001Good evening. I would like to call this regular meeting of the board of education to order. The next regular meeting of the board of education is on Tuesday, January 13th at 7:30 p.m. I would like to start with the chair report. Thank you all for being here tonight for our last regular board of education meeting prior to the holidays and winter break. I would like to thank the RTM for the opportunity to speak on behalf of the board of education in last night's RTM state of the town meeting. In the meeting last night, the RTM voted to not reject the DEA teacher contract. So, thank you to RTM and the board of finance for your support of the DEA contract. The board anticipates this new contract will help us achieve our educational priorities of attracting
002and retaining our teachers in a time of national teacher shortages as well as provide new professional learning opportunities for our teachers. All of which will benefit our students. After the winter break, at our special board of education meeting on January 8th, Dr. Burn will give his fisc year 27 budget presentation. We look forward to beginning the board's budget deliberations in January and I wish everyone a happy holiday and happy new year. Until then, thank you. So, now moving on to public comment. Good evening. If you'd like to participate in public comment, please approach the podium and state your name and town of residence for the record. Please note that you'll have up to three minutes to comment. We have no public comment at this time. >> Okay. The superintendent's report, Dr. Burn. >> Okay. Thank
003you. Good evening and thank you for joining us for the December 9th board of education meeting. Many thanks to all the members of the board and the community who joined the annual facilities tour this past Saturday. I'm grateful to our director of facilities Kevin Monrett and assistant director Netorio for leading the insightful visits to the schools. Last night I attended the state of the town meeting. I'd like to congratulate our very own board chair Robin Nelson on an excellent speech. It was quite an educational evening for me as it was my first state of the town meeting and I learned quite a bit about the dedication and commitment of so many who work to keep Darianne wonderful. Today I attended the Chartwell's mood boost tasting event at Oxridge. This week's Moody's was confident in the
004tasting was roasted cinnamon butternut squash. The students were lined up and coming back for seconds and thirds during the tasting. Thank you to our food service director Megan Bendes and her team for bringing the program to our elementary schools. Be on the lookout for more mood boost events in the schools. And congratulations to Darian High School students Nick Stanka, Harrison Dilts and Harry Popa for placing in the top 25 for the DECA international stock market game in the North Atlantic region. They'll be presenting their investment portfolio at the DECA International Career Development Conference and competition in April of 2026 in Atlanta, Georgia. They began with a mock portfolio of $100,000 and increased it with diversified investments to $145,459, a 38.4% increase over the 10 weeks of the competition. The Darian High School DECA Club is
005off to a great start this year. Our very first parent university will be this Thursday, December 11th, at 2 p.m. at Middle Sex Middle School. Join us to learn more about the science of reading and experience our K3 literacy practices through fun interactive learning sess sessions. And finally, I'd like to wish everyone a happy, healthy, and safe holiday season. That concludes my report for this evening. >> Thank you. We'll move on to our student representative reports, Ryan and Kylie. >> Yeah. As we move into the end of the year, our math and science honor societies, our outreach divisions in both of those will be uh traveling to the elementary and middle schools to conduct presentations and activities with many other students. And uh coming up next week on Tuesday, we have our new annual tradition,
006the reindeer games, where uh students and faculty compete in different events at the end of the school day. And a nice way to wind off uh the end of the 2025 year. >> Thank you. And just to add on, we have a unified sports basketball game Wednesday, December 17th at 3 PM and it's DHS versus New Kanan. And then that same day, we have the DHS holiday spectacular concert. Um, all musical ensembles will be performing, so make sure to go. >> Thank you, Colleen. Uh, moving on to presentations, discussions, and possible action. Um we are first going to start with presentation and discussion on multi-tered system of supports or MTSS. Dr. Fedigan. >> Well, if I could just jump in for a little context setting. So um uh I know that the work on MTS
007has involved a lot of people over the last year and a half or so. And what we wanted tonight to be uh an opportunity to really define what is it that we're talking about when we say MTSS because it is new for many. uh what is it that we have been working on? What are we currently working on and where are we going next? So this is a highlevel view so that we all have a common understanding and the community is understanding what we're talking about when we say MTSS. The board knows I'm not a huge fan of educational jargon and acronyms, but this is one we can't make go away. So, we might as well get it down to what it really is and how it's helping kids and why it's a critically important
008piece of the work that so many in the district are doing. So, I'll pass it off to Dr. Betty. >> Thank you. Good evening, everyone. Um, as you know from one of Dr. Burn's recent community messages, he provided a community update a broad overview and definition of what MTSS is, multi-tered systems of support. And tonight, what we're really talking about is what I would say is the most foundational part of our work in teaching and learning. This is really the backbone of our work. It is our most strategic initiative in a public school system. And what we're going to talk about tonight is really not new. It's about kind of what I've heard the board ask a lot about. How do all of these things connect in our work? Can you make these connections in
009teaching and learning and assessment, professional learning, general education, special education really crystal clear? So MTSS is really a vehicle to do this. And while this is not necessarily new work, what might be new is a little bit of how we operationalize this work and thinking about our approach. So the how might be new, the why is not new. The why is really about ensuring that every child has their strongest potential um learning experience and future outcomes as a result of their time with us in Darian public schools. And while this is um really about I would think the biggest ship you might have heard before acronyms that Dr. Burn and I probably both don't really like RTI, response to intervention. You've heard things called SRBI, um, scientifically research-based interventions. The big shift to MTSS is
010really about a whole child approach. It's about core tier one, every child, every teacher in every classroom and being responsive to meet every child where they are. And so because this is really about core instruction tier one, this really requires significant leadership in thinking about curriculum, instruction, assessment, and professional learning. And I hope tonight that you'll hear a couple of themes. One of those will be how we through MTSS articulate our work. So it's preschool through grade 12 continuum with with regard to content learning standards that we have for our children. thinking about again what is the continuum of experiences for our staff so that um everybody really can see very clearly what happens within a department as children move up in their learning progressions through the grades. And the other really significant theme that
011I want you to hear is this is about becoming more efficient in our work. So that when children who are meant to be performing at grade level standard might be not yet at grade level standard or already beyond. How do we meet them where they are and not lose any time as they transition from teacher to teacher grade to grade level to level elementary middle to high. So those are really the two themes. It's about K12 alignment and really tightening up the transitions within our work so we can use our time really wisely with our with our students. the staff that we have here tonight, the panel, they have really critical leadership roles in this work because again this is about tier one core instruction. So we have with us tonight Jen, Dr. Jennifer Falconee,
012who is our director of elementary education and her role is really to ensure that there is a consistent coherent approach across the five elementary schools in tier 1, what every child is experiencing. And then Ronnie Rodier next to her is our 612 mathematics department chair as you know. And so you can imagine the alignment between preschool and through grade 12 of their work together from a mathematics perspective. Kristen Colonies, who the board knows, is our department chair for literacy. And you'll be hearing um throughout our presentations and curriculum committee meetings as we go, the connection beyond our K3 literacy work. What does this mean for our approach to literacy as a school system uh preschool through grade 12? And then we also have Dr. Scott McCarthy who helps us to ensure that as we move
013through tiered instruction and we have a continuum from general education to special education, our assessment practices are on point um and that what children are experiencing in the core matches their interventions and their special education services. So tonight is really about process. So we want to kind of have you see not a finished final finalized handbook. We want to talk to you about the process that we're engaged in and signal some things that you'll also hear about through the budget cycle with regard to assessments um and different platforms and systems that we'll need to really support this work moving forward. And at this point tonight, I'm going to turn it over to the group who will provide a broad overview of what MTSS is. We want to make sure that everybody leaves here with a
014very clear understanding of that and that you understand the phases of our work that began last year and continue into the next two years ahead. and then we'll be happy to take questions after. So, I'm going to turn it over to the group. >> All right. Um, so most importantly, you see, students are at the center of our MTSS processes and that's something so critical to remember as we're considering all the pieces and parts of MTSS. Um, this structure helps us to organize our practices, our data, our resources so that every child gets what they need and is successful. this in some cases this is a little bit of a shift from SRBI or RTI um in many ways that alluded to a lot of academic focus and students who maybe weren't meeting benchmark okay
015thanks um this shift truly sorry is about all students and so all of our students have learning goals all of our students need to um see growth and that is critical um in our MTSS processes uh We have if you look at our graphic there we have effective use of data and you'll see a lot of indicators going forward. We're going to be looking at um data platforms to figure out how we can access data in a holistic way looking at student social social and personal learning behavior data along with our academic data and have information easily accessible so that we can make informed decisions about our our students. It's a layered support um for both math, literacy, social and personal learning. As you know in K3 we've already started with a shift to the
016inter readading program and we're also looking at systematic interventions as you know you guys have we've supported or gillingham training which provides a systematic approach to um researchbased um literacy instruction. Again, access to all means that we need to have a universal screener that captures kind of what our students need. So, you'll see in future conversations, we're going to be exploring different universal assessments to make sure that we have the information we need to then diagnostically look into what our students need who are sitting in front of us. Most importantly, it's about making sure that our teachers who are our number one priority, right? They are the people who make the greatest difference in each of our children's learning that we can increase their professional capital. You'll you've heard Eric talk about um implementing a
017coaching program, some of these new coursework uh opportunities. We can use these opportunities to be very systematic in making sure that our teachers are as effective as possible for all of our learners. And of course, collaboration and shared responsibility is something we need processes to support all of the data analysis. And we've had PLC's and process here, but in some cases they've meant different things. And we're going to become a little more systematic about what is a professional learning community? What are some data protocols and processes so that we can ensure that we truly are looking at all of our students to determine next steps in instruction. It's about continuous improvement for each of our learners. Before I pass it on, this is just a little quick overview of some guiding principles for MTSS. And
018I think between the last slide and what Amy has shared, um, this this really highlights what's at the core of MTSS. It's for all students. All of our leadership is critical in supporting um growth for every student. Scientific researchbased core instruction and intervention is the foundation of this success. And um we need to be responsive basically for our students looking at data and making sure that we are looking at the growth for all learners. With that, I'm going to pass it on to my colleague. Thank you. We've organized our MTSS implementation into a three-year phased plan uh consistent with research showing that successful sustainable MTSS systems typically take 2 to four years to build. So phase one was last year, phase two this year, phase three next year. Thanks. So our first year focused on
019building a strong foundation for MTSS. We established a district leadership team and engaged in professional learning to build a shared understanding of MTSS so it can be implemented thoughtfully and consistently across the district. We initiated a draft MTSS handbook with the purpose to provide guiding principles, tier definitions, decision-making processes, and expectations for support. We completed a district-wide MTSS self- assessment reviewing consistency, strengths, and areas of need. Our self assessment revealed several themes. We have opportunities to improve consistency around tiered instruction, intervention documentation, and referral pathways, as well as deepening staff understanding of universal screening and the MTSS process. pre-K through 12. Specific areas for continued um attention included strengthening early literacy supports and ensuring consistent implementation of social and personal learning interventions. And the staff also expressed the need for dedicated time for the data
020review that Jen mentioned. Uh collaboration and professional learning. All of those are critical components of MTSS. So building on these findings this year our priorities are going to include um looking for a comprehensive data platform uh that provide whole child data to guide referrals, progress monitoring and instructional decisions. Organizing this data in one central place is really essential to making MTSS both um efficient and effective for our students and our staff supporting them. Coherence across the district is also foundational for this work. And so continuing to refine our MTSS handbook, establishing consistent protocols uh K through 12 and creating whole child portfolios are steps that help create that seamless transition as students move from grade to grade and school to school. We're focusing on developing a greater understanding of MTSS as a system for all
021of our stakeholders. And this includes professional learning for our staff and ongoing communication with family and community members. And finally, we're examining uh current instructional resources, tier one supports and instructional strategies, as well as universal screening platforms that ensure our resources support the MTSS process. So during phase three of our implementation, which will be the 26 27 school year, we are hoping to be able to be implementing um a our full MTSS handbook to establish sort of an operational framework of expectations and roles and processes across the district. We also hope to be engaging in data analysis and review that includes an a whole child approach with regular data analysis and cycles of of reviewing that data. Uh we we will be providing targeted professional development at that at that point. So the professional learning
022for staff will be in building capacity of staff and uh ensuring that they understand and and have uh common uh understanding of the MTSS principles and how they're applied in their data analysis and review. will be utilizing a unified data system. You've heard us talk about that numerous times over the years that we have we collect and analyze data from multiple sources and and the laborious process of of uh um collecting that information, putting that into one space, then utilizing that information in quick ways to inform our instructional practices is challenging. And so we hope to um create a more efficient process for that. We will look to strengthen our family communication and partnerships uh by making the information that we glean from MTSS data collection more accessible to families. And as with any good
023committee, we hope to identify fiscal year 28 budget implications um related to the staffing, professional learning and system infrastructure. So sort of tie this all up um in in thinking about the a model to think about how a ongoing process is analyzed and and implements new practices. Um the plan do study act or PDSA model or cycle um which comes from the the text learning to improve um is is a nice way to think about how an MTSS committee implements work over time. So it's an iterative method uh for making change, studying its impact and then scaling what's working. And so what our MTSS committee will do is really utilize this process to determine what things we'd like to adopt, which things we need to adapt, and which things we need to abandon. And that
024process is is again it's iterative. So it's happening over time at both the leadership level and at the building level. >> All right. Thank you all. One of the things that we'd like to focus on is being really um transparent with the board and the community again about the process of our work. And so what we'd like to do is continue during board of education curriculum committee meetings and further board meetings to share our progress through the spring and again to be showing how the work of MTSS and about tier, you know, tier one core instruction connects to all areas of our work. Um, something that the group just did talk about before was the UN universal screener. And you might recall from our assessment presentation at the beginning of the year. That's the kind
025of assessment that we administer at the beginning of the school year to see where every child is according to the grade level standards and then develop um plans for every child based upon where they are. Are they at grade level, not yet, or already functioning well beyond? And so one of the things that we're wondering about is if the current universal screener, for example, that we use is the right one. Many times in school systems, you have lots and lots of data, but it might not be quite the information that you need. The other piece of this is you heard the panel talk about the platform that we use. We currently use a platform in the district. Again, these things aren't new. They're things that we currently have that either we need to have an
026improved version so it will be cost, you know, pretty much costneutral from the budget process. But I want to signal these things to you because they are critical to the work of MTSS. We do currently have a data platform that we use internally to progress monitor um our students and their data points. For example, for literacy and mathematics, but it's not necessarily the most efficient tool and it's not helping our staff to really give timely interventions the way that we think that um they should be done so readily and so that teachers can have their cognitive load focusing on planning and instructing. We want to make that part of our work more efficient. Um, and again to support the transitions better grade over grade. This should be a continuum of student experience from a students
027perspective, a parents perspective, and a teacher's perspective as they inherit students from their prior grade level. So those are some of the things that you'll hear a little bit more about um during the budget cycle. And we do look forward to in the spring sharing more about our progress, where we are with the MTSS handbook. um you can expect as can the entire community that the MTSS handbook well part of that will be for our staff as an internal mechanism for for example what's the exit and exit um entrance criteria for uh MTSS I think Mr. scrambling last year, you asked a question about how long students are sitting in tears and thinking about the efficiency of that. How do we know that an um an intervention that we're applying is the right one? We're
028not losing time and being really efficient in like kind of that costbenefit analysis and when we're working with our students. So, that's all part of this work looking forward. And Shirley and I have also talked about um you know sharing with not only this staff but our assistant principles who do a tremendous amount of work at the elementary level particularly with MTSS some case case studies where we could deidentify student information and really bring you through what this looks like when we look at data and how interventions are assigned and then monitored which I think would be really instructive for the board to see um a really concrete example. So, >> and Amy, I just want to build on so you're talking about the universal screener, but there's a full assessment inventory. >> Yes. >>
029So, looking at the range of assessments that we administer to children and really take asking the critical questions. One, are are these the right assessments? And if they are, figuring out if we are using them correctly and if the data is easily accessible and usable by teachers and it's impacting kids. Are there too few assessments? Are there too many assessments? >> And looking at across the timing is really taking a really careful close look at all of those assessments that we're using, some of which are required and mandated by the state of Connecticut. And to what degree is the data from those helpful to us, to what degree is it not helpful to us for all of the assessments so that we can either resequence, rejigger, replace something with something that's more productive. And then
030I really like hearing about the transparency piece because our existing universal screener has a lot of limitations and one of those limitations is that parents don't um get the results because it's almost incomprehensible. So uh our work forward um and I've said this before are universal screeners parents should be getting a report on that so you know where your kid is doing when we do those assessments at the differing points in the school year. So I think that that assessment inventory is so critically important. >> Agreed. Agreed. So we do look forward to sharing um that assessment information more readily with parents and that will help parents solve the question of how can I help at home, right, which is often asked. So it is all very exciting work that's on the horizon for us
031and we appreciate um the board's interest and support in this part of our work. >> Thank you. Um thank you all. This is really really important work and I'm excited to see that the phased kind of plan for implementation is I think this is probably the first time that we've actually seen how that plan is planning to be implemented. So um just before we open it up disc to discussion I just have a couple questions. one um I think SRBI typically in my experience I think was more focused on elementary or at least that was where we probably most often talked about it is the is how would this MTSS framework since it's supposed to be K through 12 um be used for instance at the high school level where kids are going throughout classes
032and there's no one single person who sees the overall view of that student. So that's one question and then who would be the contact person to initiate they should go into a tier one or whatever service that's one question and then the other question has to do more with the budget and the data platform because I see um phase two you're exploring data platforms phase three you're implementing so in order to implement which I believe is the f fiscal 27 budget dollars or would we anticipate having some kind of a placeholder for whatever the cost would be. So that's just a couple of questions. >> Both good questions. So um SRBI is is not only an elementary initiative. The big shift again is from SRBI to MTSS is thinking about whole childs. So we'll be
033talking a lot about um not only the academics piece, but al also executive functioning, right, and behaviors for learning and the social and personal learning piece. For example, how do students regulate and sustain attention to a task, right? and how do we bring those things together with content standards that we are um exploring at each grade level and in different content areas. So it is true that MTSS is work that's systemic and it is as I mentioned before preschool through grade 12 and when you think about core tier one that's really ensuring that every child is having a solid curricular experience best instructional strategies strong assessment practices teachers with targeted professional learning in every first grade classroom in every sixth grade English classroom that's you know every nth grade US history classroom that's about core.
034Every child gets that. As far as applying interventions, you're correct. We have different models and different staffing models at the elementary level. We have interventionists that will support um you know, literacy, mathematics instruction. The idea again is that you're providing those interventions in a very timely way. You know, just just right um just right interventions and just right time for kids so that you can reduce the need for those later on. At the secondary level, we do also have um interventionists at the middle school. At the high school level, it looks a little bit different because classes are um leveled a little bit differently and you might find that um there are other staff members that also provide different types of supports. We have co- classes. Shirley can also intervene here and we have school
035counseling department. So, the supports just look a little bit different. Um I will say that I think our work at the across the district is really about helping our staff get a solid understanding of again is what is MTSS and what is everyone's role in it. The the work will take off at a different pace at the elementary level because the nature of elementary school is a little bit different. Every child is there with one teacher throughout the day. Um you know one teacher has a smaller group of students. It's just a different model. But it is a preschool through grade 12 model at tier one and with the interventions for tier 2 and tier three. And and a big piece of it is having teams that know what the process is. And so if
036a a child, no matter what grade, so you can have a child that is struggling with something at 11th grade, the teachers can go to the MTSS team and problem solve and think about what are the needs of that child and pull all the data that they need. So that the data at the high school is going to look different than the data at the elementary school. you're not going to be looking at the universal screener because those typically aren't done. But what you'll also see generally at the secondary level is focused areas of need. So you may see that a child is struggling more with writing or more with executive functioning type pieces or mathematics. And so the team can really craft set up a plan for interventions, a plan for monitoring how that's
037going and coming back together in a pretty short period of time to see what's working and if some other intervention is necessary. Part of that work of building that structure and the process and the reason why you want a handbook is so we get everybody understanding what it is that we're doing here and we're all rowing in the same direction on the boat. So we're not in that that shell flipping over in the the Norwalk River because everybody really understands what each other has their role in the process. >> The role of a school counselor is a little bit different at the secondary level to kind of pull things together. The other thing I would say is an important nexus to realize here is the PLC. So the work that's happening in in multi-tered systems
038of support and looking at student data and how children are performing, teachers also meet in PLC's or professional learning communities and they're looking there at data points and talking about instructional practices, what's proven effective with individual or certain groups of students and sharing in those practices and then coming back um you know to say how are we going to know if our students have mastered this and how are we going to know if they haven't and what are we going to do if they haven't? What are we also going to do for the kids that need to move beyond? So the connection between our PLC work and MTSS is also something that exists at the elementary, middle, and high school. And a really important piece of this is if you've got the MTSS >> structure
039set up and you're following the processes, >> you can intervene and help a child progress to the point of where they don't need that extra service and prevent someone from ending up having to get a higher level of special education services because you've caught them early enough. You rapidly address that issue. you've looked at the data and if it's not working, you've shifted focus so that you can try and meet those needs before they end up having to be classified. So if you get it all right and you follow the process, it does have uh an impact. >> Dr. I would just add to that. Um, I think because it's not limited to the content area, as Amy and the team has pointed out, it might be a student that is getting MTSS intervention because
040of absenteeism. It might be a student who's having some emotional um dysregulation that might have to be looked at. So, it's not limited to the content areas. It's also looking as Scott said and as the team members have said to the whole child and that we're looking at factors that might impact success in general education for pre-referral and intervention prior to a formal referral. So psychologists might be involved, social workers may be involved, school counselors might be involved in the secondary level. So there'll be teams that are designated and and structures to support that intervention prior to referral. >> Thank you. also asked a question about um the data platform >> and the budget and and timeline of fiscal year 27 and 28. So as I mentioned we do currently have a data platform that
041has been in in the budget book um since before Dr. Burn was here. I was here. You were I'm sure here surely when that was brought on. Um RTI studio and that is something that is currently in our budget. And what we're doing now is exploring a variety of data platforms and really looking at how they would operationalize and support the work that we're doing and and we're asking to see really practically I want to know who's using these, what are the outputs, how does this look practically from a teachers point of view, parent perspective, how can we look at big district data here? And um we've we've probably looked at I don't know eight or nine platforms at this point. We have a process we're funneling down to the top three and we'll have
042a larger group so that we can ensure different um stakeholder perspective and looking at those and during the budget process we will um bring forward you know what we're where we think we're going to land with that. It will it will be either equal or a cost savings actually. Um so and it will be a product that serves our needs better. A a critically important part of our budget development process is we don't just add and layer on top. At the same time that if we're looking to add something, we're looking at what that's replacing and and removing things that are not necessary and that we shouldn't be hanging on to. There's no such thing as a legacy software product or a legacy tech program. Um if it's not functioning in the way that we
043need it to for our kids, it's going to go. And so you'll see that um we we analyze the data on all the different applications that our kids are using in the elementary schools and there are some that we we are discontinuing and you won't see coming forward in the budget for next year. And we're approaching this across every um responsibility center. So when you see um the budget out of my office, you know, I took a careful look at the memberships and there are memberships that are just not applicable to the way I do this job. And so those memberships have disappeared and won't be included in the budget going forward. And that we're looking at across every single area, which is why you will see a fiscally responsible budget proposal that comes forth
044on January 8th. >> Great. Are board questions? Katie, thank you. Um, a couple of questions. I wanted to start back at the a couple of things that came out of the phase one. Um, specifically regarding the self- assessment, um, revelations. Um, there was a bullet that mentioned that there's inconsistent practices in tiered instruction. Is that are those inconsistencies found by teacher, by content area, by school, by all of those? >> Yes. Okay. >> And that's very typical in every school system across the country. you know, we want to try to reduce the variability and actually maintain consistency across best practice. So, that's a really critical part of this work. >> Consistency and alignment in instruction will be one of the hardest things that we do. >> Um, what what we don't want to be happening
045because we know that every room will be different even if it's the same topic because every child is different that's sitting in the room. But I should not, you know, go from one third grade classroom in one carter to another down the hall and feel like I'm in two different school systems or two different states. You should know you're in Darianne and what we're focusing on and how we're doing it, but it's going to look different based on the the needs of those kids sitting in front of the teacher. >> So that really isn't just about um the that's not really about just the interventions. That's really about like our entire curriculum and >> our entire way as a school system. >> Fantastic. >> Communication, instruction, everything. >> Great. So then moving um also to
046the revelation about the documentation. Um I'm curious about um h how that plan might develop. I didn't notice a specific bullet point about that in two and three and um I don't know if maybe the wording changed if that's included in part of the data systems. Um and then I also wanted to know how this will roll into the special education documentation. This is something that we had talked about in the past about changing about you know um multiple components which include consistency which include who has access to it and and how does that communication piece. So I'm just curious about um where that shows up in phase two and three and then how that also rolls from MTSS into SCSS. >> Both great questions. So, one of actually my concerns with our current data
047platform is um the it's very clunky, cumbersome, it's it's not incredibly reliable. So, I think we're losing important information year over year and from teacher to teacher as kids move through the system. So, that kind of what I was speaking about before that continuity of not only content, you know, in uh instruction, assessment, professional learning, but from a child's perspective and a child's performance year-over-year is part of this. So part of it is when we're thinking about developing our MTSS handbook, really being really crystal clear about what happens as far as process and protocol in each phase so that families can expect what's happening for children in tier one, tier one supports when a children when a child's receiving um supports at tier 2, tier three, and what that documentation looks like. So that will
048be established in the handbook. That's something that we're currently um has been drafted. It is not in final draft form yet as indicated by this year-over-year plan. That's something that our district level team is still working on. And then the other part of it is the um the virtual platform so that we can have a record that follows a child year over year that families um can can see uh portions of to have access to and again that will help teachers move more efficiently with children as they're trying to make progress. And then of course you know part of why um part of why Dr. McCarthy is sitting on this panel is to ensure that there's a really smooth continuum of tier one all the way through the different um tiered interventions through special education
049for those students who require those services. And I'm sure Shirley might want to respond to What what we're what we're >> working toward with the data platform is a data platform that will enable us to tell the story of a child through the different tiers so that if we do end up needing to classify a student, we understand where things worked, what worked, what didn't work, and what the best course of action could be for them when we develop that IEP and set those goals. And that that's you know it's a tall order but that's why the process of selecting the data platform will be really helpful. It it needs to be accessible. It needs to be usable and it needs to be something that could be understood by both teachers and families. I mean
050that's part of the process. >> So this would really be something that is um filled out for every child. Um since and so so and how will that that will be more robust than what we currently see in Aspen in terms of >> well Aspen's still always going to exist. It's it's the data that we use for the instructional side of things. Aspen is a portal for families to understand where kids are at a certain level. This is much more granular and much more detailed. So you can see the assessments at different points in a child's second grade year. Um you may see that in Aspen, but it's not going to be able to be manipulated and looked at and used in a way that informs instruction. >> And then this will include everything, right?
051Not just the final semester grades or the >> larger assessment calendar that Dr. um Burn was speaking about before and that larger portfolio of assessments. >> Great. >> Thank you. And Katie, if I could just add to that, it's probably too granular an answer, but I'll do it anyway. Okay. Um, so if we're looking at tier, look at tiered intervention first because tier one in the classroom, tier two and what the tools that they're using right now. Um, as web, let's just say the data we get from Ames web. How helpful is that? Um, in terms of as a special educator, I'm looking at saying h I need to look at vocabulary comprehension, the different areas. What are the pieces that go into that? And what are what are the elements that that child is
052not succeeding? Why is it yellow instead of green? why is it red instead of green? So, whatever tool and whatever benchmarks we're using, assessments we're using should be friendly. So, I should be able to go in and see um some of the criteria of those components, what led to it, where the weakness in comprehension was, and why they were fine in vocabulary. So, the tools should be able to be informative to whether you're a general education teacher or a special education teacher. Most importantly, the goals that you write for those tiered interventions should have some meaning also. And again, that's that that's that nexus between general ed and special ed. So if I'm writing a goal on phonics, I should be able to see where the child's supposed to be, how many weeks they're going
053to be working on that, and what the result is. And that would inform me if I'm looking at, let's say, there is a referral because tier one happened, tier 2 happened, tier three happened, and there's still concern. So I already see data to support what was done, what worked or didn't work, and where the child is. when it does become a if the child is found eligible after all the tiered intervention after a robust MTSS experience we still see that what's next is the progress monitoring your question in special education and luckily there's something built into Connecticut SS and I'll take the opportunity to mention OG right now since we're looking at progress monitoring and since the board has been very supportive of that and continues in our academy um there'll be the same monitoring
054tools for students so let's say the the um it'll be Dibbles the past or or ran red or the gallis Ellis there'll be tools that are used for those students based on what their needs are and that will use progress monitoring. So there'll be consistent assessments across all schools for all students that will be able to do progress monitoring. >> Thank you Shirley. That was actually so helpful. If I can just summarize what I'm hearing is that you'll really be able to dig in a lot deeper and in one place to really kind of filter out the information across different sections and um to obviously ensure that consistency um but to really be able to get a better profile where there's integration because a lot of the things that you're talking about I know that
055we have them in different places right and they don't speak to each other. So we have an IEP but we're filling that in by texting into a document and it's not and we have an A as web but that's completely separate and not shared but okay thank you that's really >> what you anticipate should happen is that we shouldn't have surprises with kids sometimes you will >> it's a great theme >> but for the most part when you really set up the system well you don't have too many surprises >> I like it are there other board questions Dennis So, I have similar questions to Key of this this inconsistent practices and and what I what I also just heard is sounds counterintuitive to everything we've we've always talked about is that kids are kids
056and and I'm feeling like the Mike Tyson quote comes into play here that everybody has a plan until you get hit in the face and and it's you know you have this plan and the kids portray differently and and so you have to you have to implement different ways and so how do we how do we determine you inconsistent practices, social interventions are in inconsistently implemented, referral pathways may differ by school or by teacher. How do we know what is the right way to do it? And how do we also um follow through that it's consistently being done what we consider the right way in the future? >> That's a great question. So I love the Mike Tyson analogy. Um so um the research tells us so you know by using reputable research to determine
057what the right practices are um and engaging with experts that can help support us in that um that's an important piece of it. So understanding what generally accepted practice is based on scientific research that's a big first step. So, we're not going by what a publisher says. We're going what the research says is is the right way to go about doing it. Which is a challenge in education because you can go on to product platforms and websites for stuff and they say, "Oh, MTSS approved or this." You know, publishers are great at sticking labels on things that aren't exactly true. Uh, but part of our job is to really look at the research behind those things and make sure that that's the case. The professional development piece that Amy spoke of earlier, ensuring that our
058teachers have the knowledge and skill to implement those practices, that's incredibly important because we know we're all halfbaked when we come out of graduate school. So, you know, there's only so much they teach us, but as a system, we have to have the the structures in place to really develop the skill and the knowledge and our teachers so that we as the administrative team and the curriculum leaders and the folks that are sitting around this table are on top of the practices to make sure that those are the most effective practices for our kids. Then you get punched in the mouth and that's the data collection and the progress monitoring. So the the piece that's really important to to put out there, we're not looking at McDonald's. We're we're looking at quite the opposite because
059we have to be able to pivot, but we have to be able to pivot with the individual child based with on how they're progressing. So collecting that information as we're teaching because you know when you're sitting and you're our best reading teachers will be sitting and working with a child and in that session when they're working with a child that is also an incredibly powerful time to gather data to know whether or not what you're doing is effective with the child. So when they're reading aloud they're reading aloud that's an assessment for you to know what you need to do in the next session with them. And this will enable us to to be more consistent in that work. And when we identify that there are folks who need more support to improve their practices,
060improve their skills, improve their knowledge, that's why we're committing to things like the OG Academy that Shirley and Amy have been leading that work with across the year because we know that research has changed. You know, nobody was talking about the science of reading 15 years ago. That was not that's really recent research that's come out of incredible work at places like Yale and the Haskins lab and the brain research that is telling a story about what kids need when they have language-based disabilities or at risk of language-based disabilities. So, this is enabling us to not lose kids if we stay true to the process and we give our teachers what they need and they have the tools to be able to monitor how kids are progressing. And I think if if I could add
061one other important component is the level of system um system work and I think Katie was speaking to this before about the general education and special education continuum and the level of communication and collaboration that needs to happen because this is whole child. It requires a lot of communication across stakeholders within the school setting and a lot of partnership with our students families. So that'll be another indicator of our success um the communication with students families beyond the school day. Greg >> um a great presentation. Thank you. Uh but maybe piggybacking quickly on that I assume that also it means like as you're populating the data set you can improve upon the data set like you can look at the trends and you can keep track of that and then improve upon >> because you
062can look at the larger the trends across a grade level or across the system right >> and I know that was a big conversation with the self-study that there were certain points where we identified what's going on here particularly in second and third grade yeah this will enable us to do much more granular analysis looking for trends across levels, across grades, across schools, u and see is there something we need to dig into. >> Yeah. And then my question was um around the establishment of of the standards that we're going to be setting for the kids. Uh I really like in the presentation how it's focused on you know each of the individual students. So you know different students have different strengths and weaknesses. Some students are really good at math. They're not as good
063at English or writing or whatever it is. So, is this tool intended on just being utilized for kids who need extra help in certain areas or is it also going to be used to identify this kid is absolutely killing it in math or whatever it is, we should be pushing on that button to go forward. And then when you think about the development of those standards, is there like a minimum threshold that you have to be at no matter what? >> And then there's like, I don't know, other higher tiers. Yeah. I'm thinking about like both. Obviously, it's important to be able to help the kids who are not doing as well, but what about those kids who are like on board because >> it's a really really important takeaway and I'm glad that you're
064resurfacing this. This is about all children. So, we do have grade level standards that are really clear, but those are I would say the floor and not the ceiling. There are many students in Darian public schools that are achieving at those standards and well beyond. So, part of this is making sure that we're meeting every child where they are. And as far as providing interventions, that also means extensions for children's learning opportunities. And to Dr. Burn's point about looking at um big system data, whether it's again across classrooms, across schools, or across the district, across levels, that also helps us decide where do we need to intervene as far as professional learning and growing capacities of our educators and district. So, it's about every child and every educator >> and and you have we have
065structures in place like in the elementary school schedule, you have a win period that exists in all of the grade levels. That's the time when you can deliver that. So, if there are kids that need more challenge, you have that built-in time into the schedule when you can do that through the classroom instruction and it's small group based and whether it's a provider's coming in and working with kids or they're going out and going to somewhere else, you have that's a really important structure that a lot of systems don't have. We're starting with that in place. So that's going to be really helpful. We'll become better at using that to meet more kids needs over time as we have this better data. And we also, which I think is a huge plus as a system,
066the levels that we have for kids to advance from literally from middle school on, you don't really find middle schools that have as many options for kids for advanced coursework as we do here in Deranne. and that runs right through the high school system. So from six to 12, you have the ability to advance and take higher level courses, which is a really good way to have options for kids that need that further challenge. >> Yeah, it makes a lot of sense. I'm always curious when I see kids going away to private school away from our public school because I think that we have the ability to send them to just as good places. And to that point, like for me, like success is different for every single kid and it's really a matter of
067figuring out like what is how do we optimize what their version of success is and get the most out of their skill sets. >> And the last thing I would say is this is really about a strengthbased model, right? So it's not just what can a child not do, but what can they and then figuring out how to translate that to where they're having point of difficulty. And this group will say, right, who else needs to be at the table? And I'll say this person, this person. It is not just people who are talking about literacy and mathematics. You can take a student who might seemingly be struggling with some mathematics concepts and they're a rock star in a music setting and they can understand mathematics from a musical mindset. And so that is indicative
068of maybe an entry point of how to get that to a child, right? When you think about the connection between math and music. So that's really that's all a part of this. The one thing I wanted to add was just to share that um kind of addressing all of your questions that you've asked so far, we in phase two this year, we have a pretty large amount of stakeholders that have been reviewing these platforms and I can tell you that we're excited about how to see all that data. I mean, mathematically, I'm super excited, but there's real depth behind the data that that addresses a lot of the questions that you're asking. Um, and we're really doing a deep dive and we've already reviewed quite a few. So, it's exciting wherever we land. Um, but
069I I really feel that a lot of the inconsistency in that bullet that you're bringing up really was just about the procedures that we have in place that right now are different based on the levels of the schools. It wasn't much deeper than that. So, I just wanted to clarify that. >> Joanna, um, this framework you said several times will take a lot of professional development to implement. Um, and we already have our teachers doing a lot of professional development in a lot of different areas. Um, so I'm wondering where you see the capacity is to have these teachers do this learning and keeping them in the classroom at the same time. >> I think that's a great question. I'm I'm going to ask my colleagues to help with this, but when we are looking
070at we're looking at everything that we do. So, is the professional development work that we're doing for teachers giving them what they need to be successful with their kids? So, are there things we're involved in now that we shouldn't be going forward? Those are questions that we're asking now and that we're asking as part of this process. And there are things that we're doing that make total sense for this kind of work. So, it's really looking carefully at what we're currently doing. And again, just like the assessments, are there things that should go, things that should stay? Uh, you look at things like the OG Academy, expanding that to more general education teachers as is the plan for next year. Those are really important pieces that are going to help our teachers be more successful
071in this work. We are very mindful of initiative overload and capacity. And that's our job is to clear the decks so that what we are focusing on is the most important work that's going to have the most important impact. >> And what I would add is because this is about tier core one um or I should say tier one core instruction. This isn't about something new and a new initiative and new learning. It's about being really targeted and focused and intentional with the content area um support and professional learning that we currently have in place. And I think it's also about making our professional learning more coherent. So um Dr. Burn has talked about um the potential of instructional coaching in a system That's really an investment in tier one and that does not require
072taking um teachers out of classroom. That's embedded in graded support. I think being very mindful about for example grade level um meetings that we have already embedded in the schedule and how we use those to leverage professional learning opportunities PLC's. So, um, we're not necessarily talking about different time. Again, it's kind of in my opening remarks. I talked about the why is very clear. It's every kid, every teacher, meeting them where they are. Um, the how is maybe a little bit new. It's about being really intentional and explicit. >> Other questions? Dennis, >> you're kind of building on Joanna's point like uh I think this this to me is blocking and tackling, right? If we don't get this right, doesn't matter how great with the play design we have. So, I'm sorry. Sports analogies to
073but no matter how great our play design is and how in innovative our defense is, if we can't tackle and block, we can't we can't we can't teach our kids. So, >> to me and and Dr. Fedigan, you mentioned, you know, you you're bringing in programs which, you know, may be cost neutral or cost negative. I actually don't care if if you guys have something which is >> additive to the budget. Bring it to us and and let's let's get things done and and make I don't think this should be about cost savings and and doing things on a cheap. I think we need to make sure we do this right and do it to great and do you know make excellence happen out of this. I'm really as the general education person in the
074room, I am delighted to hear you say that and um I would say this is really about investment in the core, right? And when you think about a medical model, thinking about investing in the core and and what's, you know, good and healthy and what all kids should have, right? Everybody getting their vitamins exactly as they should. That's the most important. So, we will be really fiscally responsible, but we will um I appreciate that and with Dr. Burn's guidance and um direction, we'll make sure that we're clear. We indicated that there might be some things down the road in FY28, but it is important to us to find efficiency not only um in cost savings measures, but in how we do our work. Um I think that strengthens our outcome. So, we'll keep both of
075those things in mind. >> We also just attended the national two-day summit. I know we both are thinking the same thing. So, we just want to add on that the number one theme in our 16 hours of training was that the districts that were super successful um with MTSS across the nation prioritized it and it was prioritized in our PLC work. It was prioritized in each building. It was prioritized from every leader. it. We were one all one because as you said it was so important and it drives everything else. So um they agree. >> Thank you for that. >> I love hearing that because it seems to me that this is the thing that touches everyone um like truly it does um in the middle above and beyond. Um, I did want to ask
076Eric, you had mentioned um during the discussion about how this looks a little different at the high school um how teachers will be able to go to the MM NTSS team for a struggling student. What is happening right now? >> I have to ask for a lifeline here. >> We have intervention we we have interventions in place at the high school. It just looks different than at the elementary school and that's where the inconsistency looks like. We do have um we have an academic learning center for students to attend. We have a writing center. We have a math connections room. We have um labs for almost every content course that um available. We have team talk classes. We have co-taught talk classes. We have um uh a a reading and and functioning right executive functioning
077class. Um, so it it I think it just looks different because it's within a classroom setting and typically content driven, but not all of it is content driven. I mean, there's certainly resource rooms for first incess. So, it just it looks different than what it might look at the middle school where we have an actual math intervention or English intervention um separate setting, but we wouldn't have necessarily a team talk class or a lab class. So, it just appears different. and Ronnie, the counselors play a huge role. >> A huge role as well. A huge role. Absolutely. >> So, I appreciate that. And um it's it's always great to highlight the great number of resources we have because they are robust. I guess part of my concern um and this is maybe more just um
078something for everyone to kind of keep in mind as we go forward as opposed to a question for tonight is that those resources that you're talking about typically happen when um when there has been an identification and what I have noticed um admittedly anecdotally but with like a very large sample size um that there are students in the high school who are getting below expected grades in a certain class and there's not that kind of flag and there's and it seems like this could help quite a bit and pulling together why is this student having a problem? What are certain strengths that might help them lead? Um, but I just want to make sure that that as we're designing the system and implementing it that we're looking for ways to make sure that we're not
079missing kids even at the high school level. because you know you might be performing well and above in elementary school and then you get into those level classes and you know I think it's a real shame for a student to and especially a family you know to suddenly be surprised that a student has a D in a Q1 honors level. Like if we have a student who has like qualified and gotten into an honors classroom, some some alarm needs to go off when there's, you know, a low grade like that. Um, honestly, any students getting D's at DHS should should flag the alarms. So, I just want to mention that as something for us to try to >> connect. I think that speaks to really um the idea notion of improved communication across the board
080and that is tier one, right? That's so I think about the role of a school counselor in that kind of discussion beyond the classroom teacher and um beyond this group we also you know we have a little bit more of a broad uh district leadership team that has representation from the elementary middle and high school um buildings. So when we think about practical application of what does this look like in a high school setting a you know pre-referral and what are those systems we have staff that are working internally now to build those things and that will be a part of our MTSS handbook and the systems that we share with the board in a future presentation >> and that's the structure building that's the foundational piece >> and I I I just want to
081follow on on Katie's point because I think um the the supports Ronnie that you're mentioning that are at the high school like the writing center the learning center like all of these centers and resources. Some kids might not because this requires that the child actually decides to go and use those resources which many times does not necessarily happen. And this also gets to the issue of executive function. And some kids just don't. And we have a lot of high school students right now that in middle school were in COVID the entire time that they were in middle school where they didn't necessarily get some of the kind of executive function and kind of in-class skills that other children have had. So in order for them to actually be able to function effectively in these higher
082level courses, I would imagine that as part of this hopefully we would be doing something that would allow that kind of um for the teacher to notice that those kinds of situations might be happening. And that's a very very difficult thing I think for a classroom teacher who's trying to cover a lot of curriculum to notice that certain students just seem to be completely disorganized or can't do very basic things you know and so what how would we manage that um I guess that's more my question about for success of every child. So again, I think that's building systems. And one important message that I hope the staff hears from me and my colleagues in the room is that even at the high school level in a very um robust competitive classroom, it's not about
083covering the curriculum. It's about teaching children the standards and the expectations within that content. Because if we're only teaching the curriculum, we're missing the most important um part of that recipe, and that's the child, right? And what they're going to take out of it. So that's I think one of the first most important messages. And then again um teaching and learning is so complicated because it's dynamic and and it's not it's not isolated practice. So we have to ensure that classroom teachers are working with school counselors are working with you know grade level administrators are working with grade you know content area teachers are working with interventionists. It really has to be a coordinated team effort where there's strong communication and collaboration so that those things are noticed and picked up on and so that
084again a child's strengths are noticed so that those can be used as an asset to build upon their continued success. So that that's part of it. >> But these are all grant points for us to build into the work. >> Can I just add to that too? Um, traditionally, if you look across the research and if you talk to any counterpart in any other district, the high school is always the hardest space to talk about MTSS because you have the scheduling piece and the credits um that that that can conflict with providing intervention. But when we really think about MTSS and like the core tenants of NT MTSS, we're thinking about the core core curriculum and then we're also talking about the intervention. So, I think what we're referencing right now are really those tier
0852 and tier three interventions and how do students get there? And at the high school, there's two structures that there's the student assistance team, the SAT, and then the student intervention team. And those two structures and the representation that come from the high school to our team are also part of the MTSS process and revision cycle of thinking about how do students get brought to the SAT or SAT process and what are those interventions and how do we think about them from a whole child approach. Um, so they're certainly part of this this cycle as well. And I think thinking about how are these things getting communicated when a student isn't doing well in a class because these yes, that's also a part of the core and the tier one, but then thinking about well,
086what does an intervention look like if you're in a class that doesn't have a team talk class at the same time? H how do we provide intervention to you? So it it's more complicated and so it's it requires a larger team process and and we're certainly thinking about that because it's it's important for that that work to align to the work that's happening in K8. >> Thank you. Are there other board questions? Joanna, >> um you talked a lot about a universal screener. Um but when you're thinking about the tier one work especially and in the secondary level, um what have you thought about bringing more in as far as like UDL work? So that is um actually one of the things you have um if you look at on the um graphic of what
087is an MTSS this is really about it's an excellent point is about universal access so universal screener is for all children we take that measure where all children are universal design for learning is actually part and parcel of how we develop our curriculum >> so when we think about that the general education teachers and special education teachers working together to develop the curriculum to think about um instructional strategies that will meet the needs of all children to think about how we will know if all children are making gains and progress how all children having opportunities to demonstrate their learning. So that's built into this with regard to curriculum, how curriculum is developed, the instruction strategies we use, and how we measure student learning assessment. >> And Amy, UDL is part of the curriculum mapping project
088through Edup Planet. Uh, correct? >> It's part of um stage one. It's how we address that part of stage two again with how we assess students and then part part of stage three individual um kind of more like classroom practice lessons. So it's built into tier one. Katie, I promise to keep this brief. We all know I could talk about it all night. Um, I just wanted to say as um I was listening to Amy talk about this, I do think it's really important, especially as we're talking about MTSS and how this applies to every student and those interventions, you know, with the goal that they head off a need for a special education service and that I would really love to see us think about how we communicate with staff and with families, not
089just about making progress, but about closing the gap, right? When we identify that someone is not where they need to be, not just noticing that they're making progress and getting better, but how they close that gap from the the deficit to where their peers have continued to grow. Um, >> both of those things are true. Other board question. Dennis, >> this this one has been gnawing at me and I don't I may be going into the weeds here or too too detailed, but in your in your self- assessment, high referral and identification rates and early grades may indicate early literacy support needs strengthening. And you mentioned into reading. Are we confident that into reading will solve all of our deficits and supports that need strengthening? >> 100% no. >> I believe that I'm going to
090be honest. No program is going to solve any problems. What's going to solve problems are are teacher skill and highquality literacy practices. You can take any program and swap it out, but if the teachers don't have the skill and don't have the embedded highquality literacy practices, the program will be inconsequential. >> Okay, perfect. Thank you. >> The standards >> other board questions. >> Okay, thank you very much. I think this is a really great great kind of implementation and plan for us. So, we're excited to hear more and learn more about it as it goes on. >> I want to thank you today. >> Thank you all very much. >> Thank you. >> And and they may sneak out. They they might be interested in staying for the policy. Uh but but they may also
091want to go home. >> Thank you, Trevor. So, we will move we'll move on to um the first reading and discussion on do do I need to read all of these? Yes, >> we're going to read uh a first reading a discussion on proposed board of education policies which are policy 4250 510 5125 52000 53 01300 or 1300 411 5710 and policy 1400 March So, as the policy committee discussed, um the first several policies are just legal updates. And so, we look at Shipman and Goodwin's model policies. We see what they've updated recently, and we make those updates mostly because of a change in the law, although as lawyers, they'd like to tweak words. Um, in addition to that, the only one that is not based on a model policy is the sign policy. Um,
092and I think that Dr. Burn requested that work from Shipman and Gman. So, you might want to speak to that. app is really to codify what existing practices are because we had earlier in the school year with all the back- to-school things happening in town a number of questions about different organizations and companies putting signs on the school property and the practice that's been in place for a long time in the district is that the only signs that go up on the property are school signs. So it could be school clubs or school organizations. But this way the my recommendation and certainly the board could say no thanks but uh my recommendation would be to back that up with the policy so that it's consistently applied. >> Are there any boarding questions on the policies
093Sarah? So just it's it's not a huge question but um the signs along the the oval and the stadium that are I mean technically those are advertising. >> There's a policy around that with >> No, I understand but I just I'm just curious the policy regarding signs and bulls flags and advertising on school property. Is that in conflict at all or >> we can clarify that. I did ask that of the attorneys because and made them aware that we do have that >> uh practice in place but uh we'll confirm that before the second reading. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Are there other questions on the policies and the revisions that are proposed? Okay, seeing none, we will move on um to the consent agenda. Um in terms Oh, may I have a motion to
094um wait a minute, I always get this mixed up. First of all, in terms of the consent agenda items, we have approval of minutes, possible action on proposed budget transfer, board committee reports, and personnel report. >> So, you do a motion. >> Are there May I have a motion to discuss the consent agenda to approve the consent agenda? >> I have a motion, Dennis, seconded by Sarah. Are there any items that anyone would like to discuss? I would like to have just a a on the possible action of a proposed budget transfer just to give a little information on that. >> Sure. So the transfer um that has been uh and the last few finance committee reports um it's a transfer coming from additional turnover savings acrewed from the 34 teachers who left the district
095and were replaced by less expensive teachers. So, we currently have $74,619 of excess turnover savings in the budget and we're recommending that from that we take the $47,288 for the security audit. The placeholder for the last few meetings that we discussed and had was $50,000. So, the winning bid uh came in a little lower at 47288. >> Thank you. Are there other questions at all on the consent agenda items? Okay. May I have May I have a motion to approve the consent? >> Vote. You have a motion. >> May I have a motion to vote? >> Yes. Just vote. >> All in favor? >> That is unanimous. Thank you. >> Yes. >> On the um sorry to go back to the policy. Are we going to have a chance in the future to ask question
096more questions on some of these policies or >> uh there's a second reading? >> There is a second reading. >> Just making just making sure. Okay. >> Um Okay. So, I believe we are we do not have any follow-up action items. Um is there public comment? >> Good evening. If you would like to participate in public comment, please approach the podium and state your name and town of residence. Please note that you'll have up to three minutes to comment. We have no public comment at this time. >> Okay. May I have a motion to adjourn? Sarah, seconded by Dennis. All in favor?