001stand for the Pledge of Allegiance please I pledge alleg the United States of America and to the fors one na under God indivisible with liy and Justice before we sit down please we have lost two faculty members from Rogers Park School and we're going to take a few moments of Silence just to remember with them and their contributions to our school district thank you now I'm going to ask the vice chair to do roll call Al present Teresa bade pres Michelle Quello here Kate caneta here GL Cooper here Dr Conan Lauren Dy here Lita Bush Harris here Richard Holly Richard janelli here we have everyone here except [Music] two as we get ready to move down our agenda we've heard the roll call I would like to introduce to you Dr car Caris maror who
002will be sitting in for our superintendent who is out on a personal lead to do to those of you who do not know her she's one of our assistant superintendent so we welcome her tonight to sit with us and bring us the information that we need as a board welcome thank you and welcome Dr K thank you next on the agenda before um call recognition recog we're going to do public participation the first person on the list is participation statement should we read the statement okay I'm sorry we go back up and and uh read the statement secretary public participation statement okay the board welcomes public participation and asks that comments be limited to 3 minutes the public may offer objective comments of school operations and programs that concern them the board will not permit
003any expression of personal complaints or defamatory comments about Board of Education personnel and students nor against any person connected with the danur public school system thank you yeah the first the first person to address the board Frank Frank thank you for this opportunity my name is Frank and I was born and raised right here in D and never left and I don't intend to I don't have children in the system but all I have to say to you is Sandy Hook and you will know why I am speaking at this meeting as a proud member of Connecticut against gun violence I stand before this assembly actually I'm sitting to plead for your support of our program regarding the safe storage of firearms as well as Sandy Hook I am sure you can all recall many
004incidents of children being killed or injured by guns and in the majority of these incidents access to the guns is in the home I will not give you all the statistics that can easily be Googled but it is a fact that the majority of deaths of children in the United States is due to gun violence listen to this quote by Leah Blazer a former history professor and a mother Adam lon's idiot mother was a legal gun owner who recklessly left them accessible to a problematic teenager he still could have hurt people but there was no way excuse me he would have killed 20 babies and six others in under 3 minutes without access to guns I once knew a young man of 21 a boy he had a gun and was carousing with his friends
005they were all drunk his final Act was to put the Gun Barrel in his mouth and pull the trigger Bally ending his young life you know my next statement he got the gun from his home and it was not stored safely the task I put before you tonight is simple we need to make every parent in the janoy school system aware of the proper storage of guns in the home I have with me several copies of a sample letter that connec against gun violence has 30 seconds 30 seconds left okay I'm going to pass them around you can modify the letter as you want and uh there are many links and if you need them I'll give you my email address and I'll send them to you I know your efforts will go a long
006way in helping to prevent or at least reduce the incidents of guns thank you sir uh would you take those uh that information and pass it over to our recording secretary please thank you for your comments at this uh particular time of the public participation you can bring your comments to us we do we do not download back and forth with people that's bringing issues before the board if there's an educational issue someone within the system will get back to you as a contact person thank you next on the um thing to speak is Jing if I Mis pronounce your name I'm sorry good evening my name is Osman I'm an American Muslim kid who attends who attends D public school today I would like to um i' like to say why there should be
007a day off I mean two days off for Asic holiday this is this is a celebration that happen this is that happen after a month of Ramadan and and it's celebrated by bringing people together and Shing Coes and spending time with them um however time to be stress free and have a great time with have a great time with many people often times these two holidays fall on school days though and unfortunately um for a lot of people unable to celebrate the holiday because of difficult go to school and not and unfortunately we're not able to enoy the we have we have to celebrate at C of going to school of missing out on school work our tenis at high school as a student if we miss 5 years of school we get something call
008a CO who set for credit only mean that get credit for the class and 65% as a gr which affects our DPA so taking so taking a day off has consequences for us and being and I feel we shouldn't give repercussion just being Muslim and religion just like just like um religions like um Christianity we Christmas and and hanuk um AC Vance of of the of the Boe um to recognize to recognize El as a holiday forry public school thank you thank [Applause] you Maran my my name is Mariam Aziz I'm an author poet and member of the Connecticut e Coalition at Danbury High School I'm the editor and chief of the school newspaper president of the Asian club and president of the Muslim Student Association hake Fatima and many of the American Muslim Students
009today in our school district our second generation American Muslims born after September 11th and we are still haunted by this horrific attack with the rise of the islamophobia industry negative portrayals of Islam and of Muslims have has become more mainstream and codified in media law politics education and pop culture this is undoubtedly played a role in Muslim Students experiences with bias and discrimination a nationwide poll taken in 2020 found that 51% of Muslim students in kindergarten through 12th grade in public schools face religious bullying some young Muslims experience anxiety depression insomnia and low self-esteem while other feel they must choose between being American or Muslim at school my own personal experience with islamophobia discrimination and bullying as early as Elementary School LED my parents to move us to the Danberry District because of inclusivity and
010diversity I can't even begin to describe how much this positively affected me personally psychologically and academically the student culture and diversity at De High School are extraordinary 52 languages are spoken around our school and each has a great sense of school spirit that makes de High School feel like a tight-knit community despite our large size American Muslims are part of the fabric of the great hat City too it is the home to the largest population of Muslims in the Western Connecticut region most of them young families with children in the Dan public school district there are four mosques and many Muslim businesses in the area yet Muslim Students are under represented with all of the animosity around Muslim Americans recognizing the two e as school holiday goes beyond simply accommodating religious practices it provides an
011opportunity to promote cultural awareness and understanding among students of all backgrounds by celebrating diverse holidays we encourage dialogue and an environment of inclusivity allowing students to learn about different cultures and traditions and nurturing an appreciation for diversity which are the foundational concepts of the Hat City also research shows that students are better positioned to succeed academically feel a sense of belonging and retain a healthy state of wellbe in school climates that Embrace students diverse backgrounds the E holiday has been recognized in many districts as far as back as the 1990s when school closed for the religious occasion in Detroit Connecticut is not the exception with Fairfield Bridgeport Trumble Stanford hamen Norwalk and Waterberry all taking off for both Eve holidays because we believe in the diversity and inclusivity of Danberry we deeply urge that the
012Danberry Public Schools recogniz and take the day off of the calendar for Eve we urge you to continue showing leadership of kindness inclusion and understanding by considering the eve holidays as of in our school district excuse me are you all your three minutes okay thank you for your time thank [Applause] you car yes my name is Tera WBY U my child attends AIS i' speaking tonight um to ask that the Board of Education support a letter to be sent to All Danberry parents from the Acting Superintendent discussing the importance of safe firearm storage school shootings are a real threat in our country as we know all too well here in Connecticut uh it is so much so that when new schools are built they are built with full of glass and secret security plans and
013Technology to reduce the number of staff and student fatalities a principal from a neighboring Community told me that the concern of a shooter entering her school is so real uh when it comes to her students and uh and staff her second priority as education her first and absolute most important priority is the safety of her staff and children the of not getting shot at school should not be placed on our children through monthly lockdown drills it should be placed squarely on gun owners uh some facts from an FBI FBI study we know that three qus of School shooters got their firearms from the home of a parent or a relative another another study found that while 70% of G owning parents reported that their adolescence could not independently access a household firearm more than onethird
014um were contradicted by their children the study also found that uh for children and young adults and households with Firearms firearm injury and death including suicide and accidentals is less likely when Firearms are properly and safely stored and here in Connecticut it is the law that Firearms must be securely stored this law was strengthened last year with bipartisan support nearly every danur House and Senate member including one that once sat on this board Ved in favor of those measures um I say this not to politicize the issue but to illustrate that safe firearm storage is something everyone agrees with including the NRA this law is a tool to keep Community safe but if people are not aware of tools in a toolbox they will not be used if the idea of such communication feels a
015little uncomfortable encourage you to speak to one of the Sandy her parents to get their thoughts on discomfort or to one of your third and fourth graders which is right around the time they understand why they participate in lockdown drills additionally we have an obligation to law enforcement that we do anything we can to ensure that they don't have to risk their lives responding to a school shooter guns are leading cause of death for children in our country like schools Across America did in the 80s when cigarettes were causing an unprecedented amount of uh cancer deaths I encourage you to 30 seconds thank you I encourage you to get this public health information out to parents this is why I invite the Danbury School District to join other Connecticut districts including Bridgefield Farmington Berlin greenidge
016Sims and Ste Fairfield in getting this potentially life-saving information out to parents thank you for let me speak thank you for your coming F Fatima hello good evening my name is Fatima Ahmed I'm a current senior at D high school and I'd like to start off by saying thank you for the opportunity to speak and share my personal experiences with you all as a student of this district for the past 12 years one of the things that I have the most pride in when it comes to Danver Public Schools is its diversity I'm speaking today to share a concern that resonates with the district's values towards fostering inclusivity and it pertains to the recognition of Eve in the calendar of our SCH SCH District as you know e is an Islamic Festival marking the end
017of Ramadan a month of fasting and spiritual reflection it's a time for celebration feasting and expressing gratitude and uniting our community in prayers and acts of kindness e to me is dressing up and looking my best and praying together in my community e to me is spending time with family and friends going to each other's houses sharing good food and giving each other gifts but once e began to fall during the months of school year the holiday had changed e to me became about r home after Community prayers to log into my distance learning class freshman year to complete a Tim essay WR so I wouldn't risk receiving a zero as an assessment grade for incompletion I actually had a friend in that class who wasn't aware of this and had skipped school that day
018thinking she could make up the essay but that wasn't the case and she was forced to take the zero which had tanked her grade for that semester e to me became about worrying if whether or not taking a day off to celebrate an important religious holiday would risk me receiving a CEO credit only in my classes to me came about having to sacrifice my grades just to commemorate A Day held dear to the Muslim Community in a district whose strength is its diversity students shouldn't have to choose between attending school or celebrating a religious occasion recognizing e that a school holiday is not just about granting a day off it's about acknowledging the importance of religious diversity promoting cultural awareness and ensuring that students feel seen and respected embracing diversity is not just a goal
019but a responsibility by adding e to our school calendar the district can demonstr dedication to creating an environment where the Muslim Students feel valued and supported thank [Applause] you Sabrina hello before I begin I would like to thank everyone for taking the time out of their days to be here my name is Sabrina Sur Smith and I been a resent of Dan for my entire life my formative years were spent in Dan Public Schools as I attended Shelter Rock Elementary School and Westside Middle School Academy I now a senior at an independent school located on mury Brook Road I hold this school district very near to my heart which is why I'm standing before you today to ple for your support of our program regarding the safe storage of firearms this past year house bill
0206667 was by sen this bill helped implement the necessary precautions gun owners should take in storing their firearms I felt so passionate about the importance of this bill that I organized a school field trip to the state capital to lobby for its approval there various students and I expressed that if this bill was passed it would make us feel safer in our schools in Hometown my president at the capital and here tonight is a testimony to the importance addressing un violence HS the residents and students of dber Connecticut I stand before you to ask for your support and urging the superintendent to send an email out to all parents reminding them of the storage them laws that were passed sending these reminder emails will serve to keep this important law fresh in people's head throughout
021the year after every school shooting the media's focuses entirely on that event then the attention quickly recedes and the media is back to pretending like things are normal until the next shooting I'm tired of this cycle and know that the discomfort of setting out email is less track than the discomfort of losing another child's gun violence we should actively be communicating and taking preventative measures to end B in our schools not waiting for another shooting to occur before we speak out speaking as a wor student my school follows many of the decisions that the danur public schools make this is why I firmly believe that the Danbury Board of Education sends out a message about safe storage my school will fall their lead please support me in the Connecticut against gun violence youth Council as
022we work to create a safer town and school district for the residents and students of D thank you for listening will good evening Board of Education and assistant superintendent my name is William Sweeny and I'm a senior at Danbury High School and today like many of my friends I come here to address a matter of Paramount significance the safety of our children in the great city of danburry in recent times our communities Across the Nation have grappled with the pressing issue of gun safety particularly with within the context of our schools and this is an issue that demands our Collective action and I wish to share light on the critical aspects on safe gun storge for the protection of all school children in the city of Danberry and as a nation as a whole Connecticut
023like many states has witnessed tragedy stemming from improper gun storage incidents where children have gained access to firearms and devastating consequences from those uh from those incidents it is our responsibility as a community and as a city to ensure that every gun is safely stored especially in households with schoolage children this is this issue of gun safety is not merely a matter of personal choice but it is a fundamental necessity to safeguard our children and prevent tragic accidents the statistics are alarming and people have already shared those statistics and the statistics are easy to look up online but numerous lives have been irally altered due to Accidental shootings of children who have found and unfortunately used unsecured firearms and let me preface this by saying it doesn't necessarily mean that that children had ill intent
024or chose to harm his fellow school children it could merely mean that the children found those guns unlocked or somewhere in a bedroom or the living room where they accidentally discharged it and harm themselves or harm somebody else in the household and as the Board of Education and the assistant superintendent and everybody else in this room you and your hands hold the unique position of influence capable of reaching a vast array of parents and Guardians and a letter from this board and the superintendent can express the urgency and significance of safe and responsible gun storage that will serve as a powerful educational tool it will inform parents about the potential risks associated with un secured firearms and emphasize the share respon shared responsibility we bear in creating a safe and sustainable environment for our children
025furthermore such a communication from this board reinforces the collaborative spirit that defines our educational institutions by uniting in a common cause the safety and Welfare of our students we send a clear message that transcends our individual beliefs this letter expresses our Collective commitment to fostering an environment where our children can learn grow and Thrive without the risk of fear and death in conclusion I urge the board education to consider the importance of writing parents this letter in regards to Safe gun storage this gesture aligns with our shared values of responsibility as a community and is a tangible expression to our education towards the safety of our children and it sends the meth message to the Youth of D that their safety and well-being of are of our utmost priority let us together take this step
026and reinforce the foundations of security within our educational Community thank you thank [Applause] you Lauren Robertson hello um my name is Lauren Robinson and I'm a senior at Dan High School looking around the room I only see adults and PE today you're hearing our stories of people advocating for safe storage for firearms and the release of information out to parents about the safety concern informing the people of our community should be of your greatest concern informing the people is where real change came from and if this letter isn't sent well why wouldn't it the day of the Sandy Hook shooting was a normal day in December 12 years ago no one assume or suspect anything just as I go to school each and every day at dber high school no one assumes or suspects anything
027yet in the back of my mind I still think about Escape Routes what I would do in case someone came into our school and who I would call First this Dy Hook school shooting was a tragedy that almost took my lives and the lives of so many others others Sandy Hook was supposed to be my elementary school and seemingly enough I was spared my life but these 20 children's lives were not we are all standing here before you to ask for safety for those who aren't with us anymore due to this tragedy and the tragedies all around the world I should not be thinking about these things at 17 years old and children 6 years old shouldn't be thinking about these things either yet this is our reality students are standing before today so please
028listen to our words please support me in the Connecticut's against gun violence cause because it is a rightful safety thank you thank [Applause] you last speaker is Miss Johnson um okay sorry um good evening Board of Education and superintendent my name is Tyler Johnson and I'm currently a senior at Dan high school here to beun issues of gun safety um I'm sure right now we've heard many tragic statements regarding um safety of guns if I speak along my speakers to say that this issue has been longstanding for years um as many as you know the death of the hands of Guns is extremely high therefore the safe storage gun law should be reinforced and made aware of those who don't know therefore it should be imperative that the topic of safe stor is act upon
029immediately um the safety of kids like me should be first therefore I stress the fact that with the lack of concern and action taken on this matter it um is only a matter of time for another tragedy such as Sandy Hook is likely to happen again as a student of at the Dy Public Schools but mostly a student in general my concerns for safy and Stor Express the urgency to take action and address potential issues that may have been missed nevertheless never discussed um I urge you all to stand with me and everyone at the can hit against gun violence organization to solve this issue and thank you so much for listening that ends our public participation is there anyone that would like to speak did not sign up on the sheet go on want
030going twice thank you I'm here representing the Board of Governors from DHS does that count I'm sorry I cannot hear you I'm here representing the Board of Governors from G okay yes hi my name is Pearl CH and I'm from the Board of Governors I'm president of at DHS and I'm here to give you guys a sort of monthly overview of everything that's been going on DS um so first of first of all semester 1 is quickly ending um it was moved a day back due to weather and the s that we've been getting so now it's going to end on January 26th um alongside that there's a lot of testing going on we have midterms we have star the juniors are dealing with a lot of SATs right now they're doing the ngss testing
031which is called science um other than that formal testing the Freshman have just made their Academy halfway selections and that selection was closed today so um all that should be finished now for the more fun stuff winter sports are starting up and we even have Danberry wrestling up for the ruding report musical theater also seeing a lot of events and success movement to music was an event that musical theater held a couple days ago a bunch of um student groups came and they danced and performed and that's that had a great turnout our theater production for this year is Mama um which will be shown April 25th through 27th other than that the big news is that bog is going to be planning another Spirit Week SL pep rally event the pep rally will be
032geared more towards the seniors just because of area restrictions we don't have the outside since it's cold so it'll just be in the gym with the seniors um we're planning another Spirit Week like we did back in October but we don't have a hoco for the to um but we do have a p rally which we're really excited for it's a good chance I think to just sort of get all the seniors together before the big college decisions in March come out so we're planning for this to be around mid to late February um just for a last hurah before all the seniors really commit other than that um most importantly and pertaining to you guys Mr wants to invite all of you guys to DHS for our hars Cafe our hat Cafe opens up
033in the second semester and it'll be uh fully on us fully on Mr Donan um if you guys want to come for a meal you guys can email either me or Mr Donovan um set up a date and you guys can all visit um and Bob will take you around school we can give you a little tour if you'd like um other than that I think that's pretty much it any questions thank you move on down there anyone else would like to address the board at this time before I move on I I had just would like to take time and thank you all for your patience um thank my assistant for helping me because you know you young people right a little bit different in the way I write and I want don't want
034to mispronounce any one name so it takes a little bit of time and I just thank you for being so patient with us so we're going to move on to the consent calendar I need a motion to accept the consent calend so second motion uh could you read out the motion not just okay could you read the motion itself I'll make a motion that the Board of Education approve the items on consent calendar EX4 -1 through 24-7 as recommended motion made by Kate can I hear second by Teresa Are there any question concerning the consent calendar seeing none all those in favor can iar I motion so car thank you we do we have any educational staff members that would like to come okay thank you Good Evening For Education members and a happy belated
035New Year to you all um before I begin I want to take a moment to honor and remember two amazing teachers who passed away suddenly and unexpectedly this month John scho and Nara both teachers at Rogers Park Middle School were loved by their students and colleagues they dedicated their lives to their community and to their students the knowledge and kindness they imparted and the lessons they taught to hundreds and hundreds of their students will continue to resonate they inspired so many of us our sincere condolences and prayers go out to the schille andar families so in this new year our executive board and officers are committed to developing improved communication with court as such you'll be hearing a lot more from me and my fellow colleagues lucky you so tonight I'll try and keep my
036remarks brief and outline just two pressing issues we all know our staff is a resilient one we do more with less we endure the hardships of an underfunded system because we love our students and we love our work however the challenges surrounding teacher working conditions and student learning conditions as well as continued assaults on teachers demand our immediate attention and concerted efforts for resolution this week alone we have had three schools either entirely or partially without heat Broadview Middle School moris Street school and G building at DHS contrary to District messaging these sites reported temperatures in classrooms as low as 45° these are unarguably neither safe nor healthy temperatures for teaching and learning while we're very appreciative of our new mayor's expedient effort to help address the repairs needed at DHS we're not pleased with
037the Under reporting and minimization of the severity of the issues in these buildings and the impacts of the heating issues on our community I think we can all agree that it's not un reasonable expectation to expect a temperature that meets minimum state requirements earlier in December seven classrom in the lower level of Park Avenue School were flooded after several high impact storms there were three Ines of water in the classrooms which as you can imagine did a great deal of damage many of these teachers arrived at school that morning to find Muddy classroom carpets draped over their students desks to dry there were destroyed supplies books and virtually uninhabitable classrooms yet students were set to arrive in 30 minutes this is definitely not the way to handle a crisis nor an appropriate nor an appropriate
038way to treat teachers or students teachers were made to feel like it wasn't that big of a deal and left to sort out their rooms and clean up on their own there remained serious concerns about mold and air quality I've been told that it's been determined that the flooding issue is due to improper raing of the parking lot next to the building and needs to be fixed in order to prevent this from happening again I urge the board to prioritize this repair and provide the classrooms with mold remediation new carpets replacement supplies and air purifiers shampooing a carpet by the way is just not enough after something like this which is what some of the teachers were told to do instances of assault against our teachers continue at an alarming and unacceptable level it is
039crucial to prioritize the safety and wellbeing of our Educators we implore the board to implement comprehensive strategies to prevent and address incidents of violence against teachers and ensure that teachers feel secure and supported in their workplaces teacher assaults can have long-term effects on the assaulted teacher's career leading to prolonged absences career changes or even forcing them to to leave the teaching profession alog together we've seen a dramatic and troubling increase in the amount of student assaults in teachers in our post-pandemic world this year alone I have received 39 reports from teachers in danburry and that's just the ones that I know about who have documented their assaults teachers are harassed spat at kicked punched verbally threatened and assaulted almost daily in Dam Barry it's in a crisis level in some cases teachers feel these incidents
040that are occurring are not handled strongly Enough by their administrators some teachers have been told by some administrators this is the new world of teaching learn to live with it I don't accept that for one minute nor should anyone everyone has the right to feel respected valued and safe within their school Community we need to demand that from all of our stakeholders as a result of this Rising increase and disturbance student behaviors our teachers are retiring early resigning in the middle of a school year Andor suffering serious physical and mental health medical consequences many teachers are forced to take Mental Health Medical leaves to recover from the PTSD from Simply being a teacher the fear of assault and the lack of adequate support systems has discouraged teachers from remaining of a teacher profession here in
041danburry this can exacerbate existing challenges related to to teacher attention and recruitment the district has worked with Nea damber to update the teacher assault reporting form this was long awaited and long overdue but I do believe that our new forms and updated reporting procedures that include checklists for teacher needs is indeed a positive step in the right direction to making teachers feel heard and cared for after an assault that said addressing teacher assaults requires a comprehensive approach involving proactive measures to prevent such incidents providing support systems for Effective teachers implementing effective disciplinary me measures fostering a safe and respectful School culture and offering interventions to address the underlying issues contributing to violence in our schools we urge the Board of Education to address this issue through policy discipline reviews improved resources for our students in
042crisis increased Staffing to address students in crisis as well as developing an improved protocol for supporting teachers who have endured abuse as always I thank you for your time and your commitment to address these issues along with us as partners please feel reach out with me out to me personally if you would like more details from anything I discuss tonight and I will see you next month thank you [Applause] you we G to move on down do we have any of our student uh to bring us report and our student Representative no presentation next on the agenda is action item I would like for the board to consider amending the agenda for our action items uh we have quite a few action items concerning policy I'm asking someone to make a motion that we agend
043uh amend the actions item uh instead of doing them individually we would do uh action item a through G as one motion and then I will ask for another motion to do h& L because we have a a heavy agenda tonight okay I need a motion that we amend the agenda to that effect move by uh Teresa Louisa move by Louisa and second it by Teresa okay all in favor could I hear I any discussion no okay so good let's move on down the agenda I need a motion we're working this together so whoever wants to make the motion let's have have the motion for a through G I make a motion that we accept action items a through a through G as written on our board packet I gu second the motion was made
044by Lauren second by Kate are there any discussion concerning that motion yes one 24 I'm sorry exhibit 248 yeah that's that's the next motion any other discussion all in favor or question all in favor yes I I motion so car I need a motion for exhibit H through L I'll make a motion that uh the board accept action items h L as written seconded by motion made by Kate seconded by Lauren are there any question concerning um that yes yes um in Z um we in paragraph number two there was some discussion past discussion about including um the number of absences for administrators yes um in that report in that report M okay can we have the chairperson do you remember that discussion this is for the [Music] finance okay Richard 18 in the um
045Financial report for December 31st it a States continued post-pandemic labor struggles continue throughout most of America Danbury public schools is seeing an increase in not only the number of absences for teachers and Par professionals but also an increase in the pay rate per day hour for Subs uh from our vendor Kelly Services and during that meeting we had a discussion um where we had asked to also show the number of absences for administrators and whether or not that impacted okay could we let um the assistant superintendent answer sorry good evening and thank you board chair Cooper and and board members um I think maybe um that some of that information may be included in one of the items tonight on the superintendent report in terms of updating I do remember that request hearing that and
046that might be part of the update on the 31st um but when we um talk to John maybe he can elaborate on that information I I wasn't sure if that was part of the board report or separate information coming on the 31st for requested items from the board but I that's so this is the question that's coming about so this is just the first reading that's why you know if you have any questions that we can answer before the 31st when we get ready to do the final aition or the reading we can ask at that point so I guess my question yes Kate sorry to interrupt um I just want to clarify the exhibit we're talking about is the finance report from December so it's not a first reading issue um but I I
047think if I understand Dr casmo correctly uh we're going to get that information it's just not going to come via Finance report specifically that comes in the January what was the January this is a policy items report from December Madam chair what it may make sense to do is is to instead have a motion to approve for first read items H I J and K and then um have a separate motion for item L as the financial report where you can have a discussion about whether or not to accept it as do we need to amend them yeah I would amend the motion on the floor to make it a motion to approve as you did with items a to g a motion to approve h i j and k which are the four remain
048policies and and have a vote on that and then have another motion for item L which is the financial report L would be separate corre so I'll make a motion that we amend uh to approve items action items uh H through K Kate made the motion second by all those in favor what's the next Mo so now I'll make a motion that the board approve action items H through K as written motion made by Kate could I hear second second second it by laen all those in favor now we're doing ask for any okay no I did not okay so we go back to we have one oppose okay okay okay thank finish yes I just want to just confirm that the L item is December it says 2034 should we just change that to
04920 24 we're changing it okay we need what are we changing 2024 and they got 34 too so we need a motion to go back and and amend the action motion correct I'll make a motion that we amend the uh action item L on the agenda to reflect uh December 2023 instead of 2024 motion made by Kate second second by Michelle any discussion on that see all those in favor could I hear I any oppos so move Mr theair would motion committee so you motion at the motion that the Board of Education accept Mr Janel could you pull the mic to you so we can hear you please motion that the Board of Education accept the December 2024 Financial report23 2023 could we let is a it's 20 it's 2023 report I read it again
050sorry um that the Board of Education accept the December 2023 financial report as recommended by the finance committee and in accordance with the exhibit 24-18 I second it motion made by Mr janelli second any a discussion all in favor of I'm going to yes all in favor the motion we have one person that stand what okay so motion so car okay thank you thank you all for your move on down to superintendent report now I'm going to take it over uh turn it over to the superintendent report thank you board chair CER um so the first item on the superintendent report uh references AIS enrollment update and so from time to time we provide updates on um the staff the ratio proportions and the uh enrollment updates uh that occur around this time of year
051and John Spang is going to give us a brief update on the status of that uh process thank you we're almost finished with our annual application process more information that we still need to process um I don't know how many of you are aware of it from our budget talk but the uh we recently had Chang in the state law and amount that we Bild other neighboring districts has been capped by the state of Connecticut we can only Bill 58% of what we build this year so we have to work that into our analysis before it's all complete and remember um no more than 75% of the AIS students can come from one District or or from danur in order to qualify for the state aid that we get to help run that you recall
052we looked at that during our budget session but it's $ 1.5 million uh that we receive if we stick to that formula ratio 75% 25% so it takes a little while to line everything up so that all of this money will come in as we're expecting it and with the numbers we have so far we're we're very close we're almost right on the line that's not a position uh we like to be in but we plan to have some discussions with our neighboring Partners who participate in the program with us those I expect to uh go on very soon and we want to strengthen this the program build it up and we want to have some discussions uh to do that so that's my report Michelle just question who are the partners you mentioned just
053now bfield New Fairfield New Town reading and New Milford and then we have what we call some non non-compact districts and that means we have some students who come from Stanford Waterberry sometimes other places two okay sorry so we have we have um students coming into the district I know that we have a couple that are going out like for the open choice but how many are actually entering the district well we want to keep that formula and this just just for AIS 25% right now we have for next year 76 applicants and how many will you accept applicants you're saying from out from out of this that's the enrollment is 76 right no that's the number of applications out of District correct John could we still get our call excuse me Michelle are you
054finished that was it yes I thank you okay Teresa had her hand up okay so uh so the so the 25% is 76 applicants of the total if nothing changed uh in the next few days yes thank you thank you that's yeah is Mr Janelle John we still get a differential between the monies for the den student and the other other District student stud can you if you have them available tell me what the rates are this year for every gur student we did $3,060 from the state of Connecticut and for every student who comes from out of District [Music] $722 thank you the combination uh creates the 1.5 okay I just want to get the rates thank you Lauren um you said that next year will be 57% less did I understand that so
055are we getting the the state of Connecticut late again late in the budget process right put a cap on Billings that districts can do to other towns for magnet schools the same cap was put on districts that run vocational agricultural high schools shog nag all of us that the resks which run uh probably most of the magnet schools in Connecticut they're limited to we all have we all have to reduce our per pupil amounts down to 58% of what it is this year we're all hoping that there'll be some state aid to make up for that uh but we don't have the specifics yet if that's going to happen watching the short session it's about to be okay so out of District students we'll get approximately what for the 57% less it'll be approximately what
056a Danbury student correct this year we're build we're billing $2,200 per student to those other school districts in addition we get money from the state the $3,000 correct I mentioned but next year we'll have to lower at uh I think just under $1,600 per student so what we've done and we we'll get into this I hope a little bit on Wednesday uh we have a called a subsidy in the Board of Education operating budget to balance the AIS program the current budget is the first time we had to do that we put in about I think it's $275,000 this year and the budget you have in front of you increases that subsidy a little more than 300,000 to make up the 58 the 42% that we're going to lose unable to build are there any
057other questions to [Music] John thank you John um so the next item under superintendent report um deals with the I'm going to skip down to the Broadview Middle School schedule and just provide that update and then um John I'll ask you to to help us with an update on B and D together in a moment so those two are those two go together um so a little while back in the fall um our parents at Broadview middle school and staff were informed um that we need to make some scheduling changes um as a result of the um schedule that was implemented for the start of the 2023 2024 School school year um as you br Middle School is a very prowd of middle school at the moment and I think when the schedule launched there
058was some um very well- intended attempts to try to um deal with some of the enrollment issues there to redistribution um in some creative uh ways um and as a result of that though we did find some you know very large in um discrepancies and inequitable opportunities for students when it comes to their ability to be able to access services that are that are mandated for example special education multi language learner and Bilal Services um in addition one of the things that were part of the superintendent's priorities um this year was the uh real dire need to implement intervention um in the form of a Wind Block which is what I need um coming out of the pandemic um it was very important to have um in especially in the two comprehensive middle schools um
059a structure that would allow for staff to intervene and Target students um who needed additional assistance um and also to help accelerate students um who were ready for more um and so uh with the um some of our central office staff worked very closely with building administrator to begin to make some adjustments to the schedule in the fall um and it came to a point where we realized that the the schedule needed to be redone um it's not very common to do that in the middle of the year it's quite disruptive quite frankly stresses the staff out stresses the students out of course the families um but um it was something that really needed to be done given the gravity of the of the substantive issues that that existed um and so we did work
060with the BR leadership team um to make Implement those changes we did um talk to some of the veteran staff to make sure we heard that they they concerns and that we um stayed you know in close touch with the ongoing issues um that schedu is set to um roll out this Friday and um Mr Kimbell has been updating the the parents uh regularly and today the students had an opportunity to confer with their school counselors when they had access to their new schedules um and then tomorrow will be a walkth through of about 45 minutes in each class just to get the students accustomed to the new schedule to reduce a little bit the anxiety of potentially switching uh in the middle of the year and um making sure that um I would say
061all the trains are are running on the track and they are not crashing so will feel like a first day of of school when you go through a new schedule which changes they'll work out those glitches um the staff at Broadview are extremely professional um they've been very hardworking um and they um deserve a lot of kudos for the efforts uh that they're undertaking to help make these changes so we appreciate that we appreciate them very much um so again the schedule set to Launch on Friday I will be on site to see how that goes and uh we'll make necessary changes as needed um as they arise any questions okay thank you and the next two items um B and C the special meeting on on January 31st so um that meeting was originally
062slated to have um another workshop on the budget and um mainly to to um also update the board on some of the items that were requested there was requests for Grants um understanding what's in the other category that um Staffing details of the new positions uh enrollment updates um magnet we touched a little bit on that today and then um any some items that were in the tech budget there were some questions and then that's where I I mentioned that that might be the appropriate meeting if that for the um CU I did hear you request that at one point in the last couple of meetings for Staffing absences um so perhaps John if you want to talk a little bit about that maybe how that all might play out in that meeting yeah so
063um so as Karen mentioned we put it putting together answers to all the questions that were raised and she went through what those are and we'd like to um get those out in the mail to you uh Friday so you have time to look at them and then maybe on Wednesday you could go a little bit deeper into them with any clarifying questions and things like that you have uh we would also uh go through some of the ideas you raised at our last meeting about the book itself I know there was a s for example there was a suggestion uh in some of the slides add some narrative on the slide to make it a little easier to to read on its own so we'll walk you through the changes that we uh you've
064suggested we'd also in talking today maybe before Wednesday if we can I know you have a very busy schedule next week is uh find time for the finance committee to meet U uh before that we'd like to take a deeper dive into what happened what's happening with this year's budget uh as it relates to the request for the inform appropriation how impacts setting the budget for next year I I sent some information around to the finance committee this afternoon hopefully we we have have a little time to talk about that if if people can um and on what what we'd also like to do on Wednesday is spend some time on what we're we've described as the lights on budget we got have a better name for that um but we want to go through
065that with you uh some of the basic things that are in any school budget that we haven't had a chance to talk about yet uh for example the Transportation uh line the contract with SDA that uh together is over $10 million I'd like to show you how that appropriation was arrived at the number of buses the price per day what's in there for example what's in there for the nonpublic schools that was something that came up during the year walking through that walk you through how we set the budget for utilities uh what prices we're estimating on electricity things like that um show you what we'd like to do for repairs for our buildings in the budget all the things that are you know in in any operating budget we spent a lot of time
066on the budget drivers the things that are new uh we might become very familiar with with the rest of that so thought maybe a a classic line item review of the budget we we' show you the the budget and it's the line items you're used to see in each month and we could go line by line or however you want to um summarize it on Why lines are up and why lines are down and see if we when we're through with that we have a good feel for what's in the whole thing so that that's what our thinking is for Wednesday right now and as um Dr cir mentioned bring back some answers uh to other questions that are out there does anyone have any questions is John at this morning yes Mr J so
067therefore um could we at some point today is Wednesday uh between next couple of days think of perhaps Monday if that's suitable to have a finance committee uh meeting I'd like to to have a meeting with Finance people in person not virtual um to go over some of the information that John has sent out today I think it's important and that discussion will lend itself to the lights on budget as well as well as other information so I think it behooves us to to meet before the Wednesday so it's more productive on Wednesday you know the the the budget as presented now you know I think we beat to death with the 28 million in in drivers it's some fine-tuning uh but we have not addressed the $160 million as John has explained in the
068light on budget so uh if there's a way that we could work in I've work this out with whomever uh meeting on on Monday for finance committee uh that is what I appreciate yes Kate U Mr can we have a um community relations hold for that evening at 6m but that's not expected to be a long meeting um I don't think it's going to be more than a half an hour maybe 45 minutes at most um I wonder if we could uh stack those meetings sure great okay thank you then we'll work out the time of the official notices the assistant superintendent and the secretary work out the details for money and get back to both of you please if it's possible that we can do and uh our finance director if if uh it
069works out that he will be able to participate then we'll move forward with that okay so we're moving on down the agenda uh we have the calendar um is up for information and uh we just okay we just this is here for information I think that we will vote on at our next meeting so I'm asking you because uh questions will come up concerning the calendar versus last year so make sure that you have can compare and we sort to decide as a board how you going to make the decision as to how you want to accept this and it's nothing that we have to do tonight but read it and uh look at it and then we'll come back and we'll vote on this at our next board meeting and I right yes yes
070Kate uh thank you madam chair I just want to um ask if there be any consideration given to the public testimony we heard this evening uh I'm wondering if there'll be any consideration given to the public testimony that we heard this evening with a request for uh some additional days off for our Muslim Students so I I think that would be an item for the board to discuss for sure um but also adding holidays into the calendar is complex in the sense that um I don't think would happen for this these calendar Cycles um there are union negotiations labor contracts when we have time off so it's very complex process so something I think that the board should revisit um as a separate item thank you you're welcome any other question concerning count so we
071move on down uh board chairperson report very brief I want to thank um the board members we had a busy week last week you took out of your schedule and and you attended the meeting I certainly want to thank you on behalf of the board and um our leadership team I want to personally thank uh Kate and uh Michelle for uh the attendance at the Dr m music k foram on January 15th I I truly uh appreciate them being there uh and I most likely would thank on top of that Danver High School band who was fabulous at that Affair and I hope next year when we sponsor this again at the church that we will have more students come to participate because our band came and I can say this they showed art and
072it was just beautiful to see the young people how they was involved and participated so we excited about getting it started again and getting all set up for next year and I just want to thank the board members that showed up I really appreciate that before I finish my report then you can jump in uh reach your email please don't go two or three days and and not uh reach your eail uh it's very important information you know sometime we have to set up appointment that we forget that might pop up and we don't have the time so just if you can't do it you just let Ken know cuz she shouldn't have to you know email you two or three times during the day uh to check your emails so read your emails okay
073that's basically all I have to say again I like to thank everybody's support and you all know know me that we're here to work together all 11 of us work together and if I make a mistake you let me know if I can't hear you I'll let you know so we can work together to make this uh a good working relationship which I think we already have and just support one another and do the right thing for this District okay yes Kate uh I just want to thank you madam chair for the invitation it was a really um lovely event at at New Hope and I really would encourage anybody who has never been um the congregation and the space was very welcoming and I just wanted to mention that uh see I forget and
074thank Louisa Vice chair for I know thank you all so very much okay so if there's nothing else on Lauren did you want to say thank you to Laur for your help and your support uh if there's nothing else I'm going to ask for a motion to enter into executive session I have a motion motion is made uh by Mr janelli can I hear second second by Michelle all those in favor motion so carried we're going to take a 5 minutes break so people can move out so we can go into executive session abely think room at this time we're back into a public session I would like the secretary to read uh the motion the Danbury board of education has been notified of Mr won's decision to take personal leave and the board recognizes
075the need for Mr won to take time to address his personal issues in the interm the Board of Education will be exercising its due diligence to assure that the interests of the Danbury public schools are safeguarded that would be in the form of a motion to adopt that statement motion was made second by Lauren could I hear a second to that motion second second by Kate any questions see n um all in favor I any opposes motion so carry okay I need a motion to adjourn our meeting Mo second Mo move by Kate second