001uh welcome back everybody and thank you for joining us tonight and appreciate your flexibility and changing the schedule a little bit here um so let me just pull up the agenda real quick and we will kick this off um we have four things on our item on our items tonight um we'll start with the summer highlight recap I assume that Dr me will go over that yeah Ann and I I'll sort of tag team it I've got a few and uh ex got a few thank you so much uh and do you want to go first sure sure good evening everyone it's great to see you back and yes we're into a wonderful start of a new school year absolutely so our you know during the summer we ran lots of different summer programs Sensational
002summer had uh just over 130 students in it that were there for the um six week program loved by everyone they got to spend time on on a working farm they went on assortment of different field trips we used use the lit Camp math and reading program uh to stop any summer slide that we might experience with the kids um or with the students overall absolutely wonderful summer that program was held a great plane we then ran our 21st century program which was a WAP program for those students that were at um Ellsworth School for summer school we were able to complete the day give them a full day on Friday and go for five weeks with that programs so that um was a nice program had some family components with it and things like
003that um what we're can I guess that's the rest of it um that I'll talk about will come in the next section of the meeting but I think Mike you had some other summer highlights as well yeah just a few things just you know summer school we had a great summer school year um we ran uh three different sections we ran our our our high school um we also ran our special at extended year we also ran our K through Elementary and those ran um pretty much all through um through July and uh special ed preschool handled about uh worked with about 325 kids the Elementary uh component had about a 100 um and then we are were our registration Center was open all through the summer uh we had families coming in we had
004late nights we had some Saturdays for working fam so everybody was able to get in um I think and it's probably just about now calmed down hasn't it a a little bit it has today there were five free chairs at one point today which is great um most you know we have like 30 chairs and often during the day we'd be moving chairs around um so that everybody could have a seat whether they were there for um you know registration or the food pantry that we have or just to uh Grace um my assistant director spends a lot of time um helping families um get on to parents square that may not understand it um and then um you know we ran over the summer two sets um each month of our um partnership with
005richal VNA health and saw 12 to 15 students for each one of those clinics um they provide a full physical immunizations height screening blood work and your analysis um Eyes Ears everything that the students need provided by a doctor um to start school on time so um well worth it if you're ever around come see one of the clinics that's going today we had 15 students enrolled today um and then they come back uh two days later to have the uh time test read for TB and any other followup we also work very hard at making sure the students are signed up for Husky and the parents are signed up for Husky and for um snap which is our food programs that's great thank you and I just got some um year-to-date enrollment numbers um
006so the as as we've talked about I think in here and then also probably in finance in a few other committees uh the the early weeks of the year the the enrollment really sort of takes these breaths it expands and contracts and expands and contracts and a lot of that is because um the number will start high well it'll it'll tick up in those first couple days because more people keep coming and within those first couple weeks we start to learn that there's kids on our roles who maybe moved away and uh didn't notify us and then we figure that out and then the numbers start to tick back down more people come in they tick back up um and then this year of course we had the uh unique situation with that kindergarten age
007mandate where we expected to see about a 200 to 250 student decrease just this year and then next year of course we'll catch that back up because those 250 kids will arrive next year with the other um you know with the other cohort so right now we are at uh just south of 12,000 at 11,965 um and this really tracks perfectly if you add that 250 we're right at about uh you know 12,200 uh right about where we would have expected to be in um in a normal year so uh we're right on track uh more or less and um you know if if you take out that kindergarten you know we're we're you know probably just slightly above where we would have been at this time last year so thanks very much um questions
008from committee members any questions comments oh yeah I do M on the change in in the kindergarten date are we still expecting that to have a negative effect or do you think at the end it'll turn around and you'll be bombarded with uh I do think we'll see a few more but I I don't think we'll have a full-size class like we did last year um but the thing is those are three kids here five kids here 10 kids here so it's not like you actually shut down a section it's just a tiny little bit off a Ser you know off a bunch of different sections so um we see it in the numbers but in the day-to-day you you probably don't feel it a whole lot thank thanks Rich any other questions from uh
009any non-committee members uh I would just like to uh ask Dr me uh the student that she was talking about and I didn't get the rment number are those new students or students that are already here that's going through uh the the clinic so um it's a mix of both we work very closely with the nurses if there's children who need what we call catchup facts so on that second day we may have a couple extra students that come in for um vaccinations that they can't get readily through their doctor or timely enough through their doctor but the majority of those 12 to 15 children are all new children to the district new children to the city yeah yeah okay okay thank you very much you're welcome any other questions all right goad Michelle um
010I was just wondering one question maybe somebody an could maybe answer if there is a student like you were just talking about the catch-up vaccinations if there is a student that and this I don't know if you know this answer has like an autoimmune um some sort of of autoimmune disease i''s say and they're struggling with getting one of these vaccinations or it's in question how do we handle cases like that as it so the Richfield VNA has three nurses on site with us and a doctor when these clinics are done and so just like going to your regular pediatrician and Urgent Care or to uh a general practitioner they use the same protocols in determining what the child has what's safe to give and um May consult with you know another doctor if they
011need to but it's the same protocols if you were seeing your regular physician um in order to determine whether it's appropriate for a child to get um a vaccination or not so is that more of a case by casee kind of a situation or yes Michelle you're muted muted thanks sorry in other words is that a case by case situation typically like I'm just we haven't had this conversation and I'm just wondering about that yeah if if the the child comes with medical they have to come with whatever medical records they have from wherever they're coming from okay um we work with those records um at least two weeks ahead of time the VNA brings them into their board and they sit and they go through exactly what that child has and has not had
012um for vaccines they look at the child's medical history they work with the doctor there at richf in Richfield and then Case by case they work with the family on what the child needs we also have a fair amount of children um that come in that don't have that aren't on the schedule and so we have to provide the doctor provides a catchup schedule for those kids to be able to um receive the vaccination so they can be um enrolled in school okay so they are are they allowed to I guess what I'm asking is can you be attending school without necessarily having the full so I don't want to interrupt but I also don't want to get off track too much because I just I'm I'm looking to I I'm not sure that this
013is the right meeting for that conversation I guess um that that probably is better directed to our health Team um so if you wanted to pick that up with them um maybe reach out through Cara Dr casmiro and uh see if she can put you in touch with somebody in the health department okay I didn't know you okay great had a health department okay I will later yeah Carrie Burke head of nursing Services could answer those questions yeah great thanks I'll look into it further appreciate that all right so um any other questions before we move on all right let's move on to uh item number two the superintendent wants to meet you which is happening September 21st at bro middle school that's correct uh so we are uh planning this event for it's a
014Saturday morning at Broad View um it will be for parents and kids um an can jump into and share some of the details but the idea is that will everyone will arrive about 9:30 there'll be a snack for the kids and then about 9:45 parents will head into the auditorium for a Q&A with Dr casmiro and uh we'll have a group of of teachers there that will take the kids and to a variety of activities we're still working out the scope of what they're going to be there might be some robotics might be some sports might be some um some stem learning there uh just activities to keep the kids engaged for about 45 minutes um the parents will be in the auditorium from about 9:45 to 10:30 um of course board members uh will
015be joining us we've actually ordered your shirts um so uh it'll be an opportunity to you know not just talk with Cara but obviously you know meet meet members of the community answer questions and and let them meet you as well um at about 10 uh 10:45 um 10:30 10:45 the parents will come back into the cafeteria be reconnected with the kids we'll have some coffee in Danish um and then everyone will will depart from there so that's sort of the the broad scope of the day um in order to get ready for this we're going to be putting out a video in fact I I saw the parent Square come in just as we were starting I think that might have been it from Grace I I had no chance to look at that
016that I think that's the early dismissal tomorrow Grace was working on as I left yeah so either tonight or tomorrow you'll be getting um an invitation to this event with a little RSVP um and at that time uh participants will have an opportunity to put a question through um you know we'll you know consolidate the questions and and you know I'm sure there like whenever we do these we get a lot of this same question so we'll you know figure out what those sort of top five or 10 questions are for Cara um we're also planning to have um a note card system in place where if people didn't write questions in on the RSVP they can jot a question down on the Note um we will have translation devices there we will have Spanish
017we are working on Portuguese um in real times those will be just like we do at the board meetings it's uh you put the little earpiece in and then Lori will be translating in real time what am I forgetting an I think you got it all yeah should be a a great um opportunity for our families to to meet Dr casmiro as well as board members so wonderful my understanding about after the Q&A the board members from 10:30 on basically would uh be there to mangle and and get to know the parents and sort of answer oneon-one questions yes exactly is is there any high points that Carol wants board members to stress this year or just sort of wing it based on what in other words is there anything that she would like to
018to emphasize if in a conversations with with parents I yeah I I won't speak for carara um she hasn't she hasn't given me any talking points but but if I had to venture a guess um it probably connects very closely to our our fourth item on the agenda which is um just getting the messaging out there about the academy what it is and kind of why it's a transformational change um but I can certainly have Cara send out some notes in advance if there's you know specific things that you know questions that we're Fielding that we feel like just need to get clarification to parents um and whatnot so we can we can certainly get some communication out about that yeah you know I think it might be good because if there are general questions
019that are in say in the atmosphere that people know about it at least speak we're on the same very page how to answer it you know rather than you know put our little emphasis that one Personal Touch on it sure if she want to do that that would certainly be good to help us with some talking points so that we're all consistent yeah that's a great idea so we're all singing from the the same sheet of music yeah yeah thanks Rich any other questions about this event so I'm hoping we'll see a good turnout from our board members there um and I will make an announcement at the board meeting about it go ahead Terry um can I arrive around 10 as opposed to 9:30 is that okay of course yeah whenever you okay yeah
020thank you that's all I needed to know yeah that that first 30 minutes or so is really just going to be kind of getting kids in the right place and people getting their seats and and all that so I I wouldn't worry too much about being a little late um may I ask how this is being um marketed in uh to parents how we're reaching out to them yeah well the the first we're going to be primarily using parents square but also all our social media channels so it should be on Facebook and uh Instagram Instagram and do we still have a WhatsApp Channel an we do we do y yeah so it'll be on all those channels and then we plan on sending out a few different pulses um as the date gets closer
021just to to get a reminder two weeks out is still a little bit you know um you know long for folks to plan so in the days leading up we probably send one a day that's wonderful thank you uh go ahead Teresa uh are the board members going to be on the stage or no no no you'll just yeah you'll be in the seats you can if you want to be um I just want to clarify ify one thing Dr shley you mentioned that uh folks will be able to submit questions in advance um are you doing that through parent square and through uh it's through the RSVP form yeah okay perfect thank you all right any other questions from board members committee or non-committee at this point all right so seeing none we'll move
022on to the next item on the agenda thank you very much for the recap there um and that is the community events update sure so I'll start off with that um as many of you are aware we received a um acceptance into the farm to school um initi uh Institute which we're very excited about so there's a a team here at Danbury schools that went to Stonington in June to learn about what it was the whole purpose of the program is to um purchase and use more local defined within our greater Danbury area of fresh fruits and vegetables to be served in our meals um and at snack time anything to um continue good health with our with our students uh this week will be our first um activity in the schools of a tasting
023at mil at um Ellsworth and at Moore Street um and then in October you'll get all invitations for this to come out and help um at our October taste testing um uh um e or daytime activity uh during lunches with our second and third graders so we're really excited um to see the kids eat try different foods um the food this month will be a gingered apple cabbage salad and so I'm excited about that and then in October we're looking at a Butternut something something not too sure exactly what that menu hasn't been uh totally um isolated and what it's going to be you know it's we're working with local farmers so we're at their um you know whatever they can supply us enough to be able to do those taste testing with so we're
024very excited about that initiative um the next initiative is danre collective we've had a really really uh busy summer in our different groups that are meeting mental health early childhood and chronic absenteeism um I can't speak too much for the other groups I do know mental health is doing a mapping of what is out there already for mental health services The Early Childhood group is um working on some policy um items that need to be taken care of and really looking at some newer regulations that are coming out as well as a parenting Ed component on the needs to have um good highquality child care when children are young and then The Chronic absenteeism group um has done a just a marvelous job on um developing a toolkit that um then has a brochure that
025goes out to parents and so we will be running um many different trainings we piloted the trainings um before school ended in early in the summer but now we'll be expanding the groups that we want people to take the training to learn how to use the toolkit and the brochure that goes along with it to help parents understand uh what what is chronic absenteeism why children need to be in school all day every day and what resources are there in the community to help them so we're really really excited about that on September 23d in the evening will be a parent meeting many of you attended last spring the first collabor uh um Dan Collective meeting and now this one is going to be for parents on the 23d um and family members so you'll
026all receive invitation to that so um there's all kinds of other events that we're going to be at um besides those taste testings we're also been at the farmers market here in Danbury spreading the word about Danbury public schools helping with registration um getting that chronic absenteeism information out and we will be at um a couple farmers markets coming up and other community events as well so a lot going on in our department to um really bring in the community um help them to understand what dber schools are and then what what this whole uh change in teaching pedagogy is going to be about and yeah is there a chance of Mrs Cooper that you can get to together again with Cara and bring the board some information on the work that the collective impact
027organization has has been doing in their three their threee phases you absolutely but I think they're far along where you know like you said they have some sort of a graft to some some thoughts these things and I think it would be good for the board to have a good understanding on it since it's one of the you know issues that that it's plaguing our district today absolutely I I will Melissa hanquin is the executive director I will see what materials she has worked on and um we'll get those to the board members yeah absolutely any other questions for um I have a quick question are we planning on doing something for B National borders registration this month because I know the um National bers registration I know um I know that um a few
028institutions are doing like the women voters League um the um library is doing as well many organizations are trying to promote the voting registration are we taking any steps like I know in the past um The Women Voters League used to do something at the high school but I just want to know if we are getting involved or not I do know there there is a student Le initiative at Rogers Park if I recall um beyond that I I I don't believe there's anything happening out of the district um you know if if if another organization came to us to use one of our facilities we you know we' certainly be open to it but I I don't believe there's anything being led from the district level oh okay because we I mean I know
029this is independently but we are registered as organization for the national voter um voting date on the 17th so if you guys have not on the high school I can help around to see if we can get some volunteers to register people on the at the high school okay thank you we can check to see if Mr Donovan is planning anything at the high school I know there's been some stuff on the PTO website um but we can check and get back to you on that I also have another question and I don't know who might be able to um um give me some information when we pass information on um uh what was the website for the uh informational for the parents um parent Square par Square what do we take in consideration because
030I have a few programs that could be very beneficial for the community such as uh one from chafa which is connectic housing Financial Association that is regarding people who might be getting um get Ben benefit from these programs on housing depending on income how can I get to um the flyers or something so uh families get to this information on their own so they can take advantage of for um these programs yeah so what we do in the district um you can send it to Mike or myself we um look at to ensure that it's coming from a nonprofit group that it directly affects our students and then we approve it or disapprove it but and then it goes out in our Sunday morning lits to All Families so what we've done is you know
031back years ago think about you brought brought home lots of stuff in the book bag okay and then we were H schools then began to send it out and so what we're looking at is not having all of these constant parents Square things go out because then parents start to um not pay attention to them and there and it's all important information so we take all those flyers we put them into one PDF on a Sunday morning and we send that out I do believe we have one scheduled um for not this weekend but the weekend at after we'll be the first one to go out this school year again we're trying not to inundate all the families with too many parent squares right now we realize the schools are sending out lots of information
032on their open houses and things like that so um we're I'm pretty sure Grace said we're sending it out the following weekend on the morning of the uh 21st or 22nd yeah just go ahead and send it to us we'll make sure it meets the guidelines and and if it does we'll include it in that packet perfect thank you and I have one last question before I forget who um where do we refer families with kid homeless families so that comes to the face Center um you can send them whenever um but Wednesday is the best day Lisa Basher is our person that our social worker that handles everything um mckenny vento or homeless family she's there on Wednesday plus she's there two other half days a week um or her time is dedicated to
033the homeless and often she's out in schools at that point I'm sorry my apologies just say Lisa Lisa Basher b a s h e b okay and on Wednesdays is that's the best date yes perfect thank you very much but but anybody working in the registration Center can connect a family very quickly absolutely yeah perfect thank you very much um I do see a question in the chat Dr silly about when the event for voter registration at Rogers Park is if you can about that yep I will share that out okay thank you so much all right uh anything else that falls under the purview of community events update for for now Terry you have a question yes uh football game tickets do we still get to go yeah I think you do yeah there
034should be that little orange pass that um chip gives out to uh VIPs like yourselves so I haven't gotten one in a long time we typically get those at the start of the school year um and they're passed out to board members at the usually one of the first board meetings that we go to I'll follow up with make sure they're they're waiting for you guys next week thank you tomorrow Wednesday all right any other questions okay we can move on then to a discussion brief one I hope about planning for the November 13th meeting yeah so the November 13th meeting is a Wednesday and it will be live uh in person right before our regular Board of Ed meeting um so we had talked last year uh coming up on one of our last
035community relations meeting I think it it might have actually been June already might have been May I'm not sure um but we had planned a a working session for about an hour 90 minutes where we were going to sit down and come up with talking points uh I think we were calling them an elevator pitch um you know where when you bump into somebody at the deli or you know Stop and Shop or wherever and they say hey you're on the board of ed what is this new I keep hearing about everyone will just have a sort of ready to go couple talking points to you know you can just kind of roll off some of the greatest hits and and you know kind of to say why it's going to be amazing so uh
036we we were never able to have that meeting last year so what we wanted to do was bring that back H for our next meeting and use the hour or so to sit down review some of the copy that we have on hand uh some of the things that we've put out already through letters um and on the website um and then that we've sort of sent out through other you know media channels um and sort of just work on consolidating that down to some digestible pieces that we can all just kind of keep on a little note card you know in your back pocket or you know wherever and just kind of have them at the ready so I uh you know Kate I I I think you know that would be a really
037effective way to use our our next session um and then we have them all ready to go and you know in the six seven months here leading up to the opening of that of that new building um I think we're really going to start to see a lot of discussion and you know Buzz around the Career Academy so um everybody in this group and certainly the broader board will you know will have some things ready to go to you know to respond to any questions they get in the community I think Mike too to that point one of the questions that I've been asked a lot lately is why did you change the name from the academies that talking point yeah we can put going to add that one yeah uh committee members are there
038other things that you'd like to uh put on the agenda for the uh November 13th meeting that you think we should be discussing or working on between now and then we can certainly email your is there going to be a meeting in October uh we don't have one scheduled right now and I think that's in deference to the fact that we have so many different committees um and so many different meetings that are happening um if it turns out that you know there's an appetite for that um you know I'm certainly open to revisiting that and possibly scheduling a date if if that's something that we want to make time for I just want to make sure I nope you're on the same page typically we'll always put two committing with the exception of policy
039two meetings before the holidays two meetings after and then you know we can sort of slide them around and add our track but at least we've always got those four placeholders all right um any other conversation any other questions from committee members non-committee members any any last uh information you want to share or um questions you have all right well I think that wraps up our first committee meeting of the 24 25 school year for community relations I will look for a motion to adjourn please I'll make a motion Thank you Rich may I have a second please second thank you Julie all those in favor please signify by saying I I I I thank you all right we are adjourned thank you