001I can I have roll call please presita present Michelle here Kate here glis here Mar Lauren Richard H here Richard janelli he's AB thank you we have yes yes public participation the board welcomes public participation and answer comments be limited to 3 minutes the public may offer objected comments of school operation and programs that concern them the board would not permit an expression of personal complaints ofat comments about Board of Education personnel and students nor against any person connected with the dbe public schools at this time we will start our public participation the first person that signed is Heather everyone is everyone is limited to 3 minutes hi everyone my name Isen I'm a resident of d and a teacher at d Ray High School um most of you know me very well um and
002you know my love for this district and um the love of our students our staff um this has been a really difficult year um I was one of the teachers that was um hit um in December and um along with another colleague of mine who is now Prett bill um the I'm here because the safety of students and teachers in my opinion should be the number one priority of this district and I really hav't felt that um I'm sorry I'm usually much more composing this um I am actually afraid for the first time in 18 years of teaching I am sometimes afraid in my school we are overcrowded there are not enough adults to go around there are not enough safety Advocates they aren't paid well enough they don't even get benefits so we can't
003keep them around there is a problem a significant problem at D high school we know we all know about the overcrowding I don't think you understand I actually have been pushed and shoved not intentionally by kids but because there's just a swarms swarms and swarms of kids it is unbelievable what it's like there this year and it's most especially on the floor that I'm on which is de3 it is pro probably the most populated floor in the entire school and we don't have enough money and this budget that's coming up and the current budget and next year's budget does not in my opinion prioritize our safety and health or the students safety and health and I am begging you I'm literally begging you to please do something about it please get working cameras everywhere in
004the building please please get more safety advocates in the building please pay them a fair wage and give them benefit so they're not afraid that they're going to get hurt on the job please do something because otherwise pretty soon you will have no teachers thank you very much I appreciate your time and I'm sorry I'm coming across so emotional but there's there's nothing else I can do except show you how raw it is so thank you have a good evening thank you for bringing your comments to the board tonight thank you Adam good evening my name is Al I'm student at bra school and I just want to address something about my own personal beliefs growing up in family I saw that as hard of I'm half Pakistanian and half white one side of my
005family is Christian and the young is Muslim when I was younger I never noticed how difficult it was to transfer between one side and another side the different responses I have received um students family members about my two sides I've noticed that it's pretty hard to deal with these two sides and on the side where I'm Muslim I know that I am loved and I have so much love inside throughout this there is a holiday called he on this holiday we stay up so late we celebrate this month after the month of Ramadan where we fast almost every single day I'm asking you guys and pleasing you for a day off it is hard to go back to school the next day with deal with all that stress the makeup of work those assignments add
006up and I know this might seem a lot but it's my parents are pretty hard on my grades so I'm just asking you guys if you can get eat off got everything to me I also notic other like schools getting eat off there's holidays like paper Good Friday and Christmas so I'm asking why not I hope the speech might do well happy day thank you for your com [Music] Sarah good evening my name is s and good evening my name is Sarah Sayan and I'm a student in brav Middle School living in New York my whole life we had PR all after moving to Denbury I learned that no one at school knew what e was or what my religion even is my heart sank as I had to make a fre test and went
007for like 100 assignments the next day since I had to miss school for eight my parents are very strict when it comes to my education so it took them a lot of debating before finalizing that I shouldn't have to go to school on me it made them sad too knowing that me and my little brother had to struggle just because we wanted to follow our religious traditions and be with our loved ones on a special day that meant so much to us what makes it harder is that people at school had no clue what me was and every time I mentioned it they were like what's that or like that has to be made up I always shed my best to be inclusive when the other holidays come out like Hanukkah or Christmas I say
008Merry Christmas to my friends that celebrate Christmas because I know it makes them so happy I don't I don't want to be I don't want to ask for too much I just want to be able to say Aid without having to give a speech on what Aid is all the time I love living in D but when my favorite day comes around the corner I get stressed and I have to balance so many things and I am still a kid after all I miss being able to enjoy waking up and not worrying what I'm missing out on but I know it's about more than just how I feel about the work I have to make up if the entire District takes off our Aid we can celebrate diverse holidays and encourage an of inclusiveness we
009would Al we would be allowing students to learn about different cultures and help students appreciate the diversity of dber thank you for your time thank you may my name isiam a I'm a senior high school since the last sport of Ed meeting on January 24th many families from my community Danberry contacted me asking about our e proposal because they want to support it and get involved including our community leaders and Muslim civil rights organization however our personal experience as students with the leadership of Danberry schools teachers and staff encourage us to believe in this board and this board will continue to work with us students to list the E of and as holidays on the calendar of our schools we met with the superintendent last year he was supportive and encouraging and he advised us
010to bring our proposal to the new board because he told us it would be difficult to add the E holidays to the 2023 to 2024 year we are proposing it to be added to the 2024 to 2025 and following Year's calendars recognizing Eve as a holiday and closing de schools will provide Muslim Students with long overdue accommodation Stanford Manchester Bridgeport Trumble Fairfield New Haven Hamden Norwalk water already have the eeve holiday off and we believe that Danberry should be on this list Danberry has dedicated days off from school for many non-religious and religious holidays including yor and Good Friday Muslim Students have been victims of high levels of islamophobic sentiment and islamophobia in US public schools it is a prevalent and ongoing problem according to a Nationwide poll taken by in 2020 by the Council
011on American Islamic relations which found 51% of Muslim Students in to 12th grade face religious bullying more than twice the reported national average of 20% some young Muslims experience anxiety depression insomnia and low self-esteem what others feel they must choose between being American or Muslim at school having the eat holiday off is a way to promote cultural engagement and a way to change outdated stereotypes through education which starts in schools where children are supposed to learn about cultural diversity and acceptance if he finds this need further discussion the Muslim Community and the students of D we would like to we we don't want to stop do them as we are given everyone three minutes okay thank you okay thank you very much Serena hello everyone D is a diverse City and students across the district
012represent a vast array of cultures and religions Muslims make up a sizable amount of our home which becomes painfully evident when I see the amount of students struggle to make up assignments and tests after e excuse absence means nothing when students are left no time to breathe after their absence equal representation is core to our campaign to make both eids districtwide holidays but each year I witness dozens of my classmates struggle with their mental health during what is meant to be a time of Celebration and Bliss I want my classmates to enjoy their religious holidays just as I enjoy Christmas Easter good Friday and every other religiously significant day I have the privilege of celebrating with ease with ease I'm sure you all want the same for all Danbury students as well as a member
013of Danbury High School student council I am usually obliged to attend at least one Board of Ed meeting a month but I come here completely for my own will because I come here with the moral responsibility to advocate for the students I repr present every year dozens of our students fall behind simply because they celebrate Eid there are two eids but only one currently falls in the school year needless to say since Muslim holidays follow a different calendar that will eventually change and the deny School District must be ready to accommodate for students when that time comes students deserve to celebrate their religion without worrying about school and a large sum of us take this for granted thank you for your time thank you my last speaker s if I did not pronounce your name
014wrong I'm sorry good evening uh my name is s I'm a teacher at high school I apologize just like Heather um this is our emotional topic um I've been teaching at D high school for 10th year this is my 10th year now um 2021 I was named teacher of the year here at d as anyone who knows me um this for me is my calling it's not a job and Heather is right um what is happening at De High School is beond um acceptable um we we we're here talking about increasing reading scores math scores and I'm sure the board of you have uh pressures from the state to get funing whatever that is the pandemic didn't help things um but there's so much emphasis on numbers on the statistics right now we are barely
015keeping our heads above water with the safety and the lack of disrespect to teachers this year alone pretty much on a weekly basis now I've seen flights on D3 I'm also in D3 and it's not just D3 is everywhere um I can call I can call the f word the b word I then pretty much kids just not everyone but enough where it's not just me um I've witnessed see you know dealing with hearing how my colleagues are being punched um I'm asking you and I know you have to focus on numbers but what we're looking at is maso's hierarchy of need you're focusing on actualization versus the safety please provider administrators with money support training that they need to conduct our monthly safety committee meetings give them the training they need to manage these
016things because you are going to lose a lot of teachers teachers don't want to leave but they're having to leave uh thank you thank you thank you is there anyone that would like to speak that did not come and speak and did not sign up one opportunity for 3 minutes hello my name is Ria Khan I actually a 2020 graduate of DHS proud alumni um and I just want to speak on both topics that the volunteers have spoke on tonight um as someone that had graduated in 2020 at DHS it was obviously very different from the what I'm hearing now but at the same time we end heard fights just like she's explaining now it is almost embarrassing to think that I am a college graduate now and you're still enduring these problems and think
017that these issues are just arising and you're still doing nothing that's such a concern it's only getting worse the teachers are getting punched now I just want you to think about that in my case scenario it would only happen from student to student and I was the year that we had got accredited amazing but you're letting teachers get punched and hurt just think about how that's affecting their safety and wanting teachers to stay there's obviously other factors that are making them want to leave but now you're letting them get hurt and putting them out at the job I just want you to think about that because these teachers are the reason why I do what I do today these teachers are why I am the person I am today and I cannot thank them enough
018these are the teachers that would be been impact on us if you want them to go they're ready to go I just want to remind you of that and that's for the kids that are fighting to get eth eties mean as much as Christmas does to you I want you to think about that as well because if you get Christmas off that's amazing you get to celebrate that big part of your Christian belief they have Muslim belief they believe it too consider that and consider those Ramadan holidays the eeve holiday those are as significant as your Christmas Hol your Good Friday your your Easter whatever it may be just those two the topics that were brought up tonight mean so much to me and I want to consider that if the CP was an issue
019when I was in high school from 2016 to 2020 and it's still an issue it needs to be resolved and the fact that I did not get eat off as a holiday when I was in high school still an issue and that the fact that it's still not been resulted to the St as we are standing in 2024 that is a problem and it needs to be resolved thank you thank you at this time public participation has been closed we will go right into our agenda for tonight I need a motion to accept the consent count I'll make a motion that the Board of Education approve the items on the consent calendar exhibits 24-21 through 24-30 as recomended motion made by Kate could I hear second second by air any question concerning to consent calv
020seeing none all in favor to consent Calvin can I hear I I motion so car we're going to move down the agenda to the action item action item a okay I'll make a motion that the Board of Education approve the D Public Schools 24 sorry 2024-25 calendar in with exhibit 24-31 motion made by Kate could I hear second to the motion second second by Louisa any question concerning this motion yes I can I just wanted to point out that from the last calendar that you saw to this one uh the 2025 2026 there was a change uh there was an error on the uh indication for the rashash date originally listed as the 23rd has been corrected to the 22nd and that has been noted on on your um on the calendar in your in
021your pocket 2425 for 2526 the the date was changed from the 23rd to 22nd and I did indicate that yellow in your packet just that you were aware that that was a change from what you previously had seen yes k um with regard to the the advocacy we heard from our students um my mic is on yeah okay um with regard to the advocacy that we've heard from our uh some of our students at the last two meetings um can we just clarify Dr casmiro when we do an approval on a calendar like this uh what what can happen after that can we make amendments to the calendar how frequently does that happen I mean there has there have been times that we have made amendments after we after we've submitted the calendar usually because
022either there had to be a change in the school year we found an error that was unanticipated we've done that um the school calendars that are presented here were actually kind of late in the in the season here to get the 24 25 calendar in um but certainly you know if the board wishes to make an amendment down the line um in recognition of some of the things that you heard tonight that that would be the board's choice to do that me ask a followup question yes uh my followup question is you know I understand that there's a process that we have to go through and improving new holidays to be added to the calendar U that involves contractual paperwork with some of our bargaining units um is there some way that we can demonstrate
023um recognition of the concerns that were forward perhaps uh develop an internal policy where we don't have tests or uh you know quizzes or you know major projects that are do uh on those to holidays absolutely I think it's it's a good suggestion in theory that is what is supposed to happen um that we have students have the ability to have an excused recognized Day offer religious Services um but unfortunately I don't think you know with the with the way that the academic calendar flows um some folks may not necessarily um you know recognize that fully and and appreciate um what is happening but certainly that could be something that can be brought up through policy um or through you know have a regulation around um particularly student work um and acknowledgement of religious holidays
024okay thank you Dr any other question say none all in favor a motion did I hear I motion so car Item B Teresa B D Public Schools 202- 2026 calendar motion that the Board of Education approve the de Public Schools 25-20 26 Calendar in accordance with exhibit 24-32 motion made by Teresa could I hear a second on that motion second second by Al any question concerning exib 2432 I need okay um I don't know if I can ask a question um with regard to the ID holiday and does it fall um on the same day every year I believe I believe the calendar for 2526 is the day that falls on it is it was on I think it was on I believe it falls down uh spring break time that's 25 26 is that
025a process that you would like for the superintendent to look into if I'm not mistaken there are to um in holidays when you say one Falls during our so I'm trying to figure out when does the other and is it consistently the same around the same time each year it's my understanding that it shifts um each year it's not necessarily consistent I believe uh this year in April 11 I'm sorry we do not we do not dialog I'm sorry we do not dialogue with each other I think this is April 10th you want to have a conversation you can have the conversation later we do not diog back and forth with our ordinance okay that was any other question concerning uh that exhibit seeing none all in favor action item B did I hear I
026motion so car action item C o okay we have one do you are oppose or you abstain oppos okay so we have one oppos action item six I make the motion that the Board of Education approve the authorization of signature change form for the e099 agreement for Child Nutrition programs in accordance with I guess the state rle the state 2 legislator 24 34 thank you are you reading action item C I'm sorry let me rephrase it let me R you let's stop let's start all over I know it's Valentine's Day but I had a sign that I I I know it's Valentine's Day I had sign that exibit to what Miss Harris before you even stop no chop death okay I make a motion I make a motion that the Board of Education approve the
027authorization of signature change form for the Ed 099 agreement for Child Nutrition programs in accordance with 24-33 the motion was made by second by any discussion on that motion seeing none all in favor can I hear I motion so car now since Al you knock Miss Harris out the place on Valentine's Day I'm going to have to give Wanita uh Michelle would you exchange with Wanita I need to do an action action it action item D action item D authorization of change to the signatory representatives thank you m the motion that the Board of Education approved and authorize a change to the signatory representatives for the danur public schools and danur public school launch program in accordance with exhibit 24-34 motion was made by Wanita could I hear second by Michelle any discussion seeing none
028all in favor could I hear I I motion so carried thank you action item e Mr h the Board of Education adopt the superintendent 20242 fiscal year budget in the amount of 1881 m343 n95 as presented for submission to Mayor as required by the city Charter in accordance with article 24-35 motion made by Mr Holley could I hear a second for that motion seconded by K we're going to open it up for a discussion at this time any discussion Mr so in further consideration from the finance board and review with with John as far as in the past couple of days uh we wish to amend that amount to actually a net budget of 168 milon 160,000 and if I can kindly explain if we start with 1813 the contractual agreements as well as well
029basically the the C the contractual agreements have been adjusted somewhat but in addition we're expecting an increase from the alliance Grant to the tune of 6 6, 800,000 we that comes directly to the Board of Education we are anticipating an increase from the state ECS funding of $2.8 million now that is given to the city and it is the expression of the city but in the years past as I'm to understand stand that has been passed along back to the to the board of education and then we also anticipate I anticipated a savings as far as retirements of 200,000 based on 20 employees at $10,000 per year which basically Nets us out at 1681 160 0000 windows again okay so if we start with the Baseline budget of $150 million M we have the 2024
030loss of es eer money in the amount of 10, 800,000 contractual agreements contracts salaries health benefits transportation to the tune of 5.7 million those are a clear increase over the current budget plann for the 2425 budget budget drivers basically our wish list totals 9.6 million we also that would include the new positions FTE and all the support staff to address the enrollment growth to address the transportation needs as well as to address the special education mandates lastly we have the capital expenditures although we feel and many people on the on the on the well that should basically move to the operational budget to be placed either under Technologies or supplies to the tune of $1.86 million so grand total in terms of the grant is 00 so basically 178 million again taking away the anticipated
031increase from the alliance Grant which is 6.8 million the anticipated increase from ECS funding which is 2.8 million and the expected retirement Savings of 200,000 brings us to a net budget of 0000 my question would be have there been any discussion with our finance department chairperson of the finance committee I have spoken to Mr janelli as well as John they in course C up to yes okay um thank you for bringing that information forward Mr Holly um hesitant to commit to numbers from the state we don't have information yet currently the governor is proposing 60 over $60 million in cuts to the education funding that was just approved last session by our legislature um so I'm I'm a little reluctant to to take for you know take for granted that we're going to see these
032numbers come through uh to dampy for next budget cycle it's a real gamble on our part uh to do that yes um why I would hate to have us sitting here in the same position that we started out with um when we when I came on to the board um you're using the term anticipate which is not to say that you're going to get it um and so I I'm a little weary about dropping down to that note any anticipation um yes M uh L that L answer question I just have a question have we drawn down on all of our eser money is it at zero it will be at the end of [Music] June Mr so again in correspondence with John and and Mr janelli who I believe has been speaking to Julie
033kishner he's confident although to uh to to Kate's point the uh the state of the union and the State of the State of the financial you know that uh that the governor had imposed he is very confident and comfortable with that increase as far as [Music] ands good thank you and I certainly appreciate um your general analysis on this however I'm I'm very uncomfortable uh in the 11th Hour making a change um from what has already been proposed and discussed at length I certainly was not a part of that conversation um to to present it in that in that manner and the alliance Grant historically is supposed to be supplemental supposed to be viewed as supplemental to support school systems highy school systems there are categories um that money needs to be spent in high
034need students um Second Language Learners um Innovation College and Career they're very specific categories um in in the past we have not in this way put up against put up an anticipated amount up against our budget certainly we've had to rely on the alliance Grant um to kind of save the day when we did not get our ass from the city and that has happened but the allian grant should be supplemental and not supplanting um funds that we should anticipate from sources so I just want to put that out there and I I do have a question John if that was your understanding um coming out of most recent meetings right if I if I could I think um I think we the minimum there need to be two resolutions um there absolutely has to
035be a resolution on the total spending if you'd like to have a second resolution uh that has to do with revenues and things like that um that's fine um there's two reasons why we need a at least a single resolution on the Appropriations uh one is practically speaking uh two of the last three years uh we've tried to combine uh revenues and expenditures in a resolution in it um it didn't work uh in the in June of 2021 for the 222 2122 budget uh the board's resolution included a draw down of educational reserves 2.4 million to be added to the Appropriations and and that's what we started spending as going on but when we got over in front of the city council with the next budget they said where why did you do this only
036we can authorize the draw down the reserve and that's what led to some of the confusion that year we had to make a special request and it wasn't until uh May uh that we met their requirements for how to draw down that Reserve was specifically for certain things um the second mistake we made was in the curent budget um we adopted a uh budget that wasn't was not balanced uh the savings amount 4.7 million uh we're still trying to work our way out of that we're optimistic uh but it's um it's not up to us that the city uh likewise has to approve this uh so that's the first reason of the Practical nature of the way the the city uh funds us uh the second reason you need to have advocate for separate resolutions
037uh really comes from the state law and it's uh connetic it's education law 10- 222 uh it requires you to adopt an U itemization of expenses for next year I'll just read you very briefly um each local board event shall prepare an itemized estimate of the cost of the public schools for the year that's what you have attached to your item uh an itemized estimate and shall submit such estimate to the board of Finance in each town or city having a board of Finance to the board of Selectmen if each town has no Board of Finance or uh to the um U Authority making Appropriations uh for the school budgets in your District which is our case so we have to have that estimate of the ation and then um but secondly the car Caris
038Point uh the alliance is a whole set of additional spending uh it's not um you could say we have 181 uh million in front of us but there's another 22 million this year that goes for primarily full day kindergarten and things like that so we really should not lend those two answer Teresa um being I'm only been on the board for this going into my third year I was shocked to read about the governor's uh uh State of the Union addressed and finding out Esser funds were not supposed to be used for payroll the permanent positions so and now he's saying it's tough for the people who did Sara so our management of those funds creating this problem now I I just want to ask and I'm feel very uncomfortable at this late out and
039I have to agree with the superintendent to make a change in what we have been trying to put together a budget to present to City Hall tomorrow we talking about making changes and why this information wouldn't brought to at least a superintendent just a little bit early in some type of form I don't know who else maybe everybody else is comfortable just saying yeah let's make the changes I I'm not comfortable and I'm not no Finance person okay that's why we have the people sitting around the table that we have brought into this this business of ours to help make the decision with us so you know maybe somebody else have comments yes so do we have any firm numbers from the state in regard to our es fund ECS funding for 2425 um in
040Connecticut there's a a two-year budget by annual budget and the um this uh July Begins the second year of the two-year budget and so there are firm numbers for ECS that were U adopted by the general assembly of last June but uh the reason uh assembly gets together for what's called a short session is to look at the revenues to see if they're coming in the way they thought they were coming in a year earlier maybe the casino revenues are down or state income taxes are up or something like that the purpose is really to look at that to see if the the taxes need to be changed however what really happens is uh new proposals come in heard of those not from the governor there'll be some from the assembly and that process will
041actually play out uh the way it did last June with changes in both the U state aid amounts I suspect uh and other spending amounts everything is uh free game although it's not the original intent help the short session so so if I may John so in that regard as far as the the anticipated budget in 202 5 was not $9.6 million more allocated or slotted to be received by De well we know two things I think from a call from authoritative sources we know that um the governor's budget includes ECS and within that is the alliance Grant and that is 5 million next year the same as it is this year 45 million includes about a $22 million Alliance Grant the rest goes to the city for State a but we also know from
042talking with the State education department and their officials that um as soon as the state received our October one enrollment numbers which of course they didn't have last June that that would trigger an increase in the alliance Grant with the existing formula and when we spoke with them they said the uh calculation of our October enrollment would mean an additional 6.8 million coming to danber in terms of a larger Alliance Grant which means a larger um ECS kind of complicated but those things are others okay U Mr hly quick question for you in looking at the original number of 181 million and the new proposed 168 million there's a $13 million gap there um and you know I'm taking into account the approximate $10 million in outside funding from Alliance ECS and um the internal
043savings retirement savings um I'm still coming up short3 million that we had um at some point had in that that previous incarnation of the the budget proposal do you know what's in that 3 million uh changing contractual agreements and budget drivers budget drivers were originally 107 from speaking to John this afternoon he had reviewed that number to be 9.6 contractual 71 to 57 and then the the additional you know retirement savs 100 understand if I mean if I'm looking at this that you're counting the retirement savings twice no I'm looking at that in the original number the 6 million in Alliance 2.8 in ECS and then 200k in retirement savings correct originally originally from from from last night's meeting was 100K as far as the retirement uh retirement savs so we're estimating 20 employees at
04410,000 per so a change of 10 employees and 110,000 okay so that 3 million just to clarify is contractual contractual budget drivers retirement and when do you say contractual can you just clarify that for me contractual agreements from basically salaries health and transportation that is 2023 and renew or additional raises salaries health benefits for 2425 season meaning that we expect to save that amount of money or no that means that's that's the additional expense to carry the same Personnel from the 2023 24 school year to 24 25 school [Music] year and then the budget drivers would you do you have a breakdown uh 107 to 9 six and 107 was in John's exhibit from last Tuesday or yesterday and upon review this afternoon he gave me a number of 96 yes uh Mr Spen could
045you sh some light on that the budget driver Dro and how when we spoke this afternoon um talked about calculating contractual requirements in the in next year's budget and we talked about that including the um the labor contracts and some of the benefits that go with that the transportation contract with SDA that's a multi-year and we included U some of the special ed out of District tuitions just going to next year but what's what's when you just if you only consider that as what you're going to do next year you're not including the things that are not necessarily contractual AGS uh for example supplies could we go A Year Without are we obligated to get supplies no do we need them yes um you look here things like dues and fees example might be our
046membership in C or something like that do we have to do that no but what the original set of drivers in the page you saw took what we're doing this year and said what will it cost next year so it included things that are not contractually required and I think that's the difference between the number you had and the low I guess I'm looking for some specifics there to understand what it is to cut for next year things that are not contraction how I not one of those four contractual situations right I understand I I guess there are a lot of things that are not contract required that we do with this District so I'm just looking for some specifics that's all be everything other than uh teachers and their benefits um or I should
047say all staff that are members of The Bargain unit in off uh transportation and uh special ed tuitions they make up the number that would be carried forward everything else is not it okay thank you my question would be what would if the board look at the number that's on the action item 81 m34 3,995 that's the amount the original amount so we have another number that's going to be lower than 168 milon and I'm not that's going to take care of what we need to do as a board that's so I don't know how anyone else feel but there's a motion on the floor to accept this I I understand I understand u m j what you're saying but we are all under the assumption that we're actually going to receive 81 million and
048we have no guarantee that we're going to get that money so we have to think about that as well there's a lot of ifs with the 181 million so um you know I I understand what we're saying as far as it being a little bit um you know last minute but I would rather put my name to a realistic number that we can actually wrap our heads around and understand what we're getting into and if these are the numbers that John is explaining to us are the actual numbers um you know I I would prefer to be realistic about this rather than going in and just hoping that we're going to get that money and then end up back here at this table talking about what we can't do anymore well I you know I
049think we're all trying to be realistic and I heard what John said and also hear what Mr Hy said and again I'm not a number person but I also think that none of us think that the city hall is going to give us $181 million we are very clear on that okay now are we going to get 168 million that's if too I'm saying that we this group has worked very hard come out to a lot of meetings and we have discussed this Bud time after time after time and now we're here at the last hour which it has to go to City Hall with these numbers okay we invited the chairperson of the education committee and the mayor and the finance director to be here tonight to sharing this this information and I don't
050see that okay so we're not sitting here saying that we going to get the amount that we anticipated I just don't fully understand the complete jump from then up until now the amount that this Board needs to approve okay the superintendent you want to say something thank you I I agree um you know when we look at 181 million I think we all look that and say okay that's a pretty big mountain to climb um but I think we in this place now at this time because of years of not asking for the correct amount um for for assuming that we're not going to get it anyway so don't ask um and for short changing um the true needs of the district and so while this yes this is a this is a quite an
051impressive uh amount to put forward to the city we all respect the the position that they are in um but I also think that we have to respect the position that that we're in um and and respect our schools our teachers we our testimony tonight that that we do have needs um we spent a lot of time going through articulating those as a group um you know what I think we all arrived at the um met a voting member at the 181 um through a long series of presentations and documentations and understanding of fres um to arrive at the 181 343 so um you know that's the number I feel comfortable with at this time and I'm hoping the rest of the board does as well don't I'm sorry you're you're fine I was just
052going to say we just keep changing the numbers the numbers are always changing and it's just concerning how we leave a meeting and we have the 181 number and then we come into a meeting and now there's three people that know a different number and I just I don't know understand how we keep getting all these different numbers and there's pockets of people that know and people that should know don't know and it's very alarming to me and it's I'm just not okay with it not okay with it m um I'm just looking at the budget uh it's kind I agree with Lauren every time that we meet and we start looking at the numbers we are trying to verify what they are um every time we meet again that number goes up when we're
053supposed to be really focusing on trying to kind of really bring in it's $32 million last year's budget was 9 million what we're putting what's been put up right now is $18 million and I don't look at it as going to the mayor or going to the city council it is going to the people of the community so I understand that we need and I was heartbroken to hear the commentary today and I I know that a lot of what was said is is accurate and we need to we need safety in our schools and we need to educate I I understand that but we also I I don't care what side you're sitting on left democrat or republican undecided everybody is committed to education as far as I'm concerned everybody I've spoken to in
054the city how do we afford it that is the question 32 million that we're looking at like 60% of our city budget it was 50% that's 10% that we need to come up with then for safety for our police and our fire so I I'm I'm on the side I I agree with Lisa I think this number needs to be a real number and I'm hoping that when it goes to the people who represent that's our mayor his success is all of our success you know that's we talking about education so how do we afford what we need and and be realistic so as far as I I I'm looking at this number I know again we don't want to turn the lights on budget but if we have the commitment that you're saying from
055um the funds and it brings us right kind of in that area that I I don't see how we put forward a 20% increase plus of Education every resident in this city without having an audit for the last two years with still having question about the original 3 million since we've been meeting there's been a $220,000 increase for the magnet school we have the 400 for the special education so every time that we're meeting we're kind of almost addressing unfunded mandates or items that we had a flood or we have to repair and I understand that's all part of the process but $32 million I don't know how the residents in this city that are struggling how do we afford so I'm I'm inclined to be you know after that we are committed to that
056$32 million every year plus the five as it increases um I'm hoping that our our delegation will go and be able to um you know bring in some of that money that hopefully you know we going to be trying to advocate for and bring that I agree we don't get our fair share from the state but we have to understand that the mayor and the city council are the people in the city so it isn't what they will give us or what they won't I look at it more or less what can we afford so that when we open those doors the people that have invested in this school can actually be living in the city and going to the school that they've been Ving for so I mean I know that this kind of
057came out of nowhere but but at the same sense I think it is a responsible budget so I know that we need a lot more and of course fing safety those are are big ones here um you know if we have to massage this number a little bit so that people feel a little bit you know like there's a little bit more uh eway you know I would be inclined to listening to that but we were I I've been listening and I was hoping last night at the finance committee meeting that that this conversation would have come out of it and it didn't so unfortunately I think we're here now and you know I just thank you for your time and it's uh low here you uh can't hear you the mic is on I
058don't it's supposed to be on there we go um this is a carry on of 22 years of an Administration that's just kicking the can down the road and you what really frustrates me the most is that that that had administrator was an educator by trade which in my in my view he he didn't help the the situation we're in today and that's the message we have to put bring out to the public uh we have a lot of new people in Danbury that moved in don't know the system they know how you know the previous administrations they they're comfortable what they do uh I I must say based on what I've seen so far here the 181 is not even enough and on all honesty but we can't ask we can't ask the uh
059taxpayers all of us are to to have another pay another tax increase to cover this I mean we already got hit hard last year okay it's money comes out I don't care if it's a tax increase or not a tax increase I'm paying more money out of my asro and my stuff my tax property out of my out of my pocket but I'm also I don't have anyone in the school system but I'm willing as a taxpayer and that's just as me it's just me okay I'm not saying everybody's thinking the same way I'm okay if I increase my proper tax a little bit to cover some of this okay but we have to let the public know that this is not not us doing bringing this number it's what's been accumulated for years okay
060so and hearing you know look I we have the same problem we doing down in Stanford not as as hard as this uh but we're all all districts is getting hit hard with the esone um you know but I'm you know I'm I'm a little reserved uh uh like I said 168 sounds like a good number that's a good just tweaking through but um as of right now I don't know about I don't know we have uh we can ask the dam Baran people to pay an extra 20% increase in the budget that's that's my concern right now that's my concern right now we thank you madam chair um I I want to be clear that you know I think everybody around this table we are all supporters of the education system in D mury
061and nobody wants and everybody here understands the position that we have been put in over the past 20 years we didn't get here in one year and we're not going to get out of this in one budget cycle I don't see a plan put forward showing me how over the next 5 10 years we are going to get out of the that took us 20 years to get into um and I think just coming up with these large numbers well while I agree with Al it's not close to what we need um we have to take it in steps we have to move in increments that will not suffocate the community as a whole but yet help us survive and build back up to where our schools need to be um so you know again
062I understand what the schools need I understand that we've been underfunded I understand all of that and I've been advocating for as long as my kids have been in the school but we have to do it responsible responsibly and to put out numbers that are not fiscally responsible is not going to help anybody it's not going to help the district it's not going to help the students so um I would prefer that we make the decisions as to how we're going to spend the money not City Hall um and so I I would want the number to come from here being the number that we need we get and move forward with thank you yeah just to follow up so me being new to the board and I'm used to looking at budgets I'm looking
063at uh a spending plan from previous years I haven't seen one I don't know if there's one but the other part of it too is you know it it's I don't say this I I'll just seal my time for now okay K I understand where folks are coming from in terms of wanting to deliver what we perceive to be a fiscally responsible budget to the mayor's office and the city council but we just had our roles of responsibilities uh Workshop about a month and a half ago and was we were reminded at that Workshop that our responsibility and our role in this position is to bring forward a budget that addresses the needs of the students in our district and that when we turn that budget that budget proposal over to the city the city
064will make its decisions and whatever budget we get returned to us we will work with and figure out how to deliv the possible educational experience that we can so I hear and appreciate those concerns but I urge my fellow board members let's stay in our lane and remember what our role is in this process M we we've been going while you know everyone have expressed their concern and I think we need to either Act we either at or you get off the pop so Michelle I just I have a question regarding our fiscal responsibility I I know that I think it was Mr janelli that had mentioned that whatever we put forward as a board just can somebody weigh in on that um comment that was made a couple of weeks ago regarding putting this
065this budget forward and and having like this personally responsible for the numbers being put forward right and that we have confidence in these numbers I think I do I do remember U Mr jali's comments I think what they were referring to is um if you have an appropriation that falls short so if you get to the end of the year and you overspend your appropriation that's where personal liability may be implicated as for numers so you want to make sure that you have enough to C your okay I think that's all right so thank you now John can you just explain to us how this all happened this afternoon with Mr janelli I know he can't be here tonight but can you just explain how this I U for help Mr Hol too when he
066called me this afternoon um he asked when Mr janelli called you no okay um what we estimated to be the contractual commitments only in the budget and that's what I um then proceeded to calculate we talked also about um state aid and how that actually works here including the alliance that was a discussion thank you any more discussion my last word will be and I have to agree with Kate and I think we're all sitting around the table we are elected officials even though the numbers are not what we want or assume that they should be we have someone that's sitting around this table that have the degree that has been working with us fiercely trying to put together a responsible budget and I left here the other I think it was last week we
067pretended so many meetings there was a to me a number that was given to to us as board members that we would want to present tonight as elected official we have a road to put together together a responsible budget for the needs of our students and everyone that's working with and I say unless if there any other questions let's go ahead and we do a roll call on this budget and move on Mr H if I may and again from from past experience and kind of how previous budgets have been explained to me as well as being part of it basically have a an oversized or a grand total operational budget from that number you back away anticipated a Alliance Grant additional Alliance grant money as well as ECS money so the budget that that
068that I that that's been prepared actually totals 178 million it's just that of that 178 million we asking the city for 168 of them CU again we anticipate $9.6 million in increased funding from the state now is that is that number questionable absolutely but as John mentioned from July we were anticipating 6.8 additional dollars in Alliance and 2.8 million additional dollars in ECS so if you were to add that to our our request it actually gives us a bu of 178 or as far as an operational spend budget of 178 and again just just past experience what we need to spend what we anticipate to come in as far as additional funding what's it net op so it it's a very difficult balance between financial responsibility to the city but also best interests of the
069students and I believe $178 million budget does that and again but that's for the entire board to decide it's my understanding that Mr janelli is not on board with what was presented tonight he has been he did text T and I wanted to make sure that his comments on number is not comfortable with what was presented today with this assertion the new 168 he's not comfortable with the 160 so no other discussion there's a motion on the floor it was moved by Mr Harley there was a second by Kate could we take the we had this yes just just a point of clarification Madam chair uh the motion was made Mr Holly introduced uh a possible amended amount so I just want to clarify which amount were voting on but there there was no second
070to that Amendment uh number so we don't have to vote on so we with the original motion thank you the original motion um read Mr Harley you going to read the original motion I just want to clarify one thing the there wasn't an amend there was no motion to amend on the floor so you're just hearing the original motion you'll vote so that the board of educ adopt the superintendent 2024 25 fiscal year budget the amount of 181 m343 1995 has presented for submission to the mayor is required by the city Charter in accordance with article 24-35 motion was made by Mr Harley it was second by Kate we going to do a roll call vote please Al yes Teresa no Michelle no Kate yes Gladis yes Dr is absent Lauren no Wanita yes um
071Mr Holly no and Louisa no so at this point we have five against and four in support so the motion is defeated that means now that you don't have a proposal to send to the board so you need a new motion so this Board needs to continue to move motions until you reach consensus on a presentation to the yes one and so at this time um as a member of the uh finance committee I would like to have before me hard copies of the discussion that went on with uh Mr hly Mr Spang and um to be able to look at and discuss done it was verbal it was verbal via the phone done I'd like to make a motion to the board that we adopt a budget for the 2425 uh calendar year in
072the amount of $168 million $168 $160,000 uh as amended by Mr holl that number in my opinion will actually grow to m96 ,000 with the expected increases from the alliance Grant and additional ECS State funding there's a motion on the floor there is no second so second motion second by Michelle yes Teresa um in connection with the uh possibility for the state grants coming to ECS the alliance whatever budget is decided on tonight and we get those funds the city won't deduct those funds from the budget that they're going to give us that's what I'm okay here here's what is it uh whatever whatever it is um for the ECS and Alliance and do you know what I'm saying is it is this does the city have that uh possibility of saying well the state
073gave you this we'll give you less that type of thing if we pass a certain number already but relying on that to come down in the future not part of this grant I mean part of this uh budget so we need a list of itemized expenditures if that's going to be 168 million and we need to know what we have so far that's not going to go over to the city um we could make a second request a second resolution asking them to app state aid when they make their decisions and apply grants but um that's uncertain and if we end up if we we submit a proposal for 168 million that's um we're going to have to cut at least $2 million from our existing programs and services we have as and I would
074imagine as well as all of the budget drivers you can't you can't net revenues against the list of itemized expenditures they said no to us twice you know I I just would like to uh remind the board the action that we just taken to me and everyone have opinion what you have did is just undermined the administration and our leadership in trying to move our district fort everyone has a right to vote the way they want to but in voting we also need to think about what we're doing how we're doing and how it looks yes I'm just really confused because 20 minutes ago you were telling us that Rich's numbers made sense and now here we are you were and now here we are and we're asking for documentation of Monita is asking for
075documentation of it and now you're telling us it's not going to work I don't know if I'm the only one confused or what is going on but we need numbers we need accurate information to make an informed decision and I I think that's half of why most of us half of the reason why most of us said no because we honestly have no idea what's going on cuz these numbers change so much that we just have no idea I thought I I'm sorry if I was misconstrued um the question I heard was could I explain U Mr Holly's number and I tried to explain it based on our telephone conversation I didn't say I agree with it I didn't say it was legal I didn't say it could go forward I was just trying to
076answer the question of how his number was lower than what was here and I said I thought I said it's because it did not have things that were not contractual things like the C dos or supplies uh it could have added um High School athletics that's that's not in his plan either go down and down so I am sure Mr Holly was not trying to do anything that wasn't legal so I think we're all a little bit offended by that but I don't know I'm just getting really upset and I think this is probably going to be my last statement because it's not getting pretty but I just think we're all just looking for accurate information and it just changes so much and I we know there's lots of moving pieces but some of us
077have been on this board long enough to understand and we don't because we we can't at last night's finance committee meeting I think the committee was pretty clear uh when they ended the meeting that there was going to be a a motion for 181 343 that would come tonight that's what I heard Michelle I sat in I'm not on the finance committee so Melle we can't I'm I'm on the speaker um so I was on that meeting last night I'm not on the committee and there was it was going to be um discussed last night where there was a motion that rich was looking to make and was not able to make it and it was pushed into today's meeting so last night if it had been discussed I would have commented but it was
078pushed to tonight um and I have to agree with Lauren it isn't a question we do not have solid numbers that are consistent from week to week we have a conversation and and within a couple of hours even if we have the newest document it is inaccurate it is very difficult for and I think it's been discussed at the ad Hons here in in this meeting the numbers are always moving and we're always adding to them so I I agree with Lauren I don't have head I don't I'm not sure if if these $32 million we don't have audits we constantly having to correct the numbers we were in a meeting here last week making trying to figure out on the capital Improvement if it was $150 mli ,000 repair or replacement on $850,000 budget
079and there was a meeting happening that evening on that so there's a lot of confusion for the board members and I don't it doesn't matter which side of the island you're sitting on we just we can't really have complete confidence at least I don't I'll speak for myself um on the numbers that have been provided over the last especially last year but since the beginning of my three years because of Co because we've had you know a new program we've had aot a lot of moving parts and I think last year when we had the whole 4.7 then the 3 million and it was deferred for the specific reason that we went ahead and committed $100,000 for 1300 hours to get those audits completed they were due to be completed on Thanksgiving and March 15th
080should have been the second one that would blinded us up to be in a great position to understand what our numbers are that is not the case we have no audit we don't even know where we are in the audit and we're going from 9 million to 32 million is the answer uh again I have to agree with Lauren and a couple of the other board members have spoken here tonight as far as yes I am all about moving the district forward but we need to be responsible and how we do it and I take my my position very seriously and this has to do with making that we get our kids as much as we can but we have to be able to afford it thank you um k um my information last night
081when we left the finance committee meeting the committee was bringing forth to the full board tonight to accept this action item e with that amount that was my impr and I was on that meeting so you know and and there was question asked did anyone have any questions was there any concern so okay I I would add that that number Mrs Cooper was also the one that be resolved uh at the iners meeting on the 7th so that number did not change from the previous Finance meeting to the finance meeting last night I'm very concerned that a conversation was had with the finance director that did not include the full finance committee that this is coming to light on the evening when we have to take a vote on a lot of information and I
082will agree with the sentiment that many of us are confused about the state of the finances that we're in right now but the bottom line is we went over this information twice and there was an opportunity for people to voice their concerns at that time and to suggest that we changed that number it didn't come forward so I'm struggling to understand why it's come forward now and I I agree with Miss Cooper this is we're sitting here with our superintendent who was not part of that conversation who has looked over the numbers the same that we have and gone over this information and Mr H I understand you're looking at a final number of 178 million but that's still 3 million shy of the 181 that the board was looking at so I'm real confused
083as to what's going on here Mr Hall I'd like to make a motion that the Board of Education adopt the superintendent's 2425 fiscal year budget in the amount of 181 million Charter in accordance with 2435 there's a motion on person have to withraw their motion and the second have to be withdra Mr har you made a motion of 10 and something I can't remember the you made a motion Michelle s so you either withdraw your motion I wish to I I wish to withdraw my original original motion and that I move that the Board of Education adopt the superintendent's 2425 fiscal year budget in the amount of 181 343 995 as presented for submission to the mayor is required by the city Charter in accordance with 24-35 motion made by Mr Harley second by K
084any no is there any discussion can we do roll call yes Teresa yes Michelle no Kate yes glattus yes Lauren no Monita yes Mr Holly yes Louisa six in favor yeah and three oppos motion so Carri thank you discussion I'm sorry discussion this should be very free uh we have the dialog uh we sort of changed last year as the going having a workshop and only having one meeting per month and the discussion that I've had and felt that we should go back to a original two meetings per month and I hope everyone sort of feel that you know because it was just a workshop and we were doing the same thing as a workshop that we was doing at the board meeting so I don't know if we need to make a motion to
085amend or do that or just uh Kim can you help me out so you have a policy and the board policy requires you to do two board meetings a month last year you voted to suspend enforcement of the policy so that you could do one meeting and one Workshop so now you basically want to lift the suspension and go back to enforcing the policy so I think you can make a motion to return to enforcement of policy or I guess this is bylaw 9321 um to go back to the original enforcement of the original policy Kate would you make that motion I'd like to make a motion that we uh lift the suspension to bylaw 9321 and return to the uh existing structure two full board meetings of mon second second second by any discussion
086all in favor can I hear I any oppose any obanion thank you the superintendent I will work out a time that we can have a special presentation or Workshop that you guys are interested in because at the initial beginning in January I sent out a list of things that we want to start looking at board members the top priority was um the budget so we're doing it but and next one will be having some information about clonic absentee how to work with the superintendent how to bring that for so that will be our next one okay thank you uh superintendent okay thank you Cooper um we'll come back to the budget update timeline and move on to just the academy update first um so we got some wonderful things happening at the high school right
087now um um our nth graders completed the first career exploration seminar course that's our first cohort going through the high school um Dr Martin Karina Janelle The Freshman Academy principal and Brent Dean all gave presentations to the ninth graders about the prer academy expectations um selection process um and they spent a great deal of time understanding what each Academy offers um they captured all the student populations we had uh presentations translated multiple languages um and it was actually a wonderful experience for the kids the academy directors a and APS held presentations during Flex uh repeatedly over a two-e period introducing themselves and reviewing all the pathway information students got to rotate through each one of those um and multiple opportunities to um to to better learn about the Pathways in theems before making their selection
088um the students did complete their pathway selection process and so the administration is in the process of reviewing those now um and in the spring there will be an academy unveiling event where um students get to learn which Pathways they're in and have a wonderful celebration about uh the curriculum that they're about to embark on for the next 3 years after that um super excited about that tomorrow we have a um a special event we're holding um student focus groups for the students who just completed the the curriculum that we just wrote um to get their individualized feedback or Collective feedback as groups and as individuals to see how they experience the curriculum and how we can improve that we're also running focus groups with the teachers as well um to gain their input so
089we're excited um we're also um building off the some of the career uh pathway courses that are being developed we're also working with neighboring colleges and universities to plan out several college campus visits that align with some of the emies so to make it very specific so as students in nth grade get a chance to to go off and visit it's actually aligned to the pathways that they have selected um and then last but at least along those lines um on the side note I'm also working with several universities right now to help build um of our dual credit offerings and to work on articulations so that our students can gain college credit while they're taking these elective courses so super excited we're seeing um price points around um $60 for a three credit College
090course um and down to zero depending on um student status so there's some wonderful negotiations happening I think they're going to be um in the making for a while and it's going to yield a of opportunity for our kids um lastly the high school's been holding several um Community parent engagement nights um in October they had a bilingual night at the police department um the on 1 122 they had a Career Academy Zoom session on 212 they had a Career Academy night um for parents it was postponed due to inclement weather they'll be rescheduling that one um and there's going to be Academy presentations with sixth graders at Rogers Park on 228 229 presentation with uh at Westside in Broadview and on 3:11 will be a schoolwide fair at Danbury High School where eighth graders
091and families can come and learn about the Academy's high school programs and clubs and all the things that we're about to offer did you see that letter we got from that parent who didn't know anything about the academy model or we got it on our U emails to the board I mean did anybody answer this person so so um I it was that I I think I recall the email that that that was received um I did have yeah we did get a lot of information go out through parents Square so it was surprising to see that but certainly um we can always bolster our communication around that um one of the reasons we're announcing s of the dates tonight is because um you know we want to make sure that the attendance and these
092things are are are robust so we'll continue those efforts um next up I'll have um Dr Roco come talk to us a little bit about the as Lottery update um as you're aware we're in the process of concluding the lottery um then also discussing some of our concerns around ratios and and things that we've been working on to get our participating districts to to send more students to us she going to give us an update on that good evening everyone um the lottery officially closed on January 16th as of January 22nd there were 689 Lottery occupants 613 of those were danburry residents 76 were from other towns currently we have extended invitations to 40 families um we are not able to accept all 76 applicants because their home districts have kep on of seats that
093they they will allow um and with the currently enrolled students from those towns we can only fill the VAC seats ex graders or any other exent students so uh I'll give you an example to make it clear um one of our partner towns has an agreement of to hold 18 seats for that town for this current scho here they have filled all 18 seats they will have four students who exit as fifth graders at the end of this year so we can only fill four seats to bring them back to their cap of 18 that partner District happens to have applicants so we will wait list the other 22 when we enter those four in to get them back to their cab so it may seem like well we have 76 families but we have
094to abide by the Caps of those partner districts so we can only extend applications at this point time to 40 of those families um we're beginning to receive calls from families confirming their accept acceptance of seeds currently we've only received five calls but it's still ear only in the process we will continue to get calls in s Sanchez will begin reaching out to families who have been accepted um to I know what's holding them up what's keeping them Mak the decision how can we offer them more information to get them to make that decision um as Dr Cas mentioned in the previous meeting we've been flaged by the state for being out of compliance with the residency standard um Mand schools cannot exceed 75% enrollment from a single participating District on October 1st with the
095enrollment collection data um the magnet school at 75.4% of the students were resents so we were just over 75% threshold that percentage has dropped slightly still right around that 7% last Just sh 75% um we because of that we are required to submit ative action plan that will be submitted tomorrow and I'll share some of the strategies that included that plan when we look ahead to the 2425 school year we are looking at the roll up of our currently noral student numbers so we're looking at rolling our current kindergarten through fourth grades up to our first through fifth grades when we look at that percentage of the students who are Dam residents and nonam residents we are currently sitting at 76% of D residents um so that is why we've had to hold off on
096accepting any D applicant into the lottery what we really have to do now is get our out of town residents in and then proportionally add in our G residents so that we do not go out of compliance again with that 75.5% ratio we recognize that that's still a lot of our families we are doing the very best we can um we are going to increase our recuit recruitment plan andies if we don't for this current school year the state has weaved any any penalties um but next year if we're not in compliance with that residency stand we do penalties to Grant allocation um we are going to be monitoring that dat very carefully the state is also to monitor that very carefully um you do not want to run into any fisal penalties some of
097the steps that we have included in the corrective action plan is reestablishing the advisory council with um Co that has kind of Fallen apart a little bit The Advisory Council also on the original partnering districts many of the superintendents are new um so we have to kind of reenergize the feeling about the magnet school reintroduce those super to our Magnet School um Dr K has reached out to the superintendent of the partner districts that me lists for to see if they're interested in increasing the number of seats that they hold a commercial is being produced Dr C Tak on that andon the principal at join forces to create a video that's going to be shown YouTube Facebook channels this Jon is working on a plan to gain access to events and neighboring and partner districts
098where she can showcase the school and talk to families about as she just recently attended multi- toown uh basketball event at the pal building and set of a little table to share information so she's reaching out in the communities she will also be reaching out to the superintendent's offices to get permission to speak to at PTO meetings to partner districts to share information about AIS she's hoping uh hosting an open house for ad District families um who have been offered seats to bring them in to tour them through the building introduce them to some teachers familiar with the and encourage them to make that decision to commit to a we've also included a form on our district website and place where the Lottery application was which will guide uh parents to uh complete a form
099that form will then tag Sandy Sanchez who is the lbr coordinator she will then reach out to families and get and gain more information from them about where they live so that we can try to G more famili from our other District Partnerships so we are working very hard to increase our enrollment it's really going to be critical to get those out of District Partnerships increased but we have to be very cautious about the number that we're allowed so that we don't get into a position where we are over and residents and face any kind of fiscal penalty yes thank you for the update Dr um quick question for you how many other districts currently um are to so in inside the partnership we have um five districts fieldfield we also have other participating districts
100so they're not within the advisory Council but they can still send their other children there we have students currently this year from Beth Waterberry Stanford Woodberry and Trumble we have applicants this year from nck Newton and Rich Hill those new to us in the upcoming school year thank you any other questions Dr thank you Dr thank you okay and then up next is Mike the facility update thank you Dr so just a couple quick things on facilities uh largely in following up from the science of facilities meeting last week there were a few follow items that were requested um three uh specifically one was a list of shared responsibilities between the Board of Education and um City Public Works U that list was I I shared this and a few of the other things with
101um sub chair Britain um the second piece was uh an update on the operations hero software um this is I was actually in a training today on it and we've had a training with several of the um users um this something we've ironed out just about every last R we fully believe will be able to launch this in the next week or two so we're feeling very good about that and then lastly there were some questions about the warranties on um some of the malfunctioning parts that we had on the G building HVAC system and there was one other item about warranty the G building one um I put a question out to the city regarding the warranty it was the elworth roof that was see one whether there were warranties existing on these question
102up to the city but I haven't heard back yet so hopefully I'll know that umin the next week or two and I'll show that the committee chair um there was a recent uh cold snap that um affected GB building um it looks like when they were doing some of the repairs there was a pump that was actually shut off by mistake um it just never got turned back on so that wasn't a malfunction it was just something that happened when the mechanics were doing the changes so that's there um that's actually all I have on facilities there's any questions question thank you thank you m mik you while you having mik did you want to talk a little bit about the Connecticut sa sure Geor yeah if you all remember there was a group that
103was here I think it was two weeks ago during our meeting where the orange shirts um the Connecticut um uh group for gun safety um and if you recall they work with school districts to send out m me in about uh save gun storage um I connected with a few of their um their leadership team shortly after the meeting and received a bunch of materials letters and other things that we can send out to to families and homes um we are we've reached out to the D Police Department it's something that we think we want to do in partnership with the police chief um so we've reached out to them about U figuring out just how to craft the message um and then we'll have the superintendent and uh the police sign on it together
104Distributing out to [Music] families thank you okay um one of the last ones I think the the budget of they timeline I think was clear when we put this on here last week um really obviously our our budget is due tomorrow to the to the city uh to the mayor's office and we'll be sure to submit that on time um the last the last um the last thing on here is the read Across America read Across America and so I just would members um to to be on the lookout for invitations to read in our schools um it's probably my favorite time of the year to get to go in and sit with kids and um connect with what's happening in the classroom so between March 2nd and March 6th um you should start to
105receive some invitations to participate and I encourage all of our members to um celebrate the L reading and help our students become lifelong readers that is it for me thank you superintendent the board chairperson reports going to be so brief I want to start out with on um February the 5th I attended the Citywide PTO I think Michelle was on that call was on that call um and it was just basically listen to the reports from uh citywi PTO members given their report as to the different things that was going on within the school that they were represent and so that's basically what we saw of listen to Dr Casmir was there she did a report on the academy and she also did a re um comments concerning the budget and how we working on
106the budget and I appreciate her being there to represent the bo uh my second thing was on February 6 um I spoke at City Hall u in front of the common Council and I'm encouraging board members when something come up an issue and we're there asking for money or whatever we're doing safety around certain schools don't feel like just because I'm the chair that you cannot speak I welcome you to be there to support and bag up whatever is going in our okay and and I welcome that support okay um next item I want to talk about is and this is very F and sort of u a moody thing about me and I thought you all asked me to represent you as a board chair when you get a call from someone or you
107get an email from someone you are to forward that email to the superintendent you don't take it upon yourself to have a conversation with that person or do whatever you want to do with that person that was emails go directly to the superintendent she has a person in charge or she has the time to get back to that person okay because and I know that you know we to had this Rosen responsibility we can get ourself in a lot of trouble by opening our mouth that certain things are not being direct when the Press call you I think you all know what to say you only have one spokesperson for the board and you elected me to be that chairperson if you did not then take it away from me okay if you want to
108make about I I think it's very easy to say to that person we have one sports person for the board and that's our chair any chairperson that we have had for this board and I was sitting there when the press or anyone called me I would say to them I am not your chairperson this is the person and if you want that number I can give it to you okay so I think we need to be respectable of leadership and if I'm doing something WR you tell me again we have to be careful how we answer things and we know what we're dealing with here in the district and be careful okay um finally I would like for the Personnel search committee to think about meeting an hour early on the 28 so we can
109have a brief discussion about how we going to move forward with the Personnel search okay if everybody's comfortable with that okay so 28 we meet an hour earli or whichever we'll do it about 5:30 okay and we have food for everyone okay so we can talk yes Teresa um nashille did we get any more information about hotel or anything I so if everyone's agreement everyone agreement with that then we'll move forward with that M can I just make one comment your meeting of the Personnel committee is considered a non meeting so that will not be subject to fo your requirements posting and open attendance just to be clear thank you Kim I think that's all that I have to say uh you know we need to um you know it's exciting to go into schools
110and read with the little ones but but you know you got to be careful cuz they have coal so you don't want to bring them Co back home but it is it's exciting it's exciting because the little ones three to you know I say third grade fourth five and they like to lay up on your legs and they like to you know get as close to you they possibly can so just just enjoy it's exciting so that's all that I have and if um there's no other discussion I motion to the meting to okay M chair no super okay Val you have anything else then I entertain a motion to adjourn make a motion to adjourn motion made by Al second by Michelle all favor all right enjoy your