or is this a simple like single vote uh at a at the upcoming meeting it's a simple vote okay thank you for clarifying appreciate that that what was that response
025I just wanted I just want it was a yes it's a single vote so if we vote as a board to remove it then it will just be removed and we won't have a second consideration of policy thank you can I ask a question if you and and I'm not on the committee but if you're going to remove it and then you're going to bring it before the board and the board still has the right to ask questions at that meeting and maybe the majority don't want to remove it yes am I right or wrong that's correct so it's so it you know whether you bring it up for a first reading board the board has a right to discuss this policy absolutely it has to be brought to the board for a vote I
026just wanted to because with when we bring a new policy in we have to have two votes on it we have to have the first rote and then the second rote um so I just wanted to make sure if we take a vote on this kind of the removal of a policy and the board you know has its discussion and then votes yes they want to remove it we don't then bring it up at another meeting like we that but we you know we got to have we should have a discussion on it because everybody might not feel that that they would like this so okay yes did you have anything that you wanted to comment about on it U Mrs Cooper no because you already voted and I you know it wasn't uh a
027required policy but I also was not comfortable and I have to read it again with removal okay okay well I look forward to certainly discussing this at the with the full board to to get the the sense of where folks are with it so for me I'm sorry just for clarification are we gonna am I voting putting down that this is a simple single Vote or are we looking to put it before the you know the Comm you know the board that it will go to the full board uh for consideration so the motion we made here out of committee was uh that the recommendation of the policy committee to the full board is for the removal of policy 511 4.21 and at the point that we take uh we we bring this up for
028uh as an action item at the board meeting that's a point at which it will open up for conversation amongst the full board so that folks can discuss uh how they feel about it and if the board so chooses um they may reject um the policy committee's recommendation and kick it back to the policy committee for conversation okay okay we are now going to move on to 5117 please Kelly thank you um so 5117 um is uh talking about they refer to it as School attendance areas um and basically uh this gives the superintendent and the Board of Education the right to designate um the schools in which students um go to um are zoned right across the district so for example which Elementary School you're zoned to um and it talks about the criteria
029for which that determination should be made Student safety educational needs programming so sometimes that's for our MLL programming or special ed programming um Optimum use of facilities so let's say we're running out of room in one school then we need more you know we have extra room in another school it gives the authority to make some decisions around that um residential patterns as we know as we've seen building in certain sections of danburry we have seen increased enrollment in those schools um and so this would in theory give the ability to potentially look at uh rezoning uh schools in the future um it also talks about the ages of students um so for example we have you know we recently added a new preschool facility um but we have some elementary schools that are K5
030versus other elementary schools that are K3 and a 4 five school um so it allows that that Authority for those decisions um and lastly uh racial and ethnic balancing which is something um that we want to make sure uh to monitor across schools um you know you can modify those and make changes um it also uh speaks here to um a provision and this is in uh State Statute um that students are who are placed in foster care so that students who are um in the care of DCF the Department of Children and Families are students um who are homeless uh are allowed to stay in what is deemed as the school of origin and essentially what that means is if a student is going to school a and is let's say removed from their
031home by by uh DCF or experiences homelessness and needs to move to another location they are allowed to remain in the school that they are originally in for consistency um and that can apply whether or not though in those two situations whether or not the student moves in or out of Danberry um because sometimes we will see for example when it uh involves the Department of Children and Families that they may find a foster home in a surrounding or neighboring Town um and we are still obligated to have that student remain in the school of origin usually it's for the remainder of that school year and then it and then it's reassessed um so that is the essence of this policy and I'll pause there for for any questions committee members questions or comments um
032the ratio and ethnic balance uh that was added is there a reason for that so those are things that we report um districtwide we always report out on our uh racial and ethnic those are required in our state required um uh reports uh to the Department of Education um and uh those would be things for consideration um if we saw an imbalance between two schools across the district that we should look at for consideration of should there be any changes made so the first 5117 is the new one and the SEC the old one is the one in the back correct is that right you're looking at a paper version so I'm not confident if you're the if you're looking at the agenda the ones on the left hand side are the old original policies
033and the ones on the the right hand side are the now there should be a date at the bottom of one of them um Teresa that says I don't have it it's not here the original regulation or the most current version of this um was approved in 2000 right February 9th I see that but I'm trying to see where I got a paper version and it's want to make sure what would you like me to pull up the original one on the screen this is the newer proposal okay I can do that um here is the original policy that was adopted in February of 2020 or I'm sorry 000 I apologize for that um some of slightly different um but you will see it here okay I will also just um say to the committee
034that for the newer version of this you'll see that there is both the uh policy and then underneath is a regulation but the regulation is not labeled at the top so it is a little bit confusing but yeah and for the purposes of tonight we're just looking at the policy I know the regulation is below but just the policy yeah Michelle so you I'm sorry you had mentioned that if there was an e um an equity inbalance that you would take that into consideration to make adjustments how do you do that currently now do we do that now in the district and is that something that you think that we need or did I misunderstand what you were saying regarding um you know being able to move or change the racial um you know I
035don't like we're adding this policy why other than you're looking for I get it for you know detailed information maybe for Grants or something I don't know but how how do you change the the way that that you um I don't know choose what students go to what school I I believe actually these are all state mandated I mean we you know this goes back to Chef versus O'Neal and and what the makeup is for your schools so this isn't something that we've created this is a these are all part of the state mandates that we have so you know if you were to look at if we were to report our data to the State Department of Education and we had for example all Hispanic students in one school to the exclusion of everyone
036else they would look at that as imbalancing it would hit our title one I believe it would hit our ESL numbers it would hit our special ed numbers so this is just a generic policy that recognizes that we have certain mandates from the state about the composition of the schools and it just gives you the latitude to be able to maybe make changes to your districting based on some of that feedback so and so like we had one situation where we were we were trying to redistrict a certain area and it turned out that all of the families were of one ethnicity which raised issues about um the composition of the school so but they're not anything that we make up these are all requirements that we have from State legislation from the state department
037Teresa question do we have a tuition rate for our schools typically it's considered the perp people expenditure if someone were to attend um that that would be charged tuition um that that happens very infrequently but that is what they would have to pay to access education in the district do we know what the current figure is don't have the exact number but roughly Cara could give it to you I have it in the budget book it's like 16 and change y yeah 16,000 yeah W so 16 that's like fully in and then you've got your e your multilanguage learner right what is that looking like and then your special ed is that like still 50 and and like 76 for those like so there's not there's not an exact number so what I will share
038with you for special education for example um I think the magnet school is a good example of this students come from other districts um you know and there is a a tuition for the flat fee of just generaliz general Ed instruction so for third grade classroom instruction this is what it costs to educate a student in Danbury and between uh the partnering District sending U money as well as money coming through to the state that covers the expense of educating one of our surrounding Town students if that child receives special education services um we build that based on the services that the child is receiving so for example if they are receiving reading specialized reading instruction with a specialed teacher there is a rate attached to that depending on the amount of time if they're
039also receiving speech and language services or OT or PT Services there is a rate attached to that um so what we're looking uh it's an hourly rate that's builded based on the size of the group the student is participating in so that is that different in the sense that that's a state school and not like our other you know they don't have the same kind of built-in Financial setup correct like so would this apply to other schools the don't get any assist like you're looking at a situation that I can see but let's say it is just special ed in Danberry regular I'll give you I'll give you another example public school is what I'm looking for so a perfect example a student um is living in d uh let's say um is residing in
040a dambury foster of family and and because the the Nexus of origin let's say is Hartford that's a significant distance for a child to go back and forth with um DCF May determine that that child should enroll in danburry um and we would welcome that student in but the responsibility Falls to Hartford so we buil back Hartford the cost of educating that student right but I'm just asking what is the cost to educate a student in this District not out a district not like just like literally is that the same cost well I don't I don't want to I I certainly appreciate the question I think it's a good one for us to resolve but I just don't think this is the correct meeting to handle that question if we could just hold it and
041revisit it yes okay all right um are there any other questions from committee members or comments from committee members about this policy okay I have a question sure go ahead one so when we talk about school attendance areas and you can also um maybe this is for another discussion also um where would administrative placement fall and do we have a policy on administrative placement I want to make sure I'm understanding the question is are you referring to administrative placement at um like a program like a reach or Endeavor program I I am do we have a policy on that um there is a reference in one of the our regulations on that but I'm not aware of it in an existing policy but I would need to confirm that oneita um this policy in particular
042is not meant to speak to administrative placements okay thank you are questions or comments from um non-committee members that are on the call here no if if I could just add Kate there is an optional provision that we didn't speak to um it's it's right under and I can share my screen again so we can all see what I'm referring to um it's part of the policy that is option um and it really talks about um if a if the option to attend another school if you don't want to go to your Zone school um we would not recommend to add this into the current policy any feedback on that from the committee here okay um given that there is no feedback uh actually any any feedback from not go ahead Michelle um so so
043let's just we're this is to if you want to put somebody outside of the district right controlled free zoning Choice what are we saying is this a a an optional policy and are we looking to to get rid of it or to it's an it's an optional so this is our the new cave version of this policy that they're uh recommending to that we adopt um and that optional provision is up to the purview of the policy committee and the board um to adopt or not adopt can we just roll back down to that again one second okay so so you actually would have a choice oh through theut attendance area first ch this is basically allowing parents so if I'm if I'm zoned to go to school a and I don't want to go
044there I can fill out an application process to be considered for school b or c um and then it's up to the district based on you know enrollment availability so on and so forth um this is something that we are trying to get out of it does create a transportation um conundrum um and I think it creates a perception uh that uh school you know certain School schools have more credibility or weight than others um and so we are encouraging all students to go to the school in which they're zoned for oh let's just say I'm sorry to Michelle had her hand up I'd just like to recognize her first please I'll come back to you is that for me K okay so um Kelly I I think just for clarification we are talking within
045the Danbury public school district is that correct that is correct so we're not talking about um going out of District it's just within our school district if i cho if I ask can I please go to King Street instead of South Street that is correct and make application for that okay thank you Michelle so let's just say I'm in the district and you know pen Brook is not zoned in my area and they you know have a lot of special ed services and I want my child to go there or whatever for whatever reason um do we currently I I didn't think that we currently allowed that is that an option and that you're saying we've been trying to dissuade people um from choice in know in other words from to me that's what I'm
046looking at is that choice so as a um I think two parts I'll give two answers as a special education program we have certain programs like our our um self-contained programming at at Pembrook we have some at Great pl we have other programming at King Street and another one at hazetown um if a student needs that different level of programming due to their special education needs through the PPT process a student can be placed in in the program that best meets those needs uh that is considered a districtwide program that is available and accessible to any student so that's not what this is referring to this is referring to a parent that says um you know I'd rather go to school a then School B um in within the dber public schools within our district
047um certainly and um Cara please jump in if you'd like to add anything um there are sometimes you know uh particular situations in which um you know they're on a case-by casee scenario that it may be in a child's best interest to approve something um for example a student is is moving and wants to start in the school that they're moving to a month later or something like that um that we want to be reasonable um but to create a system in which parents can can essentially apply uh for access to different schools is not something that we that we want to do okay and you're saying that is something that we currently do and you're dissuading from it or you're saying we don't really we don't do that now and we're trying to disuade
048that we we can do it if we if we need to it's an ad it would be an administrative decision however you know given the capacity issues that we have across all of our schools you really have to make A very wise choice as to the reason why you would do it the risk would have to outweigh the the benefit would have to outweigh the risk um and in all of these situations it creates a transportation conundrum crisscrossing across town so um we we haven't we don't have a lot of room in our school so you know whenever you make a a decision to to make a move it hasn't you know equal and opposite um reaction in another school so either you're going to have an overcrowding situation or um you know there's a
049trans Transportation issue occasionally one of our schools may fill up and there's no more capacity and we and we we we are forced to make an administrative decision to divert um to to a sister school or a school with room that's within the closest transportation area so it it varies and uh you know we do um take a look at at requests but um we've been honoring less and less of them uh just because we don't have the capacity to to to get into the business of I want to go to this school and that school unless there's a very serious reason so Teresa um I was glad when he asked about uh was the Danbury District can we it was a little confusing um what they were ref referring to can we somehow be
050more specific in the wording there if we do take uh accept it say within the danur district blah blah blah first choice of school in the area blah blah blah I I would prefer a little bit more clarification because if it was a fruit and we need it I thought this was meant if you wanted to go you know out of District type of thing or I'm just not with it tonight we certainly can add that I just I also want to add that the board only has the provision to set policies for the operation of the danber public schools district um so any of the policies in here you we don't have you would not be able to decide that a student could go um to a surrounding area school or district and any
051outof District implication um when it comes to like a special education student is is defined by the PE the planning and placement team process so I mean we can certainly put that in here but all these policies are only for danber public schools okay it was just me then Michelle yeah um I agree with Teresa I don't think it's clear I you know feel like there are certain circumstances and I was not even aware that that it was even a possibility and you're saying that the district is trying to do it less and less like how many how many students do we actually entertain or have like do we provide this or actually take this up and I understand completely if we don't have the room that this wouldn't be the case but you know
052uh again if if for some reason there's a situation in a school like I've had a parents come to me and say my son was absolutely fine or the whatever the environment doesn't work and they're like either I have to move out of Danberry to find another another you know classroom or I've got to pay $188,000 or whatever the cases but it's come into so I'm just wondering depending on uh you know my experience too and sometimes certain environment may not work I would not want to take the choice or the possibility of a choice if we have the right circumstances to um you know properly you know work with the child and and try to find the best environment so I would not I would be very apprehensive to say no and and give
053that that opportunity to a student I don't you can I just ask a point of clarification to the administration um we we do have communication from parents that make these kind of requests periodically um so I like we're not doing away with those conversations or those possibilities um we're just not in in this this conversation we're having right now we're just evaluating whether or not we want to have an optional provision that specifies this is that correct that is cor okay so in other words Michelle the the those conversations can still take place um parents can still approach Administration with requests depending on the specific circumstances that they might find themselves in with the student um I think to uh Dr casemiro's point and to Kelly's points um there are you know there are um
054reactions that happened repercussions that happened as a result of making decisions about placement that also have to be considered um it can't be done exclusively at the behest of of you know what a parent you know feels about the situation but um our Administration is certainly open to having those conversations should parents wish to have them absolutely Kate just just just to kind of punctuate that and you know we've we have always um had an open door with with listening and and certainly entertaining um but again it's you know it's there we we do have a review process we do have discussion about it and a lot of times just uh Michelle we do end up having some pretty good conversations with the parents as a result of like hey what's going on and and
055what is there a communication breakdown at the school or Services you know did did we engage in um you know doing right by the correct services for your childhood let's try something different so we always um you know those conversations and those requests usually end up in a review process where there's a engagement of the parent and and potential uh Services if those have not been employed to date so um you know we do very good uh work on that there's a lot of due diligence in that process and and I I would stand by the the process that we've been using I do also want to just ask another quick question um Point number two under that optional provision specifies that parents of students choosing out of area attendance shall provide student transportation if
056if we have a case where a student um you know you get a student request and and there's a conversation and ultimately the decision comes down that the student is going to attend um you know a different School in that kind of circumstance right now is the school district responsible for the transportation of that student if we make the administrative decision to place a child there um or if a section is closed let's say let's say grade two at Ellsworth is closed and we need to bus somewhere else than the transportation we take care of the transportation Okay so adding this provision would actually create additional burden for the families potentially by requiring them to provide the transportation well they have they have to do that now if they if we do Grant a request
057and they're going across town for whatever reason the parent it's on the parent and they they go into that knowing that that's the situation if we make the determination you know based on having to close down due to enrollment then we we make the effort to um redo the bus routes and try to get that that student there because that's no fault of their own they're they're tried to register in their attendance Zone um but that you know there was there was a barrier okay and that would apply also in case of special education programs or if it's a program that we're recommending um special education multilingual learner services that they need in a particular school then we are obligated to provide transportation currently okay thank you for the clarification okay Academy model what happened
058if a student is near the one school academy model and then but it wants to be in the other school is there an issue there danburry high school will be one high school so it's one campus split into two uh it's it's one high school so um you know students can if they want to switch their Academy pathway this is really not a an attendance zone or Transportation Zone we have only one high school in in the city of danburry so it doesn't matter All Buses lead to Danberry school one way or another depending on the campus so it's it's really about whether or not if a student changes their pathway that's a whole another um issue not related to to attendance zones yeah okay it's a good question though any other questions or comments
059committee members non-committee members yeah um all right given this conversation um I'm looking for a motion to make a recommendation of policy 5117 School attendance areas um without the optional provision included is there a motions I made the motion thank you Al is there a second please second thank you Anita all those in favor please signify by saying I I I I any opposed kind of ify on that you want to abstain yes okay you know I think I'm there as well then actually can we get more information I just feel like I don't have all the information um can I what information are you looking for I just want to make sure how many how many students how many requests do we have how many like we might entertain them do we actually place
060them like you know I know that we don't want to kind of go into the weeds but it just seems like um you know having been a parent with a child in special needs and having to find the right you know like jumping around um I just I want to make sure that the parent has a choice or at least the opportunity the conversation and I don't know I didn't even know that we actually entertained it so um I don't know if it's repetitive to have this you know I mean like to have this little additional provisional um policy here um even just to strike up a conversation because again I was not aware and I don't know what kind of requests we've gotten and how many do we actually if we have we had
061the opportunity the the space to accommodate any anybody I can certainly do a review of the number of requests we've received this year and how many have been granted I can say to you anecdotally very few um but I will I will clarify with the exact numbers there thank you so um I guess I would ask uh committee members if we we did take a vote on this and the and the vote did go through um but in consideration for the questions that some of our committee members have I wonder if we could um bring that information to the full board when we do this uh for first read this could be part of the conversation that we have thank you I'm okay with that great is that okay Kelly that's fine okay thank you
062thank you Kate all right so we are at so it passed it did pass yes okay we had two abstentions but three votes in favor all right so we are moving on to policy 5118 nonresidents attendant sorry non-resident attendance um so I'd like to uh propose that we look at version one of this policy again another uh uh cab uh recommended policy um that we need to consider uh this evening um and this really talks about um children that are not living within the district so non-residents meaning not living within danburry um and talks about uh the terms and conditions under which a district may decide to enroll them um again this this decision is up to the district and is based um on availability um you know can we provide programming for these students
063do we have the room and availability and really on a Case by case uh situation I I will say again anecdotally this happens very infrequently but it is important that you have a policy around this do we have any currently now yes there is an initial policy um no no I mean uh students like this out a district out a district um you do have a a handful of students that I can speak to that are typically um with the Department of Children and Families which is an obligation despite this policy um that are non-resident students um uh we also will occasionally take a student for tuition into um our vocational programming at the high school level um so that's our 18 to 22 year old program um some of your your surrounding districts and
064this is all based on enrollment and availability we have two programs currently um one is a uh a job shadowing program a vocational program for work uh with support and the other one um is our partnership with Weston our Western connection program um we give priority and seats in those programs to D public school students first um but some of your surrounding uh districts will send a student there for tuition um and that is reviewed on a case-by Case basis thank you Kelly this also um will uh there has been I'm not aware of any currently but I uh Cara please correct me if if there is a situation that you're aware of but this could also be the staff member that wants their student to go to school in Danbury for example that we
065you know they could make a request um you know they do not live in the town um and they would be obligated to pay you know we would be obligated to see if we can in fact um meet their needs in District um and then um that it will be for tuition um or or a fee for enrollment Teresa so we're looking at version one this is what you [Music] recommend what's the difference that's fine um Kelly in our prior policy it talked a little bit about um if students something about a semester let me just go back in um students who become non-residents during a school semester may be permitted to continue attending the Danbury public schools for the remainder of that semester without payment of tuition that is correct I just pulled up
066the old policy which is from 2000 and this is the paragraph you're referring to correct if they choose to stay they they they are asked to pay tuition um Cara do you want to speak to that a little bit I I think for the it really depends on the time of the year right so if there's a student who has moved and it's April um you know that we're less likely to try to pursue that by the time you even get something in place and try to you know that's the school year is just about over if it's if you're just talking about a September situation that's another conversation that we would have about um about you know having that the parent agree to to uh if they wanted to agree to to remain to
067pay to pay on a tuition basis um then again assumes that we have the room assumes that it's advantageous to the school system that's kind of another delineation is is it is um you know is there is there undo risk or or harm or is there an ad advantageous situation for the district like okay well this is a class that's under enrolled and this actually helps we haven't had that case in a long time in Danberry um most of the time we're over enrolled um but it's really you know we try to be humanistic uh in this approach here we we we aren't looking to uh upset uh a child's life and disturb them as to the greatest extent possible um but we're also realistic that it does cost us uh money to educate children
068here so we have to make a judgment call on that Teresa can I speak to the uh a mother that was at the uh last board meeting from bethl I I don't think we can speak about specific circumstances um okay all right if Kate if it's okay I just want um both carara and I did follow up and um that matter has been um resolved I will just share that thank you thank you it was just being that we're in this Frame of Mind here just God bless you God bless you both and again we shouldn't be talking about individual students but I think that's the essence of the question it has been remedy it's a good outcome it's a good outcome excellent thank you um any other questions or comments about this policy from
069any uh non- committee members okay so I am looking for a recommendation for first uh for first read to the full board policy 5118 non-resident attendance version number one where are you move by Al is there a second second thank you Teresa uh all those in favor please signify by saying I I any opposed any extensions motion so carries okay thank you patience we're on the last one here and that is policy 5118 point1 homeless students okay our um last policy um again another required policy um 5118 point1 um and this speaks to um our homeless students a lot of the times you will hear them referred to as McKinny vento um and that is uh uh one of the terminologies used to identify um there is also Grant U monies that we typically apply
070for um and have been uh the recipients of in in years past um and so this really speaks to um the students that uh for whatever reason experience homelessness um and it really Advocates that we uh continue their enrollment in school and eliminate any barriers that might be um might be challenging for them to immediately enroll in school um so one of the things um through the enrollment or registration process I'll give you a for example um sometimes there will be a tragedy or there might be a fire in a home or something like that where important documents and paperwork did not follow with the family or child um and this recognizes that in those um you know unique and special circumstances and basically encourages the district to do everything within its power to immediately
071enroll that child in school to get them back in school or to continue them in school if they were already with us um and not not have additional barriers that are there sometimes I do get asked a question regarding um uh medical and physicals and we always inv involve our coordinator of health services to make sure that there's not any risk to other children um you know for example while we're trying to um you know track down medical records or catch up on vaccinations things like that nature um but this uh this policy um is something that is currently in practice I think this one in particular is a little bit more specific on the details uh and bringing it up to date um and I would recommend uh the optional language stay in in
072the revision of this policy I don't know if there's any questions comme members so Kelly when you say if you can um scroll up a little bit more um the optional language will replace where it's up above the board shall make are we replacing that entire first paragraph under homeless students um I was recommending that we keep that first paragraph and just add uh under optional you would remove the heading optional language and just write the District administration shall attempt to remove existing barriers and keep that section below it but I would keep the first paragraph as well and so um I would love to see up in that first paragraph um the board shall make reasonable efforts encourage their enrollment and attempt to eliminate existing barriers as you did down in the optional language
073so no um so kind of take that first sentence under optional language and and bring it up into that first paragraph I'd like to hear what people think instead of saying and eliminate we we can attempt to eliminate so just just modifying the language in the the top paragraph to mimic the language of that sentence corre that appears belever way whatever works out best but including that somehow so Kelly instead of just saying at the top in that top paragraph and eliminate existing barriers say attempt to eliminate existing barriers I think that makes sense committee that seem okay to you all yes the consistency in the language is good thank you Anita any other feedback from committee members or questions non-committee members any thoughts on this no I just want to ask Kelly uh as
074I was reading the policy when we have homeless students are there I don't mean a list of parents or a list of families or how do we go about placing those homeless students somewhere to live do we have like five families or so you know you know what I'm trying to you know what I'm trying to say somewhere for them to go if they come into their home uh Mary Joan you know that she's going to take in this homeless student um so we have um an identified mckenny van v vento liaison sorry I'm combining those two words um and that is uh Lisa Basher is the is the current uh liaison prior to her it was um Carol um and so it is a school social worker um that list is highly confidential in
075fact it's it's very protected information um but I can share with you again totally that we have over a 100 students currently identified on that list um across the district and that number is up very significantly um since um you know in really since postco um I think there's a couple reasons for that I think there's uh definitely um there's definitely some more challenges in the local community that are that families are experiencing I also do think though that we have um increased our Outreach um we've designated more of our social work time and support to reach out and liaison with those families um so part-time so half of her role each week um is to work with the different schools and so she spends time at uh Central registration she's um training our registration
076staff in how to ask um sensitive and tactical questions when um kind of flags come up for certain families and to filter that information to her so she can have a more one-on-one con you know information um as I had shared there is grant money available in that grant money um it is something we need to apply for so it's not something that we automatically get um but it is something annually that we are filling out I'm actually in the process of completing one for next school year it's not a significant amount of money um it's $50,000 for next year um and with that um we put money in there to help students um to ask access programming so sometimes these families need uh assistance with accessing after school programming or summer programming we also
077put money in there um for school supplies uh clothing supplies shoes things like that that students need um Lisa also um it takes in donations from sometimes students families uh staff members uh to get different products hygiene products for example um are something that that often times students will reach out to her for she's also working to uh connect them with uh different food resources um uh food banks and so forth um helping uh parents to connect with different Community Resources maybe for um uh job interview skills to help them um she works with the Housing Authority in Danbury quite regularly so all of those different things that families may need um very similar to our work that we're doing around the elite programming right what's the why what's the challenge what's the barrier and
078how can we support you um so she she's amazing she's done an excellent excellent job um in doing that um and then it's often partnering with other districts because we also uh know that many of our homeless families are tend to be families that um are are experiencing housing instability and challenges and and we frequently sometimes they're within district and they experiencing uh experience those challenges but other times we are seeing these families that are coming and going kind of across different towns and districts um and so it also is an Outreach to those towns and really understanding the history and the backgrounding and getting students in at the high school level it's even um what is known as unaccompanied youth so there are sometimes students that are 18 years old that um do not
079have the support of of um a parent or Guardian um as far as living directly with them they might be living with a friend they might be um kind of rotating to different friends and uh you know sleeping on a couch or things of that nature and it's helping um that young individual to access resources um you know in the local community and to advance their education Beyond high school so there's it's multifaceted um but that uh there are a lot of different situations in which someone could be deemed as experiencing homelessness thank thank you very much you Teresa what is the uh maximum age this that this applies to this is anyone that's enrolled in the public school district right now so under McKinny vento for the uh for schools so that could be
080anyone from age three um that is enrolled in our preschool program all the way up until age 22 uh that would be enrolled in high school thank you I should share though that sometimes we identify a family that has a schoolage child that also has younger siblings um or older siblings so sometimes we're also so once a family is identified we're working with the entire family unit um so it's not uncommon that you might have a middle school child that's identified but they have a two-year-old sibling and so when we work with the family we're working with the entire family wow that's really nice all right thank you uh is there are there any other questions or comments about this policy okay I'm looking for a motion then to recommend to the board for a
081full first read uh policy 5118 point1 homeless students is there a motion on the floor please I make the motion there a second thank you Michelle all those in favor please signify by saying I I I any opposed any abstentions all right thank you everyone I know that uh some of our members are trying to get to services this evening and so I just want to uh call for a motion to adjourn please wait wait wait one minute one questiones Callie um how come we don't have a section 7,000 um so that uh we are not required to have any policies in the 7,000 uh section those are optional policies and they relate to new construction thank you thank you Kate I motion to adjourn thank you Teresa is there a second on the floor
082please second second oh thank you Al all those in favor please signify by saying I I all right