001thank you [Music] etiquette just uh this board meeting etiquette um please only public participation during that portion of the meeting and if you could just Silence Yourself only that would be great um there are Pledge of Allegiance I would like um to take a few minutes um or a former and long Board of Education member and pastor past prom so if we could all stand for the price of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all thank you a Little Closer Teresa Rachel here okay Gladys here Lauren here Bridget here Julie Brown Albert and Luisa um if you have some community members from Great Plain Elementary School with us this evening believe we have them right there in the
002front of the table please make yourself comfortable some of you would like to sit down please make sure we can identify you from the rest of the orange shirts so it's good to see you all just wanted to start out with congratulating this team you had an opportunity to stop by the school today for a couple of minutes and last week with the mayor congratulate in this group just want to applaud the teachers the staff the families the students for an amazing job for years great playing School Community has been recognized for great achievement in this town and so it's great to see you recognize on a national level for the amazing work that have that so I just just a few words that I wrote down the National Blue Ribbon Awards and this is
003for our parents and Community the National Blue Ribbon award is given annually to select schools across the country that demonstrate overall high achievement or exemplary success in closing the achievement Gap great plane is being awarded for its success in closing the achievement Gap this is a well-deserved honor for teachers and the staff at Great Plain and evidence of the tireless work on behalf of the children and families of Land Community so please join me in congratulating principals Keisha Smith Davis the Great Plain teachers and staff as well as the families and students of the Great Plain community [Music] thank you [Applause] foreign [Applause] different attackers surprise thank you [Applause] thank you [Applause] I'm okay I just want to say a quick thing before great playing and I don't blame you guys for running out of
004here um I've been fortunate to be a great playing parent so both of my kids did go through that school um and serving on the board I was a great deal liaison I was uh PTO president for I don't know how many years and um it's it's a truly unique school um no offense to any other bar insurance and I want to get jumped in the parking lot um but it's a phenomenal score as a district changed and the landscape of things changed great plane has always maintained that quality and um you know a person to kid ratio and and just um I know a lot of teachers there they taught my kids and I think you know dedication um there and I think throughout the district too obviously by everybody coming out tonight I
005just want to congratulate them from and say thank you um daughter in college uh you know great playing helps prepare kids and and like other schools do to just for what's out there and and that was a time when you could actually prepare a child for you know the the normal education things have changed now but um you know I just want to say thank you to a lot of teachers are still here I know Ms Smith couldn't be here because she wasn't feeling well I didn't speak to her earlier on the phone I hope you guys enjoyed the lunch today um but um just want to say thank you and it's pretty impressive what um to accomplish something like that in the SE times that's what we have going on so I just want
006to say thank you [Applause] thank you um I'd like to entertain a motion to amend the agenda to move um to educational staff representative at this time for a second and by Route all those in favor so our staff what's that hello hello good evening everyone good evening it's so nice to see all of your faces here and I brought a few of my friends with me to um join us in the conversation that we need to have tonight so for those in this room who do not know me my name is Aaron Daly and I'm a 19-year veteran third grade teacher and the president of the Danbury teachers union I've spent all 19 years in their winter all 19 years and I'm proud to represent nearly 1 100 sample of Harmony [Applause] tremendous achievement
007that the Great Plains School of Staff under the leadership of Miss Smith Davis I so deservedly earned it's an evening to acknowledge these special Educators for their commitment to building the kind of school environment that nurtures academic growth but while fostering kindness and people building and most importantly respect Great Plains schools Blue Ribbon award celebrates all that can be achieved when the school stakeholders listen to the needs of a school and the school community and come together to work together it's a beautiful thing for sure and we are so proud of the huge and essential role that our teachers played in earning that distinguished award we see you teachers and we thank you for all you do for our kids give yourself a hand teacher said all of our DCF teachers deserve recognition tonight not
008just phrase true recognition for the continued dedication energy resolve Ingenuity creativity care support and determination that each and every one of our Danbury public school teachers puts forth each and every day we want our Board of Education our city leaders and our community to see us see what we do for our students see how hard we work to see us for what we're worth in this community to see us and value US for the professionals that we are even with this incredible achievement of the teachers and staff at Great Plains all that's not glowing within our school district our teachers have reported the most challenging beginning to a new school year that they can ever remember and that's saying something after teaching our way through covet the past few years with limited resources degrading work
009conditions a spike in negative and even violence to the behavior a continued increased workload and ridiculous ridiculous and unattainable expectations for our folks many Danbury teachers are now leaving the district it is a terrible loss for our students for sure and why are they leaving well yes it is true that one of the reasons they're leaving is for higher pay January salary at one time were in the top tier for the state but now we rank mediocre at best and with that we take far more responsibilities than many other districts in insurmountable workload with no end of the dependent site and a growing lack of trust and respect that continues to Fester why wouldn't someone leave Danbury to work in another District or they're more valued three years ago I sat right here in this
010very room with many of these fellow teachers as we reminded the board to see us see us look Us in the eyes and see what we do to respect and value us as the essential workers that we are here working in Danbury HR will tell you the challenges they have faced this year with teacher turnover daily resignations continue we are faced with grave losses to our staff not enough World language teachers a shortage of ESL teachers science teachers high quality Math teachers all leaving Danbury every time we lose a teacher dozens of students are negatively impacted the teacher the social worker the school counselor will just remembered that child's name will just encourage them to try harder and Just Praise them for being kind they're going they're gone and every day it takes to find
011a replacement teacher leaves a boy for that child and multiplies the impact of loss while those of us standing here this evening have made a commitment to our students we need to know that you the board have a commitment to us we need you to see us and truly value US we're no longer an attractive district for new teachers or one for retaining high quality educators ranking dead last in the state for investment in our students and our teachers just can't continue this rate of decline I'm the eve of our mediation session yes that's tomorrow night for a new negotiated contract we want you to know that our commitment to this District can only be sustained as long as you are willing to commit to us to value US to value US by providing us
012with a fair wage increase and maintaining our insurance benefits to Value us through demonstrations of respect and Trust in US to value our veteran teachers as leaders and to grow our new teachers through dedicated support we are an investment in this community when you invest in US you are investing in children when you invest in US you are investing in the future of our community if we as a community refuse to invest in our teachers we are revealing to our students how little we value them we are saying to our students that they are not worth keeping the best teachers to educate them Governor Lamont said just last week I've spent a lot of time talking about teacher respect thanking teachers is not enough to address the teacher shortage districts must also thank you financially
013for everything you've done he put it best when he said that we should respect teachers just like they have honored their commitment to districts and this board knows that the way to improve strengthen and build Prosperity within a community is through strong public education you've already agreed to invest in your Administration you've shown that through agreeing to more than fair races for them and by continuing to bolster added administrative positions in the districts but teachers us this group we're the boots on the ground the people doing the dedicated important work the people actually educating our kids we deserve a equal investment s the cornerstones of the educational process your teachers deserve the respect and fair pay for the demanding work that we do we deserve a fair contract investment in your teachers benefits us all
014our board and our city has a duty to fill the financial void and work on long-term investment for our kids and our teachers we know our city received a very generous amount of Esser money thanks to the American Recovery Act teachers certainly didn't see that money filter down to the classrooms nor in their paycheck unlike many other nearby districts who did offer that show of respect value and importance to their teachers for the hard work they have put in over the past three years our good hearts and our passion for public education aren't enough to keep us here anymore we need you to commit to invest in US invest in this group of high quality Educators that stand for you see us see us for the work we do invest in US Danbury public school
015teachers deserve a fair contract I thank you for your time tonight and I thank you for seeing us this evening thank you all for being here this evening thank you oh boy yourself foreign [Music] room three minutes last time I checked there was no one signed up for public participation is there anyone here to speak uh for public comment s going once going twice three times consent calendar I make a motion that the Board of Education approved the items on the consent calendar except it's 22-104 and 22-105 as recommended second any discussion none of the favor both a question do we have students from student Representatives here this evening numbers speaking on behalf of alternative centers are excellent yeah on behalf of the Alternative Center for excellence today last week we had doing invitations that
016all finished last week this week we're doing interviews with the utility staff members Department grade level Benchmark Friday September 23rd that went really well foreign about the upcoming events school goals for this year as the parents will have an opportunity to follow through their schedule and be ASAP for the upcoming on the same day Katya Karen garcini will be taking her environmental science student to the Erickson boat launch in New Milford yeah we will be bringing students to the college poetry Festival high school student day which means thousands of students from the responsive teenagers from attracted area to call us from Wild beverage they will get the opportunity other people that think like them in this wide world a lot of people are like them but there's also a lot of people that think differently
017we have been participating in the Bible that is us thank you for allowing us thank you Ezekiel good to see you again foreign a 21-22 here in financial report I'd like to make a motion as the Board of Education except 2021-2022 year-end financial report in accordance with exhibit 22-106 on the floor is there a second by they're good any discussion um in this report that um public as the week went on um any further discussion seeing none all those in favor any opposed any extension motion carries on his report that's quick good evening everyone go to bed and audience we also have a couple of hours of Nea good to see you here I am excited to introduce some new leadership appointments and 22-23 school year we have a number of folks who are in
018the audience have been waiting patiently we have one principle was not able to make it tonight but I would like to start with two appointments that made last year after very comprehensive search for replacements at our elementary and other two elementary schools so I'd like to begin with period Dr Anna Rocco moved up to district office last year in the spring posted the position at King Street primary we're very excited to learn that Donatella Pereira was interested in this vacancy she later applied for the position and landed as our finalists and unanimous choice to serve as a new principal at King Street primary quite frankly her staff was overwhelmed to learn about her appointment they were excited about her appointment as an interim I think even more excited and somewhat quite frankly we leave that
019she had received the position so without further Ado I'd like to formally congratulate on in front of the board anyway Donatello Pereira who have previously been with us and served as an assistant principal at Danbury High School and is now the principal at King Street primary congratulations [Applause] our other principal Who was appointed last year before the school year ended no Jackson look around like who is that person and that's Mrs Bo Jackson and again that feeling our other chief of schools Chris roach who had previously served as the principal at AAS we posted the vacancy if there were a very comprehensive and a process we landed on a person who was who previously served in the state of New York in Westchester County and he had heard great things about Merle in that capacity
020the team every team every so we have two committees that recommend make recommendations through the superintendent in the cabinet Merle was the Top Choice one of the top choices on both and then in the cabinet she really just blew us away and I think very quickly between admin Council which means all of the administrators and I think for staff most recently has opened their arms tomorrow we're really excited to have her on the team we had an opportunity to meet her at least the team and I did over the summer as part of our admin training and I a couple of times checked in and just make sure our world was okay and it was as if she had been here it's overall I just want to take this opportunity to formally congratulate you and
021welcome you to the Danbury School Community congratulations [Applause] and then our uh you know we we have three more appointments Mr Rodney Powell is not with us this evening Jackie Donato who retired from the school district after years of service servicing this community retired a difficult task of replacing Jackie we landed on someone who we were told when checking references is the standard for alternative education and Mr Powell cannot be with us this evening the principal Powell we will in the near future have him here perhaps at one of our Spotlight schools looking forward to introducing him to the board in the school community could also want to formally congratulations to providing power for his assignment at Regina and [Applause] so next um Mr David Kimball so we had a number of vacancies at Broadview
022Middle School I think it's probably already laughing about and we posted the job after I believe Dr Thomas has served in this district for over 30 years and and we had again the difficult task of trying to find someone to throw up shoes and quite frankly I think the team and I were just floored like how fortunate we were to have someone come in with um David's experience thoughtfulness and frankly when I spoke to the superintendent it was clear um that she knew he had to leave because he was ready for that step and this is much closer to the home fan as well but we are truly getting a talented individual and I think we've already had some great things happening at Broadview transitioning an entirely new administrative team we went to with new
023assistant principals one previously at Shelter Rock principal former principal Anna Marshall who were both working on his team but David we are happy to have you here in District and look forward to many many successful years to come and so again this evening we'd like to probably introduce David Mr David Kimball to the Danbury Community congratulations [Applause] and we have two more appointments um this blue is actually here at our last meeting for the first hot board meeting of the year and we had a recognition to celebrate some students and take this opportunity Miss Jen blue was working at Westside Middle School previously as the assistant principal had a vacancy late August when we learned that Dr Labonte was going to another school district and um Jen stepped up quickly and made it very clear
024this is a position she had aspired to be in he's looking forward to the challenge and so with that conversation we've assigned Mr Blue as the internal principal at West Side Middle School and look although we look forward to having a interview process in the spring we are very excited to have jet in this world right now working with our staff and leading her staff through this transition and Mr Mike Flint who was outside I'm not sure if he's still up where's my mic is hiding behind him um and so Mike who you know if we in order to backfill Jen as the assistant principal we pulled Mike from Great Plain Elementary School school with all those exciting things happening in that building it's also very excited to have Mike also as an Instagram role
025but formerly I'd like to introduce and congratulate the improve the interim principal and look forward to a great school year thank you [Applause] and then last but not least of the last interim assignment um this school here previously animation moved as printable to assistant principal at the middle school which had previously been an experience of her and that was that was for the most part her resume like her resume spoke and shouted middle school and so when that opportunity presented itself she had asked to switch they work at a middle school and realized but of course that bed wasn't open to school and Alexandra Pacheco AKA Sharma is one of our kind of Danbury own who has come up the ranks in this school Community as a paraprofessional a teacher the coach as a trusted
026advocate for teachers trusted Confidant for teachers she has been a go-to person for the first language learning community for years but as much as anything she's really been a go-to person instructionally across this district for years she's well respected amongst her peers well respected by administrators in his district I I can't tell you how happy and excited I am for you so with all of that Sean had previously worked with us as a summer school administrator as well impressed in all of those roles now been given me the opportunity after already serving and working with the traffic at Park Avenue I had an assistant principal has been assigned as the interim principle of Shelter Rock Elementary School and formerly we want to congratulate you foreign people have to clean our school in the morning to
027have more updates on I just want to share with you we are happy to have you in the Danbury Community I don't know if the board has any questions or comments before you leave but I just want to formally just thank you all for being here and then choosing again I would just like to make are many and I quite enjoy that process and being a part of it and you really get to know you know you serve on a panel with current staff you really get to know a panel as well as the [Music] City so it's really um it's nice to see you in person and not behind a screen so welcome and congratulations um very proud and happy if you do any other questions or I would certainly like to welcome you
028to our industry I've seen you and some of our board meetings and I hope those beautiful smiles that I see now continue year after year and year I want to thank the superintendent for bringing you a to us so we can get familiar with your faces and even though we're not visiting your school and know that you know you're individually at a particular school which I don't believe in going into the school unless it's something I want to know okay because I feel like that's not enough but there's a program or something that that will learn something about I would go through the proper canvas to make sure that everyone knows that I'm 10 years so on that I would like to say welcome welcome and I look forward to meeting you on a personal
029basis at your school thank you Miss Miss Cooper you know we'll see you we'll see those smiles when we do anything every year I will be visiting the school and I am going to be going through the property because that's that's what it is because we hear things in here and in order in my opinion I speak for most in order to make decisions in here because in here everything is great it is great yeah it's great you know we don't have a lot of positive stuff here but getting down and if you ask around some people have some people some people possible that that's where you get the information that's the you know and understand kind of what the daily that's how I I feel I feel it works for me to make decisions
030and and hear and hold on stuff in here um but actually knowing what what's going on in foreign thank you for joining us to see congratulations again good Secret and so the next item on this superintendent's report the spotlight your school and it's really just an update to the board and the community prior to the pandemic we had an opportunity to enjoy meeting our principals and our staff members from the district where we would Spotlight a school headboard me so that was something that's something you would like to read and have an opportunity for you to meet teachers and staff and find out what's going on across the school district it's our chief of schools have been working with principals to work through a rotation of schools kind of developed kind of expectations for the
031presentations time limit on presentation a format for the presentation and then obviously an opportunity for questions if okay so I just want to make aware if that's something that pleases the board yes and last but not least and that is the superintendent goals update fiscal responsibility planning for growth and talent acquisition this sub bullet is District security updates accuracy league is going to speak a little bit about this I was kind of given the nature of the work itself respectfully we're also going to ask to speak in more detail in executive sessions thank you um so we'll be talking a little bit about the much awaited school security uh school security audits those have been completed as promised we'll be diving a little bit into uh what those reported back but then also some of
032the larger upgrades of the making and look forward to us Stephen back I think I'd let we'd like to resume those I think prior to the pandemic we were doing every once a month so every other meeting typically a group members of the staff presentation or it will it will be a divorce Factor on this price any other questions thank you I don't have much exception on the field side uh DHS PTO met last Wednesday in person um Administration join us it was very well attended I have to say um offered a chance to meet PTO officers hear about upcoming events um and just a parent and parent kind of helpful tips and information which was nice um principal Donovan has resumed his virtual principal breakfast though he had one just the next the following
033day just a nice chance to have a one-on-one with the High School principal and there were about 25 parents or so in attendance Citywide is having their first meeting on Monday October 3rd at 6 30 at the black box trying to attend the virtual Financial night financial aid night but the high school is also holding at the same time so I know Katie are the liaison you'll be there but if anyone else with Ralph great um West Side Middle School will continue their virtual meetings with the principal um it will partner with the PTO to provide a PTO update at the same time those begin on Thursday of next week and then there is a cave roles and responsibility responsibilities of board members a free webinar that was emailed to all of us um just
034a few days ago on the 26th um if you're interested in looking that that's always available for my report are there any other Solutions show of hands who's going to the cape convention several okay I just want to add uh to the uh the Citywide PTO meeting we did get a request for a list of contact information for each of the board members here so hopefully that will initiate some contact from the folks who are running the individual ptos so just be aware that you will hopefully see an email from whatever ptos you're assigned to um so city the city center Danbury has contacted us and they're working on a mosaic project at downtown mural and they're looking for um teams of eight it's kind of like a paint by number thing so um Rachel
035and I have picked a date that other board members could join us October 22nd it's a weekend from 11 to 1 and we'll meet at two steps and there'll be someone there to kind of Step us through the project so if it's if you're interested in joining us that day if you could reach out to me just so I could sign our team up but I think it would be great I think would be a great Ford you know participation thing because it's going to be City Center and it'll you know just to show our participation and just be part of the city from 11 A.M to 1. um it's I don't know the theme but it's they're doing it over several days of going to be downtown yeah it's pretty neat what is it
036that you're doing on the 22nd concerning the view so we're going to be actually painting a piece of the mural the team of us it's like a paint by number so you know how they do like the paint parties and they set you through the factory how to paint it we're going to have a section of the mural that we're painting that day with somebody there telling us how to what to paint where to paint step by step like connect the dots painting kind of thing foreign already been over or uh there's a mirror down there or Mary and erson and um so that would be a visibility to contact for people that are running for so City Center Danbury is running this project and they've asked they've reached out to me to see if
037they can get teams of eight they need 200 people to help this project do their thing I don't know where it's going I just said I'll check in with the board and see if they want to participate talk to Rachel Rachel said it's a great idea but I don't it's not we're not painting over anything I believe it's going on a holly building downtown that's yeah right thank you so Bridget has a little information as well because a whole other site they were decorating another set alarm decorating another section Al any other board comments or questions exception all right um is there a motion that the Board of Education can be in an executive sessions discuss security strategy personnel and to present the tentative one-year contract extension for para Educators with possible action public so
038all those in favor aye