001me. >> [laughter] >> I don't want to exercise or anything. I've got my youngest who just turned 14. I should have been doing that the second >> Okay, good evening. It is Wednesday, April 8th, 2026. It is 7:07 p.m. [cough] >> [clears throat] >> And I'm going to call this meeting to order. Please rise for the Pledge of Allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag 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. There are two doors in this room. You can go to the front entrance or this one goes to the rear entrance of the municipal office complex. Item 2A is the elementary school highlights. >> [clears throat] >> Good evening. I'm Jackson Morse and I am a
002third grader in Miss Shultz's class. My name is Jonathan and I'm a third grader in Miss Freeman's class. On February 19th, EHTS opened the Play Cafe in room 209. Students from the entire school have been enjoying self-directed playtime with their class. Toys and materials were donated from classroom teachers, the Daisy Scouts, parents, and families. At the beginning of March, we celebrated Read Across America. It was an exciting week filled with a variety of activities. A special shout-out to our guest readers whose willingness to share stories and celebrate reading made the week extra special. Miss Kobylanski was very grateful for the flexible and understanding of all the volunteers with the many schedule changes due to the inclement weather. Support and enthusiasm truly make events like this meaningful to our school community. Students in first grade tracked
003their favorite books from this school year so far and created a visual board of the books they love. Another round of thanks to Miss Fry, the art spot. The support of our BOE and all of the volunteers for s- collaborating our mural. We look forward to enjoying it for years to come. The kindergarten students continued learning about different life cycles, including butterflies and and seeds. Kindergarteners will have the opportunity to plant bean seeds and see the life cycle in in action. They will also be getting caterpillars that they will see through go through life the life cycle to become butterflies, which they will release back into nature. First graders worked together to honor our parents and created a special poster for them. This shows that they are showing compassion in action from our Choose Love
004program. First graders are also engaged in learning about penguins and measuring the heights of different penguins in math. In reading, we are reading chapter books Currently, we are reading Frog and Toad Are Friends. It is how It is amazing how much growth we have seen. First graders also completed all of Haggerty phonemic awareness lessons, building their foundational reading skills. They celebrated by designing crowns, counting all the lessons they completed, and making pictures of themselves as a Haggerty hero. Second graders read about Helen Keller as a part of our Bookworms program. Miss Patavina's students took an interest in some of the challenges she faced and overcame. Students were very interested in Braille and recognized this as an accessibility feature in our school. Students had the opportunity to learn Braille to learn learn the Braille alphabet and
005make their own name tags in Braille. We also checked out some books in the in Braille from local libraries for them to explore. The third graders have been preparing to take their first SBA, also known as SBAC. They are feeling prepared and eager to show their knowledge. We have been learning test-taking strategies and practicing answering questions thoroughly. Coming soon, kindergarten field trips to Flamig Farm, first grade field trips to Cold Spring Farm and Lyman Allyn Museum of Art, second grade field trips to Chester Park for disc golf and Machimoodus State Park. Third grade field trips to Chester Park Park disc golf, East Haddam Historical Society, and a visit to the middle school. EHTS celebrates our volunteers with a volunteer appreciation breakfast on April 24th. In May, we also host our We will host our PTO
006Basket Bash fundraiser on Friday, May 8th, and recognize and recognize Get Out and Play Day on Tuesday, May 26th. In June, we will have our field day and end-of-year celebration for our third graders. We are excited excited for all of the fun things that ARE COMING UP. >> [applause] >> UM AND NEXT TIME YOU'RE IN OUR SCHOOL, MISS Patavina's class also made Braille name tags for every teacher in the school and hung them up next to our other name tags that are outside of our offices and classrooms. So, they they learned how to do the alphabet and really kept going with it and we're excited to to make those for all of us. So, >> Oh, wow. It's very cool. Yeah. >> Nice thing. Thank you. Thank you. Any questions for our elementary school reps?
007Great job, guys. You read so well. I do have to say your reading was very impressive. Very very good job. Thank you so much. Our next item, 2B, is the Nathan Hale-Ray Middle School science presentation. So, I'm going to preface this by saying that this came out of the time together in the summer. Really looking initially to focus on updating curriculum, but then you really looked at vetted sources from the state and were very interested in piloting. And so, you're here to share what you've learned so far. So, welcome. >> [laughter] >> Can you introduce yourselves to us, please? Oh, okay. >> [laughter] >> Thank you. So, good evening. Um I'm Courtney Harris. I teach eighth grade science and I'm also the the science instructional facilitator. Um Kevin Miller teaches uh sixth grade science and
008Miss Hold on. But I don't always wear leather bands. It's just cuz of the motorcycle. >> [laughter] >> Um and Miss Laura Sullivan >> [laughter] >> And Laura teaches seventh grade science. Thank you for all of your volunteer work. Thank you very much. So, as Teresa shared, we're here to just kind of give an overview of what OpenSciEd um the program looks like. Um so, essentially every unit is called a schematic. Um hopefully you guys can see it. Every unit in OpenSciEd starts out with an anchoring phenomenon. So, it's it's basically like a shared experience between students and teachers. Um a phenomenon is usually You're actually going to get to experience one today yourselves. Um it's it's an event that's not necessarily easily explained. Okay? And again, you'll get to experience that a little bit
009later today. So, that kicks off the beginning of every unit. It's kind of a a way to engage students with a huh, like, how does that work? Or why did that happen? Um the next phase is um after experiencing the phenomenon with the students, we create a driving question board where students um essentially get to choose what they want to explore in relation to the to the phenomenon. So, it kind of allows students to feel like they're in the driver's seat, kind of dictating um what they learn about. So, they create driving questions um that get pasted on our driving question board or taped or what whatever. Um and we we tend to we share them and then we sort them by category. Sometimes it's a how something works or a why something was created.
010Um Well, we kind of group them by themes. Um and then next up is to kind of figure out, okay, where are we at now? Like, what's our understanding in relation to the phenomenon and where do we want to go? So, kind of like planning our route. Um and then students go through a series of investigations based on the questions that they came up with. Um we design lessons to to kind of help them answer those questions. Um and then multiple times throughout the unit, we try to create what's called a consensus model. Um for example, the students will sit in like a semicircle, we call it a scientist circle, and we try to come to consensus or agreement on what we believe to be true at that time. So, it's like their current thinking.
011What do What do we understand about what might be happening, what what is definitely not happening. So, we try to come to like a class agreement. And that's that's um it's fluid. It's constantly changing as their their knowledge um changes and they they gain new information. Um and with that typically emerge new questions. So, it's this again this living breathing document where well, students will problem problematize um and kind of realize like, "Oh, well, you know, I have some answers now, but I also now have more questions." So, then we go back and we add to the driving question board as um as their curiosity is piqued. Um and then again, come back to consensus. And this is typically each unit's about 30 days. So, we come back towards the end like, "Okay, now, what
012do we think?" Like and usually we're in much more agreement based on all the experiences that they have throughout the unit with labs and projects and investigations. Um and then at the end, we look back at the driving question board and typically have students revisit their initial questions and answer them based on what they've learned throughout the unit. Okay? And then eventually apply um their new knowledge to some some new phenomena in future units. One thing that Miss um Harris does like especially in her classroom is the question formulation technique. So, the students are creating and making their own questions and it really gauges like if student has more background knowledge and they're able to have a question that like dives deeper into um what they're doing in the lesson. So, that way she's able
013to scaffold up and she's not just um like going off of like a DOK one question. Students have actually gotten really good at it. So, they're They know by now that their questions have to be open-ended. So, they can't be like yes or no questions or something that you could quickly find an answer you know, with Google. So, they have to be open-ended. They have to be testable. They have to be related to the phenomenon and they have to be scientific. So, they have to meet all those criteria and they know that now. So, their questions um are really pretty pretty solid. Um and the way the the um program is designed is is really really um powerful. So, each grade level has Can you see up here on the schematic? Each grade level has
014six units. Again, they're about 30 days each and they connect so they kind of build on one another. So, um units that they explore in sixth grade kind of circle around again and and prepare them for units that they explore in seventh and then same with as with in eighth. So, there's that um there's that horizontal No. vertical alignment and then also horizontal. So, like what they'll learn maybe in a sixth grade unit early on in the year builds into what they learn on towards the end of the year. So, there's a lot of vertical and horizontal um connection there. Um and then in terms of assessments, um we have a a lot of different types of formative and summative assessments. Um the initial models, which you'll get to experience for yourselves today, um is
015something that students create when they first are presented with the phenomenon to represent their like right in the moment, this is what I think is happening. This is what I believe to be true. It's not a graded thing, but it's really powerful information for teachers to see what students are thinking in the moment. And then when they create their models, they're kind of making their thinking visible. Um Again, I mentioned the scientist circles where we try to come to consensus. Sometimes that becomes a little bit of a debate, a healthy debate. Um the driving question boards, experimental design, so invent you know, coming up with investigations to explore the questions, uh the consensus model, which I mentioned, progress tracker, those are um built into each unit. At the end of each lesson-ish, there's what's called
016a progress tracker. So, students have an area in their science notebook where they have um it says, you know, what I was trying to figure out. So, it's kind of like the essential question and then what they actually learned. So, it's like a a nice running log of what they were trying to figure out and what they did figure out. Um exit tickets and then peer feedback on assignments. We do a lot of peer review. And then for summative, this is one of my favorite things to do is at the end of the unit give them um an a chance to go back to their initial model and revise it based on all their new learning. And it's usually like a night and day. They're working in scientific vocabulary, um explanations of what's going on
017versus just you know, like I'm just thinking one of my units was on was on collisions. And so, they had to model any type of collision they wanted. And I had you know, a student with a car that ran over a squirrel. And that's all they had in their model. There's no science in it. And then by the end, they could work in you know, kinetic energy and potential energy and all these different concepts that they learned about and really make it like truly show what they've learned. Um typically like I said, we go back and answer driving questions, essential questions. Um talk about real world implications or solutions. Often times that's through projects. Um standard assessments, so typical quizzes and tests. Um or performance task and then claim evidence reasonings where they make a
018claim, they take evidence from their learning and then they support it with reasoning. Okay? And Mr. Miller, take it away. All right. Now, it's time for audience participation. >> [applause] >> So, what we're going to talk about is building um building thinking classrooms is a is a way to teach that creates engagement. That's really all it does and it makes everybody engaged and it's wonderful. You're going to experience that today and you're going to see are you engaged or not. So, taking building thinking classrooms and pairing it with OpenSciEd, it's seamless the way that they work together. So, one of the things that we do at every unit and every grade is we start with the initial models. Kids don't need to have any information about anything when they do this model. What you're trying
019to do is you're going to use pictures, labels, words, arrows, whatever you can to try and explain a phenomenon. So, today you guys are going to try and explain Let's put this on here. Try to tell them to work. Yeah, hold on a second. You're going to explain a two-way [clears throat] mirror phenomenon. Everybody's seen this on TV where one person is in a room and there's four people in the other room and they can see through, but the person in the room can't see them. They just see a mirror. So, how does that work? That's what the kids have to figure out. It's not easy to to understand, right? So, what we're going to do is I got to tell you guys the rules for using building thinking classrooms. You're going to be in
020a three-person team and you get one marker. So, the person with the marker can only do what the teammates say. So, if you've got the marker, you can't write what's in your head. You have to listen to your teammate and your teammate guides you on what you need to say. So, it's constant collaboration. You're going to experience it and you might get a little frustrated. So, what you're going to have to do [clears throat] is you're going to be by your marker whiteboard and you you're using your marker, you're going to try and make a model using pictures and arrows arrows about how you think this two-way mirror phenomenon works. So, one of the I guess it's called the tenants of building thinking classrooms is random three-person groups. Every single day, all the kids are
021in random. Yeah. are in random three-person groups. So, I'm going to put you guys in random three-person groups. So, let's see what happens. We do this pretty much daily. We do this daily. Every day. Or then sometimes they run into who's going to spin it. Jessica, Daniel, and Melissa, can you guys go over to the window [laughter] by the clock? That's team one. Steven and Terry, can you go to the middle board? That's team two. Jim, Kira, and Shawn, can you go to the board in front of the flag? That's team three. It's fun. >> [laughter] >> Grace, you're uncomfortable. Can you get the timer? So, One minute. Okay. Do you tell tell me when to wait for you? >> whoever has the marker is the writer. You're going to go ahead and start writing
022what your team tells you. If the writer has a great idea, pass the marker to somebody else. I'm going to treat you like sixth graders who cheat at this all the time. So, I'm going to make you pass the marker every minute so that everybody's going to get a different chance. So, what you're trying to do is you're trying to explain how a two-way mirror works. I would start with a big rectangle, make that a mirror, go from there. Go ahead. See if you can explain it. Remember, if you have the marker, you're doing what your team is telling you. Anyone? They got a rectangle. You can look at other teams. Team two and three have a big rectangle. How does it work? What makes you see? Mr. Miller, you want me to start it?
023Yeah. Remember, you can put symbols. You can put arrows. You can put words or labels. Ooh, I've got a whiteboard at group number one. Good job, group number one. Bringing in light. Group number one bringing in light. Group three, differences in reflexivity. I like the word reflexivity, group number three. Group number two has got it divided, a divided space. We said it. That was the pinball. Switch markers. Switch markers. Switch markers. Switch markers. Switch markers. Switch markers. Ooh, group number two, they used reflection. Reflection. Oh, we have a few words. Group number two put a person in. I like that. The person is looking at the mirror. Have you ever seen your reflection in a car window? I wonder if that works in the same way. Oh, our time's ticking. >> [laughter] >> We don't
024have an hour long class here. Oh, great. That looks fun. Ooh, group number three used [laughter] the word light. Does that make a difference? Light. Think of the times you've seen this. Is everybody in the light or is somebody in the dark? You're in the light. It's good to know. >> [laughter] >> You have two minutes to figure this out. Two minutes. We're going to see what happens. >> [music] >> Who's got a window and a mirror? Switch the marker. One minute left. Ooh, the word opaque came up. Good word. Reflection came up. Excellent. All right, let's stop right there. Here's what we're going to do. We're going to do a quick gallery walk. So, group one go to two, group two go to three, group three go to one. Look at their work. See
025what happened. Find something you love about it. Find something you might add. You got 10 seconds. Three, two, one. Switch. Switch. One to two, two to three, three back to one. Switch. Switch. Switch. Switch. Switch. Switch. You're not to write anything, just switch. So, what do you see? What do you love? What might you change? >> [laughter] [clears throat] >> All right, we got 10 seconds. >> [music] >> All right, circle up. Circle up. Circle up right here. Everybody circle up. Okay, somebody give me something you loved. What is something you loved? Uh, team one and two had light bulbs. That was nice. Light bulbs, interesting. Do you think light has something to do with it? Interesting. What else did you love? I like the fact that all the drawings had lines dividing to show
026that there was a differences in how the light was behaving. Excellent. So, we could go on with this circle for a while, right? But, here's the whole power of it. You came up with light bulb, right? So, that's what I'm trying to get them to do is I'm going to get the kids to lead me to understand that. What do they need to figure out next? They need to figure out how light works. And guess what we do next? We figure out how light works. So, then we do more of this and it brings up other questions. We bring more of this in, brings up other questions. By the time we're done with the unit, they don't need to study for the test because they've got it all in their head because they spent every
027day making models, coming up with answers. It's It's very powerful. The more they learn, the more they realize they don't know. Right. And what about it? It's just like the never ending And that whole time you're sharing, that's where they get, "Oh, I wish I thought of that." So, it's a very powerful way to teach and I've been teaching a long time and this is the most engaged I've had classes ever. It's not just one or two kids engaged. Like if I'm giving a speech in front of the kids, I got a class of 20, maybe three are listening to me, maybe 10 are trying to listen to me, and the others aren't going to be anywhere near me, right? Here, think about what you guys did. Could you hide? No. You had to collaborate.
028And if you didn't want to collaborate, you're getting a marker pretty soon. Right? So, you're going to be working and then that's really the power of building thinking classrooms and pairing it with Open SciEd, it's seamless. It is so good together and that's why we're here to show you guys this information. I think you guys can see too like in a glance next to the teacher. Like if students are working at the table, you can't spot like instantly see who's where and And another thing that we'll do sometimes is is at the end we'll give the kids like little mini sticky notes and have them consolidate. In other words, I go around and they'll put like a sticky note next to like a point that a team made or agree with and then you can
029really like visually see like, "Wow, they're all in agreement about these three things." One thing that we noticed at the most with our long classes, so I know like um Miss Sullivan was joking with her group like, "We don't have an hour long here." But, we can have a productive struggle in the classroom. So, we're not so much like rescuing students like finding answers, we're really guiding them and we're like probing like asking probing questions for them to come to it on their own. But, we have time now for a productive struggle. Struggles so students are able to learn more and understand more. It kind of eliminates that Are we right? Questions. A lot of times students will ask that, "Is this right?" cuz they want to just they want to be done. But, with
030this format, there's never a stop thinking moment. Like we just keep asking them probing questions to keep them thinking. And it's fun. You got to get the kids out. Like how you would formulate a research project. You start with the question. >> Yeah. And then you're you're picking information and getting that data gathered until you get to your answer. Really the engagement is pretty high because it's their ideas, their observations, their ideas. I I like the way it changes teachers' roles. You're not delivering facts, you are facilitating questions. Um I spent a lot of time in my career training students and teachers in Socratic teaching by the end of my life. And one of the rules is as a teacher, you never make a statement. You ask questions. And you just keep asking questions. And
031sometimes you're asking the same question repeatedly because as different people try to come with responses, you get different thinking and then they evolve with each other. It's very similar to what you guys do. Three, two, one. Students are struggling with the You just keep telling them that they just they don't have the marker. They just don't. And the scientist circle is a built community, too. Like one thing that Miss Peters said and Miss Sullivan taught us was he wanted to do circles like before there's a problem so students are used to doing it. So, like let's just say that the substitute that you have to like circle up after that, students are already used to it and then they are like knowing how they go about the process. One thing I do in my room,
032too, that I do the circles, they know that they're not allowed to have their back to anybody. Everyone has to be able to see one another's work. Cuz that goes along with that. And another thing is as you're working and your kids will say, "Oh, I used to know this." Or "I don't know the idea." And so, that's another way we can build our community because you all thought you were each a team. I felt that way. And so, we can like be cheerleaders and kind of prompt you, you know, and praise you like crazy and just even beating around the bush and when you feel good about yourself, you know, then the kids are much more apt to share something. That's right. Brain dump. Anything. Any ideas. And so, we can see if students
033are maybe having a bad day if they're reluctant and it's just a great way to help them feel good about themselves and about their mini team. And then sometimes if there's a group that thought of something that is maybe been really struggling that they hit on a point, we can kind of take the whole circle over to that board and they you can just see them being they're like super proud, you know, and the rest of the class is being complimented with what they did and how how they thought. So, it's a it's a really good balance. I think it makes it makes the learning for all students too, even if I have a student who's maybe struggling. And it's it's totally okay to look at other people's work. But they just it sometimes it
034gets them unstuck and they're like, "Oh, that's all I had to do." But then they'll do it in their own way. You know what I mean? And they really like All right. Let's move it on. Just made it want to be here. Thank you. >> [laughter] >> That was great. That was really good. Well, there's no better way than to just do it. Hey, yeah. Ms. Sullivan, you're up. No, maybe you're not up. >> [laughter] >> So, um these are just some photographs that we've taken um over the past Oh, sorry. I didn't Sorry. Over the past couple months. Um so, you can see the integration with the notebook. You can see the integration with the math. Um we've got graphing. Mr. Miller's like, "Your kids are going to be so good at graphing next
035year." Um but the the VTC, the vertical whiteboards, it is everyone is engaged. Everyone is learning. No one's saying, "I don't know what to do." I don't know how to do it. I'm going kind of fast just cuz you guys just experienced that. Yeah, we even write on the windows. They love that, too. And the windows and the doors. We don't have enough whiteboards. And I'm [laughter] just kidding. That's not a plug. >> [laughter] >> Um so, one of the thing Well, many things that we discovered about this program, um obviously, you can see that it is very high quality. Um it is aligned with um NGSS, Next Generation Science Standards. Um highly research-based. Um many many many schools in the state are using it. Um it supports the final um assessments and some of
036the online simulations and questioning. Totally support um the SBACK model for the test um on the computer, things like that. Um as you saw in the graphic, the units spiral vertically and horizontally. So, you know, I know I can say, "Remember last year when, you know, Mr. Miller taught you about this?" And then poof, and the light you know, the light bulbs go off. So, it's really nice that it's like all that groundwork is done for us. Um it's very uniform. The kids know what to expect. Um and obviously, you know, very high rigor with a lot of um out of the box thinking, a lot of problem-solving. Um So, the units are very easily differentiated um for all different abilities. Um and it's accessible. You know, we can do print copies. We can do
037digital. Um and especially the restorative part, um building the family, building the team, and doing the the scientist circle. Um it really makes it it gives gives us a lot of pride together. Um so, just a quick review on Next Generation Science Standards, it's kind of based on um a three-dimensional learning pattern. So, we have our DCIs, which is the content, >> [cough] >> um which is [clears throat] what the students, you know, need to know. And then our crosscutting concepts are, you know, how students think. Are they using math? Are they using um looking for patterns? Are they looking for um you know, structure and function attained to the DCIs. And then the science and engineering practices are what also we're expecting them to do by kind of tying it all together in our
038fancy Mobius strip there. Right. So, that would be like making a model, designing an investigation. Those are the science and engineering And then right, and [clears throat] then using your model to argue something. And then one more thing with the model. The model that you guys just made was that initial model. What happens is at the end of the unit, you make another model, which is now your summative assessment, and we grade that, right? So, you don't grade what you just did cuz you don't really know what you were doing. You grade it at the end, and now you've got a lot of knowledge. And that's where that all ties in, that circle of kind of feeds in. One of the things that I do in seventh grade is um when they're doing that kind
039of work, um I've gone over extensively with the kids on an engagement rubric, and so that's a great way to emphasize, you know, the manners and respect and things like that. And so, it goes in PowerSchool. It's not an official grade per se, but it's a snapshot, you know, of how engaged they were with their team that day. Um so, this program offers um a lot of files um that is very quickly downloaded to our Google Drive. Um you can see some of the They have summaries for each >> [cough] >> unit, each lesson, um English and Spanish. They're um some of the videos are available. Like sometimes we make our own videos, but a lot of them are available. If students are absent, on vacation, they can still kind of, you know, keep engaged
040with what's going on in class. Um they have the progress trackers like um Ms. Harris talked about. Um it it has great forms for us to not only, you know, reinforce the content, where we are, where we're going, but the classroom norms. So, the SEL, the the respect, the the scientist circles, all those things. How And sometimes we pick a certain norm or manner, I guess you could say, that we want to emphasize. And then the kids share how they thought the class did on that norm on that day. Um they have letters to go home. There's extension activities for home learning. More than you guys Yeah. Yeah. Um everything is editable. Um and I love it, you know, it's just it's like 7.1, lesson one, 7.1, lesson two. Like it's very structured, but it's
041helped us organize our Google Drive, so we know the kids know, "Oh, we're on lesson six." Um but as you know, it's it's really fun. And we just have a few pictures. Um some videos. So, this was um one of my units. This was our bath bomb unit. And um our phenomenon was I brought in some lovely smelling, beautiful, big bath bombs that we had a lot of fun with. Um and we just sat and watched it. >> [cough] >> Very therapeutic. Um but they had some crazy questions about them. Some of someone's mother made bath bombs, so they knew a lot. Other kids were like, "What especially like say boy, what is a bath bomb?" Um and you can see that was just the beginning of our notice and wonder chart. Um what was
042truly amazing was we had to That's one of their notebooks. Um we had to um you know, learn about properties, with how to identify the different um bath bombs. And amazingly, every single class, someone in that class said, "You know, I think we need to examine the ingredients, the individual ingredients." And wouldn't you know it, that was the next lesson in the book. So, they really weren't supposed to be doing that yet. >> [laughter] >> What? Um you know, and it was a great way to bring in um words like citric acid, and everybody thought acid, you know, was so dangerous. So, there's so much learning that goes into it instead of just giving them a PowerPoint with, you know, what is acid. Everything we do leads to more questions. This was very messy in
043my room, but it was a lot of fun. This These were just some photos um of students exploring. There's a whole unit on sound waves, and that's it's kind of a hard thing to to explore with middle schoolers. So, a lot of the the activities involved like they're they're actually duplicating or like mimicking amplitudes or the size of the the height of the waves, the the strength of the waves, and their frequency using marbles and markers and rulers. Um and then we did we're just wrapping up a unit on electromagnets. Where students were basically challenged They did a couple different things. They first had to um make an electromagnet, which is a temporary magnet, kind of like what you'd see in the dump that picks up like scrap metal or whatever and then drops it.
044So, they had to create a functioning one, and then um Excuse me, there's your song. Um and then I challenged them to make the strongest. So, there's different ways that you can increase the strength of the electromagnet. So, they predicted different things that they could do. One happens to be making more coils. So, that was the challenge in the the I don't even remember what the total was anymore, but it was a lot really high. So, there's a lot of hands-on >> Short-term memory. this curriculum. This it was a lot. It's a lot. Hands-on, you're in it, then you're up on the boards, then you're back in it, you're up on the boards. We're moving the kids all the time, and it's good for the kids. And they tested them in different types of matter,
045so to see if they could function in water, in air, and through solids. And that's it. Awesome. Thank you. for your time. I'll go around and ask questions. Sean. Honestly, there's so much great stuff about this. I mean, I love the fact of like the the teamwork and the outside-the-box thinking and really making it's not just yes or no questions or to having them like what we were doing up there. I mean, I was just so engaged. Like I said, making something fun keeps kids engaged. Just me coaching all the stuff, same thing. Got to make things fun cuz if it's not, keep them engaged, they're out of it. And so, I mean, just this whole picture and everything we just did was, you know, amazing stuff. Thank you. Thank you. Really love it. Yeah.
046What was that? Uh thank you. I thought it was a great presentation. I don't have any questions. So, thank you very much. Uh yeah, thank you guys. This was great. Um I'm just going to plug for the behind-the-scenes stuff that's happening in the curriculum, like the um the the circles and the social skills and like the inclusion and the problem-solving. I also love the like philosophy of science back there, the tension between the consensus and the like iterative process. It's very cool. Um the only question I have is um for these particular I don't know if you call them modules or kind of curriculum whatever you would call They're called bundles. Bundles, thank you. Um is there a required computer work in them or is there a lot of like technology in it cuz this
047is all super hands-on, which is very cool to see. There there is I think in yeah, not not I wouldn't say that it's required, but there are So, for for my units, there's there's a few like simulations for things like how does sound travel through a medium. Well, it's a really hard thing to see, so they would look at a computer simulation um up close at the particle level to understand how it works. So, so you there's definitely a tech component to it. But it sounds like you guys are saying it's primarily leaning towards the hands-on like interactive side of this. Cool. Great. Thank you, guys. Terry. I thought it was a great presentation. I really enjoyed the the hands-on aspect and the fact that you you know, you're working UDL right into this, so
048anybody any ability can really get involved in this, and I think that's just a boost to every student. So, I love it. Jennifer. Um no, I love the engagement. Um I love the the movement and the hands-on. Uh nowhere near a teacher, but as a Girl Scout troop leader, I learned really early that they have to be moving or nothing happens. >> [laughter] >> Um so, like even making a decision, how about everyone run to that side of the room or that side of the room? Um and that really, you know, keeps them engaged, keeps them thinking, keeps them and and in this, too, they also can apply it to real-world things. So, they leave on the bus, they're thinking about it. They go home, they're thinking about it. So, yeah, awesome. Love it. Thank
049you. Taya. Yeah, ditto what everyone else said. It's awesome. I I love how you engage every single learner. The kids who struggle to sit in their seat, like it's not a struggle anymore because they're getting up and they're doing something and they're collaborating with each other, so it's really good. Can I comment? Yeah. There's a There's >> [laughter] >> You know, there's proof. There's uh We also have the students who don't want to They don't want to work with anyone other than their friends. And so, doing this from day one, like every day they know that we're going to hit that spinner and it's going to They've learned to overcome that and be able to work with anyone in the room. And And we have those conversations with them like, you know, in real life
050in the real world, you won't necessarily get to pick your coworkers. You have to work with different types of people. So, it's a real like life skill for them, too. Yeah. I love science um and and I feel like it's part of so many curric- pieces of the curriculum. And what I like most about this program I'm so much familiar with it is that um the anchor phenomenon, but also the discovery. And leave the discovery up to the student. And it also just even in the circle, what I like about it is sometimes those great ideas are the ideas that aren't said. And because of either shyness or unsureness, it's Anyway to say it's okay to be not 100% correct. It's okay to take that chance, that positive chance. And I I think that really
051with the reflection circle and with the with the style, that's what I That's what I was really drawn to right there was that it is a whole class mentality. It's in and it allows for everyone to have that voice and to realize that science is fun. It is hands-on and it and it does matter. So, thank you. Yeah. Um I've already told you guys that I like the way it changes the teacher's role. The teacher is not the god on high handing down wisdom. The teacher is saying, "Let's figure some things out. And by the way, you're going to do the work and I'm going to watch." Which is really what should happen. Um people don't learn from watching other people, they learn from doing something. Um so, I love seeing that stuff. I I
052do have a a more technical question, which is this is a program that is available. How does it relate to East Adam curriculum? For example, you talk about some of the assessments. Where are the scoring criteria? Where did they come from? Um How do we assure that assessment addresses a curriculum that exists in this community and isn't just I have uh a kind of an almost allergic reaction to workbooks and stuff like that. Um I get itchy and start getting irritated. Which obviously is meant humorously, but you get my point. Um this doesn't look like this lends itself to that, but it still should there shouldn't be the connection between the curriculum. A program is not curriculum. A program is a way to get to it. Just like is not curriculum. A textbook is a
053tool. So, it's a I'm curious about that. >> you an idea, if I could just jump in here just to answer your question, I think. >> Yeah. So, this is a rubric that I use with my kids after they did the summative model. So, what we have is we've got a four-point rubric, right? The kids get graded on their ability to make that model based on this rubric. So, then when we're done, they might have four threes, right? So, how do you turn a rubric on a scale of 1 2 3 4 into a grade in the gradebook, right? It's It's difficult. So, you write a program. So, if they get, say, four fours, let me just show you that. Well, you've obviously got a formula built in. Right. We've got a formula built in.
054So, if they get four fours, they end up with 100%, right? Let me delete that. Right? If they get three threes and a four, No, I'm just going to >> idea, right? Yeah, I just want to say something real quick, though. I don't care about the grade. Right. I care about the learning. Right. I want scoring criteria that are meaningful because it tells you what they're learning and if they're learning. Got it. I Well, the purpose of tonight was to give an overview of I understand and and and I'm not being critical. Please don't think I'm being critical cuz I love this stuff. I'm just wondering how it relates to actually understanding student progress. And having something like this clarifies it. And for the record, I also like the fact that it's an even number
055because when you have odd numbers in rubrics, 1 2 3 4 5, no one wants to say, "Oh, you're not good or you are good." So, they choose three cuz it's easy and it doesn't force you to make a decision. So, I totally agree. Yeah. You can see there's It's the standards there. >> There's language in there that determines the learning, right? I can't quite see it. Right. Students emerge And I trust it. And these are the standards. These are the standard national standards. So, we're we're assessing the learning. >> NGSS national standards. And it's a through line with even some of the other classes we have, like Project Lead the Way. It's very much aligned with that. I mean, it's interdisciplinary. Students have to write. Students have to explain. They have to be able
056to collaborate, communicate with each other. So, it very much is a through line for for what we're doing as a school as a whole. Um what I enjoy about it like first like this presentation of not like a document or anything. It's like this is what they do every single day. Like Mr. Miller's doing circles and they're they're doing this every day within their classrooms. But what I enjoy is that students are able to tell you what they're learning. They have their notebooks, and we went back to I mean, they're they're using their notebooks and it's not so much like relying on computers. There are some days in the classroom where they're not using Chromebooks at all. They're talking, they're writing, they're discussing, they're going back, they're refining their ideas. And it allows us like
057if we're using the question formulation technique, students are working like above their zone of proximal development. We figure out where they're at and then we're scaffolding up like depending on the group. So, then we're able to differentiate. We're able to push students at like a much higher rate than we were before. And the classes are an hour, so we're able to have the productive struggle, and students are able to bring their own interests into the classroom. So, in a way, they're guiding their own learning. So, we do have a program to guide us, but students are able to direct their learning depending on it. Um I don't know if it's possible to ask Okay. Any other questions? Oh, any other questions? No, just thank you. And thank you for the work, creativity. Yeah. THE CREATIVITY
058AWESOME. THANK THANK YOU ALL FOR PLAYING ALONG. YES. THANK [laughter] YOU FOR PARTICIPATING. YES. And they they were hoping to come sooner, but there was I don't know conflicts in February, conflicts in March, something, and so yeah, they've been piloting, and you know, we're getting close to decision time for adoption. So, need to know that. You have a Looks like you have a plug. >> I do. I do have a plug for tonight. Um tomorrow is our seventh grade blood drive at the middle school. So, if anyone is healthy and wants to be brave and be a superhero, we would love to see you. It's April 12th. >> behind drawing blood. >> Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. So, I took a week out and um did a mini unit um with this community um service project
059that I've been doing for a long time. Um I brought it up to seventh grade when I moved to seventh grade. Um and and it it is not completely out of the water. Um it builds on um what Kevin does now with the human body, and then I also have metabolism and um energy units um in seventh grade, but I did take a week out, and the kids made some amazing projects. They either chose a mini research question, or they chose which sometimes a lot of them were very personal with heart attacks, strokes, things like that. And then um other kids chose to promote blood donation after they learned how important it was, and that you couldn't get it on Facebook Marketplace. >> [laughter] >> Um but tomorrow from 12:00 to 6:00, the students are
060all volunteering, um and uh you can see all of their work. >> [cough and clears throat] >> Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you again. >> [cough] >> You know, the agenda said possible action to adopt the program they just uh presented, but I'm [laughter] going to have it go back to the >> [clears throat] >> curriculum, policy, educational program subcommittee, so they can have questions, and then back to the full board. But I really appreciate the presentation. Uh item three is high school reps, and I think they sent in a >> They did. I will represent them. They send their regards and apologies that they could not be here this evening, but wanted to share the following. Seussical the Musical, um you've I think many of you have attended on March
06127th or the 28th. Um Hale-Ray Drama Club presented Seussical the Musical. The group really brought life to Dr. Seuss's characters to tell the story of Horton Hears a Who. Everyone was absolutely amazed, and the crowd loved the enthusiasm. Also, plug for tomorrow from 5:30 to 7:00, the high school be holding an art night. The event is hosted by a senior, Delilah Harold, will feature student art and members of the jazz band and Tri-M Honor Society. Um on March 20th, um Hale-Ray National Honor Society hosted a blood drive. It was very organized, and there was a great turnout. Snacks, baked goods, water, and juices were available for donors to ensure that they had a great experience. Thank you to all those students, staff, and committee members for donating and making this blood drive a tremendous success.
062National Honor Society members attended their annual leadership conference. During this, students participated in hands-on breakout sessions and engaging presentations. Two of our students were even elected to the state board. Congratulations to junior Marie Scollan and Kaylin Camby, who will be serving as president and vice president next year. That is what they sent in, but um I have some things to add during my talk. Thank you. Item four on the agenda is audience of citizens. The audience of citizens provides an opportunity for East Hampton residents to briefly and respectfully share their thoughts, concerns, and questions with the Board of Education. Any written comments or materials must be submitted to board chair and may be distributed at a later time. The chair reserves the right to discontinue public comment at any point if the remarks include specific
063or personally identifiable references to board employees and/or students. This portion of the meeting does not involve discussion. All questions will receive a timely response from the board chair or superintendent. Do we have any public comments? No. Okay. Uh item five is the report of the board chair. >> [laughter] >> Um I just wrote down some highlights from the last uh full board meeting till now. On March 13th, Jessica uh Dan and I attended the Zoom meeting with Dr. Marcus Alexander for the Board of Ed member portion of the developing of the district's strategic plan. On uh March 18th, I had the CABE chairman check-in, which basically actually was the shortest one I attended so far. It's basically just a check-up of what's happening at the state capital. Um everything's moving uh moving parts there still.
064On March 19th, I went to the elementary school to participate in the new new mural creation. Um they actually You could see your pictures in your updates. The mural is finished and now installed at the elementary school. On Saturday, March 28th, I did attend the Seussical. I don't know who else I think that I saw there. Jessica was there. It was It was really good. It was very good. Um uh definitely an all ages play. It was um it was really good. I was impressed. On April 2nd, the Board of Ed we met to discuss the budget, and last night, April 7th, was the uh budget public hearing, and next week is April vacation. Any questions? I have a question. Um you mentioned the strategic plan. Um is there a fiscal uh impact to the
065strategic plan, or is this all like a volunteer-led where you're, you know, doing it with I don't know, internally, or are we or is this have a taxpayer impact? So, there is about $10,000 for the consultant to wrap it up, and there was um maybe 3,000 for the administrators and I to attend the Vision of Learning training um through Connecticut Association of Schools that they've partnered with um the ASK. Where was the uh Vision of Learning? With the ASK. Connecticut Association of Schools. Why was it $3,000 to attend? That's what the charge was. Uh you bring a whole team, and it's multiple days. It started in the fall, and we actually just finished up 2 weeks ago. And those the consultants check in with us. We can reach out to them at any time, and
066they provided the whole structure that then was turnkey by our own administrators here in the district, rather than bringing in someone to do everything. So, there's a combination of getting training, doing it ourselves, and then having the outside consultant really do the surveying, doing forums, and pulling all of that input um for the development of the strategic plan. Is that uh is the full board going to provide input to the strategic plan, or is it only a few members? No, you had a survey, and it was given to the full board, the link for you all to attend the forum. And so, the full cost for the taxpayers $13,000. Yes. Thank you. Any more questions? I just have a comment. I want to say cuz Mrs. Pearson is here, the mural looks amazing. Yes. So
067excited about that. It did come out very nice. I need to Because of all the artists that contributed. There was a lot of talent. >> while we're sitting here and talking about it, if you guys take a look at the the the picture open, it's a mosaic. So, all the students, you can see in the pictures, got to um they did not break tiles. That was not allowed. I just wanted to say. Um but they got to glue in the pieces. So, every student at the school got their hands into the project, which I think was amazing. Um you could see there's three sections put into one, so they had a nice group around, so. I I got to help put it in a couple sections, so. Don't ask me what color it was. I
068already forgot. So, the kids were really enjoying which color, cuz they worked section by section, so. It was really nicely done. Thank you, Tyler. Any other questions? Item six, report of the superintendent of schools. Okay, thank you. Um first, I'll start off with the high school. Um that will be welcoming the NEASC visiting committee. They're coming on April 27th and 28th. That's a Monday and a Tuesday. Um thanks to the administrators, the committee leaders, and all the teachers for their preparation. The Board of Education is invited to participate in a virtual opportunity with the visiting team on Sunday, April 26th. Um and that specific time will be um shared through the board chair. So, hopefully you'll have that availability to meet the visiting team virtually. I also want to give a shout out to a
069young Mr. Trojan, if I am not mistaken, was in the booth last night, already hired for a job. I'm just telling you, um was just so helpful and first thing this morning, I heard right away what an asset up there really helped our IT team. So, wanted to um Asset along definitely. give that shout out out there. Absolutely. >> it? Yes. Fantastic. It shows. Um I like to begin by also thanking um Speaking last night, members um of the board and our greater school community, stakeholders for coming out to the public hearing. Um we certainly heard, you know, concerns about next year's budget. And we all understand that careful fiscal responsibility is a critical part of our role. And I'm going to stress careful responsibility to ensure that the decisions we make reflect our core
070mission to serve students. Now, currently, the administrators, the business manager, I have carefully been reviewing every line item. Um we're not proposing all options at this time because we're still analyzing each budgetary category. And it's the beginning of April. A lot can happen before the end of the school year. And I'm going to give you one example. I know of one retirement. I'm going to replace that individual with a new hire, and that could be a $40,000 to $100,000 reduction, depending on their experience and whether they're going to take our health insurance. So, I I want to make sure that we fully have the opportunity to analyze and be responsive to our current needs. Um but we will certainly adhere to the Board of Finance's request for the budget dollar amount. Um we also know
071that there are available funds, and the Board of Finance is expecting us to use them. Um last week, there was discussion about reducing staff. I I would say that choosing to reduce staff in the presence of viable alternatives suggests that we are willing to accept a diminished experience for students when other options are available. It's essential that we maintain a sense of stability in our school community. Families entrust us with their children every day, believing we will act in their best interests, not only when it is easy, but especially when it [clears throat] is difficult. Eliminating staff who their children love, I do not see as a viable option right now, and we are diligently, as a team, looking through where those cuts could happen. At the end of the day, budgets come and go.
072They change. Numbers will shift. But the impact of our decisions on children, on educators, and on this community will endure. I ask for your understanding and patience, as we do want to ensure careful fiscal decision-making. We will put forth recommendations before the end of the school year. I do thank you for your time, your service, and your consideration. And like our board chair, spring break is coming in a couple of days. People need time to rest, to rejuvenate. The weather promises to bring sunshine and warmth, which we are all looking forward to, um and we need. Thank you. Uh can I make a quick comment on that? Yeah, go ahead. Um I had been in contact with some of the Board of Finance people prior to that meeting. And made a point of getting them
073to talk about that extra money um last night, and they did outright state, and publicly, that they wanted us to use that surplus money to supplement what we were technically losing. Um which made me feel a lot better, cuz they said they wanted it, and more importantly, they promised um not to punish us for not cutting more people. Um once I heard Maureen Gough say, "No, that's fine. You'll still get money for um capital expenses next year, and and you're not going to automatically get cut just because you didn't cut enough this year." Once I heard her acknowledging that, um as the guy who was very skeptical of that whole process, I feel much more comfortable now. Um we we got on the record what we needed to. Um I think it was sincere. And
074um I think we're um I I'm personally am much more comfortable not immediately looking for budget cuts because they know what it means if we don't actually cut the budget. They're just going to have to fund it the next year, and they seem to be accepting that. Um so, I personally feel much better about it. For what little that's worth. Anybody else have any additional questions? I I don't know if I have a I guess I do have some questions. I guess the first is, can I get very specific information of what is part of the $200,000 that you suggested at our last meeting, broken out by dollars? So, what is the components of the $200,000? So, that was um service that we have through Effective School Solutions. How much is that worth? 170. Okay.
075And then um some professional development we can't cut at all. But at the last meeting, you told me 25,000. Are you telling me it's 30 now? Yeah. It's 25? Not 30. No, 25. >> Okay. And there were other areas that I don't know off the top of my head. Okay. So, so we still haven't clearly defined the 200 the total of the $200,000. You still have some little other things that are waiting to be Correct. And then, what is makes up the 75,000? That was field trips. How much was the field trips? I don't have that off the top of my head. >> portion of that. I think the high school, it's like $36,000 just for the high school. This is the only meeting I didn't bring my budget to. It was just under 10.
076You were just under 10 at the elementary school. Um it was not just field trips. It was field trips, it was AP tests. I know what's in the I know what's in the budget, but I'm asking what makes up the components of your identified $75,000 reduction, specifically. Yeah, I don't have all that on memory. And so, then you have the potential of a potential 480,000, which we don't have those dollars encumbered yet in our accounts. We're just hoping that that is what the audit shows. And even with that, we still have, you know, an additional amount. I'm being asked in the in by members of our school community and others, what is the real number that you're trying to solve for? And with two and a half meetings, I still can't answer that question because
077I don't know the components. So, you've identified a number, when you add these three tranches together, the 200,000, the 75,000, the 480,000, that still doesn't get us to the number that the Board of Finance asked us to solve. >> Right. What is that number? That they've asked us to solve. What is the number that >> missing delta that you have still not identified to reach that number? How much of field trips were broken out by subject? So, I'd have to get back to you specifically. You know what? One of the things that you can save money on is stipends. I But I that's not that's We can't I can't even discuss Well, I don't think we should discuss it. It's not being voted on yet. That's true. Um So, there is a So, there's there's
078a And then that position she just talked about, that could be $40 to $100,000. How do I answer the question that I'm getting from members of the school community and parents of what is the delta of the difference between what you've identified, what the Board of Finance has said is our allocation? What is the delta that you are still trying to solve? And as a Board of Ed member, I can't articulate that because you can't articulate the components that you're talking about. >> give you a dollar amount of what's missing, which is probably about 200,000. It's less than that. Okay. >> the 930 minus the 480, minus the 200,000, minus the 75,000, brings you to that 175. But then we have potential of $10,000 for stipends. That brings you down to 165, and then you
079have retirement. One retirement, we'll save So, that gets you down down to 165. So, the answer to the the question is 175. Yes, that's what she just got to. That's all I want to know. And then I guess what I would say is as a board, I I think we owe it to the people who elected us to tell them what what is the process between now and the end of the school year. We know we have a town meeting coming up. We know we're going to referendum. I don't know how you can wait to the end of the school year to solve a problem before the referendum if we don't have the full concept of what the potential reductions are. And that's where my frustration comes in because I don't feel like there's a
080sense of urgency to delineate and define it. I'm not saying you have to act on it, but we have an obligation to the people who elected us to at least be able to explain it. And there's nobody can explain it, and that's a very significant problem for me. And I know I know I'm not alone. That's the other frustration part. I know I'm not alone. So, I'm just putting it on the record. I really hope at our next board meeting that this item is an actual agenda item so that the public knows that we're going to be having this conversation. Not having it on the agenda tonight was a mistake, and I hope it's not uh done again certainly before our next town meeting. Um Yeah, I guess you're at that 165 number, and like
081well, besides that position and >> Dr. Debrino that you're not willing to put that make sure it's an agenda item? I haven't said a word. I know, that's why I'm asking you to respond, please. I'm not responding at this I've I've given my statement. I've asked for patience and understanding for the team to do their due diligence. That's what I'm asking. She wants the I just want to know if it's going to be on >> readers to take a look at their budgets, and then we'll have to circle back. I mean, the the it's only a $32,000 increase. So, at minimum, you're basically at the same as last year. So, you have to make those reductions. I I and and if the ref- I hope the referendum doesn't fail, but they the worst comes to
082worst, it's a literal zero. >> [cough] >> I just hope to see it on the agenda as I mentioned before so the public knows that we're going to have the conversation. That is not too much to ask. >> Yes, well, I mean, it could be in May, but I think there was some hope false hope that maybe things would have changed last night at the public hearing, and they didn't. And until until it's voted on, we we don't we don't know like it's a complex process figuring out what you're going to take out when you don't really want to take anything out because we actually need more. Like just as you're getting questions from people who want to know exactly what's going to be cut because they don't want their taxes to increase, there is
083a large number of people who also believe that we have a deficit here and that we need more in our schools. We need more opportunities for our students. We don't want to see teachers let go. We also don't want to sit here to the public and and say that things are going to happen when we don't actually know yet because you can cause people undue stress who are watching this meeting. So, those things yet haven't been determined, which is why the information hasn't yet been released to us. But we obviously will have to have a working discussion, and the superintendent will then present these things to us, and then we will take a vote if we're in agreement with her on it. So, am I taking away that we won't be voting until after the
084referendum? Is that what I'm hearing? I don't think we should vote until after the referendum. I mean, it would They can't go below the 25 26 budget anyways. So, at worst comes to worst, you're going to have to cut $32,000 additional. Referendum scheduled for May 5th, and our next full board meeting is May 13th. So, maybe can we ask for an update as to where we're at with the admins in terms of going through it? For the May 13th? Yeah. Yeah. And we've been here before. This isn't the first time that we unfortunately are in this predicament. Christine Just to do the math um we asked for 26 209 for 23. Last year we got 25 451 628. The difference is 757,000 794. Take the 480 away, you take the 275 away, your balance is
085$2,700. Right, they added $205,000 in for the board uh reboard. Now, she's going off she Yeah, you're going off of last year's zero. >> No. All right, I'm just Our proposed budget was a 757. At the reboard Okay. So, that's where the 200 comes in. Well, they it's $220,000 in our proposed budget, and then I don't know why they used the 205 number. And then minus the 37. Right. Okay. Just want to make sure I have the right numbers. Correct. Any additional questions? No, everything on my Okay, moving on to item seven, action on the minutes. Can I get a motion to approve the regular meeting minutes of March 11th, 2026? I'll make a motion to accept minutes. I'll make a motion to second. Okay. Then second. Do I have a second? Second. Are there
086any corrections? Yes. Um Our friend uh Dan is Dr. So, we should be if we're doing it for some, we should do it for all. Um the I tried to not to be nitpicky, but like the word board is misspelled couple places in the notes. Four Um page two and three. Yeah, page two and three. Um And I guess for March 11th. Uh Yeah, so also page eight should be Dr. Flack. I did mark it all up on this, too, so I'll give this to you. Does anybody else have any? Go ahead, Terry. That's the LEARN liaison report. Um I was not able to attend that meeting in person, so that needs to be corrected. Um So, I I'm I'm You made the report, but you weren't exactly >> Okay. So, I gave an update,
087but I was not able to attend that report attend that meeting in person. Uh you did it via Zoom. No. Okay. Sorry, I just said it. No, the report. I just made the report. I just gave the report. Well, that's good. I just said it. Anybody else have corrections? So, where it says that you engaged with staff from the Waterford School District >> [clears throat] >> That's not correct. So, we need more updating than just not attendance. Okay. Okay. Also, in my chairman's report, it's 1930. Anyway 1930. If we're going to get really picky um Um for the LEARN liaison, we could just say regarding a recent LEARN meeting where she learned from the Waterford School District. Well you can just say that I I provided the update from the minutes. Since we're going through
088all this so carefully >> Yes. I have a question. I'm I'm not convinced this even is a correction. I'm just not following one thing that's in here. Um was going to ask you guys later cuz it wasn't didn't feel that important, but since we're doing it um on 1 2 3 4 5 6 on page seven um in the middle of the page, it says motion. A motion was made to table policy 3293.1, authorization of signatures. And then it goes on to say um per the Board of Education attorney and having no discussion per Robert's Rules of Order was made by Ms. Hatfield and and seconded by Ms. Jabara. I don't know I might just be being dumb, guys, and I apologize if I'm wasting time, but I I don't know what um that comment
089means. Uh per the Board of Education attorney and having no discussion per Robert's Rules of Order. I think it was that on the video. It was oddly, I guess oddly heard. Somebody must have said that at that time. Oh, it was me. I said that the Board of Education attorney suggested that we could not have that uh pop table that policy and having no discussion with is part of Robert's Rules of Order. Like if we if we table an item. She said that during the recording and so it was taken from the recording as a part of the correction. >> Okay, I think I got it now. Thank you. Sorry for being a little slow. Any other corrections? I'm interested in the level of typos on page five. I think it's M&J Incorporated Corporation at
090the bottom there. Oh, that's an important one. You got to just but just in case. You know what that is? No. Any other ones? Do I have a motion to approve the regular meeting minutes of March 11th, with the stated corrections? So moved. Second. All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? Abstain? Motion carries. Do I have a motion to approve the special meeting minutes of March 26th, 2026? Do I have a second? Discussion? Yes. Sorry. >> [laughter] >> I think I was there. Yes. Um Terry arrived at 5:43. >> Okay. Um so she should be moved up. >> Terry was there. Um again, honorariums for Dan. Um others present, Mike I had a question about whether Jessica Ritter should be listed. Yeah, she was part of the executive session. She should be. >> [clears throat] >>
091We don't list you like she is in the motion to go to executive session. We typically list who's in the audience as far as like employees, not everybody else. Is that what you're talking about? >> executive session. But you invited her, attorney Jessica Ritter to go into executive session. You you did it. It's already there. So you don't want to erase her listed in others present. Yeah, cuz typically we don't like list everybody only employees typically are listed in others present, not like everybody who might be there. So that's why >> Yeah. I got it. Thank you. So the votes are the count was wrong because Terry's not counted. So Oh, counts. The first one is correct because she was not there for that. But the second one um it should be seven favor and
092one absent. So >> [clears throat] >> she was not there for the first meeting. So >> She wasn't there initially. Yeah, but she wasn't there for the first vote, but she was for the second. So the count should be changed for the second, but not the first. Okay. Okay. Any other corrections? Um I I feel like I'm being a pain, but uh the the numbers you were just talking about uh at the bottom if there was only one person who was absent, why doesn't it add up to eight? Right. Present. >> Cuz it does seven favor, one absent. >> Seven favor, one absent. I could change the absent. >> Right, and that's we have no one on the board. >> I don't I don't She doesn't I'm a tiebreaker. My apologies. I I did that
093to myself once. I feel then I remembered, so. >> [laughter] >> I'm hands-off. I was a teacher. I was never like good with math. >> [laughter] >> That's okay. Any other questions? Do I have a motion to approve the special meeting minutes of March 26th, 2026 with the corrections? Do I have a second? Second. All those in favor? Aye. Anybody opposed? Abstain? Motion carries. Do I have a motion to approve the special meeting minutes of April 2nd, 2026? Do I have a second? Second. Are there any corrections on this meeting? Yes. >> [laughter] [clears throat] >> Um Dan can't both be present and absent. >> Oh. He's very talented. Yes, >> [laughter] >> that would be very impressive. Um so he was absent and again with the honorariums and then at the risk of being
094a real pain, but I know Jim will be happy. Um pledge of allegiance should be capitalized. So broke out the red pen. Sorry. >> [laughter] >> And then does that mean also on uh the second page under section five that we have to correct the number of votes? No, cuz there was one absent. I would have seven, eight. Yeah, no, it's correct there. >> correct. The votes are correct. Yeah, that part's correct. Cuz he's just included at the top when he he was both. Any other When you figure out when you when you're willing to share that talent, please let me know. That's like super clear. They didn't answer the mirror question, so I know. Well, I wrote it down to Google it when I get at home. >> [laughter] >> Is there any other
095corrections? Do I have a motion to approve the special meeting minutes of April 2nd, 2026 with the stated corrections? So moved. Second. All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? Abstain? Motion carries. I didn't print mine. Sorry, this keeps pulling up. Item eight on our agenda is the committee report starting with curriculum, policy, and educational programs subcommittee report. Um the committee has not met since last month. However, I do have a couple of things I would like to address. Dr. Curio, um how is it that a curricular program ended up on the agenda tonight without the guy running that committee even knowing it was coming it up and being listed initially as being approved even though it never went through the committee that's supposed to decide whether or not things should go forward. It was never listed
096as an approval. It was an opportunity for them to present But it said on the agenda and and possible action. It did because it's rather late in the year, so to try to expedite whether the board cuz the full board has to vote to determine whether they can adopt the program and that's what prompted it. a protocol to go through and you can't arbitrarily decide to skip the protocol. You certainly can't do that without talking to me first. That is unacceptable. I didn't see it that way. I did. But I didn't. Please go to finance subcommittee. Uh we have not officially met since last month um partly because of all the the meetings that we we've been discussing special meetings and everything over the budget. Uh so as far as business and planning, we have
097not. Um Personnel negotiations? Yes, right, exactly. And forgive me, my laptop or my iPad just died, so going off of off of my memory, which isn't horrible. Uh personnel, we've met a few times with a few different negotiations going. Um there are the stipends negotiations that was held on 3:30 and for which I was not able to go, so thank you for uh going through that, which we are working through still and um uh possibly on April with the end of the month, 20 something is the 29th. Who's up? Possibly is that Sorry, off of my off of my uh memory, wrote down my notes. I believe it's the 29th of April is would be our next um meeting in regards to that. Up to up to I'm sorry, I don't even know the date.
098Yes, the 29th 29th tentatively at 5:00. Perfect. Yes, that's what I sent. Yep. So, I think I was mixing um mixing the two. Um which yes, we've had multiple meetings on the up sue and then 325 we were prepping. 46 we um met again and then again for the end of the month possible completion. Um that would be that for those updates. East Haddam schools capital improvements committee. I will just tell you very quickly. I became a member uh 2 and 1/2 years late the um retroactive and then I'm going to turn my reins over by the end of this month to Steve Trojan. There was some kind of issue that apparently it's it's a sub committee of the selectmen and I was never voted in and they kindly made me retroactive. Not to toot
099my own horn I did an awful lot of work for that HVAC project so I wanted to go down in history for that. >> [laughter] >> Even even that's okay. Um so Stephen will take over and their meeting is the 30th I believe. Yeah, cuz it's last meeting meeting they skipped. Yes, there was no bills. No bills so yeah. Um LEARN liaison. Well, so I was traveling the day of the meeting so I put together an update and this one I'm pulling out like the most essential items. I can forward all of you the the minutes but there was some really important stuff in there that I think directly relates to what we just saw tonight and I'm going to just read you some of those highlights. So, the March LEARN meeting featured a presentation
100from Clinton Public Schools highlighting how the district has aligned strategy, instruction, and culture to better meet evolving student needs. So, they did this instructional shift from compliance to cognitive engagement and you just saw a great example of that tonight. Um they've intentionally shifted away from anything that's compliance driven towards this and so their classrooms are emphasizing high-quality thinking-based tasks, real-time teacher responsiveness, and student reflection and active participation. So, the core idea here is students learn best when they're actively thinking not passive compliance. So, bravo. Um and then another highlight takeaway was teachers as the core asset. So, the district identified teachers as its most important asset. Uh quote lifeblood and their approach includes restoring teacher agency and professional judgment, embedding collaborative professional learning, positioning teachers as instructional decision-makers, and the key takeaway here is that
101innovation is cultural. So, they're trying to empower their teachers to drive student outcomes. Um Another point made was strategic alignment to instruction. Their strategic plan is simple, focused, and actionable, regularly revisited, directly tied to classroom practice, and the priorities are personalized, engaged learning, rebuilding post-COVID social-emotional connection, and equitable access to academics. Uh a fourth part of that presentation [laughter] was program and pathway innovation. So, uh they spoke to expanded career and technical pathways which would include manufacturing, cybersecurity, culinary arts, and robotics. Um uh strong community partnerships for real-world learning, uh leadership development across grade levels, and experiential programs building confidence and teamwork. We just saw a great example of that tonight. Um and the key takeaway for our district um Clinton Public Schools is demonstrating a clear instructional shift. Uh cognitive [clears throat] engagement again
102over compliance, uh teacher empowerment over top-down control, and relationships and engagement as drivers of learning. Um and the big truth is that this reinforces that students cannot access learning unless they feel safe, regulated, and engaged and that was part of what I was talking about last >> [laughter] >> week with the promise. That's all I have. Any questions for Terry? Thank you for the information. Senior awards? Yeah, I was able to attend again just going off my battery. Um it was on 46. It was a virtual meeting so it was this past Monday. Um really it was kind of focused on a few things really just buttoning up the scholarship award night coming up um which will be at Fox Hop Yard. I can't quite remember the day that they were finalizing it. May 12th.
103Thank you. Appreciate it. Uh so that'll be exciting and then mostly what they were discussing I spent a lot of time reviewing the their budget that they're going through and um they're working through those lines just to make sure everything added up. There was a few little discrepancies and Mr. Ecker has the action item to be correcting those and looking at a few things but really it was just going through their line item budget so and I'm not sure about the follow-up to the next meeting. That's really what it was focused on. June 5th. Senior awards so June 5th. Thank you. I I have a quick question. Um Sean when um just curious when you were going through the budget uh the superintendent indicated at our last meeting that there had been some sort of
104a communication that they were willing to backfill potentially the budget. Um there was some sort of an agreement. I don't know if it was writing or anything else. Did that come up at all? Um no I don't believe don't believe so. Okay. Not that I No, I didn't I did not. Okay. Thank you. Long range capital improvements committee. That's also a committee of the first selectman and um the first selectman's uh assistant said that we're going to have to re-pick members for that. It will be myself, the chair, and then we need two people from different parties for that so I will email you guys. Um he spoke he they are hoping that selectman to um start that and rework that. If you ever watched meeting it's been over a year since they met. Um
105Uh what you guys they used to be very dull. Um so we're going to try to make it more of a round table discussion of what needs to happen here in town. So, hopefully you'll be hearing soon and I will email and ask you guys who is interested in joining the long range. That used to meet quarterly but hasn't met since I think January 2025. Uh safety and security committee. Okay. Item nine, new business. Acceptance of the consent agenda's item one, consent agenda what I am one through three, discipline report, enrollment report, and March 2026 warrant. I will entertain questions before we Um summary, the packet last month had different numbers. Um the high school total was 251 and here it's 265. Um transition school for 25 had six and in 26 had 11 and
106here it's two and two. So, I'm just curious. This is correct. And I know there were questions last month about it because I said that and was surprised that it looked like we had 12 new kids and there were questions about it so um I think we're going to have to ask for how this is being calculated. Cuz this is yeah, the numbers are I think they pulled it last month too. I'll try to get that from where I thought it was and come back and be corrected. This month's Last month it yes, had 11 people in transition. There's students in transition. Yeah, there are not. The high school's different numbers and stuff. Because if I'm not mistaken, potentially the learning center kids may have been added. Wrong, because they're in a different but there
107aren't 11 of the transition schools. So, we're going to have to have notations so that it can be cleared up. Anybody else have questions on the enrollment? I don't That's why I have a question. I just have a statement. And it it looks like, you know, our high school enrollment is down to 237. And I just think that at some point we need to have a conversation, whether it's a item on the agenda or not, about the details of that building. I'm being told that the building can hold 600 students. I don't know if that's true or not, but I think I think I'd like to at some point have a conversation about the high school enrollment in particular and what the building capacity is, etc. etc. Um anyone have any questions about the discipline
108report? I I do. Um looking at it here, it says the elementary school had 17 major referrals, but only five children received discipline. I'd like to understand why only five children received discipline in the elementary school. Middle school, five children. What's discipline? So So, out of that 17 major referrals, nobody was disciplined? Is that what that that that's the takeaway? >> No. They can be They can be The only Yes, the only discipline that shows up here has to do with bus and suspensions. So, when you look at the discipline, there are others. There could be detentions. There, you know, there lots of other things that can happen at the school level, but these were the categories that are on this particular report. So, it it's not I would say that this report is not
109helpful in understanding how we're dealing with these issues of discipline then. Because again, you see discipline, major referrals, 17 at the elementary school, five at the middle school, nine at the high school. When I track the high school, it says one student received an out-of-school suspension. When I look at this report, that leads me to believe that eight children in the high school received no discipline. And if that's not true, I think we should have changed the format of this report so that we can understand the the This was the report that the Board of Ed requested. The reason this report was created was to identify suspensions. So, So, it's only suspensions and expulsions and major major referrals. It was >> title of this report is monthly discipline report. So, it's not a discipline report.
110It's a It's the Board of Ed's requested discipline report that the Board of Ed created. So, maybe Jim, maybe I don't know if that goes through you, like who creates the report? Is that policy issue? I don't know. But the way that this is being created >> a policy issue as I recall. It's not helpful, I guess is what I'm saying. Well, You know, >> that's a question on perspective. Um I don't think I need to know every time a principal or an assistant principal um has a chat with a kid and has to make a phone call home. That's called day-to-day business. I am more concerned I'm just telling you my own reaction. I am more concerned about suspensions, which are sometimes necessary, but which actually interfere with education. Um So, for me, I
111don't I don't have to micromanage administrative staff and know exactly what they're doing. >> I'm not looking to micromanage anything. I'm just trying to understand what this report says. The label of the report is East Haddam School District Monthly Discipline Report. Right. So, the average person looking at that says, "Oh, we had 17 major incidents at the elementary school, but we don't Well, see, there's also a definition of what major incidents are in there. But if you go down to the bottom, it tells you there is. It says like So, for the elementary school, 10 physical contact, seven disruption, five inappropriate I can read I can read that, Madam Chair. I can read that. What I'm What I'm trying to understand is what What is this report then doing? Is it just saying, "Hey, we
112had 17 people or 17 students that had an issue?" And that's all the Board of Ed was looking for? Is that the That's the basis of the report? >> This is what was provided. I didn't create this report. I know that at the time I recall suspensions. Like there was a definite desire to know on a monthly basis the number of suspensions. And then it was, "You know what? All of the discipline referrals, let's add that in so we have an idea." But it it was never to the level I think that you're requesting. I'm not requesting. I'm just trying to understand again, 17 elementary school students had major referrals, but then we don't know if those 17 students had an intervention. That's I'm just trying to understand >> we assume that I think we
113assume that the administrative staff do their jobs. >> But That means they got it They had some kind of intervention. So, we're assuming that based on this. >> Yeah. Well, no, I don't think I don't think we are assuming. I think that we get presentations every single year by the staff by the administrators talking about different levels of things that happen in the school without providing any sort of student information. So, this is just an overview of major referrals, a breakdown of what that looked like without giving any further detail because we don't need to know the further Because it would technically border on illegal. >> Yeah, I was going to say. It would be borderline. It would be definitely borderline for the board. So, it might be worth us at some point taking a
114look. We've got regulation 2131C, which actually spells out all the requirements for the disciplinary report, and it is more in-depth than what we got. Um but it's a regulation, so it's not a policy. It might be changed at some point. So, this is the district Are you talking about to report to the state? This is a report to the board meetings. I believe so, yeah, the monthly one. I think it's it's supposed to include the school disciplinary issues or infractions, response, consequences, or restorative measures implemented. No serially identifiable information to be shared and any incident deemed a major incident is to be reported. I mean, you can always change it, but this was the request that had been made. And as board members, we can we can ask for a presentation by the administrators to
115share what they would do in a given situation, give examples perhaps, so maybe we could put that on the agenda down the line just to see like how to how do we go through when we have inappropriate behavior, etc. Um in general. Yeah, exactly. That would be helpful. And I appreciate you guys pointing that out. Thank you. It's good to hear. Thank you. Thank you. That was discipline and enrollment. Any questions on the March 2026 warrant? I'm going to start on page 16. Minutes 16? Hold on, I just got to turn it 7,000 times. Yes, minutes 16. Um It looks like we If this is the year-to-date budget report, it looks like we are at 109.3% of guidance supplies. Just curious what's going on there. We're over budget. I'm going to have to take a
116look at that. Uh next is page 28. This um I'm just curious. Under dues and fees, it says, and I don't know what the acronym stands for, so I'm only making assumptions. Uh program center off BOE. I don't know what that means, and I'm hoping somebody could explain that a little bit. So, those are common um dues and fees to the district. That is in the superintendent's budget. So, it would be like gave something that the whole district participates in rather than like athletics having their own. So, the total is $228,500. We've only expended 24.7% of that. That's what made me kind of cuz we're getting towards the end of the school year. So, maybe not today, but I'd like to understand. That seems like a lot of dues and fees. And so, I just
117want to understand that. Next page is 29. Um this one we're very very much over budget. This is dues and fees again. This is in the uh center office superintendent's office. $127,500. Looks like we're over budget by $10,000. It's the same code. But it's it's an addition to the 225? No. Okay. Again, you don't have to answer me today, but you know, I would like to understand cuz dues and fees was an area that I was looking at in the budget process to reduce. So, now to see it here being over $300,000, it just makes me wonder what's really going on. It's not over $300,000. It's the category of 591. Um not dues and fees that's $300,000. So, I'll break it out for you. That'd be great. Thank you. And then my last question uh
118is on page number 34. Um I see here under teachers a total program system-wide early retirement is my assumption. It's RET. So, it's again an acronym. The budget is $150,000. We are over budget um by uh 3,400 and roughly. If we don't know what the early if we haven't gotten early retirements yet, what is this line item? What is the activity in this line item? >> That could be payout for somebody that leaves for sick and vacation time or anything like that. That's accruals. Yep. But even though it's labeled early retirement? That's the label that the district had on that category. Okay. Thank you. And we are working to break out some of those to be a little bit more clear like we did with professional meetings that was in dues and fees. Um so,
119the next budget there'll be a separate category for it. Okay. Thank you. Do we have any additional questions on the March 2026 warrant? Do I have a motion to approve the agenda items one through three? Oh, I'm sorry. So, do I have a motion to approve consent agenda with items two and three? One one. Did I just say that? Oh my gosh. Scratch both of those. Sorry. >> [laughter] >> I didn't sleep last night. I promise I was I was dreaming about budgets. >> [cough] >> a week and budget concerns. Um Can I have a motion I have one more quick question since we're in discussion. Um Are we all set with the signatories on our checks now? There's no issues. Everybody's happy? Yes. We have all agreements. Okay. Thank you. Life is good there.
120Fine. >> [laughter] >> Do I have a motion to accept the consent agenda items one and three? Do I have a second? Second. All those in favor? I. I. Any opposed? Abstain? Item 10, audience of citizens. No? No takers? Item 11, we did this in two hours, guys, or a little less cuz we started at 7:07. Adjournment. Um who wants to make a motion to adjourn? Everybody. So moved. What? I need a name. Second. I. All those in favor? I. Opposed? Abstain? That's it. 9:00 p.m. We did it. Is it the first time? Correct. Is it the first time? Right, the first time. What are you Careful. How do you turn that off?