001Good evening everyone. set. So at 6 p.m. I'd like to call Board of Ed special meeting to order for Thursday, March 12th. For those of you stand also first thanks everyone for coming out here. We do appreciate this is really a forum to get feedback. This is a topic that we've been discussing for a few months now as a board event and going through. We really found think that this is now the time we really need to get the public feedback before we move to any kind of decisions. So thanks and we really do appreciate this forum to to hear from you and for those of you uh live streaming. So appreciate that. wanted to give um submers chair and I want to give a little background for kind of how we got here then
002turn over to Jeff our superintendent and then Dr. Paul who was our director of security. So um up until June of last year John Paul who many of you may know or very familiar with he was our school resource officer phenomenal. He's been in the school as the east line police officer for past eight or nine years. And I know my children came to the school and always felt uh very safe with Donna um at the front of the schools and and kind of managing uh this along with our our security staff. And uh in June or that time frame, you know, Don retired police officer. We hired him as our director of security in the line schools. When Don was a police officer, he was armed security as a police officer. is now an
003unarmed security their director of security in East Line schools. Um so now we're we're at a point where we're trying to make a decision on how we progress the SRO school resource officer position in Don had it currently is unfilled. Um as you know police department has a number of you may know that it has a number of open positions. So right now he's been working with the new police chief. He's been very positive in working with us, but he's trying to fill his fill position. So he couldn't fil that position yet. And it might be a little while before it is filled. So that prompted us to have to go to this next step to say, well, what do we do at the school that sort out police department? So that's that's kind of
004a background on how we got here and then I'll turn it over to Jeff talk through where we've gone and I I think welcome again everybody superintendent. Thank you again for joining us uh for a very important topic. Uh I think Eric kind of covered um quite a bit of that first slide and clearly got a hand if you didn't there's a couple copies right here on the front two chairs. Um but uh your feedback is is critical and is important you know in all of this. Um you know the board is uh as uh our chairman alluded to spent a lot of time um and thinking about this. Um we uh done a lot of research on the topic as well. We're going to run through um just a couple slides, three three slides
005which uh Don B, our director of security is going to go through and I'm going to come back at the end and kind of talk about the timeline and all things and then a little bit to question for questions and feedback and when you come up for questions we can reiterate the three minutes to respond for comments. So all right Don I'm gonna turn it over to you and we start with this first one. Thank you. Again, Don Hall, I director of safety and security for the schools. Um, I love coming to these meetings. Eric talks very kindly of me in my days as a school resource officer. Always give me a little boost. I do appreciate it. Um, but again, as I said, there's some gaps, I think, in our safety and security plan.
006Um, and really, this is what we're looking to do. I know there was a lot of questions. I think a lot of the information we put out, um, kind of helped clarify some of these things. All right. So, the two types of uh arms of security u sometimes can be confusing. People think that the SRO, which is a school resource officer, um and the ASO, an armed security officer. The reason it's confusing is to become an uh armed security officer in Connecticut, you would have to be a retired law enforcement officer with at least 10 years of law enforcement service, retired in good standing, um and have all the same qualifications. Um school resource officer, uh school resource officer is employed by the police department. They are nonmp employee of the board of education. Um
007they follow all the rules, regulations, policies, procedures for the police department. Um there has to be a memorandum of understanding for them to work in the schools. Um and the ASOS are uh again there's a lot of uh state statute that covers that what those requirements are. Um just to clarify the in good standing is no definitive definition but what it means is basically you separated. That's the case law in good standing. You weren't fired terminated. uh there was no other um issues with your separation from law enforcement. There's a open- source website uh for the police academy that lists all police officers that were dismissed. Um so there's a lot of ways to cover that any good standing. The sideby-side comparison, you'll see there's a lot of things are the same. Um I know
008there's just a little bit of the feedback we got was some current uh concern about the uh armed security officers uh you know affecting arrest in school. Uh just to clarify there is no powers of arrest for an armed security officer. Uh we have currently now five of our security team members are retired law enforcement officers including myself. Um in good standing that would qualify to be an armed security officer in our district. Um but you can see the comparisons um very similar in a lot of ways but again no just to clarify no powers of arrest armed security cannot make arrest and not affect arrest do any kind of criminal investigations >> I think this >> yeah I just I want to reiterate um one thing in particular in relation to going this direction
009the board of education does decide to do So, um, it's it's an additional layer. It's an additional component to the total operations of of safety and security across the district. We're not we're not changing anything. We're not doing anything [laughter] different or decreasing anything, especially when it comes around mental health uh, and mental supports for students. That's one of the most important things that we can do as a school organization, as a community to make sure that we reiterate to our children and and students that they have a trusted adult in the building across our school system and then they can go to somebody um they go to a security staff member or they can go to, you know, administrative, teachers, whoever. you know, we've watched over the years uh and and having the security
010staff, the robust security staff that we've had um in each building uh that students do go to give them tips on things that uh you know maybe have hey I heard this might be ruined sort of thing. So that that's what we want that that's what we want to continue to make sure happens. Um if you do the board does decide to add another component that's just one more additional layer um of safety security and as uh Don said um these are our own people um we're not looking to go out and hire all new armed security armed as these are we have people in house part of our team that are already qualified go through additional training to uh to engage you know moves in this So costwise costwise um you know this is
011just would be an increase in in wages a little bit increased wages um and for um obviously training and weapons and so forth and we work with the police correctly but we work through the police department for for those. So timeline wise our last uh our last slide. So, the board of education uh is going to hear um some feedback tonight. Have three minutes to answer comments or ask some questions. Um then the board of ed uh will move to a meeting on April 2nd. That's the next regularly scheduled meeting and at that meeting on April 6, they will make a determination um or have further discussion and we'll potentially take action on u on this uh uh this topic and what looking at doing moving forward. um will need time for training and uh
012meeting you know all the requirements. So [clears throat] there is no intention of moving forward with all of our intended security staff members uh to be armed for the rest of you know throughout the rest of this year. If anything we if the board does decide to move forward we would arm down and and one other qualified individual that can just be two across [clears throat] the district but right now we look for next year. There's still some work and discussion and you know things that need to take place. So this more is just around the idea of doing more in that direction. Um and again we remain available you know as we move forward want to give some time too further questions might come up further information we're always open to appreciate the feedback
013that we did receive. I know any of you provided a comment or written statement that will be in the amendments for this. So we did receive some good communications and we appreciate that with that. >> Thanks. So, um, just want everyone to got the handouts. Here's a document. This one page here I think Don P together. What's important about it is this is all part of a comprehensive security strategy. This is just one piece and Don mentioned that this does talk about all the different layers of security that we have. So, it is important to note there's there's other areas in terms of how this is going to work. So um this is more of a public comment with a small attendance. So we're going to have three each person can have three minutes around
014the three minute mark. I'll kind of give you the high sign or something and start wrapping up. It does come pretty quickly. Three minutes is um kind of been on that side at some point um start to leave. So I will give a high. I'm going to say at 3 minutes, you know, stop talking, but at 3:15, 3:20, we just really try to wrap it up so we can we have a number of people who probably want to get on to speak. So, we want to make sure you have enough time for everyone to speak. And when you do get on, you give your name and address as well. That is part of public comment. If you have question, unlike public comment in our board of ed meetings, uh if we get public comment in
015a board of ed meeting, we we can't respond. We do not we just listen this in this forum we will try to respond and provide information back so it will be interactive a little different probably not a lot of people watch our board of ed meetings but if you ever do the public comment um it is one way you're not allowed to respond we can only comment at the very end of our meeting about that so it just go so I am going to this is the better microphone so I'm going to put that up here um and for whoever whoever wants to vote first name and address. [clears throat] >> It is being recorded and live stream road. I just wanted to clarify what's the decision on the table. you might be going from
016one um arms security guard to two for this year and possibly all. So what we've uh what we've had give me here I'm gonna speak loudly. What what we've had um for the past nine years Don uh has been ours um through and he has been an officer law enforcement officer of the town roaming through our school. So we've had an armed person. This year we don't. So we have we have no armed individuals in the schools. So this would be a move for the rest of this year potentially to have two only two arms start there and then for next year you would look to the army. So each school would have an armed individual. >> So that would have six total. >> I can everybody can hear me. Okay. >> Yes. >> Had
017[clears throat] a clarifying question on top of that. >> Um, so just to you said the cost was just increase in training our main positions already exist. They're already in place in the schools now. They're just not >> correct. The individuals are that are in place. We would use our own existing staffing security staff members. report and then say in a year or two years more uh police can show up and you do get >> have you thought about how this these teams will work together? >> We haven't gotten there yet. I think the idea and I don't do you want to speak to the SRO. >> I'm not always carry but I'll try. Um it is something that we've discuss we actually met with the police chief. We talked a little bit about it.
018It's something that we as a board of ed will need to come back. So if we get one, two, three SRO's, we may not need as many armed security in our school. We still need our security staff. It's just whether they're armed or not. So many we have, but we have a number of security staff. We will continue to have unarmed and armed security as part of their um school uh school security. that answer. >> We'll have to see and we will have discussions and we're happy to get feedback when we get to that time. Um, but that would be I think it might be a year or two years before we hit that point and then we'll have a discussion about that. The thing that's missing not having SRO is the whole challenge program.
019Uh, Don did the performance dare program. Don does the challenge program did the challenge program. We don't have that anymore. That was a great program for kids and a great connection between the police and students. We hope to get that back street retired line officer lif resident of town. the town's 38 square miles. Basically, for the last 40 years, we had about the same amount of patrol officers on the road with some exceptions. Okay. So, as we all know, seconds count, the minutes that the police were there where they could be to get 38 square miles could be anywhere from 5 to 7 to 8 minutes. That's lights inside. And that's not a good day. I personally want all of them. I want everybody in the school that's secure that needs and qualifications in all
020the schools. That's my opinion. I think this is a no-brainer. Thank you. >> Thank [clears throat] you so much. Robson, I have two kids in the school district, one in high school, one elementary school. just today shooting in Michigan's synagogue and another school shooting at another Virginia University even those who weren't high schools or elementary school type of law parents and members and board it's our responsibility to use every tool available to help our kids see back in 2014 I helped create the police and fire active shooter response plan for our schools I was also certified tactical so this is where a lot of my knowledge of the subject first weird I'm new to a tragedy like an active shooter happening in our town. um having on guard in each school you didn't pay for
021it but you'll be reassured that you did that extra potential for many teachers and staff and parents knowing and trained armed professionals between students and teachers provides occasional comfort while I feel we have a great police department in town like saying police are going to get one of our towns in our school Security [clears throat] already on location threat in seconds potentially reducing casualties dramatically. The top three preventable death from incident would be extreme wounds with mass imaging. Just an example of that victim typically down to four minutes. The police aren't. Another one is the tension in the throat where it goes up in chest cavity usually from a penetrating chest pain. And the other is airway obstructions blockage of the air. [clears throat and cough] All of these can be preventable with proper care
022if the sound is neutralized or secure. One of the big takeaways that I've learned on this topic is that best medicine and preventable medicine is fire security or other people saying I'm sure everyone's heard the only thing that stops a bad guy. So I'll just say again our school security guard already on location threat against not [clears throat] casualties dramatically. So I think we did for every school. >> [laughter] >> Thanks, Ros. you speak just if you speak like talk close to that microphone. I know it's a better [laughter] >> um thank you all. Thanks for taking these comments. Um I've written down my time. >> Oh, I apologize 51 circle. Two kids all the way from the beginning now in high school. So, um, we are we're entering it. Um, and like everyone in
023this room, I care deeply about the safety, about the well-being of students in this district. Um, and when we talk about school safety, especially in the context of school shootings, we are we're certainly talking about something that's emotionally charged and thus morally urgent, right? Um parents, teachers, administrators, um we all want reassurances that our schools are places where children can learn how and because the stakes are so high decisions about safety by wager deserve some really careful evidence-based consideration. This proposal to add additional school resource officers, SRO's raises an important question. What evidence do we have that increasing armed security in schools actually reduces harm? At present, the research literature does not provide compelling evidence that more armed personnel reduces fatalities during school shootings. The most widely cited quantitative study examining mass shootings in K2
024schools found no deduction in injuries and did not show the presence of an armed guard induced deaths. They actually suggested otherwise. Admittedly, the samples were small. Reviews of the body of research similarly conclude that we simply do not yet have strong evidence that more SRO's prevent or mitigate these rare but most certainly devastating events. This does not mean not take my argument to be that SRO have no role in schools. Many communities value them for mentorship as you know relationship building coordination with local law enforcement. >> [clears throat] >> But when the specific question is whether more security reduces harm or fatality school shootings, the evidence remains really limited and inconclusive. I think another important fact is that school shootings while horrifying are statistically rare events. Those are the millions of school days that occur
025each year. That rarity makes policy decisions really. But it also means that we must think carefully about how resources which are quite limited are allocated in the name of safety. And for that reason, I would ask the board to respectfully clarify several points before moving forward. What is the [clears throat] actual cost of expanding the SR program? That actually hasn't been clarified in the poll and I haven't seen that in the sort of recent budget projections about it. That includes salaries, benefits, equipment, training, and any long-term contractual commitments with local law enforcement. What is the projected cost of explaining? Second question, what other saving investments might those funds better or further support? And I think we talked a little bit about those. We've got great we've got great resources in our school system, but can
026we double down on some of this? We better spend limited resources to those. Um, third, where do educators and staff stand on this issue? I've heard that either teachers, counselors, school admin, what is their input on this? That might exist, but I haven't seen that shared yet. Warm security is needed. My purpose tonight to clarify and wrap up is not to argue that security measures are important and should never be used. Obviously, we're doing that. I will dismiss the sincere intentions behind this proposal, but it's really my comments are to encourage deliberation grounded in evidence, transparency, and community input. I think the question for us is therefore not only what might make us feel safer, but rather what investments most effectively support the safety, well-being, and development of our students. I hope the board will
027carefully examine the evidence and I can speak to some uh that in relation to cost um first and foremost I can't reject out necessarily but down the road uh initial trainings or cost of trainings might go up but [laughter] give you know the exact number to outfit right now would be $63,200 that's increase wages Um and that's we assessed for um firearms, firearms training, liability insurance. Um and again not a perfect exact number but that's the number that we broke down and assessed out to be >> is that for next year >> that would be that would be for next year as a combined hope for our so but in future years I it could escalate it could go up um and also depending you know how many you know but that's what cost >>
028yeah the firearms yes one time one time cost for firearms I just want to clarify the >> speaker is talking about SRO. >> Yeah. And I don't know did we talk about is there a cost associated with school when we had the SRO. >> So let's just I think there's some clarification. So, let's um there's an SRO, school resource officer, and there's the armed security officer. [snorts] Security is ASO. The SRO is uniform police office. [clears throat] So, they are part of the police department. They are not part of our SEC school security staff. It's a little confusing because Don was that and now he's part of our school security staff. So that at flip it's still dawn but he is playing a different role. What we're talking now is armed security officers. So that
029is not uniform police officers which is the SRO model which we may in the future have SRO's as part of this model but right now our police department has some open positions and is unable to fill those. So, we're looking at armed security officers, which is our retired law enforcement with 10 years good standing service who would be in um and we have them on our staff currently and it's talking about arming them. Um I know there is a point made about you know does more SRO's and let's just say ASOS are SRO that lead to better outcomes. I don't know if there's good modeling, but I would say we're not it's not more we're at zero and going up. So if you say going I don't know what the model was, but if it's
030going from 5 to 10 that may not make a difference, but going from zero to something, that's what we have to talk about. I mean, obviously my own opinion, we all have our opinion, but but I think we're going from currently at zero. We were at one previous last year and for the past nine years we're at one SRO. We're at zero SRO and zero ASOS. Right now >> I don't know if that helps clarify. So Eric just add one more layer of clarification. The one SRO that we had was paid for by town tax dollars but through the police department. the the new program is going to be same tax dollars but through the board of ed >> right and it's the increment right they're currently on our staff whenever they're getting paid there's
031just an incremental um wage that they would get stipen that they would get as a result of being armed security so that that's that's why when you hear the amount of 680 you're like well that doesn't sound like a lot for well that's that's because it really is only They're already being paid as part of our security staff. It's just to get a small incremental stipen for being armed and then obviously buying um weapons trading all that stuff. >> I would add one more comment. when we when when you look at this list and we we've spent a lot of time talking about what does you know significantly make a difference in making schools safer and it's about students or people having relationships and one of the things that we discussed about this is that
032the current security people that we have have good relationships with students and staff and those are the people we're considering adding the arm um too. And so it's it's that relationship piece is a critical piece of the puzzle as well. We're not just bringing in somebody with a gun who doesn't know anybody who's not already a member of our school community. >> Cool. [clears throat] What's up? My name is Ryan Murphy. I live at 65 Prospect. You don't know where that's at, right? Press the beach neighborhood. My wife and I, we moved to East Lime in uh 2017, and we chose this area specifically based upon uh the great schools, beach access, and just affordability locations and work. Uh we decided to put down roots here. We were raising our three children. All three are
033currently enrolled in the East Line Public Schools. Just a little bit more background myself. I'm currently coaching third and fourth grade lacrosse here. I've been doing that for a few years. I'm a member of the American Legion Hall. I also teach yoga and meditation at the Nanti yoga studio and I've been the co-vice president kind of like the token dad I'd say of the PTA at the Nicer School for multiple years. I'd like to start by saying that I strongly support the board's focus on school safety. I spent over 20 years in the United States Navy serving as a special program deep sea diver where risk management and operating in dangerous environments were central to my work. Safety matters everywhere in our community and it goes without saying that safety in our schools should absolutely
034be there for our students, teachers, and staff. I believe that the real question before us tonight is not whether safety is the real question, but how do we achieve safety? In my experience, there's two approaches. One is reactive. It's responding when danger finally appears. The second is responsive, and that's built upon strengthening systems and relationships so that problems are far less likely to develop in the first place. Research on school security strategies shows that placing armed officers in schools has not shown to reduce school shootings or the casualties once a shooting has happened. A major study p published by the medical journal Jamba Network opened and examined school shootings over several decades and found no evidence that the presence of an armed security guard reduced casualties during an attack or from an attack ever happening.
035Furthermore, research from the United States Government Office of Accountability has found that schools [clears throat] with a police presence often experience higher student arrest rates without measurable improvements in school safety. So, why is this important? Safety is not about reacting to the worst possible moment. Safety is founded in building long and meaningful relationships. During my time in the military, safety was never built on react reaction alone. It was built on preparation, awareness, trust within the team, and accountability for one another. And I believe communities work the same way. Harvard sociologist Robert Putnham described this through the concept he called social capital. Social capital is the network of trust and accountability that develops when people actively participate in their community. Putnham's research showed that communities with stronger social connections consistently experienced lower crime, stronger schools, better
036public health, higher levels of trust between neighbors. Furthermore, when students are connected mentor through mentors, sports teams, clubs, community programs, they gain a trust in adults in their lives and a stronger peer network. >> If our goal is safer schools, the strongest investment we can make is strengthening relationships, community mentorship programs, expanded school after opportunities. These will give students meaningful ways to stay connected to their school and their community. Furthermore, research of youth development programs shows that prevention strategies like those I just went over produce five to $20 in long-term benefits for every dollar invested because they increase graduation rates, reduce delinquency, strengthen community engagement. These programs strengthens the network and trust accountability that helps communities identify and address problems early. They do not simply sit back and react to problems after they've already appeared.
037They reduce this condition and allow the problems to develop in the first place. It's also worth noting that the annual cost of a single armed security guard can be funded multiple mentorship and after school engagement programs that would connect far more students to positive adult relationships. If the goal is to prevent, the evidence consistently points towards strengthening community connections rather than relying on reactive security measures. This is our opportunity to invest in the kind of community where people look out for each other, where adults feel every child. That is the difference between reacting to problems after they appear and building a community strong enough to prevent them in the first place. Please read the book Bowling Alone by Robert Putnham. I'm so sorry. Don't apologize. There's enough sorrow in the world. I just needed to
038have that. I said, "Thank you for data is regularly manipulated to provide a desired outcome. That's no secret. I spent 29 years in local and federal law enforcement and four years in the Marine Corp. Nobody should shoot anybody, right? It's a horrible experience. It's a horrible thing to have. But I think the last gentleman was very eloquent, you know, given data, the statistics sources, but you were assuming threats come from inside the school. Just since you guys announced this meeting, there been four school shootings. There's two of them today and the one in Michigan, the armed security guard in that synagogue was able to end the incident. Okay. I mean, it's you can't assume it's always going to be a student from inside the school. It could be anybody, right? So, you're either going to
039have the security in place to handle that incident or you're not. And you know, I think what you have right now, it's not going to end well for you or for anybody. I don't want to condemn the fate of my kid to an insurance actuary or a civil litigation attorney looking for just I think you should go ahead with this form with I think it's a good plan and I thank you all for considering and I apologize to you for over. Thank you. [clears throat] >> My name is Evil. Um I live at five place and I would like to give a student's perspective on this issue. So, I went a school at this middle school for four years and two years at the high school and I currently have a sister who's going to
040be a freshman next year. Um, I do not want an armed school res school officer. As a student, I understand the fear that we all have about the threat school, probably more than any of you because I face it every day when I go to my school. I understand that we all want to keep everyone as safe as possible and that we all worry about our friends, our kids, and our family members. I just don't think that this is the way to do it. That being um sorry, there is no evidence to suggest that armed officers are effective at preventing or reducing gun violence in schools as many people have already said. Um, a statistic that I saw several times from the National Institute of Justice studying every school shooting and attempted school shooting from
0411980 to 2019 in US K12 schools found that the rate of death in these incidents is 2.83 times greater than in schools with armed guards on the scene than those without. Many shooters in fact are suicidal and armed officer at the scene can prove as an incentive rather than a deterrent. As I've said many times before, you can't block a gun with a gun. That's simply not how it works. Weapons increase aggression. [clears throat] An example of armed school officers being ineffective at preventing this sort of violence is the 2022 Baldi shooting. Famously, their school police officers failed to respond to the shooter that killed 21 people. Even with more officers on the scene, more than 375 officers who responded to this, there were 77 minutes between them arriving on the scene and then apprehending
042the shooter. I'm not a police officer and I've never been in this situation. I will never understand what was going through their heads in that moment. And I'm sure everyone was very scared, including the officers. But I do know that they failed to save 21 people's lives and that 21 families are still suffering that loss today. Um, having does not guarantee the student safety. Their presence in the schools increases fear and anxiety as well as the risk of an accidental shooting which comes with the presence of a gun anywhere. Um to quote Dwight D. Eisenhower, every gun that is made, every warship is launched, every rocket fire signifies in the final sense a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. In the context of 2026,
043I interpret this as every officer was hired as one less social worker to help a generation with one of the highest rates and anxiety and depression in history. Not just in the hospital for generations, but in history. As a focus on personal health resources as a student here, I had many issues with my mental health. I had many struggles. It's very difficult to effectively communicate consistently with the mental health resources I have. >> Thank you. >> Victoria Sullivan 101. Um I don't know, but I'm in town. My kids will go to East High School. I have two daughters. um existing sound. And um above all else, when I send my kids out to school of their education, I want my kids to come home safely to me. That is like the number one thing. I
044want my kids to come home. And I know back in 2022 after you call, you guys email our board of ed. And I didn't um just kind of toss aside. And I've always been following, you know, every safety procedure, making sure to remind we have like admin teachers that care for our kids. I'm so grateful. reminding you here like if someone goes to a door that's not the front entrance but they have processed by our safety advocate you don't open the door even if it's your parents safety thing. So now going back to armed security um I am still for it. I didn't actually be in opposition for it kind of but I I do understand that people have views and um I respect those views but I want my kids to move home safely
045and I don't think that this is a safety I I think this is only a safety issue. this isn't like a um this is not a partisan issue based on like you know politics or anything like that and I actually had no idea that all the schools around us already have it and I think that that was kind of unsettling to learn that schools as small as had them and my mind everyone's already like where we should be and so I think that I'm so grateful that you guys had this meeting and getting input and I know that in general even my next When I see the state trooper out front, that makes me feel safer. Dropping my kids off, knowing that there's armed security if somebody could [clears throat] respond quickly if there was
046an incident. And something that can't be measured in um these statistics is the deterrent factor for having armed security. And to me, it's also like I understand that schools um you know, even just having so myself, you know, I can carry school. So these are places that kids are just sitting there like with no protection around them. And um so I just feel very very strong Charlene and kind of I'm just grateful that it's constantly being evaluated um from all standpoints. I know Don you have been working in Salem as well and giving advice and I'm very grateful for that and I'm just trying to think but yeah I think for these lines it's especially well for Salem I want it to be a no-brainer as well but you guys already have the people in
047place that are ready to be armed. we would obviously have to hire. Luckily, we only have one school and so I think we'd be very like feasible and get it going and I'm going to be a strong push and I want East to be a big part when my kids come through. So, I went to East I love the school system and I'm thankful for all of you guys. So, thank you. >> Hi, Brian. Every day I work with students and like everyone here, my priority is safety, well-being, and ability to uh learn in an environment where they feel safe, secure, and supported. That is why I've had serious concerns about this proposal. Many of our students already come to school caring anxiety, trauma, and behavior challenges. For some children, simply seeing a weapon on
048campus can increase fear rather than reducing. Have our school psychologists, counselors, and behavior specialists been consulted about how armed personnel might affect the sole climate and the environmental safety of [clears throat] our students. Training is another critical issue. Will the officers receive extensive training, deescalation, trauma informed care, and working with children, especially with those with emotional or behavioral needs? And the cost. What are the potential emotional costs to students? Increased anxiety, stressful trauma. Our counselors are already stretched thin. If the presence of firearms increase students anxiety, will we need to hire additional mental health staff to support them? Thank you. >> [clears throat] >> Hi, I have a strong warriority. I actually live in Hatam, but I am the uh security guard at William H. I'm a retired police captain. 31 years over 31 years
049of police work. Um I was a trainer, fire instructor. I wrote one of the very first police response to active shooters in the state of Connecticut after the Coline shooting. That is a bomb. Um, so I want to that's one thing for my diagram and tell me if I'm wrong, there's going to be concealed carry. There won't be guys walking around with guns. If we do it right, they will never know there's a weapon in that school. Never. All right. [clears throat] Listen to the statistics and whatnot. Thank goodness there was a lovely small data set that we're working with. Thank goodness for that. But one of all numbers we brought there's one thing that's actually almost is very true. There's almost zero chance that an unarmed security guard will stop. That's that's pretty much
050a fact. My job is to try to hit a button before I can't. That's my job right now. Give me the tools to be able to work. I might be able to stop the intruders coming in. Of all the was horrible. That was an absolute horrible police response, but it was a response from the police department coming into the building that was portrayed on that police department's fire. We have a phenomenal police department for there. I trust them to come in, but like another gentleman said, it's going to be minutes before you get there. That is a long time. I've been in a shooting situation where I was 30 seconds in the door after talking. I stepped over the body. I went after that. That is what you need to do. Um, you know, so
051I it's a phenomenal idea. I may not even be here for depending on how long it takes to implement. I'm leaving after next year. I'm finally retiring time. But whatever we have going forward, I think you need to do this. And if it's done properly, I was kind of a policy walk in uh in the town as administrator. If you have great policy and procedures, it will work out fine. It comes down to hiring, hiring the right people, [clears throat] taking a real good look at their backgrounds, and taking a real good look at their personnel files. Any clip in there all the questions, you don't hire. And retention. You find somebody doing something that is not quite um within policy, you cannot retain that. Hiring and retention are two things that are going to
052succeed. Thank you. Um, I just had a question that I was hoping to answer here. Um, I guess for me I was kind of thinking that this was more of a conversation about are we going an SRO road route or an ASO route? And I guess I'm just kind of wondering like if Don had it become like you know a member of the staff but we still had an SR model and is only coming up because now we don't have an office. >> Yeah, just to touch on that. Um so going back to the SRO I know there's a little confusion on there but uh we've had discussions with Chief Glenn the new chief of police. Um he came from North Haven. They had eight SRO's. He's a big proponent of the school resource officer
053program, police officers in schools. His long-term goal is to have a police officer in every one of our schools. Obviously, not feasible to happen today. Um that's going to take some time. Um but that is his goal. That's his intention. Um and if they had the personnel right now, I'm sure that's what he would like to do. um the way it's looking because of their uh retention issues and retirements um they're having some difficulty filling that spot. Um but there can be a combination. Uh many of the schools around us, as you've heard, uh they have police officers, SRO's, and they also have armed security officers. Obviously, being retired law enforcement, uh we all get along. I mean, it works really well. Um if down the road uh East Line has a police officer in
054every school, the board of ed may make that decision that that's enough and that's great and maybe do away with the armed security if we had to at that time. But they are definitely two separate things. I don't bet. Yeah, I mean that definitely I guess for you know when I take a look at the the side by side it's not really a pros and cons and I don't know there is a pros and cons but one I guess comparison that I see the biggest is employee at the police department versus employee of the school district and if I'm in your seats I would be really focused on that because liability who's who's most responsible for the training, the upkeep of the firearms, the said, you know, the the policy, the ensuring that you're adhering
055to all of those things. You know, you guys are experts in education. I don't think we're experts in law enforcement. That's for law enforcement. And so for me, that's a huge key important distinction. Um, and I guess that's where I was looking to kind of get more information about. >> Yeah, thank you. So, again, Chief Glenn, uh, in a lot of our surrounding areas, too, it's the same with Monfield, Waterford, uh, Old L State Police, but they their police departments actually in Waterford, they supply the weapons and the training. Uh, but all the police departments um, and our surrounding towns that have this model. The ASOS train all the same exact training as their police officers. It's the postcertified police officer standards and training council, the police academy. It's their requirements for firearms training. It's
056exactly uh the same for the ASOS. And we actually train we would if that were the case train with the Eastline police officers. Um and really the the model of who owns the weapon or how that's done that is dictated by policy and Sean was spot on. I mean the policies are uh I'm sure we could look into that a great deal. a lot of legal input. Um, but it it covers all the circumstances and what what the expectations are and that those are pretty universal. I've seen many of those already. >> Hello Sarah Shank, 23 Alexander Drive. Um, I submitted written comments and it was uh pretty much verbatim. a couple of gentlemen over here who are concerned with um the research around whether this is going to actually increase safety. And so I
057won't repeat it, but what I would love to know is is what the if the board sort of did you already read and review some of this evidence before this hearing? Can somebody speak to kind of how you weigh this and what you're using to make the decision? That be helpful. I'm happy to speak. But does anybody else [laughter] I don't mind. Sorry. >> No, no, no. Um so um so we've had numerous discussions. Uh we are I think a number of us if not all of us do [clears throat] research and this this is a topic that um we spent a lot of time on. uh because it is something that um I think for all of us it's definitely not a simple decision and it's something that we're trying to figure out to
058the question is done never became our uh it was an SRO and stated SRO would this have come up I don't know you know the world's evolving so it's hard to know um I think we all 10 of us Don a year but I think we all felt very comfortable with Don and how he managed everything and has you know the right personality right connection with the students and that's kind of what we're looking for whether it's an SRO or ASL uh we we have looked at many many studies we got lots of information um to read at looking at at different things the reason we're coming here is really to get also you know we're in We don't want to be in a little a bubble and you know 10 of us kind of
059talk and come up with stuff. We need we need to hear from from the public and hear different thing that that that is why we we you know really wanted to open this up and and get different viewpoints and as you can see there are real varied viewpoints um into this. So um I will say we we have spent a lot of time I know I've read a lot I can I'll speak for myself but I do know uh my peers have have as well. So maybe I'll let others comment. Jamie, did you want to say the same thing that Eric just said that we have we all have our own opinions, personal opinions on this topic. Um we um have done a lot of research and we as decided that this was our next
060step that was to listen to the parents, the community members, people who've elected us to make choices on their behalf. We need to hear from you. So that's why we're here. because we may have our personal opinions, but we also need yours. >> I I would just want to say that that the conversations that have happened are tonight, and I I appreciate everyone in both sides. It's really great. Um these are the same conversations we've been having for hours and hours and hours. It's it's um it's extremely difficult decision. Uh and I I'm very happy that we have a student here giving their opinion as well. It's this is this is tricky and um and there isn't good data on on it's not a simple you know we like to make decisions on data. There's
061not a lot of data to make a decision on. So we have to make a decision on on what we think is best serving the entire community. Uh and you know we can't just go on a personal gut. We got to go with what the entire community feels. And if the majority of the community feels strongly that we should go one way, then we're trying to make we're trying to make that majority of the community um have input on our decision because this is extremely difficult. Chevy one circle and just along those lines we want to find out have you already solicited feedback from the students from the school staff professionals at the school we sent out the same communication that you all received to all of our staff as well every time went out
062uh to our community went out to staff as well um I know uh we head camp last Friday uh Don uh had 30 30 high school staff members that were part of that in the discussion. I know our security staff members have had conversations and talking with staff as well. Um there has been some discussion with students around the high school. We really relied on our parent and community uh members to you know to speak to their own children as well. >> I've already had a chance but I just want to push back on this one thing though. I don't think there are just two sides to this. You said both sides and I don't think everything I heard tonight a two side kind of thing. This is far too complex. Too many variables to
063that. I'm really appreciate the very deliberative approach you take in here perspective. It's not about I don't think it's necessarily just the resistance to guns in school or the safety. Some of these concerns have been about how we use resources going forward as well and it's very complex phenomena of mental health how that lays on to this. So I just want to make sure that you guys are all really smart people. I want to push back on that wording. It's not I I appreciate what you're saying. I [laughter] I didn't mean to make make it sound as though it was, you know, one one side of it. It's either we're gonna have somebody with a gun or we're not going to have somebody with a gun. So when I say sides, it's it's either we're
064we're going to have some sort of arm security or we're not and there are people who feel as though having that and so there there are people on the belief that that you know having that arm. So when I say size, I guess that's what I'm saying. Either it's it's we're going to have it or we're not. >> But this is also a question too of more as well, right? No, it's it's zero or something. >> No, I understand that next [laughter] year. I thought this was also I apologize. I thought this was a question also expanding this as time goes on. Is that not a projected five years down the road more? >> I think the expansion piece you reference is SRO if we went to what would happen if we did eventually receive
065SRO's from the from the town. Yeah. So yeah, like let me just try to address that because it seems like it keeps coming up. We now we we feel like we need to make a decision. We're at zero now and we feel like we need to make a decision. We can stay one decision is staying at zero. The other is to have we discuss about number and all that other stuff. But that that is a decision that is a decision that we're trying to make now as we get more information in the future. And you know um tweet chief has uh is able to enact his vision and things start changing. We as a board of ed I think we're actually pretty good as we get more information we can listen absorb and change you
066know move in a different direction or continue. So I mean that that is you know for me that's in the future and I it's hard it's not a month away it's not two months away like we're we're it's I I can't predict. I I would guess, you know, is it a year, two year? I think we're probably measuring in years, not months of getting an SRO. And so, if that's the case, we're we're measuring years. When that happens, let's we can reassess any decision we make. This is a this is not a decision we're making and it's it's necessarily permanent. It's let's absorb the new information and adjust. So, we have not really spent a lot of time discussing what if an SRO does come in in a year, what's how are we going to
067react to that? We haven't spent a lot of time on that because there's so many things that could change in the future. I think we have to focus on the issue now, which you know, for the most part we're at zero and do [clears throat] we want to move to more zero and have something different than an SRO, which is an ASO, which we have never had. question. >> Yeah. Yeah. >> We're trying. Look, we want this above for we want to give people a chance to talk and give everyone a chance to get their voices heard. So we are hard trying and just we have to manage a little bit that you know we don't want someone coming out 14 different times and being over you know going but absolutely come up you know
068we want to hear that go first and then >> yeah maybe that that's good is there anyone who hasn't had a chance to speak yet that would like That's that's >> um I'm a parent and also a teacher in Madison at the high school where we have an SRO and two ASOS that work together. I think that from experience that works really well. They're great resource for our district. But I do definitely echo a lot of the concerns here with um the wellness of all students and what the data is saying about how secure that they feel on the dayto-day and the reality of that there's a terrible situation. [laughter] [clears throat] Um so the effectiveness of that concern and I was wondering I know this um one teacher was really nice about the idea
069of low school safety. So I was wondering if you had any other examples of proactive stuff like I know on this website they have that anonymous reporting app which is helpful because the data that we all can agree on is that people who have used um violent incidents they show war signs and if the people who are close to them are able to communicate that so I wondered if I don't know if the high school has um there's a couple different organizations does Um, but there's student groups. So, I just wonder if anybody can speak to some of those student based resources or other stuff that maybe I don't know. I think that all those things work together. Um, >> Yeah. I mean we have peer groups out um you know and we have peer
070mentoring program you know student organizations based on building um relationships culture and climate um you know across you know that spectrum school I just want to make sure because I'm a little worried that if anyone's live streaming Yeah, >> maybe. We only have one. >> Yeah. So, for the people on the live stream, I mentioned reaching out um and our peer mentor program. Um you asked something like that. >> We we do have a plan program. Um and you know uh uh students are paired with the same two headers for four years over their time at the high school. Um and every Wednesday is an advisory lesson. um that those lessons um focus on a wide variety of topics um year to year those topics shift and change. A lot of those lessons are based
071on feedback we get from students in culture service. Um so not specific right now something say something weak or anything like that. Um, but we're trying to be very responsive to what's going on currently in our >> and we've had quite a focus on uh using QPR you've had staff training all the coaches have been trained um students has gone through that so that mental health side of things so we have strong focus strong focus on you >> yeah suicide prevention question persuade response. >> Yes. >> Any other I want to just emphasize too um the the what we've had in place with our current security staff and you know Sean's one of our greatest hires right here into this background. Um those connections for kids, you said earlier, this is one of the most
072important things that we can do right at the front door where you see, you know, high-fiving kids as they walk in. Um fast release is to continue to happen and we continue to have one of the most important things that mental health and that support for kids. >> I I just want to remind folks that opportunity. Uh we have a climate schoolwide uh climate and culture committee and recently we adopted a new surveying system. So we have software for doing more detailed surveys. We also have initiatives um that are taking place in every building in the school because we understand the value of making sure that everyone in the school community feels valued, safe, and connected. So, um, that's actually one of the things I'm co-chairing and I I couldn't, you know, I think that
073what you said earlier about community feeling safe, feeling valued, feeling important is critical to this. And the fact that we have a pretty tight community and we're trying to make it tighter is why I think we do have a safe school. Um, but we don't want anyone to slip through the cracks. We don't want one student to feel um left out or one teacher or any employee, anyone, anyone who's part of our school community. So, I encourage you to get more involved with that uh climate culture piece because we we can use a little more momentum there. I welcome everybody to join us on that effort. If you complete that survey, would you get that full survey? That's the feedback we're looking for. Anyone else who has not had a chance to speak today? [laughter]
074>> Hi, I don't have much to add, but I'm Jessica Garcia. I live at 10 Road. I have two children in the school districts um at Flenders and at East Middle School. I'm also a teacher at the high school. So I am a person that sits in the lockdowns um with your kids and I'll tell you I felt my heartbeat before [clears throat] especially after you know certainly the same hug and not but um all of those. So I take this you know very seriously and I also want to see my kids come back um every day from school. Just a few points I think that I would like to share is um it's hard for me also as a department chair because I have to submit a budget every year and really responsible with
075that budget. But I do feel that um our budgets are always questions and I would like to see the town take a more active role and use some of their funds to supply some of the school resource officers and that would be great if they can actually get one ahead of a single school. that would be fantastic for the future. Um, another thing is that not to be negative about things, but I have everything that school district have hired armed security guards with offenses in the past. So, I know that we have a fantastic security team because I work with them and I know them. But are we going to develop like systemic things to like check on their mental health as time moves on? Like whether these periodic check-ins? What about if we have
076a a student that's experiencing some mental unwellness? Are our practices that day going to differ? Have you have a student that's exhibiting different behaviors? Um and yeah, so things can change over time. So we're the the 30 process for that. And there's one other thing that person my student has been a student with child has been sent before to the school resource school like the security guard um for like for example for signing out of the bathroom incorrectly and I understand that they have a good relationship during middle school and that they're like not trying to get him you know in trouble or no I'm sorry I'm sorry but I just want to know if any of those practices will have to change if now those people will be harmed. So, thank you for just
077letting me share some of my food. >> My son wants to speak, but I just wanted [laughter] so I think you touched on that a little bit on the training. Yeah, it would be extensive. Um we've already I have already looked into extensive training for the ASOS if that were to happen. Um so there is additional training police officers. The reason the state used that statute was because the amount of deescalation trauma response all the training that police officers get now you'd be very surprised pleasantly surprised. Um, so that would obviously be Sean touched on it 100% the more than ever anybody we were to hire Sean's not leaving. I'm not letting him leave. Um, but if he were if we had to replace him, yeah, the the background checks, the the personnel, I mean,
078obviously it's a different month and that is something we we've already considered would be a different process. Um, and it would not get rid of the people that we we have right now. So that's what I hear overwhelmingly on. We love who we have in our schools. I do too, babe. I think they do a phenomenal job. Um, couple things I just want to touch on just those points. I know a lot of reports were brought up uh tonight. We talked about statistics. Um, I indicated the board of ed with all those reports, many of the ones you mentioned tonight. Um, but in all those reports, it helps you say that the data can be manipulated and um the data that's not in there is what about the the one person that didn't do something
079because there was arc security, right? That's data we don't know about. Um, and when we talk about the layers of security, [clears throat] um, I'm incredibly proud of what we do here in this district. We have so many layers, um, for our relationship building, our climate and culture. Um, to to walk around these schools daily and see our people interact with our students, it's phenomenal. We we are, I think, light years ahead of a lot of other people. Um, that said, and we don't like to talk about I know gun is a tough thing to talk about, but this layer of security when we're talking about army is not necessarily I'm not making the claim and I'm going to make one is if we put a sidearm on our security personnel that's going to prevent
080riots. That is not the case. That is that may happen and we may never know it. Um but our schools right now are littered with fire extinguishers. Simply that does not stop a fire from happening. But if one starts, we're really happy we have that fire extinguisher. And that's kind of the analogy I made with if it comes to that, just give us the tools to be able to help our our staff and students. That's that's really what this comes down to. And I know it's a tough topic to talk about. I get a little off topic. One thing about interaction, our interaction going forward um I speak I have spoken to a lot of our guys our interaction with the students are not going to change at all. I'm going to still be the
081same security guard that I was but most students still have the same interactions positive interactions and to build these kids up as best we can and try to make them have great educational experience. So that's the foundation they're not going to see. So the power on your record is going to be zero difference on what I do now every day. Um also on the training the police officers do get a trainer a lot of that does focus on um decision [clears throat] um when when to shoot and what to do. Um so it's not just they don't know most of my training deal with shooting decisions. So they are >> anyone else who >> I just want to make one comment because we have the public here and someone might be listening. I just I
082just want to emphasize this one more time. Um clearly whichever way we go, there are going to be students and parents that sigh of relief because we do have harm. And then if we choose to go the other way, there's going to be people who sigh relief that we did not do that. So that that's why these conversations are going on for hours and hours and hours. We are well aware that whichever way we go, there are people who are going to be more or less comfortable and this is extremely difficult decision. Anyone else who has not had a chance to >> I guess the thing I want to say as a board of ed member and as a parent child system many many years ago when this question was first brought forward I think
083most of us were I felt like I was quite shocked when oh we don't need guns we don't need everything we're fine's a tight community but I also realized that we have been extremely lucky to live in the community that we live in because it is it practices what I believe in uh it takes a village to raise a child. I never felt less safe. No, my guess is I'm one of these people and I'm not telling you where I live. I don't want my doors because I feel so secure here and right now I have a pitfall so no one's coming in but even when I didn't have a job I felt so secure. So what I'm saying is what I want to go back to. I personally from the beginning was against arming
084the SRO. But as I listen to more information, as I listen to my colleagues, I realized and all the schools around us have armed officers. This is something that we need to address. I pray that this never happens here. And I think I can pose a question to Don. If someone comes at you with a gun in the school, a young person, are you going towards it or away from it? Because that's my biggest concern is what happened at all. I think whatever. But you can also go back to there. But what I'm saying is it's a different world and there will be someone that wants to cause damage or wants to hurt someone or is mad at someone's girlfriend. So yes, am I happy with the guns? No. But I think it's I think
085it's a good idea to put forward and we'll never know until some we have an incident. And if we're lucky, we never will have an incision where we have to call. So you're listening. >> Hi, my journalist 43 CU Avenue. Um, I write it down here literally because I just remembered about this meeting because it's really important to me. As a fellow [clears throat] administrator in a surrounding district in Stanton, Connecticut, um, October 5th, 2024, we had a district-wide lockdown that lasted for hours. Um, I'm a prek three building administrator. So imagine our little babies, our kindergarters having to pretend that they are bears with their bubbles in their mouths having to stay left in tubes. And it was terrifying because the incident wasn't at our school. It was at our middle school. It was
086on the news. And it was a person that came into the building. Thank goodness we didn't get into the building because our security guard at the middle school um stopped the person before letting them in. Everybody did what they were supposed to. our secretaries um questioned that person, didn't let them in. Armed security guards along with the administrator weren't out there. But the story the person said was that there was somebody already in the building that had it on and they were very concerned. Thank goodness that day that was not the case, but our own security guard was our first person there. And the whole time this is happening, all the administrators are talking to each other. You know, a lot of things are happening. Middletown SWAT SWAT team came down, but we had peace
087of mind because we have our own security guard at every single building. We are already doing the first thing. We have security guards at the doors. Why are we not arguing them? Let me give you some perspective. I never see my armed security guard coming. You wouldn't even know if he's the security guard or not unless you're knocking out that door or belting in. He looks like I do. Okay. It's never anywhere. You can't see it. It's never come out. Kids hug him. They love him. And it's never an issue. Cuz I know in your head I have the same thing when you were thinking again security guards. Like my goodness, it's a freaking free building. What happens if it comes out or someone hugs in? That is not the case. And they have no
088idea. But every single parent sends their child to that building each day feeling safe. Eastampton's parents were living in what [clears throat] we never want to happen for hours. They were standing outside in the parking lot waiting for their children to be dismissed. 510 children were being dismissed with the last squad at 1:00 at night. But we had every single one of their children alive and back home that night. But they were okay because they knew that there was an armed security guard there. about someone that if they did get into our building, we're going to be there sooner than 3 minutes because we have a must have to take the East Tampa Police Department 3 minutes to get from their post into our building. They know where every entrance is. We practice it. They
089practice it in the summer. It's a well, three minutes is way too long when there's somebody coming in with a weapon. So, I'm not this person that has those at home at all, but I'm an administrator that I love my students. I love my children. I love my husband that's a fellow PE teacher. And I want to be able to send them in the district every day with peace of mind that they are going to be safe. We can't We don't know what's going to happen. They go out to recess. We don't know. This was the person that made this threat was a great grandparent that doesn't even see the child at the middle school. She had mental illness. Thank goodness it was a false alarm. But however it wasn't, we were still protected. So
090I am 100% for it and I think it's just a safety measure. Unfortunately, we need the same Anyone else who has not had a chance to speak? Anyone else? >> If you do the ASO model, >> any other public comment? Any [snorts] other comment? Yeah, I I think it'd be uh a little shortsided to just go out on a limb. We'll see. We'll see. We'll try. Well, I got I got it now. [laughter] >> Okay. >> [laughter] >> Um, no. Life is simply about perspective. How do you want to choose to perceive this issue? Is it a we have a gun or we don't have a gun? Um, is it we decide that, you know, these statistics are good, these statistics are not. But it'd be very short of us to kind of keep things
091in that simple simple simple black and white uh view. There is data out there. And to put your head into the sand and say there's not enough or it's inconclusive is to be shortsighted on this. There's factual scientific data from multiple organizations from the Secret Service to medical associations. There is data out there that supports that says there is no reduction in school shootings with a armed security guard. That's the data. Moving on from that. Do I want our security guard? I don't think that's the question. It's what do we want to do to make things better? What do we want to do to make things safer? And that comes down to investment in our community. Okay. If all I have is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail. So the analogy that if
092we had more guns on walls there less shootings absurd to say that more firefighters you're seeing less fires. That's does not that math does not matter. Invest in your community. This is the number one solution to prevent school shootings is exactly what's happening here now. Us showing our faces, us getting to speak, us getting to engage. Okay, that will prevent hopefully hopefully hopefully school violence and everyone's kids can come home to their parents at the end of the day. Thank you. >> Any other comments? >> Um I wanted to like so what our next steps were deliberating deliberating with this on like the April 6 meeting. So we all like I mentioned we all have been thinking about this for a while. We have our own thoughts and feelings and our research. Uh one thing
093that I I want to you know kind of like address I was going to mention a couple times this maybe it like that there is there is a lot of statistics out there. There's a lot of data and like as somebody that I like my my day job I teach college students how to do research and I do that. a lot of push back on the comment that were made that like that stitches can be manipulated or what there's a whole body of research from medical journalists, law enforcement, all that like that like show like you know some of the comments that I wish that like you know there's been one I just wanted to address that but I think for all my board members we'll probably have a lot more discussion with this and
094next month and you know I'd also add with those uh lengthy discussions that are coming. I know most folks here tonight around within this layer model to talk specifically about whether or not to invest in ASOS or RSOs. And I'm very grateful for everyone who came out to see and also the folks who sexually help because one of the things that is really apparent to me outside of the ASMR is that there is a huge hunger and interest for additional kind of visibility and investment in all of the other layers that are listed here. I know that we've been talking a lot about ASOS and RSOs and it's clear that a lot of folks have questions around these other layers. I know Bill mentioned our climate um kind of work, but I I don't want
095to speak for the rest of the board, but I do think that this is incredibly helpful and also highlighting that we have some additional work to do in terms of providing additional insights and also talking through what all of these other layers evolving will look like in our district, not just ASO that >> I um will try not to repeat what I other board members have have shared but this actually is one of the most important layers for me to consider. Um thank you for all of you who did come out tonight. Um, I've spent a lot of time reading the input and the letters that have come in. Um, this is kind of in addition to, you know, what I want to hear is sort of the things that are on your mind, the
096things that um are important to our community priorities. Um and you know I think we are trying to uh address the issue with um you know kind of this broad broad perspective not with you know one data point. Um so I think this was a really important piece to add this layer to our discussions. Um you've heard we've had so much deliberation. I don't know how many hours, but this was a piece that we haven't had yet. So, um I really um appreciate, you know, kind of everything heard um on kind of the whole spectrum of of your feelings and some of the questions that have come back. >> Okay. Um so, thank you everyone for coming out. Uh it is nice to get feedback where you're more than welcome to come to any of
097our board meetings. They're generally pretty quiet. Um and we don't have a lot of feedback. So we're always uh interested in feedback and we do appreciate hearing different viewpoints and and appreciate uh the thoughts. It helps us make decisions. This is something we as you've heard from everyone. we've talked about for a long time and um you know on the sixth you know we'll bring back and have further discussion. So thank you everyone for for coming out. I do need a motion to motion and second from all those in favor say I thank you everyone.