001supp e oh March po post [Music] for present arms I pledge alance toag United States of America and to the it stands one nation God invisible Justice order arms post right Face Forward mark thank you I'm going to ask the vice chair to do the Roll Call Al present Teresa pres Michelle here here here laen here here Jan here thank you next on our agenda we will have recognition and we're going to turn this part of the agenda over to our superintendent thank you board chair Cooper I'd like to uh welcome to the public comment area Tina motra the Bridgefield Board of Education chair who's here tonight to present an award to some of our very hardworking staff everyone good evening my name is Tina MRA I am the rich Board of Education chair but
002today I'm here on behalf of K to recognize the efforts of the danry public schools and to present present you with this award but in order to receive a Bonnie B Carney Award of Excellence for educational Communications entries must mean all of the following criteria first is the general criteria which includes Clarity of message image consistency and second the specific guidelines of readability editing Graphics type format and presentation design and value of expenditure I'm very happy to present danry public schools with the award for excellence for educational communication for the student parent hand the danry public schools back to school guide so congratulations C has been honoring school districts with the Award of Excellence for educational communication since 1975 in 2016 this award was renamed in honor of a longtime cave staff member bnie B
003Carney in recognition of her 47 years of dedication to education that was focused in Communications with this award C's goal is to identify and honor the hardworking people in school districts for the continuing effort to communicate effectively so congratulations to all of you great job thank you very much thank and I'd like to have Ann and Grace come up and um some of the other members who went into who worked really hard and collaborated on the content of the guide um that we put together for the beginning of this particular school year so K now for you wonder play the board members it's in [Applause] your than [Applause] an and Grace did you have anything you want to say a little about this award and you want to come up and talk a little about
004how we arrived at this particular model this year hi everyone thank you this is truly um a meaningful moment for us because in our office and family school Community Partnerships we work so closely with our families and we know that our families are just sponges for information to be able to do better for their children and so our back to school guide has been an opportunity for us to really show everything that this wonderful School District does for our families and gives the families the information that they need to be able to be successful in their um time with us at danur schools yeah um and I I just want to say thank you to Mike C who works really closely with us um in all communication but in this guide as well and so
005I was trying to get him to come and take the photo with us because he just as much a part of this project as we were so thank you Mike for all your support and it was really exciting for me to be a part of this um and be able to to cater this to our families in special ways with links to information that we know they were looking for throughout the year um TR translated in as many languages as we needed it to be so it was just an exciting project to work on and I'm looking forward to next year Tina you're here awesome I didn't know if you still we will see you thank you so much thank you both [Applause] thank thank you K I just wanted to add you know Grace
006and the work you guys do over there is just incredible and you have an amazing way to just distill complexity down and to just clear simple messaging that you know everybody can understand and you know not turn it into edge of speak and just break down complex ideas into simple things that people can use and and almost turn key you know into their daily lives so thank you for all you do and I mean this book was all you guys so thank you so [Applause] much all right and next up we have Spotlight your school King Street primary principal matella fera good evening everybody I'm so excited to be here tonight to Spotlight King primary my name is dona as stated um PC primary is unique sense that we are one of the only two
007primary schools in the district so we only Serv as C with three even though we are a small school in the sense that service K3 410 students there um every day at King Street primary magic happens um and that magic is dedicated is because of the dedication of the staff that I have on the work um I would not be able to do and accomplish what I've accomplished without their support and help um and I'd like for them to stand at this time those that are here to be recognized and for me to publicly thank them for all the det cely we have over 400 years of service to DPS at King Street many of us are liers and we are proud to be there and um I am honored to share this cute little
008video we did for you tonight which highlights many wonderful things that we do at King Street in our video you will see Snippets of who we are what makes us great uh anything from our King Street um tiger citizens to our kindness capes that we award to our students weekly uh for showing kindness all around school um the children are proud of who they are and they're proud to show their stripes each and every day and five minutes really does not do it justice so I would like to invite any and all of you to come and visit like it would be an honor to have you there enjoy the video what I like about King tree is that the walls are very painted and colorful and makes me feel welcome joyful and cheerful what
009I like about this school is that it has many nice teachers they're really um kind smart and nice and ch ch has to learn new stuff she is always kind she's respectful she has she has patience for everybody when we're not ready and uh she helpes kids um and she loves teaching everybody and that's what I love about this classic she's always empathetic and she's she's never saying bad things about people um and when I need help I go up to her ask her for help and then she helps me out with what I'm not understanding but every time we go back with her at the once we done she lets us get pick our stickers I I love my teacher when it's time to leave I don't want I love her so much whenever
010she makes a mistakes she makes the mistake funny we did fun things together we did so many fun things together and now she is like not my teacher anymore and I still like her and like and she been being she always kind to me every morning go fast by your class she gives me a hug she say good morning to me and T she doesn't every time I get something WR she she says all your answers don't have to be all if you get along it's okay mhm what I like about King is that I get to go to the gym and learn new stuff that I haven't done before so just a little tidbit the children um had a jump rope challenge for the American Heart Association and many children had never jumped rope
011before and even I got in on the fun a little bit um and every child is now before they go out they go out and borrow JS because they want to continue that I haven't done before stuff that I haven't done before is that we do new activities and we learn new stuff with the activities well right now I'm learning about time and I love to learn about time because that's how I get smarter what I learned is to be grateful for what we have already we were doing this and we read a book and we were talking about lessons and and then I saw in this book that it taught me to be respectful what we have then talk about kindness because some people already got AER Citizen and we need to be like
012them and that the teacher put something in the board um that with words that show kindness and respect they stand for nice stuff like S stand for safety te stand for teamwork I stand for respect I means Integrity p means your personal best there's really kind people like my friends and more other people from second grade kindergarten first grade and third grade in first grade I met my first friend and we was really good together and we and we keep being in the same class as each other it was like so scary to didn't know nothing like from the school and like I lost my other friend and I was like so scared to come to this school and like me she was like from second grade she was she helped me for everything and
013like she was kind to me and then and then I noticed how to be and and then I have new friends I love King Street personally because there's there's a lot of friends that people can make and there's over like 300 kids around here and I love how they all are not rude I still love making friends and what I like about kingry is that I make a lot of new friends and throughout the years I've had a pretty good relationship with all my teachers okay [Music] let's [Applause] and that's thank you Don I want to thank the staff for coming out tonight it's just another ATT Testament to the culture and we see staff come out to support the principal and we see parents here uh we know there's something really good happening in
014the school and that's great so that's that's an attributed that's attributed to your leadership um so we thank you for coming tonight and thank you for all that you do for King Street thank [Applause] you now we're going to move into the public participation part portion of our agenda I'm going to ask you if you plan to speak we will limit you to three minutes we have a large agenda tonight uh we have an audience full of people that want to speak and we're going to ask you to be courtes of us and we're going to be courtes of you that you give us 3 minutes and so everybody can get their conversation in or message they want to bring to us okay Lauren the Board of Education welcomes public participation and ask that speakers
015please 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 def amatory comments about Board of Education personnel and students nor against any person connected with the Danbury public school system um before the start of the board meeting those wishing to address the board and public session or to sign in um sorry 3 minutes may be allotted to each speaker and a maximum of 30 minutes for public participation the board May modify these limitations um by a majority vote of those present at the beginning of the meeting thank you first speaker is Carol if I don't pronounce it right you just come on up and make your announcement good afternoon my name is p m
016and I'm here today to advocate for the important role of sports in our educational system Sports aren't just about physical activity but they're about shaping the minds and of our students participation in sports teaches students valuable life lessons that go beyond classroom when students engage in sports the importance of teamwork discipline and perseverance these qualities are essential for Success not only in sports but in all aspects of Life by working together towards a common goal on the field core or mat students develop crucial interpersonal skills that will serve them well in their future careers and relationships moreover Sports promote physical health and wellbeing in a time where inactive Lifestyles and time their PR Sports provide platform students to stay active and develop healthy habits regular physical activity through Sports not only improves physical fitness but
017also boosts mental health reducing Stress and Anxiety levels among students Sports also Foster a sense of community and school spirit athletic events bring students Beyond these and Educators together creating a strong sense of belonging and pride in our school this Collective enthusiasm contributes to a positive School culture and reinforces the values of sportsmanship respect and inclusivity as we strive to provide a well-rounded education for our stud we must continue to prioritize and invest in sports programs by doing so we are investing in the holistic development of our students promoting their physical social and emotional grow I urge the board to reaffirm our commitment to sports and and education and allocate resources to support and expand our Athletic program let us Empower our students to excel not only academically but also as confident resilient and healthy
018individuals prepared to face the challenges of today and tomorrow thank you for your attention thank you for good evening my name is Matthew G and it's been my privilege to be educated from the D public school system thank you all for your what you do as a board of education and School administration to support D students the education I received and the after school opportunities I taken advantage of have opened me up to new interest in new relationships and life friendships given the budgetary constraints we're all facing I'd like to suggest at no additional cost a change in policy to help make opportunities I've been given more widespread reality for D high school students to participate in High School athletics at DHS you must be focused and committed to an extensive training and participation schedule
019for many students who were part-time after school help their families with siing care or taking multiple AP classes that commitment is impossible I'd like to suggest that the war and administration adjust the policy for the creation of new club sports you might be able to offer students an available after school Pathway to Athletics one of the difficulties that must be surmounted to cre Club support is finding educator sponsors my suggestion is that policy can be adjusted to have well beded uh fingerprinted background checked Community adult parent sponsors who help oversee and gu from Sports by adjusting this POS the burden oversight and Direction isn't just on our Educators in the system but on volunteer community members more by expand the accessibility of club sports can ensure that every student regardless of their schedule responsibilities has
020a chance to experience the caderie discipline and every other benefit that comes with being part of Team by broadening the scope of club sports leing care to a wider range of interests and abilities ensuring that more students find a place where they feel they want this policy change is not just about sports it's about creating more inclusive and diverse opportunities for all students to grow learn and Thrive during that time of D High School I recognize that there are material cost involved our community I fully believe that if club sports and DHS can be easily set up the materials and inment can be solicited from the community as donations and kept at DHS for each New Year participants given the burg budget Trace I hope you can see the advantage thoughtful policy change with student
021and Community input providing space for the the easy development of low cost High student impact club sports thank you sincerely for your time tonight and all that you do thank you dear Daniel oh Dan I'm close so my name is Dan and I'm a sophomore DHS today I would like to point out how the are going to change extracurriculars I understand that the current plan is to have buses for each student back to the main building after each school day few problems that come with this when imagining how a realistic school day would go on we have to provide a bus for everyone it would be unrealistic to beat out those without real extracurriculars and deny them from the bus and a seat for everyone seems like an inefficient use spend bring every kid back
022to the main canas and potentially sending them from but another issue is the limiting nature of forcing extra into the main campus if the strategy is to allow to bring students back to the main campus then all extracurriculars must be at the main campus if not students won't be able to get there first this means that any equipment we have at the acem can be used in extra which seems like wasted potential specialized acmy seem like a perfect place to create Niche gloves but that won't be possible another more important problem this is the teachers how are they going to run their clubs if a teacher mov the and they have to run a club at the main campus how are they going to get there asking them to drive to the main building during
023all of the traffic of average dismissal at DHS seems excessive and not fa to ask teachers will start to decline to R clubs because of how much inconvenience it is and I don't blame him I probably would do it too if I was a teacher either a club will be at DHS which means teachers have EXT at the and everyone either way that's problematic for somebody I know I'm pointing out problems here and really not offering Solutions that's because I don't have it if you truly want to fix these problems you have to talk with teachers students that have ideas people that know more than me about theem and can off for real solutions a wide variety ofs is one of dhs's best features so I hope these won't jeopardize that thank you for listening
024[Applause] Alexander good evening I'm Alexander for as you might as you might know extracurriculars give numerous opportunities and benefits to students they give important skills like cooperation responsibility social interaction leadership time management and Etc these activities also provide students with hobbies and interest interaction and friendship with other students and they allow students to get involved in their schools and communities this involvement could give them opportunities and higher levels of education and jobs all students benefit from participating in extra curriculars however students are unable to because of Transportation most extracurriculars occur soon after school but many students are unable to have someone take them home as a student involved in them myself I can attest to this fact many times I have to from one of my parents to get off work I sit outside of
025Denver high school for sometimes almost an hour with many other students it is clear that this is a chronic problem when it comes to the accessibility of extracurricular activities most students have other responsibilities like chores homework and other commitments that they can't make time to wait for a ride home as a solution to the problem we can incorporate a public bus stop at Denver High School this bus stop would allow many students to who have to wait for hours School the opportunity to get home and complete their chores and finish their homework while still being able to experience extracurriculars and learn the important skills they provide making these programs more accessible to students doesn't just benefit them but our entire Community not only will more students be involved in their schools but also their communities
026supporting their Futures and quality of our city as the Board of Education it is your job to be supporting our students in their academic vs whether that be the accessibility of extracurriculars and uh creating the bus stop it is important that you try to it is important that you try to support our extracurriculars thank [Applause] you Cody hi my name is Cody and I'm a junior at DHS any clubs at DHS are unfunded and this is not an issue but some do require minimal amount of funding yearly dues from students May C for cost clubing on the number of people who join year toe some of these are base costs such as fees required competitions however news are not consistent way of uh funding clubs as a number of students can year so a consistent
027annual budget for each Club will make management funds easier for all clubs and would eliminate required from students this removes a financial barrier for entry into clubs and allows more students to Trav clubs help and financials unfortunately with the budget shortfall this upcoming school year understand if consistent annual annual budget for each Club however I still urge you all to keep this in mind as a way to better our clubs for children and my peers in addition I suggest making the funding of clubs and sports more transparent for parents and students I recommend that a document or website page be published every time that the budget is finalized that includes the funding each extracurricular activity receives compared to how much they requested this could be developed even further down the line funding requests for each
028track similar to how Congress tracks bills through G tra transparency about how the budget is distributed is as students and parents are unable to make B decisions about education if critical information such as funding is hidden shifting to transparency and extracurricular funding allows students and parents to understand how the budget is distributed and allows them to act on this information to make funding of extracurricular fa for all students uh with these in mind I hope you seriously take my considerations and I thank you for your service thank you [Applause] thank M good evening members my name is Michaela Murphy and tonight I wanted to speak to you about the music program at tary high school we know that we want to increase academic achievement that there are problems with discipline and chronic absenteeism and that
029students are struggling more than ever with their mental health participation in B could be the KE to solving all of these problems multiple band students I spoke to credit the program with improvements in their grades and their mental health I spoke to a freshman about how difficult her year has been because she wasn't involved in any extracurriculars calling quote lonely and isolating since joining the band's winter programs she's made new friends and quote found her place at DHS her experience is a star contrast to a different freshman who joined band immediately and said that he quote enjoyed meeting new friends and that marching bankrupt helped him transition into his first year of high school one of our eighth graders credit her participation in the high school band with drastic improvements in her grades and her
030behavior during the fall as soon as the season ended she began to struggle again a study from the University of Kansas stat that quote students engaged in music programs outperform their peers on every indicator GPA graduation rate ACT scores attendance and discipline refer referrals and that quote band is important for creating a sense of belonging and purpose for students they identify themselves as musicians and as being in band and that they're motivated to come to school so they can participate in music currently only 43 members or sorry currently only 43 students are benefiting from marching band at DHS a number that hasn't exceeded 50 in over a decade so what can the board do to help grow our program besides monetary assistance scheduling is the biggest issue Cher High School recently implemented Auto scheduling and
031as a result their Band program is going to grow over 50% next year Auto scheduling e8th grade band students into the high school band classes triple the size with the band and support nth graders through a difficult transition in Beth students signed up for a performing Ensemble are given a priority and with less than a thousand students in their high school they are the raing national champions scheduling music classes first after course selections helps make sure students get the classes they request districts across the country offer PE credits to students who participate in marching Banner color guard with schools like trumple offering them as daytime classes and multiple districts in Connecticut including Norwalk when face with budget cuts made a point to preserve instrumental music programs at their Elementary School levels Danver can be a
032district where music thrives the talent is here in our teaching staff in our student body and in our diverse Community your support of the band program and Adoption of some of these policies can make us a mic District that fits the legacies with famous dber residents like Mar and Anderson Mar and Anderson and Charles eyeses thank you for your [Applause] time I'm sorry young okay hi everyone my name is sophomore I've been playing my sport at a club since sixth grade and starting Varity since freshman year that being said there are many things that need to be our Sports prog from my personal experience inspiring student athletes are struggling to perform and better themselves under the conditions we are facing the main issue based on my experience is the coaching sports with more attention like
033football and basketball gain more funding from the school this allows for not only better equipment but also more knowledge of coaches and staff my sport along with many others gain nearly no funding this decision is reflected by our coach or lack never in my 5 years of playing had I been coached never played a sport though my coach did the very best she could by researching drills on the internet a sports team is much different compared to uh sorry a school assignment you can just research her lack of understanding of my support was clear and it cost her her and my team valuable time and effort I can speak for everyone including the players and the coach when I say each season was stressful and emotional multiple of my teammates that have always had a
034love with their sport considered quitting including me this is especially taxing considering now being added to the countless assignments responsibilities and time management skills that come with being a student athlete for a long time I blame my coach but how can how much can be expected from someone who's never played the sport for coaching and have little respect from their players based off of that fact dedicated athletes and coaches should have should not have to suffer due to a lack of funding countless of talented athletes have been set back because they gain no new experience from high school season I even found myself get for in developing which puts me at a disadvantage for club to my college future which locally my family I are able to that being said athletes should not have to
035rely on expensive Club Seasons high school should be there to nurture dedicated athletes the best they can regardless of sports and level of skill there should be no one support that receives a majority of funding simply because it's more popular if my support en countless others receive the resources deserved when athletes will gain more knowledge and be able to reach their full potential making their commitment time and tears thank you so much for your time thank [Applause] you of Education thank you for hearing me tonight my name is Brad Walsh and I want to talk to you about the music program and the CRI position your forces into give a life all people can love but in recent times it's become more repeated with with the recent additions of props and vocal samples many marching
036bands are able to exemplify the town they want due to their excess of funding comp to ours for example we give $2,000 tax who have been here for years where our where other bands can afford to give starting tax twice the salary is ours they can afford tax to have Mar Blue Devil credit Crusaders the best of the best while we can barely and they can have up to 10 of these tax well we can barely afford to pay four tax one of which who I know personally even been PID yet for for this year's uh season we are forced to buy shows which although many bands do as well limits Us in how we want to express our band such as bands like Norwalk cheser new town and many others can afford to have
037their own music written into their band strengths in our history we have never surpassed 90 in our score while these other bands with these fundings have surpassed 93 have gotten 93s and 94s consistently at the end of every year um and their students dues are less than ours but we have the and their dues are allow them to uh more exemplify and get extra props while our dues are used to me stay a flat in our bed Beth all neighbors have also been able to fund guard programs all the way down to Primary School which has allowed their uh their guards to excel in every level but our guard can barely compete in Winter Guard which is the winter version of Color Guard and we are barely competitors because we cannot afford the props the
038music the staff to to in a sense be a competing fact um we we lack the funding for uniforms and instruments which this in a sense limits our growth as a bank because we can't afford to uh give kids uniforms and instruments we have two tubos in our band both of which have huge holes in them and one of which has had mold growing in it for years but we can't even we can't even risk the money to have that fixed at a risk for in someplace else our Band program has been crippled because our needs have been overload compared to others um we need more funding in me times the marching band is the S partner at football G at Pep rallies we are of the school yet in a sense the Pari of
039the budget and many kids at thhs look forward to Maring b as the H of the day many other kids it is the only h of the day I know personally one kid who's whose only friends the only way he's able to have friends is do Mar and in a sense we we struggle to provide that to as many students if we want to because of our lack of funding and the lack of knowledge of our bank really what we ask is not necessarily a large amount of funding compared to nor because we understand our district doesn't have that funding but we ask for more consideration and more support we appreciate all the work all the kind words that you all say but we request that we get maybe a little more funding a little
040more publicity for the young for the younger Generations so they understand that we are available and also know that we are available to any school in the Danberry and not just for kids of and we hope that through this we can give our marching band our Band program a to grow and to provide a place where all kids are welcome and can enjoy themselves and as one of my peers before said people who do ban are more likely to do better in school they have better time in is I personally took s g in the same year and B helped me through that thank you Malik even and I'm gr student atool first off thank you all for your time today I want to talk to you about the importance of integ integ sport into
041deeply into our middle schol our midle schol there drop in high school students participating in extracurricular activities particularly I believe high schoolers should be encouraged to explore new activities but it them experience whether it is about whether it's sports or other interests that's why I think middle school should offer a broad range of including Sports and as Educators and community members we have a responsibility to nurture not only our minds but also the bodies of here are a few reasons why I believe short sport should play a prominent role in education firstly physical activities essential for overall health in an age where screen Domin providing exercise through Sports is crucial by engaging in sports students are not only able to improve their physical fitness but also develop lifelong habits that promote healthy andity secondly Sports
042teach valuable life skills at far beyond team leadership discipline and resilience are just good examples of the qualities that students learn through Sports participation these skills are fundamental success in all aspects including academic careers and relationship students schools provide Sports programs en overall personally I've been trying school to if I had more CH to play sports on earli it would have easier to track for teams those who can afford outside [Music] teams the social aspect of school ISU crucial without it school and to attend by involving students in sports at a younger age and encouraging contined participation it can make more friends and en more would also improve the attendance a significant issue Nationwide while funding for sports programs may an obstacle and Community Support cover a large portion of to students engag in activities
043espcially sportser a wi of EX options is essal [Applause] evening I Howard and I'm Junior schol School many talented so much said lowering the funds for would eliminating excuse me we uh could you put the mic so we cannot hear you thank you if more money is taken from these programs will probably be less children them and certain sports with the amount ofers they have these are to [Music] children are already not sore school today I would like to speak to you about the importance of supporting atic extracurricular schol firstly I would like to say that we all should realize that education was alici did mic so we can first I would like to say that we all should realize that educ while [Music] extra students expl lears joining onlys also the problem is that
044extra supported by the schools I noticed that in many sports teams there isn't enough money to provideers Andes mats needed to succeed as a team leav coaches with the only option which is using their own money if we care about players and students growing on theirs and Fields it is important that we as a community invest the time and money into supporting them as well investing into these student athletes can help our sports teams grow and encourage other students to join them as well for money it's the importance of coming out and Sh up these games and as well the and support us as a for example many of the basketball games our schoolers we as a community need to make sure that these athletic teams get the physical funding and emotional support they need
045in order for them in our athletic reputation as schools get better get better as well thank you thank you [Applause] pull it up close [Music] mys most people ask about really know that the exists and it's not really care about at all head coach and we the only team in the FC league with no diving coach and no assistant coach most of the teams we ver are double schools or large schools that have divers on teams this is the reason why so many more points can be made but we don't have it D coach diving is an event at our we participate in other teams school also does not have a regardless of being School schol or double schools with pools we have to swim at West time due to the pool availability and conflict
046with other sports at Westcon the swim team has about half the full time of other FC teams which makes it hard to compete and the head coach of the DS swim team has taught many on swiers how to swim effectively this is a lifing critical skilless thank you for thank you so we have three more speakers okay so Patty then Adam and then mam okay so let's Okay P okay good evening Dr Casmir members of the board with the announcement of a significant reduction in force due to our District's current economic struggles I have some thoughts and some wonderings first are we still holding fast to the need to make every effort to keep operations intact at the building level that affect students second the district has purchased the ark core reading program and professional
047development and is implementing the illustrative Mathematics Curriculum has consideration given to the possibility that you don't need individual curriculum administrators for the time being since our enrollment will not decline and certain classes will need to continue to be taught will the department heads chairs and chairs teach classes that will support the students on all levels fourth I thought that was third um fourth with the increasing number of students that are disregulated throughout the district and based on their IPs will facilitate s and supervisors be considered to support students in need and fifth considering reading and math test SC pre and postco and the fact that we have amazing teachers who have in our following District directives what can we do to promote success and Improvement for our students with far fewer resources as we are
048making Cuts we must consider our future I do want to say all of the um high school students have done an amazing job so they I know everybody is here promoting their interests and and what they're believing in and um I just hope that really considering what we're cutting and where we're going from here thank you for your time no thank you okay Adam hello schw thank you for hearing me tonight uh I'm coming you today as a concerned parent and concerned Uncle as to the fact of why we are allowing boys into the women's room at the high school why my niece and my daughter should have to feel uncomfortable using a woman's room because they're allowing Boys in there on top of that they're being told if they're uncomfortable to go find a
049private bathroom or go to the nurse's office or something why is my daughter and my niece being told to go somewhere else where they cannot use the woman's room like they are supposed to be and feel safe in there because I don't even know what we're accommodating here but I I would like to answer I would like to know why my daugh and my niece should still text me and say Daddy unlead I don't feel comfortable using a woman's room and when I tell teachers this they tell me to go find the private bathroom or go to the nurse and I would really like a legit answer as to why this is going on at this point we do not download with you back and forth the superintendent is sitting I called the superintendent man'
050and I got no response okay I left message I've got no call back someone we will not dialogue with you with the conversation you want to finish your speech and then at some point someone will contact you what do you are you push me away I'm not supposed to be heard I'm not no I'm not I'm saying you can finish you can complete yeah your remarks or whatever you want to say and I'm just saying we do not dialogue back and forth with parents someone will contact you and have a discussion with why can't we dialoging now because that's not a part of our our procedure now this is where this is where you you you coming before us you coming before the board showing us or telling us a concern and we are listening
051to that concern and someone in the administration will contact you okay I I get that however however I have contacted superintendent before and when I spoken with the uh the secretary at the superintendent office they told me to come here tonight to voice my opinion so I can get some answers and I'm literally just getting around the the the loop here I'm not getting any kind of response I'm literally getting pushed this way and that way trying to avoid an answer I would like an answer I I don't want to hear somebody's going to contact me later cuz they're not they're not I would like to legit answer with all respect well with all due respect again we do not download back in and I have given you I have given you the the process
052that we go through and I can guarantee someone will contact you tomorrow or later on after we after you continue with your message that you want to bring forth to us okay my information to contact I love that thank you so much thank you muham good evening members of the board of I'm Mohamed ner and a senior in DHS I'd like to start off by saying that extracurriculars aren't just about filling up our schedules uh they are also about shaping our character developing crucial skills and preparing us like beond the hallways robotics club for example is more than just building robots it's about problem solving teamwork and creativity sports teams they also play a crucial role they teach us about teamwork leadership and the importance of physical health when we advocate for funding in these
053clubs we're investing our future Engineers programmers innovators and it's through these skills that individuals are able to become successful and navigate throughout the world when I came into DHS as a freshman I made friends not only that but I grew to know that these programs were underfunded the equipment needed was pretty worn out all I'm just saying is that when we Advocate about extracurricular activities it's not only about the fun after school activities but about shaping the Future Leaders innovators and compassionate individuals that are world needs thank you for your time thank you on behalf of the board I certainly would like to thank you all for participating in our public session tonight and as we move forward with our agenda now at this point at this point we have an agenda to attend to
054and we have given a half an hour to speaking and it's almost 8:00 and I'm sorry we're cutting off public participation okay thank you could I have a motion to move forward with the agend could we move forward with the agenda with the action item the consent calendar want need consent calendar the motion is that theard education approved the items on the consent calendar exhibits 2476 and 2477 as recommended and in accordance with the minutes 31824 finance committee and 32724 regular motion was made by W second can I hear a second by second second by Kate are there any questions concerning consent calv say n all in favor I motion so Carri thank you um we have uh anyone our student reps here action item a Richard now the motion that the Board of Education
055set Thursday June 133 2024 as the 2024 graduation date for deny High School motion been made by Mr janelli could I hear a second second by toon and there's any question should not be no question about graduation date okay all in favor could I hear I motion so carried thank you action item B Kate I'll make a motion that the Board of Education accept for second reading adoption the following policies ver exhibits 2478 through 24-85 as recommended by the policy committee and in accordance with each of those policies motion made by Kate could I hear second it by Al are there any question concerning any of these policies and I know that we the policy committee and most of us as board members have been working hard trying to get everything and admin and the
056lay on person working with the group has been trying to put all these policy in place so if there's no other questions uh all the in favor of the motion can I hear I I I motion so Care thank you all and thank the committee our superintendent report thank you um so we just have a a few short items uh tonight um one is the AIS update I've been updating on a semi regular basis about the um status of AIS and our continued concerns with getting out of District placements to come um as you know the the tuition and the students actually that we get from our disting town helps with the funding of the school itself so a lot of our staff is paid with magnet State dollars that we get by on a
057per pupil pupil basis um so right now we have three kindergart classes across and we are struggling to fill one um currently and we're getting late in the year so we're going to switch it up a little bit and try some different strategies to increase some of the participation and one is going to be to um work with some of the surrounding towns to um offer um a students additional students who are on the waiting list um a tuition waiver to come in so that any students beyond the cap that they have we participating agreement so if a school has a 15 students on the cap um that they would have um they would be able to beyond the cap still send a couple of students from the waiting list we only get about um
058next year $1,247 a student from the Ser from the sending um schools but what we get the real money that we get is when we get that student we get the state aid uh reimbursement Factor so that's about $722 so it's kind of a g to get get some aid from the state so we going to work to work with surrounding towns to um see if they're interested in increasing some of their participation by offering a few more seats on the waiting list um so that's uh that's very important the other thing we're going to do is we're going to Market it um in many different ways we've had a little bit of a a campaign um to get have a video get created to offer additional open houses for the super for the uh
059principal to go out to those towns to do more advocacy um in addition you know we'll be talking and and getting some information out to our D Public School Employees that maybe they they too can also offer they can have students come uh their own child come for AIS and then whatever Town they're from would be responsible for the for the tuition piece on that in addition um marketing to Westcon uh staff as well will may be in the area an idea can be your place for their child to go to school so um we're continuing to pull out all the stops on trying to get recruitment but we don't want to lose those State dollars so we're looking for creative ways to to generate that yes thanks Dr apprciate that U what does it
060what does it look like in terms of the timeline for this so that we can understander yeah this is late we're we're we're very very late we're past our you know we should we should have everything we're we we're a to so Dand families have have apply to as as well but because of our ratio are unable to to invite the Danberry families who apply for the lottery to come because we cannot go over our ratio balance right now so we need more participating towns in order to invite the danburry students so it's a very frustrating situation right now so again try to different creative ways to try to bolster that participation you're welcome Mr do you know in terms of numbers apart from what the short call is that we're looking to F num
061students oh well right now you know right now we have we had last week we had about 12 students um that that were committed we're up to about 17 now for one of the classrooms so um it's two classrooms really short um for next year so maybe like 50 students yeah is it possible to go to other towns or is it just too far out it's open so we have we have partner agreements so we have some surrounding towns that are partner agreements so there's a predetermined number that we work with so they've already pre-committed um at the at the um formation of the magnet its Inception you know that agreed to 15 or 20 or 30 seats they paay for those each year there's a tuition bill the kids come um but any any
062town in Connecticut can actually participate any student from any town we just they don't have to be a partnering District but they they're can be a participating District can with anywhere thank you um where would the video be shown yeah so Mike stepped out but um we just um it's been on local TV I don't know if anybody seen it pleas say seen it um if not we're going to have to bump that up but it's been on some local um push out on some local it's a very short video it's not super long but it's also been sent to those boards um and I believe it's now on our website so if it's not it will be we just we just put a video together yeah and I'll send it to the board so
063you can see it the first um are we allowed to solicit in the dayare dayare uh yeah yeah as long as they so we had we just had a partner agreement so that we had we brought all the superintendents in and that was one of our asks is that um that you allow us access into your District into your your your town fairs or whatever like to let us know it's we can set up a booth and we can talk to folks but yes um we can it's a matter of whether or not they want us to do that so about is being um so low um superintendent the state w't give no consideration no no we've been working very closely we've been um as you know we're on a corrective action plan because the
064number dipped over ratio um so we're working very closely with them and they've been they've been very informative and it has taken a while to really understand all the dues and notes and what we're allowed to do but um there's not a lot of flexibility on the on the state backet we we you know we can get creative like said around the edges of it um to draw more in but not on not from the state themselves Mr J if things don't work out in no favor I know there's a penalty if we go over the whatever the ratio is 7030 is there a chance that we can apply for an exception to that penalty and have more about kids in the district that are on possibly the waiting list to get into the school
065the seats so I think we've already John this year we already took a little hit on the funding right yeah we took a little bit of a hit and that will continue what I'm hoping is that you know we don't reach a point where we lose all the funding because we're not operating as as intended um so that would be that would be difficult but um there the state is not flexible what I do know is there there are Dr Rock was in the back there like 30 or 60 other schools in the similar situation around the state there's a large number of of schools like AIS and in towns who are also on corrective action plans also going through the same thing so I'm I'm wondering if that will force the hand of the
066state to actually come up with something because schools are facing a similar around the state similar a similar issue with this is there a reason for is there a financial reason that the the motivation is dropped off and as you said it seems not only to be d d but perhaps so is there any specific reason that you think of yeah youve got a couple things so Brookfield was a was a bigger partner Brookfield just built a brand new beautiful elementary school so you know right off the bat you're going to have a draw in that area um you know we continue to be popular withfield to Milford but they're only willing to send so many they don't want to go beyond their cap because they budget for so many dollars and um they have
067to you know transportation is always an issue that kind of falls on the sending District um so it's a situation really a once St budget like I had a couple people call one of the local superintendents and said we renegotiate our participation agreement we're having a tough budget year and um so it's also a budget issue for them as well and it's little bit tough heading into this climate all districts are looking for weeds to to trim so they don't necessarily have to send but I have asked them to consider um really look at their enrollment patterns because for example it could be beneficial to them if they have three second grade classes or first grade classes are on the verge of having to open up a third could be very cost effective for them
068to let more students into our into the lottery because it prevents them for having to add another FTE and and all the things that go with that than um Westside uh Middle School toring just a little update there mik is M has stepped out um and I did put this in a a board report earlier but there was some there's some damage to the section of the flooring there was actually a hole right through the floor um that was caused by uh either some Tor sudden type of a lack of moisture barrier that was underneath the Portables when they were installed so did an inspection and you can see that it's probably aging a little bit more quickly than it than it should um as a result of contact with moisture so um we had
069someone come in and they replaced a section of the Flor um so it is safe but just to be on the safer side uh we wanted to bring an engineer in to come and just take a look to make sure that the all the structural there's nothing compromised there so more to come there but definitely some damage on one of the portals um how old are those Port um maybe 10 yeah should they should not be happening I was say what's the life expected it it varies it depends on the quality of affordable that you buy when you buy them there's a good better best and then there's a you know economy version and I'm they still look good I think they're you know I I shouldn't say that I don't know but um you
070know we'll have to go back and and look at that I think they're definitely past their manufacturer warranty that's for sure okay and then the last uh piece was obvious the budget and that's a a serious um situation and I I appreciate employees that come out and speak on that we all just as concerned um especially the students when they come out and they talk about their extracurriculars I appreciate you I appreciate your concerns I'm going to be following up with a couple of you um but you know last week we presented our our 2425 budget and we presented the rationale for that budget um maybe in a little bit of a different way that it's been done before and so while it was difficult uh we did receive some good feedback from many people
071that um that the presentation helped to bring greater Clarity to the need and and in that I think they we opened up a door and a dialogue with the city um that maybe perhaps wasn't there in in the way that maybe it needed to be in clar the ways that needed to be in terms of clarity um you know it was our duty to really discuss the potential effects of the funding and the shortfalls and while there's a a risk to doing that in terms of Staff G what set um kids getting stressed out and administrators in the board it was very stressful I think it it's necessary um to begin the process of Y we have a shortfall and now we have to address those short calls and move forward and so you know
072once we get past a certain point in this budget um you know it's really going to be about rebuilding there's a lot of amazing things still happening in Danbury uh in our public schools and um you know we uh we're going to work really hard to make sure that the cuts and reductions impact the least um I'm very sensitive to the the things that students enjoy and come to rely on in terms of their programs and Athletics and schools um there will be you know the every Department every bargaining group is going to feel um the effects of the budget there's no there's no other way around it um you know to what extent you know in the in the coming weeks will'll be um we'll be talking about that a little bit more um
073the team has been working around the clock to analyze every GR every contract every opportunity every instance and ways that we might be able to rear rearrange uh what we have in place um create economies um that maybe didn't exist before um so sometimes um you find things in the in the midst of this process that maybe you haven't seen before so I'm I'm excited in the sense that we having different conversations and I feel um that you know we're going to as we continue to work with that process that um we're you know we'll be able to to attend to some of the things that some folks are are most worried about um it will still be difficult but we're going to be working to that process um we're continuing to work through some
074of the Staffing that we have here um analyzing positions that may have been opened and and our have been funded so we're looking at those um we're looking at all the alignments with our staffing um we are interviewing and working with leaders oneon-one to hear any ideas that they have things that they' noted um that could be potentially cost savings um and we've had some great discussions about that we're asking uh folks to start thinking about different models or approaches um so that we're not kind of digging into the status quo of holding on to certain things that in the past and looking at uh different approaches and delivering services in different ways um and uh we are working with our bargaining groups and our Union folks um as we move forward as we begin
075uh that process that we've already begun to have um open the doors on dialog to make sure that the the process itself is communicated and that's fair and that um you know we're working together on that so um I don't have any specific updates I know everyone is waiting baited breath on the guts I know that that's a a stressor out there but um you know it it's incoming upon us to do have due diligence we going through very carefully uh to make sure that you know as we put that together that it's done well and that we do it right the first time so um that's my update Mr I just want to recap that evening that you made that presentation to say that going Echo what I've heard during the presentation that was
076one of the most outstanding presentations made but I think equally as important the atmosphere in the room of the council people it's completely different than what I've ever experienced and I felt they were absolutely sincere in saying paraphrasing sorry we can't deal with things right now but we're willing to continue to work on that behalf and I think that bridge is something that we haven't had before and therefore I may be putting my neck in the news with Mrs Cooper my next statement is I think on behalf of this board you like to say personally I think I can speak for my colleagues you've done a fantastic job with the presentation and may have outspoken to Mrs Cooper in terms of speaking on behalf of the board but I sincerely feel that thank you thank
077you so Mr Janel what do you think that I should do to [Laughter] you all group s yeah thank you Mr Janelle uh before we move on and it would beho me uh Mr Farley Santos uh like to always welcome you and thank you for coming out to our meeting who's uh one of our state rep and he also he works two little offices so we're happy to have you here tonight to listen to our young people and and hopefully influence uh our counsel and our mayor to maybe look at some more things as to how they can continue to support the board in a positive way thank you thank you hang um under information we have our teacher of the year award ceremony on Tuesday April 23rd at br Middle School the reception starts
078at 5:30 and the program starts at 6:00 p.m. so we're looking forward to that next is the board chairperson report I would like to encourage all our board members as possibly can tomorrow night to be at City Hall when the mayor presents the the uh budget and open it up for the public this is the first time that I have been on this board in 32 years that they didn't do it during spring and we have been asking for years other community groups have been asking for years not to have it happen during spr break so I would like to say thank you to uh the mayor his delegation or whoever thought that it was need to go ahead and have this uh before spring break when people are away making a vacation friend so
079I encourage my board members to go down tomorrow if you just want to say hello support budget please don't let your board chair just do it all by herself we are group working together I need you to come down and voice your concern that's showing to me that you are supporting what our Administration is putting for okay thank you uh Memorial Day Parade let's all have beautiful smile and Lauren is going to check in getting the flo one Memorial be apparently I won be able to got a family Miss send me pictures and then just one last thing uh you know sometime we talk about our email and have you read this you know most of us so busy we're up in here over here to that meeting over here run and doing two meetings
080sometime in one night and I appreciate um superintendent because everywhere I show up she's there and U you know she's representing us very well and um the other night when we had a Citywide PTO meeting the question Camp kept coming up from parents and she explained the difference between um shelter in place versus a lot them because some parents really didn't get that so do you want to S briefly so the the shelter in place is when you're a you're in the school the school's locked from the inside right no one can come in or out but the students have some ability to move inside the school we don't want them moving around unnecessarily to go to the bathroom you've got a change to go to lunch um they're in the building so you know
081they're not out in recess or not out the gym in the field or inside the school and that's usually as a precaution and and us the the school a quick ability to Pivot should we need to move to a lockdown if something were to change quickly so it's it's the shelter place is really a safe catch to just alert without alarming so much um to keep the kids safe and the and the the lockdown is really when we are lights off away from the door get you know you're hovering down there no devices and you're really it's much more of an imminent threat in in the immediate area um and that we want students to be as invisible as possible so um there was some concern around know the terminology and interpreting that and so
082we we had some parents that wanted that clarified and they they were satisfied with with understanding them than I have nothing else on uh my agenda I will ask for a motion at this time to adjourn if no one have any other question I make the motion to adjourn second motion made I ask second by Michelle all those in favor could I hear