001start our meeting it's hot so everyone can get out and enjoy this beautiful weather so we're going to call the meeting to order who we all stand for the pledge FL of the United States of America and to the stands na indivisible andice all roll [Music] call Terry present Michelle here K here here here here Julie okay thank you moving on down the agenda public participation would you read the nor sure the Board of Education welcomes public participation and asks that speakers please limit their comments to 3 minutes speakers 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 education personnel and students nor against any person connecting with the Danbury public school system thank you our first
002speaker is Zachary ladies and gentlemen thank you and for Gathering here today I stand before you to address an urgent matter that affects not just our children but the future of our community the need to sustain and invest in music education our across our district there are many threats to silence The Melodies and rhythms that are vital to well well-rounded education music programs are often the first to go in the school district but I'm here to urge you that they should be the last music education is not a luxury it's a necessity it nurtures creativity Fosters discipline and enhances cognitive skills studies such as one from the National Institutes of Health have shown that children in music programs perform better in math and science exhibit improv reading abilities and develop stronger social skills music is
003a universal language that Bridges cultural and social divides teaching our children the value of C collaboration and empathy I'm going to be attending the Peabody conservatory at John stops University and I'm going to be majoring in jazz studies music education has been a crucial part of my life since I was 5 years old in fourth grade I discovered the love for saxophone and many supportive music ad teachers in elementary school helped Foster this Passion by only having music classes one day a week it becomes very difficult for students to immerse themselves in the healing power of music and develop crucial skills needed to uh to pursue music long term for example we currently see massive struggles in the music program here at DHS specifically the band low involvement care Careless participation and lack of skill
004development can easily be avoided as long as we support music Ed at the elementary level maintaining maintaining a robust music curriculum K through 12 is essential for fostering a strong and dynamic program at the high school level early exposure to music education sets the foundation for advanced learning allowing students to progressively build their skills and knowledge over time by starting early students develop fundamental musical abilities and a deep appreciation for the Arts this continuous comprehensive approach ensures that the time students reach high school they possess a solid technical proficiency and sophisticated understanding of Music if we support music education at the elementary level danber has the potential to have a successful program that will provide a platform to further success and reputation in our district moreover music provides an emotional outlet for young minds helping
005them navigate complexities of growing up in a world where Stress and Anxiety levels are rising the joy and Solace found in music can be a powerful counter balance for many children music is not just an extracurricular activity it's a Lifeline it's a source of confence in a space for self-expression to cut these programs is to Rob our children of these invaluable experiences it is to deny them the opportunity to discover their passions and to develop their potential to its fullest extent we must recognize that the true measure of school Success is Not only in test scores but in the well-rounded development of its students I urge you all to join me in advocating for this pres preservation and enhancement of our music education in Denver you thank you Z Karen my name is kener and
006I'm coming to tonight as aent of children who have schools I'm also here advocate for keeping music education strong in the public schools um Elementary music Ed Elementary music education um is an important foundation musicians raising all kinds of kids um this is something that you're you want to keep anybody who's been to the grocery store knows that you can't get everything you want um but this is this is so important and I want to talk about when you make cuts to Elementary music education you're not just cutting music education you're cutting so many different things it transcends so many different aspects of the educational experience um it it's you're you're cutting the for kids to build skills in an area that maybe they didn't think that they could um music and math share so
007many things together you would be stopping an opportunity for for kids to be able to understand um time signatures Rhythm there's a mathematical progression to music um this is a way to tap into some of these skills that we know are struggling with in a different way way that some has done different you beo team and being able to work together and learn as kids develop their skills and begin to play an ens one of the things that they really need to learn how to do is to listen to listen to what else is going on to listen to where their part is to work together I don't think anybody can say that we don't people who know how to listen well um and it also provides opportunities for leadership and community service and just
008the joy of being able to share music with other people and I come to you sharing this not because I am the parent of two professional musicians what I am is the parent of two scientists and scientists to be and it is not inous that they are kids who have music education at a early age and we're able to continue that um my family like many others would not have known how to get them connected at an early age I am not musical people tell you um so the idea that the school had the opportunity for them to have trained teachers to have this happen at the element level where they could just go to school and take these lessons was the reason why it was able for my family and for so many others
009to be able to take advantage of this so I appreciate you please taking this into consideration and understanding how important it is not just for kids who want to go on professional musicians but for every kid to have these opportunities thank you thank you Matthew evening members of the board um my name is Matthew burer I am a school psychologist and I work at for an organization called Rockman County bis in Rockman County New York I've been working for the organization for over 23 years I've had opportunities to work extensively with Elementary and secondary students in my career and I can tell you firsthand that the benefits of a robust musical education um component in a child's academic day is not just an important piece of their overall educational progress but um provides I think
010outlets for what currently is trending in terms of social emotional learning music education provides opportunities for students to develop competency and Improvement in areas such as RIT perseverance um self-confidence self-reliance for students especially those who struggle academically which is you know the majority of the students I've work with in my career you know have that um as part of their reasoning for being in the various programs I've worked in one of the joys of their day um was to be able to participate in a variety of musical educational components of their school de whether it is coral instrumental strings um grass percussion um now that I work in the secondary level I had opportunity to work with several students who you know benefited from that type of educational programming in their various elementary schools whether
011it was in R County Westchester County Orange County and it helped them develop despite various academic and social emotional challenges the confidence to go on stage and perform not just in front of like our school program but I had one student performed at a school coffee house and I believe that musical education transcends what is taught in the classroom per se because it further develops that social emotional piece and without a stable social emotional grounding um our ability to initiate plan organize um and complete routine or complex tasks uh can be somewhat limited so if we look at mus education as um part of one part of how we can help develop you know uh children and Adolescence social emotional learning over time in the long run the benefits of keeping a music educational program
012in danur as robust as possible outweigh any shortterm I think um cost or you know cost or benefits um that I guess is some of the reason behind why um this issue has come to play I just heard about it last night with my wife who just spoke before me so I wanted to just present it from a more personal standpoint obviously I've the same two kids who went through the Dan music program and succeeded wonderfully so thank you for listening and and thank you for bringing thank you bring your experience and your concerns to the board uh just before we move on I just wanted to say and I don't know how many of you know uh when you bring your concerns to the board you do not dialog back and forth with you
013we ask you to bring your concerns here and we sort of listen and then we discuss it later on at okay and thank you is there anyone that did not get an opportunity to sign up yes I got lost I'm sorry can speak coming up to the front yes um I was music before entering public would you state your name my name is Shaz Aladdin um I just graduated DS um I was a l of Music before entering D Public Schools however being able to join B in fifth grade was the biggest blessing of my life at 10 years old I barely understood the schedule for when we met so I love being able to learn how to read music or understand what a drug role is this time on our class was not time
014to go off or see friends but time to do something that made me happy yes when I returned I missed some classwork but that was a small price to play small price to pay for something I loved um King Street profession set the ground for my biggest Hobbies today I have fond memories of playing with fox drms or clapping rhythms in my monore education but I don't think I would have pursued percussion without the lessons offered at King Street they gave me the opportunity to FOC mastering one instrument and truly grow as a musician um after King stre I was part of busid band for 3 years and the DHS marching band five years I started in eth grade um I was enrolled in professional ass for all four years of high school I got
015the opportunity to perform in Boston Clon market and the Hershey Hershey Park branch of um music in the Parks and now I'm committed to you come I'm going to be in the marching band The Pet band and any other emble I can find um more than just giving relax and have fun B Tom countless lessons that are not offered in classes missing time or um missing class time and staying after school taught me how to uh manage my time and still graduate as 19th in my class of 800 pursuing hobbies that I enjoy um long practices rain or shine difficult music taught me discipline grit and commitment um being sex leader and percussion Captain how me to organize sectionals cooperate and communicate with my peers and teach my section while still s on to of
016my own music of course the friends that I made in band are my dearest and I have never felt safer within a group until I could tell how I beg my mom stay late even after all their competitions that I could spend more time with like my people um and band is a team activity which forces you to become friends with people around you and the people I've played with whether it's for one year or five years have become some of my closest allies um B play a vital role in child's development and it's so offer that to our students I understand the lessons are being cut back but I worry um when your kids tries Rockin they spit it out they say give it another try but if the try is a week later
017it's not as effective learning how to hold a drum sck or foring Al sure is not always comfortable the first time um and if our kids are just barely exposed to music they're bound to dislike it um our band used to play M Day Parade we have a banner hanging in our B room but band is not nearly the size of what it was learning takes regular PR practice band is not just a game it's the class and if we're not regly practicing it we are not going to have the same commitment that we're seeing um I've been trying my hardest with misso to get Young Musicians into the program but I really ask you for all your support because that's what we need to build our program thank you so much thank you that
018completes our public participation unless there's someone that didn't get the opportunity to sign up see n uh Michelle could you do the consent calar okay motion that the board of motion that the Board of Education approved consent calendar exhibits 24 through 140 and 24 through 141 as recommended and all in accordance with minut regular board six uh June 5th 24 regular board meeting exhibits 24 through 140 and June 10th 24 superintendent evaluation committee 24 through 141 exhibits thank you Michelle motion made by Michelle for that second second second by K are there any question concerning the consent C see n all in favor could I hear I I oppose motion so uh this point I'm going to turn it over to our superintendent oh I'm sorry do we have any students no no presentation our
019board subcommittees brief community relations uh unfortunately we had to cancel our last community relations meeting we had a resignation by who was SCH to leave that meeting so um I'm hoping that we can convene the committee over the summer uh we need to work on some planning for a form EV that we would like to put together the Bri committee met in May um question who did the minutes for that meeting okay well we'll revisit that I go back to my notes and seats okay we can we take care of thank you thank you just do you want to no just we had a present we had sorry I was focused on minute okay we'll submit all of that it was on on on the curcular process and the things that were coming online with
020the academy um along the essentials curriculum overview and all that goes into that so we can information the minutes thank you good last night we had a uh meeting of the front a committee was at late a lengthy agenda thank you to Kate canel who did a wonderful job presenting to minutes I ask car to have at your place this evening uh the minutes that Kate had taken regarding the uh meeting last night which is extremely detailed and it saves a lot of time to just regurg toate that this evening I think you'll find the minutes very inform thank you is it does any board members have any particular question that they want to ask Mr D at this time before we move on okay you have the minutes yes I just like to um
021remark that there was some information about the funding sources for next year that were presented that uh the numbers were um not accurate on the information that we were presented with but you'll find that the minutes reflect uh different information that is accurate next thank you uh unfortunately we also had to cancel most recent policy committee we had a superintendent evaluation meeting that evening that didn't R past the time we had anticipated um at this point we're going to look towards the fall to schedule our next meeting we will finalize the last SE the 4000 series we just had a sites of facilities meeting this past Monday where we um narrow down the names of the new uh high school and the educational complex which will be any question concer yes just like to make
022one additional announcement we I'm sure you all received an announcement from C indicating some webinar classes that have to do with financing the budgets Etc if you have the opportun I would strongly suggest that you look at the schedules and sign up for any of the webs they should be extremely thank you action item a if there's no questions ask an item a I have Harris oneita to make a motion that theor make a motion that the Board of Education approved the 2024 25 leader and educator evaluation and support plan as recommended by the PC committee and in accordance with uh 24-42 motion made by need can I hear a second to that motion second Louisa any questions superintendent did you want have know that and the reason that we doing this yeah so the
023state of Connecticut thank you the state of Connecticut has um issu new guidelines for teacher and administrator valuation and the PC committee was sort of reinvigorated um to have a wide body of stakeholders that represent the administrative group the teacher group uh pair of professionals and uh they've engaged in a deep study of those guidelines and have been working together to um fall in line with those guidelines in the creation of our own Danbury leader and educator evaluation and support plan which is present said to hear um our plan actually went had to be submitted to the state for sort of preliminary approval and feedback and they sent it back and a big thumbs up and so um we are in really good shape so we feel comfortable enough to go ahead and finalize that
024um I'd like to thank Dr Anna Roo's here tonight she's been leading the PC group um through that process process and uh our plan is very similar to the one that the state put out so we're we we pretty much mirror what the expectations are almost exactly so we started our training Series today we kicked off our administrators we'll be starting with the teachers in the hall since there's a motion on the floor we need to carry the motion [Music] through you heard motion L second second all in favor oppose motion so action item B official naming of the new Career Academy building at former site of Caris for recommendation by the SS of facilities committee uh first motion to name the new site formerly the cice building on Apple bridge to danur Public Schools
025education complex second motion made by Louisa second by Kate in a discussion see none all in favor the motion good I hear I I oppose motion so car the second part to that motion please um motion to name the new High School portion of the site forly referred to as Danbury Career Academy at the CIS site on Apple rdge to Danbury High School West made by Louisa could I hear second second by Lauren any discussion concerning motion saying none all in favor can I hear I motion so car Kate action item C I'll make a motion that the Board of Education accept the May 2024 financial report as recommended by the finance committee and in accordance with exhibit 24-1 143 motion made by Kate could I hear second to the motion second seconded by Richard
026Julie I'm sorry Julie seconded by Julie any discussion questions seeing n all in favor could I hear I oppose motion so Carri action item d uh Mr Janell motion that the Board of Education ad the 2425 Denbury Public Schools operating budget motion that the Board of Education adopt the 2024-25 danur public schools operating budget any amount of $167,500 consisting of $160 million from the city of Danbury and an anticipated onetime appropriation of $7,500,000 from the city of Danbury through the American Rescue plan fund from the state of Connecticut pursuant to Public Act number 2481 in accordance with 24-44 motion made by Mr jelli could I hear a second to that motion second second by Kate any questions discussion uh Teresa I just want to go on the record I'm not happy with the um proposed
027um budget any other discussion G all in favor could I hear I I oppose you obain you obain okay so we have two okay so we have three [Music] that so motion is to move forward okay thank you superintendent's report um so we just wanted to provide a little bit of an update on summer school there's some questions around what was what were being what's being provided for summer school um so Dr Ro was just going to update us on the dates and who's involved and when is that when that is all taking place so good evening everyone I'm Happ be here tonight to updating our some school programs we do have um three programs going on one is our elementary K3 program um and the second is the DHS credit program and the third
028is the esy program just you we currently have approximately 750 students who will attend the K3 Elementary uh summer program that will be offered at two sites this year ellworth Elementary School and no primary will be our two host sites um we've divided the students pretty much by schools um within the two sites to keep a balance between the two sites as e as possible we have 55 teachers who will be working for this summer we have two site directors we have uh Matt calines will be the site director at primary and Heidi Val will be the site director at they've both been site directors with us for the last three years so they're very well versed in how summer school runs and um working well with transportation and coordinating all of those efforts and
029we do a great job we thank them for returning every year because we know they're in good we're in good hands with them we do have um the student hours it will run from July 8th through July 25th classes run Monday through Thursday of each of those three weeks the student hours are 8:30 to 12:30 uh this year we reduced the program in the number of weeks but we extended the time of day so students are getting the same amount of hours of service um but they're getting it over a shorter period of time it works out well because the students are there for a longer longer gay um versus shorter periods of time over the course of of the four weeks said um transportation Kelly Watson has done a phenomenal job um every as
030she does every year rering bu in creating bu list every year so that's well under way we are offering the uh DHS Credit Recovery it will be offered at West Side Middle School this year Vicky Carlson is the director of that program Vicki again longtime CM director of that program she does a phenomenal job um and she has lots of other duties over the course of the summer terms of helping students with registration and things that after to high school um they are working under a credit recovery model students will be engaged in using edly over the course of the time you currently have 62 students who are enrolled um and Vicki shared with me today that it's not unusual to get us a huge uptick of enrollments about the weekend before the first semester
031starts um and the first semester enrollment tends to be a little bit lower than the second semester enrollment so we're on pretty par from we last year last year we served about 190 students in that program we have 62 registered for the first semester but we expect that number will increase um that program is paid for by students through credit recovery so the cost of tuition paid by students offsets the cost um of salaries to the teachers in the program right now there are six teachers in the program um the teachers are assigned based on enrollment so of course enrollment drives the number of teachers in that program uh I did tell you about the um curriculum for the elementary summer program our uh coaches and department heads the elementary supervisors have been working very
032hard to create a very cohesive program that will be very engaging for students over the summer so there'll be reading and a math component to both the two the programs they will split the day approximately with have math and have literacy students will also receive praktice and lunch during the time that they're there um the the program we try to make it as possible to keep students wanting to come back every day in the summer program so we try to make it fun engaging I'm not sure um high school students will feel the same way but uh we do our best for our elementary students you want to talk about your so the special education summer school program is going to start July 1st and it will run uh through August 1st uh so it
033is slightly longer it's a 5we um program IT services students with special needs that are entitled to Summer programming and that's determined through their their planning and placement team meetings um these are for students that are typically more significant in needs um and that we would uh the rationale behind providing the program is to ensure that there's not that summer slide that students are not going to regress in their academic social emotional or behavioral skills as a result of being home for summer for two months um and we have approximately 300 students attending the program we will typically get another 50 students that enroll the of Summer programming um so we are uh staffed at uh about 45 certified staff members it's 22 classroom teachers a lot of related services staff uh schools psychologist social
034workers OTS pts speech and language Pathologists um the hours of the programs for students are 8:15 to 1 um and that is for our kindergarten and up students so we have students from 3 to 22 um so it is a wide range of students we hosted at um AIS um and and we do have a half day uh program for our preschoolers so those are the only students with a shorten day they come in for about uh 2 hours and 30 minutes um in addition the students also receive breakfast and lunch um and the sole purpose of that program is to reinforc skill building on their on their individualized educational program so it's a fun time um we'll have um Ro who is one of our PPT facilitators running uh that program uh as well
035as one of the specializ supervisors support um and myself in cestal Taft also providing support we have and Kelly same thing has done a wonderful job with Transportation I think we have close to heav buses running for the students Mr K what facilities are these classes have they so we're at um AIS for the summer um so we occupy the entire building and if possible who wanted to visit observe stuff we get in touch with you yeah absolutely get in touch with me and we would love to have you thank you of course it's a it's a it's a good program to see I think it it would show kind of some of the needs across the district and I would invite anyone of you that wants to come in welcome ter thank you I'm
036not sure that all of the board members are familiar with the uity uh program can you tell us is it in person is it um a an instructor teaching the subject in front of students so I can tell you the structure of the summer program I would ask Dr speak more specifically about Ed so um but during the summer program students will attend at Westside Middle School while they are engaging in engineering so they will be assigned an instructor based on the course and the instructor will be there with them at West Side midle school so they can provide support to them can they can monitor the program the student used to the program while they using it the instructor will be presented on thatb okay but the students are using an online program it
037is anline that they with the instructor there proba support thank you um I know that you talked about Elementary in the high school are we offering anything for middle school I know we eliminated summer school for middle school last year but any what are we doing for the kids that may need support over the summer at that level we are not offering a middle school program this summer um there were budgetary restrictions that were schol program to that pce so we did um have at one point we we've alternated over the years we've had been able to offer K5 we're down to K3 um we did try a middle school program so students who struggle with organizational skills in particular who been past multiple classes um to have a a pbl experience to engage students
038um but the between the transportation and securing the teachers over the last couple years securing teachers has been one of our biggest hurles um and we've been fortunate we have our K3 staff in place we've had to up the the hourly rate to retain those those staff members that we have enough to at least meet our legal um obligations for students in grades K3 who are considered substantially deficient in literacy so that's the indicator that's the flag for offering that um and then we carve some money out of our priority and Alliance um as a Set Side to that but the one of the biggest costs and expenses is really around the transportation um and also securing the number of teachers that are needed to do it High School's a little bit different the credit
039recovery is a little bit of an easier sell uh if you will and we're able to service a lot more students in that model because of the online nature of that platform um so the supervisory the supervision piece is very different than we' had the T but um yes we would love to offer something more robust ka8 as parents definitely inquire about that and particularly around organizational skills getting kids ready for the high school it's more often than not a student student who is not doing well in all classes it's it's more of an engagement issue than anything um who wanting to be there or having the organization SK skills to get it together for you know being able to navigate six seven eight classes so that's something that I know that we're we are
040interested in and we're going to continue to pursue um big funding sources for that to re um what happens to the students who do need this in the Middle School are are they still Advanced they are question okay mention the legal obligation the transportation cost how exactly are measuring the success of kids from K to 12 K to three I'm sorry um when they come out yes so we have to have assessment indicators so we do have a program we have dibles assessment we have an I ready assessment and so we know coming into the program where the kids we have the indicators that flag them for the program that data is is what we use um and we monitor there's a lot of subset data behind that so that we know where to target
041specifically the skill gaps that are there so it's a limited window of time to work with students um ideally we'd love to go year round with students who are all in that substantially deficient um category because what happens is something called Summer slide where when the students don't stay wet with the literacy and and reading um they tend to slide backward and we we lose a little ground but um we do have assess an assessment system in place to monitor how students are doing but it's a very small window so the progress bubs that you see are are are small but it's really more about keeping students content with literacy smok construction and really targeting um most common areas for deficiency in K3 which are the ftic base you sent quite a bit of information
042up to the to the summer school teachers from the school so they have of understanding where students are coming in the directors will also work looking at the levels of students and trying to Cluster kids together so they might cross group some students from some schools so that teachers can best meet their needs in small group instruction with the students abilities but trying to get closer to where they can access the for that's being Tau this summer to sustain their skills and process on so in the same question I just want to make sure are we actually balancing the cost [Music] Transportation having all individual to cover at 55 um we have 55 students and an average say 7 students are we actually being able to cover this that it will be eventually so I
043just want to make sure I understand your question it's about do we like do we budget for that Su school we do we budget a particular amount every year based on where we think um the number of students will land now the number of students that get invited and the number of students actually tend attend are are different and so we tend to kind of uh navigate that middle ground um in terms of projecting the cost for the summer school sometimes we go over sometimes we go under so just 7 students is an average it's not an exact number it's just the amount of invitations that you guys send out to the PS yeah we we extended an invitation to a little over thousand students to attend summer school 7 between 730 and 750 have
044committed so far to attend um a little bit of an uptick again the week before sometimes parents forgot to send the form back and they give us a call but right now that is the number that is is registered to T oh it could go or um it will be that it it won't go much more um because we can't really roll students in once it starts it is a 3-we program so by the time you get Transportation arranged uh for student didn't didn't have their information in advance it's hard to get them in once once it's already started than Transportation takes a long long time to reroute everyone from the regular Buss okay sure so I know that I was going to ask the same question about how many students can we offer you
045know services to everyone so we are able to extend it to anybody in the community that no so when we send out the th000 invites who do they go to is it open or specific it's a good question they they go to the students who are flagged is substantially deficient so they have not attained a certain level of achievement um for their grade level um in literacy and it's it's what we offer a literacy and a numeracy component to it because generally students tend to need both anyways so we figure why we have them there we'll give them both um but it's the it's their literacy scores that flag their invitation for Sumer school so I know that we consider transportation and all the good things we always have to consider but is that even
046that we could offer online just if I was a parent and I wanted to get online and I'm not you know even if my child is Advanced or maybe behind they may not be in that class but their skill may be right at that level is that something that we could offer how would it cost the district to kind of is that something that could be an online program not that I'm you know a big fan of it but the program is already online it seems and you have no so this is this is an inperson so that's um so it's just to just to clarify the uity is the high school and that is an online program the program itself confidency based skill program yes the K3 program is in person so we have
047a physical teacher working with a group of students um on their reading on their reading issues and what you're asking what I'm hearing you're asking is for for any parent who would want to get some additional support do we have anything and right now um we do not we do make available some links things for the summer that we encourage parents to work with your child we have a lot of game based activities so things that are funest a child can do independently um on their own but uh for the most part it is the K3 component is an inperson direct instruction program we would love to offer something you know especially you know coming out of the pandemic we we know hey we're able to we're able to deliver instruction online uh in a
048pretty decent format um that might be good for others down the road but it still requires the teacher being present students the students be monitored at home with a parent and finding the staff to do that has been a challenge and we're very fortunate to get the staff that we did to commit to the the K3 Group which is our the legal mandated group that that we need to offer that to but yes so none of the programs that we recently purchased because we did a lot we offer that option of parents being able to utilize those tools there there are some online online components and again we made we did the K12 interactive site during the Panic pandemic when we went online we made a available um a lot of online programs that were
049free for parents to to click on so the teachers yeah so those are still available and there are not even things that we necessarily purchased but ones that we've endorsed to say hey these are good for kids use these over the summer okay just cuz I had a son that had a lot of organized you know lot of issues and I remember just reaching out looking for programs in the summer you know just because of that slide so if even if it was something available online or in a different language whatever the case that would have assisted that would have helped me yeah thank you and this is just for the whole board uh in general I really don't understand how can we afford um from K three um this program put on scho we
050don't actually support we don't have the for this and then we expect kids teenagers to engage again um to recover any of the credits when we have left them out since middle school which just pick a little bit on the first years then we Liv over to them develop on their own and then we expect them to again pick up on what is expecting for them to do during summer have time have fun and not come to school I mean I really it doesn't make sense to me that we have um K 3 uh program and then have program for in general it doesn't make sense that's Julie I agree with you I I I would love to have K12 after school Rob before school and after school and summer programming um I'd love to
051offer a year round component we have some students who need that acceleration um for sure right now we're offering the legally required component um because of the enormous amount expense that is incurred on them and then that expense has risen over the last couple of years because we're unable to get the staff to commit the the old per DM rate uh hourly rate that we used to offer so now to to to trct staff to do that had almost done you know rate to to attract that same staff um and and still with that people are are not as willing to give up the Summers anymore um so we are you know right now we our main concern is making sure we need our legal requirements however um you know if we had you know
052another million or2 dollars more dedicated to that and we were able to recruit staff and make that as attractive as possible that that would be something that um not just you or the board would want but I can assure you that the parents and and the principles and everybody would love to see how just told this in front of everybody I think we just keep to need to keep applic for more funding at the end of the day we also need to comply with the requirements that the city is um asking in order for put more money to city but this is the little things that a parents many parents don't understand what is the reson to this me I'm parent so that's the reason this question discuss thank you everyone than thank you y
053so um first I just want to thank the our music folks that came up tonight to speak so eloquently on the benefits of Music um we are all in agreeance with you it is something that is very important to us the Arts here in Danberry are very important to us um we have had to make some musical changes as you know um and I just want to talk a little bit about that some some are actually a benefit and others we're still working on and so it's part of obvious s of the budget reduction process we've had to reevaluate a lot of programming the way were able to staff um and we've had General music classes starting in grade three and grade four and grade five um for some time those our student special area
054courses and but we haven't necessarily had instruments or taught instruments in those classes and so as our programming has been reviewed um when it came to our ability to staff um everything that we were continuing to do um we decided that you know if we didn't have the full Staffing that the very least that we could do was to embed instruments for all kids and not just the kids who signed up for the lessons for a small group and individual lesson but instruments and across for all those grades um so in grade three into next year um the recorder will be purchased annually for students um to learn how to play that so every student whether they really wanted to sign up for lessons or not we'll learn how to play the recorder in fourth
055grade it's in their music education class students will play the ukulele and learn how to play the keyboard and so those are things that we haven't had in place um previously um what we're unable to offer are those the extra FTE so we've had some um positions that were not backfilled as a result of some of the moves that we had to make and so we've been massaging the schedule and massaging the schedule and so we're now no longer able to offer those individual lessons for for grade three students um we are going to be able to offer after lots of working on uh rearranging the teacher schedules the uh strings to the students who had it in grade three who were rolling up to grade four so to provide that continuity the band was
056a little bit more difficult but they're still looking at that um and every maintaining everything that we currently have in place for grade five which is strings and the band so um there was some individualized um instrumental lessons lost um one of the biggest reasons that happened with that is that the the FTE that are used to deliver those individualized lessons or those very small group lessons are are great so the number that the ratio to student um for a full-time FTE is quite quite low which makes the the cost quite high and so as we look to evaluate the cost of what we have left in place um we added the musical instruments into grades three to grade four to make sure that we are trying to counterbalance of the effects of that um
057so we are able to offer strings in grade four for those who has taken it grade five Remains the Same strings and B that that grade three becomes um a little bit harder to fund in this environment um for those lessons um we did speak to some of our high school musical staff talked about brought some of the music folks together to talk about um the way to sort of build the program up um they were pleased that instruments would be put into grades three and four and so that there's a stronger Foundation for all students coming in in the hopes that would also spark some more interest into grade five so that students coming into the middle school would all have some foundational knowledge but also maybe um that much more and so while
058we feel like that you know individualized lessons are are a tough pill to swallow um we do feel like adding those instruments into the curriculum grades three and four is definitely an added benefit that goes across all schools um and so we're going to continue to work on it um the staff is also um polling our music um staff right now to see if they have any interest in doing lessons providing lessons as part of our ELP after school before school or after school and so then that would be site based so we can get a staff member who would want to provide those lessons we're also able to add that in and so depending on what that interest level is and the staff members interest in doing that um we can offer that through
059e as well so we're continuing to work on it um because we do agree it's important and we know how much our students enjoy it and how important it is so I just wanted to provide that update and then that official letter will be going out to anybody who had signed up or was interested in those lessons and to clarify what the offerings are for next year any questions my only question is maybe I didn't hear this good so if I'm in third grade I won't be receiving any type of musical so so if you're coming into grade three next year you will have your general music class but what's new is that you will learn how to play the recorder now okay all students will learn but no strings no the recorder in grade
060three okay we did have strings in the general music class prior so this is new so we're adding the instruments in so we'll be able to purchase those through our title 4 which which allows us to purchase some musical instruments in a lot of our um areas surround schools also do do that as well it's fairly common it was not common here so bad at that if you are in third grade currently and your playing strings and we go to fourth grade for those students who are in it will maintain that with the existing staff that we have if you're trying to enroll new in fourth grade we don't quite have enough staff to do any but we're trying to maintain the for the students who were originally participating so I I guess a misleading
061under the impression that no one in third grade will receive they won't be receiving that individual or small group lessons right but they will have an added benefit of learning the reporter in third grade all third all grade three students not just once with yes um it says K through five so what about K first and second going to St the same yeah so this was just really just mainly affected the 35 we didn't have instrum pull out in K one and two so that really started in in grade three for us so strength is B if you don't if you were in grade three and you're rolling up to grade four you and you were in strings will maintain those lessons if you still want them right and then if you're rolling if you're
062in grade four and you go up to grade five strings and the band are available to to everybody so you have your quarter in in third quarter in third in fourth what are you doing ukul and the keyboard yeah so they'll learn two things a little more up a little bit thank you yes any other questions okay and we'll send a clarification email out to the parents so that they're fully aware of the changes because it is does not of course we address the tuba did address tuba we so we were um we had students who was it you came with the two no it was not you it my it was your friend you were together that's right city council but we did um we did work on getting we had them submit a
063list of all their most you know the most important items that they need and so we started to work down that list and we have a small little fund that we're going to continue to keep an eye on to supplement so that they can be chesher yeah I know all about it I live neares we yeah okay so provideed in your packet um so on on I'll back up a little bit so at the finance committee meeting um we presented a presented a table of the Staffing um and Staffing I think it is exhibited my packet it is eight um the table that's in here is slightly different because it uh we realized that we needed to update some names that were no longer returning um or that were had been vac been vac uh
064in addition there was one name that was on there that was actually in the union and this is an example so I did feel that off to make sure that the record was accurately updated and so the list that you have in front of you um are the um suggested and recommended raises as um according to the organization for for school for staff or exam staff for the 2024 25 school year um I know that there was some consternation about that um and some points were raised about that and I want to make sure that I provided some opportunity for the board to to engage in that discussion um so that we can we can work through that together um so I will say just to preface that as part of um the Staffing start
065as part of my duties um that I have to present Staffing plan to ensure that those um raises are distributed equitably across the school system um and I know that perhaps that this has been a change I think one of the um in in the practice but not necessarily the policy and I I want to make sure that you know going forward that you know I think one of the things that I've tried to do in in this role and in the short time is to read the policies understand why we've done things we have in the past that we've done in the past um the presentation of these has been done um not necessarily in a public forum um I thought it was important to do that um for I don't know for transparency
066that's something that I'm committed to um which is why we thought it should go at least into the finan um committee first uh for that discussion and then um making sure that it comes to the board here as um as presented so that it is part of the part of the record and then it's not done in a in a in a different format as maybe as it has been done before yes you you referenced some policies in that can you please read those policies to us as they're as they're written a which it is 4140 4140 compensation of central office staff Board of Education believes appropriate and Equitable Compensation Plan should be established for exempt Administration and support positions for central office the aim of this compensation plan is to be attract and retain
067competent employees benefits for such Personnel Personnel should be equal to those of other comparable employees in the school system additional compensation of benefits may be provided in recognition of meritorious service yep by July 1st the Board of Education shall approve an allocation of salary and benefit adjustments to implement the compensation plan and reflect changes in the economic environment for which the school system and its employees operate the superintendent shall report annually to the board concerning implementation of this policy um read 410 okay it appeared to me as were um as as with the document here um the line that [Music] separates the um ex St from the cabinet correct um so one of the um things in the policy those are also distinguished do you know what I mean so one is um as we
068go down in the policy one is the actual central office exempt staff and I'm assuming that's the bottom category here and so it it's very confusing to me when the board is handed one um document to vote on and it's not separated hasn't separated in the policy um it's a little concerning when we sat in our finance meeting and given the or asked our chair asked for um legal recommendation as to the policy and I now I'm a bit confused because in reading the polic start with um the first half of it in which um it states by July 1st the Board of Education that's us shall approve an allocation for salary and benefit adjustment to um implement this Compensation Plan and reflect [Music] changes in the economic environment in which school system and employees
069operate um later on in the bottom it again states that the superintendent May request and that's the request that we've had here and the board May approve and yet we were specifically directed in that meeting to afternoons ago that it was not necessary to even bring it before the board that it was out of courtesy um that we're even you know out of respect and courtesy for the board that it's even presented um to us and so um I'm a little concern and again I'm new but I'm a little concerned that we as a board would have um information put in front of us and not go back to the policy or question or um not know for ourselves regardless of the reasons for the increase one of the comments um was is that um
070the exempt staff they are not part um of the contractual staff but the the other thing in here that we have to be very careful we also have policy 2100 in which we asked and expressed Our concern about realigning reorganizing some concerns um with roles um within the central office staff and yet in here it states that job descriptions that include the principal duties of each position will be maintained we've asked for that I've asked for that information and um looking going forward what does the realignment reorg ation look like based on the concerns and recommendation that the board members have had um and then we move on to policy 2131 um the superintendent's responsibilities for personnel and Staffing now board understand that our duty is to the policies in the board that's what runs
071the district and if these policies that as they stand are not serving what our district our students our community needs then we need to revisit these policies so those are my initial comments any other comments ter based on what we needed said we were told we can't we don't vote on yet the policy say we or approve it and that's not the information we were given at the committee meeting yes k um in looking at the policy though what it says is that the Board of Education shall approve an allocation for salary adjustments not that we will set the schedule um not that we will be responsible for determining uh whether or not those things go through but rather allocation which was part of the overall additional budget that we approved once we got a
072number back from the city so when everybody around the teable voted on that budget inclusive in that budget was an allegation for the Ben the raises and the benefits um so we did at that for vote and I think um you know as far as the organizational pieces concerned um that you know we definitely have ConEd uh to the superintendent that that is something that we're looking for as a board from my perspective I think the urgency of the last couple months has been really focused on how do we reorganize the entire District around what our new budget situation looks like um and I'm I'm looking forward to getting a plan as far as what um the plans are for the administrative uh central office level um but I'm I'm trying to weigh against you
073know what the priorities of the district have been for the last couple months I think that you know pay down what our budget looks like so that we have a plan you know for this part of the next school year which will start July 1st um that's you know that's important for us to have in place and my hope and expectation as a board member is that the the time now that is available will be used to work on that organization plan and we will presented with that plan so that we can you know have that conversation as part ofation process could I just say you know as a board chair and you know some of you might look up at this guy since we have since I have been on the board since I
074have done what they came in one sheet all together the superintendent that I sered on this would be my sixth super always bought this to the committee one stated that these were examp and this was C I'm making a recommendation to the board that we move these people for and always done in JY okay because that's our last meeting and we have to approve it before July 1st so if we don't then it's retroactive that as a for if you go orders or whatever we don't approve this we still have to pay that that retroactive fee okay and I'm not saying we got what I to me I personally um and I said it the other night the superintendent is who we hired to move this district for we can't not say we can't I
075guess you can not say we're not going to move Mary Joe I don't want to uh support Mary Joe when we don't have anyone right now in the place we have no back up here for any compared to what it was when I came on three or four people in the office you could say Mary Joe stay out today we had two two people that will fill in for those people at that particular time everybody know what the budget crunch have been over the years we're trying to stabilize and do certain things and certain things for I look at this as the superintendent is breaking a recommendation to us if we want you know to not vote in public you know as to are we going to move this for it should be her recommendation
076to us to move this forward so she can take care of those necessary thing that she need to do we can't do an alignment if she's not there to do alignment and reorganize and I think those are some a part of the discussion at other times so uh that was all I really want to say I I will support the super okay one with all due respect I continue to say that nothing changes if nothing changes okay I'm going to let you speak I'm going to let you speak but change will come but we have to have people in place to make those changes and right now we don't have those we don't we're not in a position right now to do those changes the superintendent and I'm not trying to be disrespectful it's bringing
077something to us we don't know 3 or four months from she's right now is in the intim position her contract is not start until July 1 okay so I'm just I'm I'm looking at where I'm coming from you know everyone has a right div voice their opinion and concern we are right near nine people or wherever on the board okay we have two people out okay and this is why we having this open discussion okay so you can voice your concerns okay [Music] well I believe that we were put in a terrible position as a board in a very confusing position for me maybe not for the other members on the board to have one discussion two evenings ago in which we were told that no there there is no need for a vote there's
078no need for a motion there's no need for approval it is just a [Music] presentation and so now I'm very much confused when you use the terms let's approve it I make a motion I'm not sure that we're in line with why Rules of Order or procedure and um again I'm just speaking as um moving forward because it's my my understanding that uh this is already a done deal it was put into the budget and I'm going to take accountability and responsibility for not having looked at the line item the budget we put forth a budget for 181 million and that was included in there when it was it was said in our meeting when it was cut back to 160 something million we started cutting back because we were at a fiscal clip which
079we also noted we're going to be at again next year and so it behooves these board members whatever you we do tonight um regardless of that that we need to keep our eyes keenly on what's going on the next time and as I said I'll take accountability and personal responsibility for not reading between Teresa andian Lauren um 180 million we didn't get we got 167 million or 167 13 million essentially uh has to be cut from that proposed budget one would think Common Sense would limit any raises you know 50% on our 5% from uh less than the 4% give me a break why not 2% and I've got I've got to point out two years ago Kevin did not take the r because of the budget he did not take race yet I'm just
080pointing out I'm just pointing out this was two years ago and all this leads up to the area that's to include in the 167 as opposed to the 13 million we didn't get so I'm a little I'm just astonished um there's no caps on some of these positions I I I so so it just compounds every year every year not this is nothing personal this is all about the money and if we don't hold ourselves accountable then what are we doing here Lauren and D Rich I just I have to say that if I didn't support Cara I wouldn't have voted for her to be the superintendent so I support her um and again I didn't look deeply into the budget into that this was already voted on so that's that's on me um that's
081it I and I think learn what has happened I think maybe and maybe it's me if I'm wrong corly the dollar amount Kim and I'm right is already it was put in the budget pass this is money that's already allocated the previous year okay it's not money that we're adding to the budget or we have to go look for it's money that when we give and I Wrong uh our finance director to come in when we sit around negotiation with the different parties and stuff we have to keep certain caps at three at 4% okay and that's how it comes up as far as this money was allocated the year P then it's not new money then is that something we should see these numbers prior to June and then we can have a better
082understanding yeah I thank you for saying that I think part of the part of the issue I think is the timing um I I have to say you know understanding that the because there be certainly be greater dialogue I think that we could have but the the timing of when the this has has occurred in the past has been at the in the superintendent evaluation um meeting which is doors really different from the superintendent evaluation it's a completely separate entity right and so in looking at policy and understanding what these things are the idea that the that they should be put out into a public forum that it should have go under the perview of a of a finance eye to say this is what was budgeted for this is what was voted on the
083presentation of of the salary schedule is well below what was um the allocation um the percentages that are in there are distributed as part of the duties of applying this equitably across the system okay we have not gone back to unwind undo or ask for other groups to resend their raises to not take their cost of living adjustments we would never do that um that is something that um you this is this is a group each year one of the reasons and the benefits for the exempt status is that the superintendent must put together a a team um to get the job done in this environment and and on this list there are several positions that aren't being filled the biggest one on the list not being filled is my own um one of the
084things even in my own contract when that was signed was that and it was important to this board to make sure that my duties were reassigned by October there's language in there about that and then I would help to reorganize that those duties uh which I fully intend to do um we have experienced um staff loss We are continuing to experience staff loss uh the the numbers here in this office and but also the case loads of our OTS pts and everyone else on that list are higher than ever okay some of the jobs a good number of the jobs are highly specialized jobs that if we don't remain competitive but the the the 3% and the 3.4% are reflective averages and in some case below of the other percentages um that were provided these
085groups do not get a step there are no longevities there are no there's no overtime um none of that occurs with this group it is a oneyear uh at will employee uh for the most part except for those who have a multi-year contract okay and there the there are very few benefits for that group um that are that that are not provided that other groups enjoy in bargained positions and so each year to represent that group it's under my perview to provide the appropriate percentage increase whether that be a cost of living adjustment um or we want to say an actual race okay most often um even if a even even if in some of the other groups there the raise is a zero or a 1% staff still move up on steps to reflect
086cost of living and movement years of service and so that again an exempt list doesn't happen and so we provide those steps in that movement on behalf of that exemplarist okay I think moving this conversation around the budget setting process time is the appropriate time to have it it has has traditionally come very late in the year as it is now um you know for some reason you know from a from a practical matter if this meeting didn't happen tonight and school year ended I'm not sure what we would what we would do with you know providing Clarity around those things right meeting yeah we have meeting you have a call meeting to vote on well we're not it's not necessarily a vote the vote takes place around the budget time and so I guess
087what I'm saying is that the conversations that are relative to this I think should take place closer to that time period for this group that's my that's my recommendation moving forward and it's odd to have it that to have had it in ed in the superintendent evaluation process as the last and final meeting um I just have a couple of questions um this will be my third around with this um so why the last two years did we vote on this in June because there were votes and I think there's actually votes pass my time on the board so I'm not sure why and I don't know why it was on the agenda and then taken off the agenda so that's my question and that's just procedural um and and I think that you know
088we can we're setting a precedent and I know the president was already set because we have voted every year on these and to approve it you know and I'm not and this is not even discussion of the amounts I'm talking now we've opened up a different can of worms now because now you know this is a conflict because we've done this every year and now all of a sudden this year we're changing it and not that I don't want to approve this but I want to be able to say yeah I gave you I gave you my seal of approval or you know what maybe I I I think we need to kind of work these numbers a little bit better if that is the case why weren't we given this she with the budget
089and I think that that would have clarified a lot um if policy is um not clear then that's now something we need to take up in the policy committee to clarify that procedurally but I think that the Board needs to still maintain a certain sense of oversight with this because not for you I this has nothing to do with you but I'm thinking in the future so superintendent can come to us and say I'm given 10% raises and you approved it in the budget and you approved in June we didn't have this and now all of a sudden I'm putting through 10% and the boards the 11 of us around this table saying well we can't do anything about that and then you know what is our role at that point if that is the
090case I I I'd like to respond to that because it's a great point and I actually use that example I said well what is to prevent because we as we were working through these policies I said the same thing what is to present prevent me from giving Teresa or Lauren on my team or or on this example as a 15% race and what it is is it's the allocation is is a number so let's just say the allocation is $50,000 so what that would have been is um the 4% the full list right let's just pretend that that full list was um uh that the that the 4% represented $40,000 uh of a of an increase over the sum total of that sheet right that was the 4% that $40,000 is the allocation with which
091I apply raise and compensation within that number if uh Teresa did such an exceptional job or her job changed in such a such a a manner that we need I felt that we needed to do something different to retain her compensate her differently she has unique skill set I may come back to you and say guess what I need a little more Beyond that $40,000 I need $45,000 and here's why beyond that original allocation so while these these percentages if I can just grab this cuz mine's in the binder please um while these percentages um are all very equal across the board that may not be my recommendation in the future I may say we're going to pause on a few of these or or adjust a few others but within the allocation that was
092approved has been budgeted and the reason for that may be is that so let's just say um you know one of these or two of these positions that are on the list maybe it's a data position or assessment position is no longer the the the competitiveness for those positions and the rate of the area has changed or what that has position needs needed a reset to keep up with a particular competitive percentage and range for a job I may choose to skew the percentage to try to achieve a a more competitive wage to retain an important position more so than others on the list and and that is what allowed will allow me to maintain a competitive team a highly competitive team um that will fulfill the duties of the of the Strategic plan and
093and the plans that we put in together now you have an opportunity so what's the oversight you can say we no longer want to employ car casmo at the end of my contract and I say this with full love that this is that this is how you get there and I you know I hope that that's not the case and I hope that we work together and we work through things like this um and I I deeply respect the opinions and I get what I get what everybody is saying and I understand Optics um but there is a there is a there is a way for you to exercise your will on that if you need to but why no vote why every year we've had a vote and why no vote this year right
094that's my only question well I just want to I'd rather not do that um It's really because of the policy and I am a new person coming in I'm looking you want fresh eyes on things I'm doing that but I'm also doing that in every facet of the school system and I'm hoping making to make improvements but I'm also about transparency and Clarity and so I had some big questions as to why this is even was even being done in a superintendent evaluation at the end of the year outside of the purview of the camera rolling and that people having a dialogue and you get to express your thoughts on it and times we may not agree or there may be confusion on that and it's an opportunity to work those thoughts out in public
095as it should be particularly when it comes to numbers and finance and and and you know the the result of that dialogue and conversation may have consequences for all of us on either side and and we'll have to live with those things but it's but it is transparent and it's out in the open and and we have an opportunity to have that conversation and I think that that's one of the most important things here and I think it is going to take some time to work through maybe your rationale on why why this is and I understand that maybe we need more time together to to get to achieve that to get to those places which I'm committed to um but in the but in the interim I have to feel a competitive a team
096that's going to stay here that I can retain um that are picking up extra duties and will pick up extra duties as a result of not backfilling some open position positions and I have to exercise my professional judgment and knowledge about the jobs and positions that exist and or need to exist in the future for us to achieve the goals that we're setting together um and so I'm hoping you know and I again I respect deeply the the um what the board is saying I do want to clarify one thing I if I may Teresa on the on the raises um that was a couple years ago Dr Salas gella was the one who um did not take take a a Rise um so that his cabinet his team so he can still feel a
097team that that would and retain a team that was to be in place think a half step and so we acknowledged that had just given him we sure okay but I you know I I do want to say that again in this environment retaining staff is a huge priority not just for this exact list but for all this and uh you know moving forward and something that I think we should continue to talk about I have Mr jelli I have okay uh Julie and then Vita did you have a question okay no Julie I just want to B everything that came we can't hear I can't hear can you hear me yes I just want to add from the beginning I mean I just want to I think that everything came all on a misunderstanding
098and maybe um not using the proper language um if we need to submit a b and it's not about how long you've been on the on the board other than what can you bring to the board um that's one thing um I want to add also as well what the res just said on some of this positions not having because when we see all the through and we see like for example occupational therapist or behavior analyst some of us might not understand why there's so much difference in the pain when there's the time Gap in between each one might be one or two years that's one and on another sense is like I understand I also understand and I don't think that none of us um is judging your and management but at some point
099we also need to get more understanding because you are the one who manage your personel but at the end of the day we also have to put our self here and I mean we all know that the boy has been in fire for the last two years based on our decisions so um based on that from the beginning I just want to say I think this is might be a misunderstanding or might be not using the prop language but it's also the fact that we missing information here like why have I mean we were on a on a fiscal cliff and all of a sudden um we have this um I understand Cola right um the because of living where I also understand that some of this positions I went way over um on on
100my end the way I see it compared to the same position and the time frame they might be over um that might be some of the issues that we might not understand and I just because sometimes it's very difficult to understand um I was on the part of the finance Community I was not on the Comm I don't know what was voted on and um if we have to vote Yes I understand that but it's also the fact that when mon said that we're not supposed to bring that up I mean it's disturbing because it's a we have to bring up faces in front of everybody so that would say thank you very much I need thank you I'm happy to hear the way we're discussing this because I think that as the board this
101is our responsibility is to put our input into to make the process better and to express our particular opinions that being said I think Louisa did a good job summarizing one and Kate's positions that they they made at this point here since I was chair I am chair finance committee and made the comment yesterday which was my interpretation or something I just want to get it clarified that it appears to me and I'm going to ask him to to let me know what's correct it appears to me that there were different interpretations or the policies as decided are ambiguous and if that's the case and I think it's something for us in the future to change at this particular point we were all discuss better ways that this can be presented in the future but
102as it stands tonight again I may be remiss in what I said yesterday as interpretation of something but what are our obligations as a board tonight following the interpretation legal interpretation not my understanding of as to what the policies mean I think that's important well you know I I believe stated the same thing if we have a policy that says one thing and we're saying something else but it's a policy I certainly agree with that if I made a mistake the wrong interpretation and sent this on wrong PR I do apologize but what are we to do tonight to to follow the policy and then to move this ahead for a more efficient process in the future thank you um want to start with your question about why is this different um for many years
103um there have been lots of discussions about how this rolls out for exempt folks for um whether they cabinet or whether these other nonunion non-contract employees um and in with private superintends I have had that conversation that you have policies that should be followed when we talk about this pwork of compensation um you have as the employer for about 2,000 people a patchwork of different kinds of employees you have unionized employees with contracts as Dr C points out with stepson and with gwi you have some contracts at this moment are in negotiations for renewals um that will also have designated increases and then you have this Patchwork of at will employes there are all of the people on this list people that can be hired and fired can decide to leave at any point in
104time um but who have identified wages so that's the first big idea all different pieces what the policies call for and what Dr casm has sat down in pars through line by line is that Our obligation to this board is to present her plan for what this organization looks like and for how these folks are compensated and that annually that plan should be presented to you I agree and have said for many years this should be much earlier in the process that this is always something that is kind of an afterthought and happens at the end but it should be part of a presentation as she youed saw one sliver of today about what one piece of this Patchwork looks like um it should happen earlier it should happen as part of the budget process
105this conversation with you um but what this policy says and I would urge you to read both the policy and the regulations is it puts into place for you very clear rules about how to go through this process and it mimics if you want an analogy it mimics very much when the city makes an allocation to the board the city cannot tell the board how to that allocation that's very clearly established you can spend it how you see fit for educational purposes they cannot come in and say you shall spend this on wages you shall get more safety Advocates not their perview similarly what the legislature has done in calling the superintendent the chief executive officer is establish the same kind of a system that you all um approve the allocation for salary and benefits
106When you approved your budget in May after the came from the city when you approve that line item budget you are approving a system and your CEO has the authority to assign wages within that system and also to present to you the plan of how she intends to do it um i i k i appreciated your comment earlier it's been a very busy tenure for the superintendent and we have not had the time and space to talk about the reorganization ideas that you all have that are good ones and those are on the docket now and I think that to meet this policy and these regulations the time to do that to talk about reorganization and talk about how that fits within your your goals is an important one but for compensation this system is
107clear the the the law says that your superintendent is a CEO her contract says she's a CEO and your policies say she is the CEO who assigns the the allocation and then it gives you regulations on how to do it we can certainly get better at the regulations of transparency but this system is precisely designed to give you transparency through the course of the Year there are many times when the superintendent comes and says I want to change the rate of pay on this I want to give this PO person more money this has happened and it has not happened by coming to the board and having a vote it has been within the perview of Prior superintendence so this is a process that kind of got caught in the middle here but doesn't comply
108with your with your regulations you certainly can go back and have conversations in your policy committee about this policy but you can't write a policy that overrides the statutory duties that are invested in the superintendent you can tweet you can tweak around it but the goal here of this policy was to come under the statutory framework and then to provide you transparency at various points in the year so that you can see what's happening and then the accountability is during the course of the evaluation process throughout the year with your superintendent is where you express concern about management style about the selection she's made about the choices um but that is how the system is set out and I'm sorry if you think I made it up but I didn't um this is how the
109policy reads and I think we have an obligation now having brought this to all of you to discuss to follow what's here to change it with the to the extent that you can to talk about the plan and what it's going to look like going forward in a measured way so that not only do you understand what's happening in a in a form that's not you know one of these meetings where everybody has not to talk but in a form where we can talk about it and you can then V the decisions that she's making as your CEO thank you just add to that so it's my understanding that we tonight are correct in looking at this as a presentation and basically have any discussion or opinions about that too I go back to the
110interpretation of the wording when one was reading one policies this is something that we could look at through the policy chair to maybe change the wording so it's not interpreted to be ambiguous to be more specific yes I think it's not ambiguous if you read it in conjunction with the regulations right Bel okay these two things are meant to be okay that probably my I don't okay thank you so as we move forward uh tonight um I think one of the recommendations was for the uh policy committee to look more carefully at some of those things but U more concerning is uh being consistent year to year so my concern now is I'm hearing that for the past few years there was a motion and it was voted on and yet now are we in
111a moment of change we don't need I you never needed to vote on but in the past so that is that's where the confusion is and and as in reading through these um you know that part of it that part of it is clear what's confusing about it is that has that in the past practice and so there those two things have come into into clash with one another um and so that is that is something again that as we go through the policies and we're working through these um you know things things other things may come up that we'll have to that may have been practiced we just have to talk about them right as we as we move forward as we develop the budget as we do things I don't think it's going
112to be related to this I'm just saying as an example that um you know when again in this Spirit of transparency um the putting it implementing a change um to actually implement the policies that we have not necessarily change a change of practice weed that a little bit fun you know may just com about the past practice because I can see it a couple spaces the notion of past practice is a creature of Labor negotiations and so when your contct is unclear or ambiguous you often will flood in what you've done in the past to define something that is not defined at all same thing happens when we interpret a law if it's not clear then you look to surrounding circumstances to fill the gaps of what's not clear you have with this policy and
113its regulation Clarity for which you don't look to past practice you follow your policy I just want to make that point I said P PR I shouldn't have done that that's it's a different term thank you because right now and I'm going to get to you Teresa you I'm going for all the 15 years that I've served the superintendent it was always D this straight away and we came out and repoted and it was always in June or before our last meeting so now if that's the clarification that we need to go back to policy and we sit down and discuss this and talk about moving it forward and then the next time we won't if we be here next year it'll be uh pretty well straighten F ter Rec uh I'm kind of puzzled
114because we just went through those policies and and updated everything I mean we did not do that theun agenda but it was over it wasn't overlooked it LO like it didn't need an update is that what it so we but we didn't do anything we sit down for a policy meeting our job is to go through the policies that come for us and have a conversation about them and at that point we can make decisions about whether or not we're going to adjust them even if there aren't any recommendations we adjust them that's that's our perview as I understand I understand that but if we overlooked that one then we assumed that it was okay no no we haven't reviewed it yet though in the for and we were in the we are but um
115the last meeting that we had scheduled for June which we had to cancel this particular policy 4140 was on that agenda so we haven't gotten it got to it yet but as of the first meeting policy meeting that we have in the fall this policy okay Louisa and then you move on um I understand that um that the policy may have been interpreted what I can't wrap my head around is 20 years of voting on it and then all of a sudden we don't so I know you've read Pol our policies over and over and over again and I know everybody around this table has been around this district for a very long time so I'm it concerns me when you know all of a sudden there's a different interpretation at the 11th hour and
116again I I'm it's a policy thing now that I mean I think that that's gone to the side it's really just about how do we figure out how to clarify this so moving forward we are clear there's no ambiguity with our policy and there is no room for misinterpretation and we set a precedent that can be clarified stood behind and the and the board around this table can you know leave our meeting knowing that we had the oversight of this group just like we do all the other groups my understanding is the reason that it was an action item if I'm not mistaken we changed our regular board meeting from the 19th was June 19th okay to tonight so when we did that as a board it was refered as a special meeting okay okay
117I don't that's not the right time whatever okay but we could not come into this meeting C from right and amend the agenda to add an action so that's why we're not Mur so M chair I just want to make sure I understand um Louis's question because I I'm not sure that um what you're referencing is what she's asking about if I understand correctly l are you saying that you want to have some want to understand what the process will be to clarify this policy so that ambiguity that we're talking about right now on the table that everybody's kind of not sure about how to handle so that we eliminate that and if I understand correctly that's done through the process of a policy review so we would have that conversation in the policy committee
118we would discuss the specific policy that would impact this and then out of the polic Comm recommendation to the full board for a first read and then a second read is that what you're asking yes that's that's it I just want to make sure that we know that I think the discussion is far past the raises at this point and now we've added and opened up a can of worms and now we we we see that there is an issue with the policy and I just want to make sure that we address that so come next year we're not sitting here having the same discussion thank you any else yes M I just want to say I wasn't on the I'm not on the finance committee and I wasn't on that call but there's been
119other instances where I've sat in on a Finance U meeting and decisions were made and there was confusion or we asked him for an opinion and I've come here to the next board meeting and we're voting and it was not going to happen so this isn't the first time it actually happened for the budget the actual budget and it's happening again so my concern and I know that we're all kind of sitting here with our heads twisting trying to figure out all of the changes all right so I you know where we've and I agree with Wanita ask for a lot of information on how everything is happening but we'll come here and the next time I'm sitting here we've illuminated the middle school it's clear that there's been a lot of conversations with other
120people either in the city or in the district and we are the last ones I I feel to find out sometimes I read it the paper first so I understand what Lise is saying if we were going to make that change I'm on policy with you and we canceled it and you know it's always about this timing I think it's a great idea if this city is talking about trying to figure out a real operational you know model moving forward I agree with that so this is kind of tough because you know I'm one about you know the rules and the policy and how does this look I also understand how hard everybody works and what our situation is so I just want to say I know that we throw a lot of stuff out
121at you and ask you to you know try to make so I think I agree with Julia I think I'm sure it was a misunderstanding but again that happened when we were talking about the budget itself and it was it didn't get voted on or the motion and then it came here to the board and you were just mentioning a first read a second read I find that when the finance committee does have a meeting and I usually try to you know attend and listen and participate there isn't that second read it is discussed it's here and it's voted on and it is if we knew that there was policies being discussed prior to the June 10th meeting I wasn't aware of it I don't know if you were but something that we should be
122flaged so we would know because I think policy we've been kind of just really looking at what C is recommending and what we feel you you know does it really serve us does it not is it going to make more of a problem but we haven't really looked at and you're new obviously the position to the role and started implementing the changes that we're looking to make right with this with you as I'm so um again I hope that we definitely communicate better I don't think anybody is intentional on anything but those Finance meetings yeah I mean whatever that decision is at the end of that meeting I just would like a little bit of a brether adjust it true that's all thank you we're brief Michelle I would just like to say it's to
123all of our committees that we need to tighten up and really understand them other bit better and I know we can't be to every committee meeting but this is how you learn because there are changes and sometime you might not be able to make the meeting where the decision is made and then you come back or the decision was made and I wasn't a part of it so you know we're all going to learning and I just hope that we can continue to work together understand and and and as the Committees come forth we have to ask questions and do the best that we can as far as our knowledge educ okay okay board chairperson I'll be very Bri we had a busy couple of months this year I would like to thank you all
124for your support attending the meetings working together graduations all the uh other Affairs that we attended and I hope as we move forward as a group that if you have questions you know I don't think anyone is afraid to call me I might yell first couple of times but we can talk it on and move on okay so let's work together I'm G I'm going to be here during this summer if we going to do anything we can talk and then get prepared for September's going to be here before we blink our eyes okay enjoy the summer and relax and put a smile on your face okay I need a motion to adjourn motion you