001all those dues yeah built the gas tank hi everyone you ever know when you ever feel like when you go sometimes yeah okay never mind [Music] drop it thanks good evening everyone and welcome to the February 2nd regularly scheduled Board of Education meeting I will officially call this meeting to order and ask that everybody rise for the pledge of the allegiance because join in a moment of silence for Linda cannonberg who was a teacher at Ivy Drive South Side Westwood Callan and Bingham School for 35 years of service and also for Loretta teevin who was a Latin teacher at Bristol Central High School for 43 years thank you I will now read our meeting norms all participants will actively participate engage in the work of the meeting and have equal voice and air time we
002will assume positive Intentions by respecting and honoring the diversity of opinions beliefs and perspectives cultivate trust by being honest and focusing on ideas practices and the work not people Norms will be upheld during all meetings and in all interactions outside of formal meetings for staff and student recognition I will hand it over to Dr Carbone good evening I'm just getting myself situated sorry for the pause we will be recognizing two of our staff members this evening uh the first staff member Miss Mrs Jones who is a math teacher at Bristol Eastern High School is will be participating in the noise math teacher leader program with UConn a teacher fellow Will engage in workshops we'll receive a graduate certificate and a math leadership and participate in a math Leadership Academy this opportunity is one of only
00320 in the state it comes with um a variety of responsibilities both to our district but also to the state Miss Jones will receive 12 credits of graduate graduate level coursework a ten thousand dollar annual stipend and she will also be part of a Cadre of teachers who will fulfill the leadership role advocating for and supporting Equitable access to high quality mathematics across the Connecticut I'd like to share and uh my congratulations to Cara for being accepted into the program and just recognize her for this involvement at the state level and I don't know carera if you're on excellent if she'd like to say anything thank you very much um this is quite an honor I was it was a very lengthy um interview um the application process took a long time to put the
004whole application together and then the interview I was interviewed by um the head of uh yukon's niag school and the program leader and um the person that's in charge of the whole investigation putting the whole program together um and then I was just notified in late January that I was accepted and we then have to sign off and say that we're going to commit for uh teaching for the next five years in an alliance District um and I have no plans of going anywhere so that was easy so thank you very much congratulations Kara um and thank you for your commitment thank you we were we would like to also recognize Miss Julia Darcy I will ask Mrs Fortin to do the honors good evening you might recognize Mrs Darcy's name from an earlier recognition
005this year she was one of our teachers who was recognized for their Nationwide publication of the importance of teachers in the lives of children throughout the pandemic Mrs Darcy is a fifth grade teacher at Green Hill school and she today just this morning had the opportunity to speak at the State Board of Education meeting representing Bristol and our participation in the teacher leadership Fellowship Academy which has been led by Dr Betty Sternberg you might recognize her as a former commissioner of the state of of our Board of Education years ago she is now leading teachers and encouraging teachers voices in leadership across the state in partnership with the State Department of Education along with Sacred Heart University and Julia Darcy has been a participant for the past four years working on projects throughout the district
006using her experience variance as a teacher to really lead projects here to better the opportunities we have for students and I did see that she was online so let's see if she has a few words thanks Carly I um we actually got moved to the March second State Board of Education meeting so um we didn't present today but we will be presenting on March 2nd at the State Board of Education meeting with Dr Betty Sternberg along with eight other members of the teacher leader Fellowship Academy from across the state specifically my piece of the presentation highlights Bristol Public Schools as a district that believes values and empowers teachers I'm a proud teacher of the Bristol Public Schools and I'm honored to be a participant in the teacher leader Fellowship Academy through professional development networking and
007cross-state collaboration shows teachers their voice matters and that teachers along with administrators are leaders teachers are able to enact real change when given the opportunity to lead I will be sharing some specific work that we have done at Green Hills around building learning sequences focused on identity during our SEL block our Squad so that we can build an opportunity for our students to explore themselves and understand themselves better and to share parts of themselves with their peers and staff to build relationships and form connections we have focused on hopes and dreams traditions and holidays where are you from and the goal is for each student to feel seen valued and heard so the Bristol's belief in teacher leadership has really impacted students and I'm eager to share my pride in the Bristol Public Schools and
008I'm proud to show how valued teachers are here in Bristol thank you Mrs Darcy and again congratulations and we know that you will represent us well when you get to speak in front when you get the chance finally to speak in front of the state board thank you next on our agenda are the approval of minutes we have many to approve this evening so bear with me you have all received a copy of the minutes in your packet for all of the meetings that I am about to call upon the first one is our January 5th 2022 regular meeting May I have a motion to approve this meeting and the minutes as written so moved second motion has been made and seconded is there any discussion hearing none all in favor please say aye aye
009opposed abstentions thank you next was the January 12th special meeting may have a motion to approve so move second motion has been made and seconded is there any discussion hearing none all in favor please say aye opposed abstentions thank you next is for the January 18th budget Workshop so moved second motion has been made and seconded is there any discussion hearing none all in favor please say aye aye aye opposed abstentions okay next we have our January 25th budget Workshop may have a motion to approve the January 25th budget Workshop minutes as written so moved second motion has been made and seconded is there any discussion foreign none all in favor please say aye aye aye aye opposed abstentions and lastly our January 25th special meeting so I moved second motion has been made and
010seconded is there any discussion hearing none all in favor please say aye aye opposed abstentions thank you next we will be having our committee reports and first on the docket is our finance committee commissioner tagriella yes thank you madam chairman and through you the finance committee met on the 12th of January for its uh regular meeting and the good news is there's not a lot to report out uh the budget we remain on budget for most items and our current fund balance is in excess of two million dollars the cafeteria budget performance continues to improve and improved over last month with the participation rate around 70 percent and the school system received great news in that our reverse rates for breakfast and lunch have increased for the current year the biggest item that came out
011of the finance committee was that we received back bid proposals for our transportation contracts we had three bids first student dacco and we transportation and with the consideration of all items which include but are not limited to the number of buses Staffing proximity District familiarity and cost the committee made the unanimous recommendation uh a first student to the full board for approval of their contract and the full board met subsequent and adopted that recommendation the last item I will share is that at our meeting next week on the 9th of February the finance committee will review the budget as proposed at our workshops held on the 19th and 25th of January and anyone interested in those deliberations can join us here on the auditorium at 6 PM or on Zoom thank you thank you next
012is operations commissioner Carlson operations did not have a regular meeting we did have two special meetings for uh uh underground storage tank at uh you know chip and soul Middle School we had chose Alfred beneschen company in the amount of forty thousand four hundred dollars uh we also had a special meeting concerning the roof at Edgewood School uh Friar Associates the amount of thirty five thousand dollars that's it thank you next we will have policy commissioner G Antonio foreign committee meeting uh regularly held meeting was January 26th and in that meeting we discussed a new policy that you'll see before you this evening in the deliberated items and that is policy 6163.33 live animals in the classroom following that we had a discussion regarding policy 3520.13 which is database information and management systems part of
013that discussion concerned um the possibility of encryption in emails and sensitive document communication between parents and the district and the district does have the capability of accommodating those families that request it um that and then we adjourn the meeting thank you and lastly student achievement commissioner sturgeon yes we had a regular student achievement meeting on January 19th the only things reviewed in that meeting were the Baines curriculum which were all passed to be forwarded to the full board for hope nothing else report thank you we will now move on to our student representative reports and first representing Bristol Central will be senior Sydney Rodriguez good evening board members tonight I'll be presenting to you the happenings of Bristol Central High School since our previous meeting as the weather has gotten colder the winter season seems
014to be catching up with us as Bristol Central had its first snow days of the year students did not log into a zoom meeting with their teachers and instead took the day to themselves to rest or in my case shoveled the walkway to my house myself because our snowblower broke but it was a fun day nevertheless and made for some well-needed mornings to sleep in as for sports our boys basketball team was invited to play in the Spalding hoop Hall of Fame classic to play the number one team in Massachusetts Springfield Central the boys brought home a hard-fought 53-44 victory and remained the number one team in Connecticut the girls basketball team is currently riding a six-game win streak and finally beat Bristol Eastern for the first time since 2004 with a 55-42 victory last
015Tuesday our Central stage crew continues to prepare for their for their production of The Lion King in the spring most recently they worked with Ann copperly who is our who is our artist in Residence through our 21st century grants she's a puppet maker from Hartford and an expert in large puppetry and helped our students create the wild beast and the headpiece props for the show using Broadway models and recycled materials I know that myself and others are really looking forward to going to the show I've been going to the shows that Central stage puts on since my freshman year and it's always fun and exciting to watch my peers perform midterms are complete and semester two is underway as students as student course selection and scheduling have begun for the 2022-2023 school year teaching teachers
016are making their recommendations and students are choosing their electives with finding ourselves just four months away from graduation graduation cap and gown orders are already being taken the time really does fly finally we kicked off Black History Month Yesterday by introducing our students to Bristol's own Johnny Floyd a former track and cross-country coach at Bristol Eastern who influenced so many athletes and coaches at this time the cross country course at page Park was dedicated in his memory this past fall thank you very much next to represent Bristol Eastern High School will be junior Max Stevens good evening I'm Max Stevens I'm a junior at Bristol Eastern High School I'd like to begin by congratulating Mr Gervais on his first month of our Bristol Eastern being a part of our Bristol Eastern Community it's been a
017pleasure to have him as a part of our community around the halls and at extracurricular events hopefully in the next few months he'll become a more integral part of our community as midterms have come to a close um the start of second semester has been um very hopeful course sign ups have begun and students are very interested and happy about the new courses such as personal finance too and black and Latino studies as we look to our second semester some of those some events coming up in the second semester are sat day on March 23rd junior prom on May 21st at uh DoubleTree and then senior prom on May 28th looking at winter sports um I'd like to congratulate Alex Marshall on his 200th win and both basketball teams are still in contention to make
018the state tournaments as for some clubs model un is preparing for our New York conference from March 19th to the 21st which will include a series of debates and meetings that span over the three days and we'll close on Sunday night and in the spring um drama club will be producing Shrek the Musical on May 6th and 7th featuring our own Bristol Eastern students performing their own um musical numbers and soundtrack I'd like to take a quick moment to congratulate Ms Jones on her um her achievement as a student of hers it's been a pleasure to have her and it's nice to see her getting the appreciation she deserves thank you thank you very much we will move right along this evening now to the superintendent report Dr Carbone good evening presented over the course
019of two evenings I would like to share with you the highlights of the budget workshops we respectfully submitted the superintendent's recommended fiscal year 23 budget to the board of education for your consideration and approval a summary of the major drivers to the budget is presented here as a review for our greater Bristol Community as well our bargaining unit obligations for staff currently in place yields a 2.24 increase there has there will be a general fund savings in the cost of employee benefits lowering um by 1.59 percent we have projected increases in utilities supplies and equipments in order to support our new facility as well as increased Transportation costs reflective of a new Transportation contract mentioned earlier that accounts for a tenth of one 10th percent and point six four percent increase respectfully decreases in our
020out of District tuitions were offset by an increased our Professional Services line allowing an opportunity for reimbursement for services covered by Medicaid school supplies and materials district-wide show a modest increase and we anticipate 282 000 more in Revenue over our last year new positions the last line in the budget to staff are Baines School move two of our on track coordinators into the general fund and add one and a half special education teachers results in a 0.78 increase to the budget overall our budget request total is a 2.14 increase over the prior year drilling down a little bit more deeply into as I've just reviewed the materials resources and Personnel impact on the general fund across the fiscal year 23 budget it includes staff 100 1.25 1.5 special ed teachers to on-track coordinators additional instructors
021at bames and the increase in the year is is of uh in the increase in our first year of a four-year bus contract the total of these additions and Innovations is one million nine hundred eight thousand six hundred and thirty one dollars within the general fund we also took the second night to discuss in detail our the use of our alliance Grant Title One Ida sr2 and Sr funds with regards to these grants Innovations funded by our alliance Grant and the proposed increase in the grant allocation include the addition of a social worker at uh Bristol arts and Innovation Magnet School two Behavior interventionists at the high school five campus climate and safety supervisors and the dean of special services utilizing our SRP funding we will be supporting Staffing levels at Edgewood staff allocated to
022the grant also include a school psych a social worker an instructional coach an instructional support teacher SLP Services special education in Paris additional HVAC projects at chippens and Hubble site work at various schools and maintenance equipment account for additional increase or use of our Sr ARP Monies in total the budget offset and Grant projections total 12 million three hundred and thirty thousand nine hundred and nineteen dollars the cost to our general fund would be significantly higher if we did not strategically and thoughtfully plan for the closing of Edgewood as an elementary school shifted the number of Staff within the Middle grades to best utilize staff across our Middle grades program and maximize our grant resources to best meet the needs of our scholars in the district our budget demonstrates alignment to our district priorities the
023responsiveness to the request of our administrators and chose a commitment to improving academic programming our climate initiatives and demonstrates the purposefulness and use of federal relief funds to meet our current and future District needs the total recommended general fund budget for fiscal year 2023 is a 2.14 increase from the current budget of 121 million six hundred and fifty thousand dollars the next step in this process is for the board of Finance uh committee to the finance the Board of Ed finance committee to review the fiscal year 23 superintendent's record recommended budget and to approve and move it to the full board the board of education is asked to present their fiscal year 23 budget to the board of Finance in March foreign other updates across the district we have progress both within the building project
024and the programming at beams a lot has occurred during the past month we have completed the second Lottery round to date 203 of our middle level students have selected their seat in grades six through eight for the 22-23 school year and they have chosen their Arts pathways on January 26th Dr Dieter Dr sarley Mrs McCabe Mrs Fortin and I met with the new staff that will be teaching at fame's to begin their onboarding in the upcoming months they will begin to meet as a staff toward the facilities and begin to create the processes for opening house School tours and Student Activities for the next school year and lastly to round out our activities regarding beams we held a High School parent information session on the 27th and it was well attended for our high school
025students to begin choosing their Arts Pathways at beams or in their Traditional High School and then lastly on our district website revised in January the the Elevate and innovate continuation plan included resources for families and students the ciac winter sports guidance update as well as updating guidance regarding quarantine isolation testing and contact tracing that occurred on January 11th and some information for our families kindergarten registration began yesterday for any child born January 1st 2017 or after to welcome our new kindergartners for next year today I was absolutely thrilled to talk with Mrs Gonzalez's grade two class they are studying the community doing a research project on community figures and today was talking about the superintendent and just I have to say it because you don't get this a lot one of the young scholars said
026I looked younger in person so I want that on record and then he also said I was older than his grandmother so it was it was a compliment I'm taking it um and then lastly today is 2-2 and Jill if you can just click the next picture because it's 2-2 it was two today and so our principals were celebrating to today we have a 2-2 and Mr um Wilson also was sharing his tutu so it was a fun day around the district today and that concludes my report foreign next on our agenda is the consent agenda may I please have a motion to approve the consent agenda which will include items ha1 through hb6 I moved second motion has been made and seconded is there any discussion hearing none all in favor please say aye
027aye aye opposed abstentions thank you motion carries if I could just introduce two of our new administrators to our community first I'd like to introduce Mr Ken Bagley who you have just approved director of Fine Arts Mr Bagley thank you very much um chair Dube Dr Carbone members of the Bristol Community thank you for this opportunity to continue to serve Bristol schools now as the supervisor of Fine Arts it was 25 years ago I walked into this building to be hired as the band director of Bristol Central and over the years since I've been fortunate to see the positive impact that studying the Fine Arts has had on my students as we've all tried to navigate the covet pandemic over the past couple years many people have turned to the Arts to either entertain themselves
028find an escape from the stress of the times or most importantly to fill their innate need for Creative expression this is shown how important it is for our students not only to be exposed to the Fine Arts but to have it become an integral part of their lives today Bristol is entering its own Renaissance with the opening of the Bristol Arts uh an innovation Magnet School the Resurgence of Bristol Corral and the Bristol brass and winds the mural projects happening across the city an increase support for the Arts from the Bristol Community at large these are exciting times and I am honored to be able to be a part of it I look forward to working with the exceptional Fine Arts teachers across Bristol to provide a high quality Fine Arts education to our students
029and to make this department a true model of Excellence so thank you once again for this opportunity to serve the students of Bristol congratulations thank you [Applause] congratulations congratulations congratulations Mr Bagley I also would like to introduce a new member of our Bristol Community to this evening the dean at chip and soul Middle School Mr Stephen torini foreign thank you very much okay next we will move on to public comment Ms Everett did you receive any sign ups for public comment this evening yes oh I'm sorry hold on got a little ahead of myself I get really excited grants are part of the consent agenda oh is it oh so we really will move on to public comment this evening do you have a sign up sheet for me Miss Everett there was on each
030one foreign okay so we have quite a few members here for public comment and I do also have some that we are going to be reading so I will do the ones that were submitted first through email and I just want to go ahead so I'm going to go ahead and just read our rules and requests for public comment seeing as how we have them from multiple venues so for the ones that will be read into the record they needed to be sent to Susan Everett at Bristol k12.org making sure that public comment Boe is in the subject line name and address must be included comments must be directed to the board chair comments will be read at the meeting by the board chair all comments should be written in an appropriate manner comments regarding
031Personnel or confidential student information shall not be discussed under public comment and any comments not the hearing to these guidelines will not be right at the meeting I will now read into the record the following five submissions the first one is from Andrea Emmert who resides at 458 Marsha Drive to quote journalist Bari Weiss the extent to which covet policies have disrupted the societal intellectual and emotional growth of American kids including some the poorest and most vulnerable as among the most morally urgent issues right now it is time to reassess the measures unnecessarily put in place for our children it is time to look at the data that we did not have two years ago and change the policies in our schools based on this data most importantly it is time to follow the science
032the science that states that children are not at risk and never were the science that states that cloth masks do not work and do not stop the spread of omnicron we now know that the evidence-free intervention of a mass mandate although put in place two years ago with good intention is actually causing more harm than good there is no significant effect of masks on reducing the transmission of covid we've made teaching less effective for little or no benefit as declared by the Surgeon General there is a mental health crisis among children depressive and anxiety symptoms doubled during the pandemic according to the CDC there were approximately 2 200 child suicides in the U.S in 2020 and in early 2021 emergency department visits for suspected suicide attempts increased 51 percent in adolescent girls I urge you
033to look up this information and see for yourself children are dying the mental health of our children needs to be the number one priority right now on Monday January 24th The Washington Post published an op-ed from three medical experts calling to end Mass mandates in school on Tuesday January 25th an article written by CNN commentator Mary Catherine Hamm was published in the Atlantic saying the same thing on Friday January 28th NPR published an article about growing calls to take masks off children in schools the same day an opinion piece in the New York Times entitled let kids take their masks off after the omnicon surge was published the tides are turning and people are beginning to wake up to the lack of evidence surrounding Mass mandates 35 percent of our country's biggest school districts do
034not have mass mandates there are many other countries around the world where children attend school without mass mandates as well students in Denmark have been massless since May of 2020. France does not require masks for kids under 11 and in Ireland it's under nine in Norway and Sweden schools go without masks entirely the World Health Organization advises against masks for kids under five and only selectively for kids under 11. the European Center for disease prevention and control does not recommend masking primary school children at all my six-year-old first grader does not understand when I tell him that someday he will not have to wear a filthy mask all day and socially distance from his friends he does not understand that someday he will be able to see the facial expressions of his teachers and see
035the faces of his friends laughing in class he's not even allowed to play with kids from other classes outside at recess two years and he has yet to see the face of his teacher through the chair of the time is expired foreign aglia who resides at 79 Beechwood Lane my name is Teresa Cirillo vernaglia and I reside at 79 Beechwood Lane I have been watching the monthly Board of Ed meetings remotely as I am unable to tend in person due to work I am a licensed marriage and family therapist my wife and I have resided in Bristol for over 20 years and our two children have attended Bristol Public Schools for over eight years as a parent and as a mental health professional I am writing you our Board of Ed members the deputy superintendent
036and the superintendent to stop this Insanity The Mask mandates are causing a bigger Health crisis than covid when will you all see this our children are suffering emotionally and you are all doing nothing about it please do not tell me where the parents in Bristol that you are not receiving federal dollars to implement special curricula in our schools to support our students the curricula you are implementing is ludicrous my children Express anxiety around having to wear a mask all day and worry about when their Mass breaks will take place I am tired of hearing from building administrators that mass breaks are built into the schedule at one of my children's schools they are and are all well followed at the other school it's deplorable our children are being bullied chair doobie when will you hear
037this parents spoke out about this at last month's meeting and the statement that was made to the parent was send the information to the Board of Ed was anything done you may not be able to tell us however I will tell you that both of our children are being bullied again one of our children's beliefs has handled the situation the other not so much and the bullying is not being done by the students in this situation and to be honest my wife and I have sent emails not only to the building Administration but to the board of ed representatives and responses have been we will look into this my wife and I are tired share doobie our children are tired and their peers and their parents are tired when will you your board of ed
038counterparts the deputy superintendent and the superintendent stand up and do what is right for our children thank you next I will read from Teresa Motel who resides at 222 Tyler way I wanted to start off by saying the amount of disrespect between the two different sides is unnerving especially in our own Board of Ed I have watched the people that represent the sport of Ed behave in such a distasteful manner I have witnessed Tantrums because things weren't going their way I have watched on professional Behavior unfold on social media from our board members if you are sitting on this board you are to be professional the parents are supposed to have faith in the school system we are allowed to have differences of opinions we are allowed to be frustrated we do not need to
039go along with your narrative you don't have all the answers we don't have all the answers you are supposed to be here for the best interest of our children have we forgotten where is the common ground we the parents have lost faith in the school system The Mask issues what you are teaching our children you are not very transparent some of the board members don't even know what is really taking place in our schools CRT is definitely in our classrooms you are just changing the language if the n95 masks work then you are all safe and fully protected right if that's the case it should be parent choice because those who are concerned can continue wearing them due to their high level of protection this is totally an irrational fear put into our kids we
040need to move from this parents and students are tired of this nonsense we are going to continue to question and be involved in what's happening with our children we will not back down why would we knowledge is power and we will continue to gain knowledge about what's happening in our schools and local government we need to unmask our children and start teaching them the way they need to be taught these teachers need to teach on the subject they were hired for teachers are not therapists stop trying to indoctrinate our children with your curriculum stop instilling a rational fear we see behind you in service meetings too you are making these children have more issues than maybe they even started with and it's a shame you are robbing them of their childhood you do not belong
041meddling in our kids lives or our homes I am all for social emotional learning but you have crossed the line with how you're shoving it down their throats the content that you are showing half of these kids is not even age appropriate for their age or where they are developmentally it has become wave clinical and not enough learning if all of this uptick on scl was working why wouldn't we wouldn't need to hire so many extra Support Services now would we how about you unmask teach accordingly and stop chasing kids down to tell them to pull up their mask then maybe you would see a decline in issues the high school students are getting high in the bathroom or what you have and what you're worried about masks over their nose with dumb dogs photos
042wear your mask like Gilbert you are chasing the ants while elephants run by thank you for your time your honor just a point of order and clarification that members of the commission should not be laughing as you're reading public comment thank you yeah moving on this is from Jason decante who resides at 111 Old Turnpike Road to the bristol board of ed like to take a minute to express concern with my children being forced to wear masks at school particularly during gym as someone who prides himself on Endurance Sports I know full well the importance of having fresh air during exercise we exhale to get rid of waste by product and do so at a much higher rate during exertion pumping all that CO2 and bacteria into a mask and then being forced to inhale
043air through the same passageway is detrimental to health and should be common sense at this point your rules are doing my three children more harm than good this adventure initially started out with Dr fauci stating that there was no need to wear masks then a mask would help to maybe we need to wear multiple masks to cloth masks offer little to no protection to n95 is the only mask that works the goal posts have moved enough people wear masks and still get covered people get vaccinated and still get covered it's time to move on with life and just accept that people will get sick from time to time I want my kids to have a normal life I expect them to get sick I expect all of us to at this point please return the
044schools to the way they used to operate or at the very least allow our kids the ability to have physical education without masks the last comment to be read into the record is by Buena nupavar who resides at 93 Haviland Street as I was dropping off my five-year-old this morning I held up the drop-off line for no more than 30 seconds as a parent behind me was screaming at me to get the blank out of the way mind you I responded by saying God bless you I held up the line because we were searching for her mask I had given her the mask bag but got lost somewhere on the way she became nervous because she didn't have her mask and started to run into the traffic rather than onto the sidewalk at school all
045over a mask a mask that covers her face all day so she comes home and tells me mommy I'm so thirsty we can't use the water fountain only the big kids and we have to wear them at gym they tell us adults drink eight eight ounces of water a day do our kids get that I know for a fact my child gets nervous and shy and many times doesn't want to bother someone for the parents that don't talk nicely to their children and I've seen this up hand they'll yell at their kids while smacking their heads where is your blanking mask where does this stop we can't breathe in them we're more likely to get a bacterial infection from breathing in our snot all day I refuse to allow this to be the new normal
046as people are describing it I want my child to be able to breathe at school I don't want her being afraid to get yelled at for not having her mask on or wearing it properly I want her to have water when she's thirsty and allowed to run on the playground without a face covering because that's what it is a face covering to hide her identity while slowly suffocating her I work as a full-time primary care nurse and we are all tired of the masks the only thing it is doing is giving me a hard time breathing scars on my face from acne breakouts and allergies to most of them so I get facial rashes on a daily basis my patients come into the office with their small children in masks masks covered in dirt because
047they can't afford to change them masks hanging off their face what good is this solving my covering our faces this should not this should not be any part of normal in life we do not want our kids afraid depressed and suppressed if this continues this is what their future looks like foreign next we will move on to public comment in person during the meeting everyone is requested to address the chair for recognition each speaker will state their name and address all speakers must observe rules of common etiquette personalities are not to be injected again I'm going to ask that no Personnel names or student information be shared each speaker shall limit his or her remarks to three minutes due to the numerous people who are willing to speak I will ask Dr Dieter to keep
048time this evening for me written statements and materials may be made available in advance of comments for distribution for board members when necessary board members will not respond directly to the comments during the board meeting the superintendent will direct the question to the appropriate staff member for follow-up I do also have to state that the room is at capacity and we have multiple people waiting in the lobby as well so I would like to ask at this time after you make your public comments if you wouldn't mind stepping out so that we can allow other people in I would greatly appreciate that okay there was a link provided with the agenda so if you have a cell phone you could access it via your phone yeah uh down in the lobby if you would like
049to yes thank you thank you okay all right thank you first would be Patrick Mills please greetings I recognize the chair hopefully I'm not too loud my name is Patrick Mills I live at 294 Lake Avenue in Bristol I was born in Bristol in 1961. I'm a product of the Bristol school systems except for I'm old enough that all the schools I went to are now closed and basically uh group homes but that being said I appreciate all the hard work that the teachers have given to 10 of my children that have gone to the Bristol schools five who have gone on to go to college three hour and Health Care some are nurses right at Bristol hospital even as I speak I have three more children that are going to Green Hill school now
050so that's a total of 10 children all right I have hopes for them to do just as well as the others I appreciate all the hard work that you've done that being said I would really appreciate it if you would remove the mask mandate for my children uh none of my children appreciate it they come home rather take it when they come home during the summer time they never wear the mask as soon as they went back to school the first day I had to wake up one of my children on the bus I had to carry him off the bus the other two were drug out for the Heat and from The Mask being on enough's enough I I really appreciate whatever you could do talk to the state whatever you can do I'm
051doing my part bringing my children here to let them know that if you want change you've got to try for change you've got to talk about it not be violent not be rude not be unpleasant just ask and hopefully something will happen because all it takes for able to Prevail has been meant to do nothing so thank you for your time thank you next Michael with him he lives with me go ahead my name is Michael with them and I live on 294 Lake Avenue and I do not want to be masting school anymore thank you buddy next Caleb Mills questions okay so what do you want to say all right I am Caleb milk from 294 Lake Avenue all right hello my name is Caleb Mills and 294 Lake Avenue in 2012. thank you
052Caleb next Emily Bailey I did bring chair Dube just some things for you guys they're just one piece of paper I don't know if I can hand them out sure Jill can do that for you thank you good evening chair Dube and the rest of the school board my name is Emily Bailey I live at 21 Tiffany Lane tonight I first want to hand you this table not sure if you've seen it before or something similar if you have already here it is again and if not I am sure you will find it eye-opening every time I come across the table I am taken aback by it I only have three minutes to address you tonight so I've already emailed you all some articles that reference the some things I'm going to be talking about
053but the table in front of you shows the grade level our child is currently enrolled in and then next to it is the grade level that that child's last normal normally completed grade level before covid I have a 10th grader so his last normal year completed was seventh grade my would-be fourth grader who is now homeschooled would be first grade wow unbelievable sickening students and yes even teachers are at a two at two years of not normal learning and teaching conditions it started with lockdowns hybrid learning models and quarantining now we have moved to in-person learning no closed contacts counted during the school day and five-day quarantines some would say this shows progress I totally disagree students and teachers are still walking around Mast and in some cases mainly in our mainly with our teachers
054double and triple masks for six and a half to eight hours a day the CDC finally conceded in January that cloth and paper masks do not work children have endured two years of fear anxiety and uncertainty put onto them I want to talk to you tonight about a basic human bodily function that our students teachers and School staff do not see well at school smiling babies are seen smiling in their mother's womb when we take our children to the pediatrician for their first physicals the doctor wants to know if they are smiling a human being smiling smile is an amazing wonderful and Powerful gift a gift to us all individually but also a gift we freely give to one another here are just a few ways a smile is amazing first smiling relieves stress and
055elevates mood mood enhancing chemicals are naturally released in our brains when we share a smile as well as when we receive one two smiling is contagious I smile and then you smile three smiling makes you attractive a smile can draw two people together new friends gained maybe maybe even a boyfriend or girlfriend smiling affects the people around you I bet we all can say we have received an unexpected smile from someone and had it change our mood or our day completely on January 31st this past Monday parents at Bristol Central received a parent Square message about Wheeler Clinic Mental Health Services being offered to students right at school the lengthy message goes into all the services that are offered however there is currently a wait list all this Federal Esser money going towards mental health
056and right out of the gate people are put onto a wait list not to mention the strings attached to this money it's shameful I say our children and teachers desperately need to see each other smile students need to see I just have two sentences students need to see if they're see it from their peers and their teachers teachers need to see it from their students and colleagues they all need that emotional uplifting natural feeling back that only a smile can provide it is time for Mass Choice let's see all of our kids smile again and let's start healing thank you thank you [Applause] next is Paul Campbell please good evening my name is Paul Campbell 183 Sims Road I'm going to start off by something funny Mr Wilson with the uh tutu he should have
057committed and put it on all the way I was you know he should have done it um yeah it's you know um look um I'm an Ivy Drive parent my two boys attend Ivy Drive I love that little school I love it uh last time we had the mom parade I was a dude in the parade dancing on the float with the mascot thing on I can't wait to do that again right um but why am I here the guest of the uh guest of the hour the mass the good old Mass that's why I'm here um you know we understand this is all coming from the governor there's nothing we could do about it but it's our point it's our job as parents to do the best we can and speak up and use
058this platform you're sick of hearing about it we're sick of talking about it but this is the platform we have um an incident with my fourth grader recently in his class around the holidays was the was the one for me where I said I I'm gonna I'm gonna be here for now on I'll be here for now on um his teacher thought it was a good idea to have these kids are in their snack time lower the mask take a bite of their food and raise it back up and continue this the whole entire time he came home and told me this and I was not happy I spoke out to her um she said yeah she made an executive decision exactly that's just her decide and that was a good mitigation strategy um since
059I said you know spoke up about it she goes yeah oh we won't do that anymore because you weren't happy okay there's another one last week a mom in the neighborhood brand new mom in school in the neighborhood calls me because she you know she knows I'm involved in all this she says kindergarten we're not doing snacks I said why not she goes the teacher just has a mitigation strategy just cancel snack sure so you know these are a couple things going on um you know that that just parents are fed up parents are fed up you know and uh we're sick of it so yeah I have this this is from my son uh second grade I've seen some of these on the internet you know parents posting it um right around Martin Luther
060King day I have a dream and uh my second grader I didn't put them up to this I didn't I didn't you know uh quote them in any way to him and throwing his mask garbage I have a dream to have no covet 19. you know so again we're just going to keep showing up using the platform we have because our kids I feel this is how I feel that our kids are being psychologically abused am I wrong for that feeling does that make me a bad guy I don't think so that's how I feel that's my truth um so you guys I feel extremely disrespected by YouTube sitting there Snicker and I see it right behind your face you can't stand that parents want to come here and speak up but that's our job
061that's what we're gonna do and we're going to keep doing it please refrain from speaking to other communities oh I'm sorry I'm sorry that's all I got have a good night thank you that's Lauren vanillia I'm not as tall as Paul so are you lowering this uh good evening chair Dube and everyone else my name is Lauren vernalia I live at 79 Beechwood Lane um I've been here for many months um same thing um I think what I would like to do first off is just thank uh the board members who have continued to be professional receptive respectful and validating in what we are saying you know um then there are other members I mean you know it's it's kind of frustrating because you know these are elected positions and so you know you're elected
062into these positions in hopes that you're going to do what is in the best interest of the children which with the children comes the parents so again I appreciate those who have been respectful and receptive and you know for those who have not um you know going on the internet and kind of you know looking for people on social media to you know oppose everything I mean I guess my bottom line is why why all the divisiveness like why why is it such a partisan issue I don't understand this like the Republicans feel this way the Democrats feel this way why is this a partisan issue these are children their children they're not political pawns but that's what this has become political pawns I mean I'm going to bring it up let's look at the
063Convoy going on in Canada you know what it's coming to the U.S and you know what those people they have nothing to do with politics it's about peace love unity and freedom and you know I remember Dr Carbone saying something about having this very small number of parents that keep showing up to the board of ed meeting well that's very similar to Justin Trudeau and his small Fringe minority that is now hundreds of thousands of people and trucks I mean we are not a small Fringe minority we are tired of our children not having a choice I have a nine-year-old son who wants to literally walk into his school without a mask and take a stand that should not be on his back and I had nothing to do with that that is all coming
064from him then I have my daughter bragging to me today about how I had to run four miles consistently of because I've been running with you Mom I was the only one who didn't have to stop and walk Kelly did you have to wear a mask while you did it yup four minutes straight running in a mask I'm a distance Runner I ran six miles today do you think I would put a mask on my face to do it absolutely not completely unhealthy she even told me I felt lightheaded oh does anyone care no got to keep it up because man that's the other thing got to keep those masks up that is all they're told the um coach over at the middle school where my daughter goes uh told the boys basketball team that
065if they didn't keep their masks above their noses he'd cut them for the season I mean is that how we're operating now I mean I don't know it just seems like why the divisiveness why can we not come together and actually heal as a community over the last two years of Mayhem and again we recognize that the governor has his hands in it and again I appreciate the board members who have done everything in their power to hear what we have to say and the last and final thing that I want to say is Dr Carbone what would really go a long way is if you stood up and actually validated the parents and said you know what this is really hard I hear what you're saying but that never happens we just talk in
066circles in circles in circles and circles and policies can we just be human beings that's fine I'm I'm done I'm just simply going to say can we please validate the parents thank you okay next is Susan zabachonski Susan zabachonski 28 working street I'm the founder of families for Freedom many of these parents have been coming here for ages six months into State Board of Education meetings and I'm here to represent them enter through the narrow gate for why does the gate and Broad is the road that leads to destruction and many enter through it but small is the gate and narrows the road that leads to life and only a few find it good evening Madam chair and fellow board members the town of Bristol Bristol spoke loudly that they are looking for the majority
067party on this board to represent them and the principles on which that party stands it's clear to me that the people of Bristol recognize the course that this state and country are headed in a course which consists of one-man rule an erosion of basic American principles and values and a loss of our system of a limited representative government where the American people have the most influential voice we want to see that changed parents are here today as your constituents to give you the support encouragement you may need to restore your role as representatives in the City of Bristol Governor Lamont has bound the hands of our local elected and this board for far too long and we the people of Bristol are imploring you all to have the courage to send a message to the
068majority in Hartford that you demand to regain your role as our Representatives when it comes to enacting policies for the pandemic for our city and our schools that's what you all were elected to this is not a partisan issue foreign with one man executive power you've sat silent for far too long and it's time for you to join us in sending a message to Hartford it is time for the overreach of Ned Lamont and the majority party in the state and the Damage that this one-man rule is doing to the residents and students of Bristol and across Connecticut to come to an end it is now time for you all to publicly stand with us and send a message to the majority heart for the majority party in the state that the bristol board of
069education wants to do the job that they were elected to do which is to represent the parents and the students of Bristol who have entrusted you all through their votes who better to make decisions than this board in conjunction with our local Department of Public Health who know and are devoted to this city and who have voluntarily dedicated their time to represent the voices of the people the time is now join us in calling for an end to Lamont's executive Rule and the mandates that have directly resulted in the loss of people's businesses income and retirements severely impacted our children's mental health and education as many parents have presented to you over the last six months you're in action is acceptance we need you to be our voice thank you thank you next is Myra
070Sampson good evening Madam chair Myra Sampson 371 Emmett Street Unit 52. I am standing here to voice my opinion about the disappointment of you majority members of this board first last month one of you stated John that you don't care about the kids you only care about the staff when it comes to their clothing so tell me what are you here for excuse me point of order I can't have you calling out individual members please take it out thank you um when it comes to their clothing so tell me what are you here for thank God our teachers are there for our students because someone has to be second you are more busy trying to satisfy a handful of parents who clearly love their kids but spread misinformation and lies which is so dangerous I
071think it's worth mentioning this group unmask our kids Connecticut was removed from Facebook and social media platform by the CDC for being considered dangerous and inciting violence why don't you I'm speaking okay all right so be quiet I need the gallery point of order I need no comments from the gallery thank you being considered dangerous and exciting violence why don't you go to the schools and speak to the principals and teachers who know what's really going on in our schools I spoke to a principal who expressed that her biggest concern a major problem for our Bristol schools is homelessness a cafeteria recent a cafeteria worker recently told me about a student who told her that those were the only two meals he gets a day upon calling the parents the parents said it was true
072they send their kids because they don't have any food this board has more important problems to address and they should check the post of the community it seems too much time is being wasted on less than one percent of our population and what they think what I do know from living through this pandemic is that this has destroyed families killed people and leaves people traumatized and broken tomorrow I'll be going to another Funeral For A co-worker of mine who lost her life to covid her husband was so distraught he took his own life the very next day this is what happens with covid covet kills masks don't stop trying to change the world for your children give your children the skills to deal with the world if wearing a mask is the worst thing that
073happens to us in a pandemic then count your blessings thank you next Annabelle Miner good evening Warner members my name is Annabelle Miner I live on 26th uh Terry Road in Bristol I attend Bristol Central High School I am a senior and I have spent three years of my life in isolation due to covid two months ago I began my unmasking journey because I decided that I didn't want to go to school feeling like I was going to die every day and my school's response to that was sent a security guard to escort me outside corner me until I had a panic attack and it was revealed that my mother was on the phone with me and his entire tone changed from there I was told to get a medical exemption which I did and
074now we are here um every day my school's treatment of me has gotten worse you are the very few people who do something in anything to protect students like me I've been emotionally abused by my school singled out humiliated and bullied by my own Administration I've had my final year of education and sports rep from my own hand my Administration refuses to allow me to participate in schools although I meet every requirement my teachers meet themselves so I miss out on class they yell at me for no reason other than they can and when it is brought to the attention of my Administration nothing is done to those teachers but I am the one punished a teacher who has been abusing me all year is still teaching however I was removed from that class and
075I am forced to teach myself that class so I can complete online assignments so I can graduate I don't have a teacher I can have help from I must learn it all on my own in fact all of my classes I had to teach myself my teachers aren't teaching me anything the internet treats me more like a person than my own School Google is my teacher now my school wanted me to take two months of absences originally it was one until they could put me on a 504 plan the meeting lasted a whole 13 minutes of my principal degrading me my mother demanding to know what my medical illness that I cannot wear a mask however the Mandate put into place by lamott says that any person who declines wearing a mask or face covering
076because of a medical condition behavioral condition or disability shall be exempt from this order not going to read the whole thing I'm sure we're all very familiar with the medical exemption at this point two years in the pandemic my school is violating my rights demanding to know what my medical illness is they also demanded that the Burlington Bristol Health Department approved my letter before I remaining School mask list they did and I am also still not allowed in school Mass list they demanded I returned to school masked just to see a school psychologist because they think that my mother is brainwashing me because I stood up what's up thank you through the chair this board takes um claims of abuse by students very seriously can Administration please follow up with the student next is Carrie
077denino good evening my name is Carrie denino and I live at 20 wood sideway and I have three children in Bristol schools I am here in support of parents choice for masks most kids that I've seen go unmasked on play dates vacation stores movies Etc so it does not make sense to keep them masked in school when they're with those kids outside of school I'm sure many of you and your children or grandchildren also go unmasked when not in school my kids say masks are annoying and can't breathe and often ask when they can stop wearing masks masks are also discussing it and unsanitary my five-year-old comes home with his mask soaking wet from biting it and I have found dried food on it at the end of the day once he saw one of
078his friends without a mask he said I didn't know that's what he looked like how sad is that what are we doing to these kids in their emotional and mental well-being this needs to stop School needs to get back to normal mask wearing should be up to the parents and not the government Dr Carbone you recently stated in an email reply that for us to go back to normal that you would like staff and kids to be vaccinated and for the rate to be lower we know that the vaccine doesn't stop the virus from being caught or transmitted so that doesn't make sense at all to get back to normal I also find it interesting how at the last board meeting there was a heated debate over kids wearing hoods and hats during school some
079of the members who were in favor stated that you should listen to the community members that reached out about the issue that wearing them should be up to the kids and or parents and we should respect their choice it was also stated that children should wear what makes them comfortable to learn in school how is this any different from listening to parents and children over mask wearing you can't pick and choose Parents Choice when it's for what you want thank you thank you chair you just remind those in the public if they finish speaking there might be people in the lobby waiting to come in thank you I was going to get to that after this sheet but yes if you have already spoken if you would please be so kind as to make space
080we have a total of 22 people who would like to speak tonight so next is Cindy Lamar hi I'm Cindy Lamar and I live at 301 Old Orchard Road good evening chair duby and the school I'm going to ask you to just hold on one second just so that you can be heard I know that there's a lot of people trying to get into the elevator and that can be a little loud so foreign go ahead okay again my name is Cindy Lamar and I reside at 301 Old Orchard Road in Bristol I'm a Bristol taxpayer and a parent to three children ages 12 8 and 2 and a half years old excuse me my older two go to preschool in Bristol my two and a half year old has never been masked and I
081don't plan on masking him ever I also have three nephews in the Bristol school system I feel mass for children should be left up to the parents to decide and not our governor or superintendent like many other families we choose to keep our children Mass Free wherever they go we do this for a number of reasons first the virus if you follow the science has little to no effect on children this fact has been well documented by various experts on this pandemic issue second we feel that our children need to return to normalcy part of that normalcy is to be allowed to attend school in a classroom setting with no masks they need to see their teachers face and to talk to their friends without a dirty soiled mask on their face third science also
082has proven that sitting in a classroom with a mask covering almost 100 percent of a child's face has a negative effect on the psych and mental health of a child this is not something we want for our children to encounter currently our children see their friends in person go to restaurants shopping vacation out of state and go to activities all without masks the only time my children wear a mask is to school wearing a mask is an obstruction to learning and it's unhealthy for their minds and bodies parents should have the freedom of choice to decide whether or not to mask their children in closing wearing masks should be optional which means freedom of choice and honoring each family's individual rights and liberties thank you for the time thank you next is I'm sorry Nikki
083laporta thank you good evening Madam chair Nikki Laporte 180 Lake Ave my name is Nikki I'm a citizen here of Crystal and an educator here in my beloved state of Connecticut I'm also a historian so I'm here to speak out against CRT or critical race Theory and The Mask mandate as you all know CRT is taught here at the college level I'm just curious how many here um actually have any education at the college level of which there are no colleges or universities here in Bristol and as such none here that this Board of Ed is in charge of what I am in favor of instead is teaching local history and with that I would like to add something new that I'm calling extremely local critical race Theory or e-l-crt elcrt will focus on everyone
084here in Bristol who continues to argue against teaching accurate history from both the winning and oppressed point of view and calling them out in our schools for years to come so shame on all of you public shame and since all these meetings are public my research on who to add to this text will be easy to compile and to further pile on that shame I would like to remind all of you yes much to most of your Chagrin that masks are required inside this building you shouldn't have been able to miss the paper it was right next to the elevator and it was highlighted in pink like the color of my hair and our friends tutu up there um but um just to reiterate it's currently against the law for any of you to not
085be wearing a mask in this building and I promise if my youngest students in pre-k 3 can handle it so can you not only is it against the law to be in this building without a mask for public sanitary Health but public sanity to perhaps cover some of the ugly so many of you so clearly have on the inside in conclusion I asked Bristol to please continue to teach history as it is and please keep the mask mandates I do want to end with a quick question though if this is a school building why are all these people including but not limited to members here on this board who are not wearing a mask not being charged with a misdemeanor thank you uh your honor if I may I just want to add a point
086of clarification uh we did speak with our board attorney regarding whether members of this committee had to wear a mask after school hours and the answer was that we do not have to wear one so I just want to clarify for the public that that is the advice we receive from our attorney thank you okay thank you next we will have Tom Burrell foreign chair board members thank you for this opportunity to speak I'm here to address the pervasiveness of critical race theory in public schools if you were to ask any teacher administrator of critical race theory is being taught they would say we don't there are no courses entitled critical race Theory however the basic elements and objectives of critical race Theory have become pervasive in all of our school systems how did this
087happen American colleges and universities have turned their social science classrooms into breeding grounds for anti-American anti-free Market propaganda as a college student in the 1960s I identified with the new Left movement it only became evident to me with what that agenda was producing after I matured as a historian and a Christian the goal of critical race theory is soap is to fundamentally transform America and create a socialist government and a socialist society we have to recognize the subtlety of what is being taught our children its goal is to destroy the core principles of American democracy in the minds of the next generation of Americans they have Rewritten The History of the United States creating a false narrative that America was created to promote white supremacy are there shameful parts of our history yes but if
088any one of us were to stand in the docket of life and be judged only by our mistakes and our sins we would be condemned and that's exactly what critical race theorists want to do to America there's some one simple example of critical race theory in action to replace the ideal of equality with the idea of equity equity in terms in the terms that it's being used today means the confiscation and redistribution of wealth according to the dictates of what the government calls social justice equality on the other hand is a self-evident unalienable right given to us by our creator our nation was instituted under the ideal of a of equality the right of all citizens to pursue their choices by lawful means and earn property on equal basis on an equal basis under the
089protection of the law this is based on the Declaration of Independence on our constitution it was developed under the 13th 14th and 15th amendment under the Civil Rights Act of 1875 under the Civil Rights Act of 1863 of 1963 and 1964. what I'm asking the board is not just to ask if critical race theory is being taught as a course in our schools but to discover the Marxist ideals and purposes of critical race theory in our classroom and textbooks and do your best to reverse it Lincoln said the political Applause the political philosophy of the classroom in one generation will be the political philosophy of the government the next critical race theorists and socialists want to destroy the American ideal to a large term now so that we can get through there is a proverb
090in the Bible that says the wicked accuse and tear down Mr Burrell thank you for doing your best to protect and defend our children foreign Gorder hi it's Jen Van Gorder 272 Candlewood Drive hi chair dubian members Nelson Mandela once said there could be no Kina revelation of a society Soul than the way in which it treats its children the children are not okay they are suffering and while under your care yet many of you and our governor continue to ignore their suffering and their cries for normalcy uh social emotional learning has been ushered into our schools trying to teach social emotional learning while robbing the kids of basic important social cues such as facial expressions keeping them spaced from their friends and instilling fear in them research has shown for decades that social engagement
091is crucial to a child's formidable Years yet for the last two years all children have seen his masks all day long no faces No Smiles no social cues only masks some kids have never even been to school without a mask on science is meant to be questioned and tested yet those who are in power say those who question their science are guilty of wrong think we are told that the studies that show masks don't work are a figment of our imagination done by quack doctors and seeing the countless reports of coveted vaccine injuries and deaths is also said to be hogwash and fake news it is now reported that in the last two quarters of 2021 deaths were up to 40 percent the only thing that has changed is vaccine mandates what side of History
092do you want to be on when the truth that is so blaringly in your face prevails will you be okay with the silence for not speaking up from asking kids or even worse being instrumental in setting up vaccine clinics for children as young as five there are no long-term studies on these vaccines and the data is showing not only does the vaccine not work but it is harmful and should never have been offered to children I want to end by saying I'm happy to hear it our board has drafted a resolution to regain local control to send to our governor I hope the resolution has full support of our entire board this one-man show has gone on for two years and did nothing to curb the kobus threaded of covid sorry it is estimated about
09370 of American citizens have had coveted whether knowingly or unknowingly it is time Bristol regains its local control you were elected to be the defender of children in Bristol you did not delegate that role to the governor so I'm proud that Bristol is one of the few towns so far to draft such resolution I've spoken to Other Board chair members um chairs and members in other districts and they are ready to follow the lead of Bristol so thank you for your initiative on this and Paving the way for others to follow too under keeps 2022 whole agenda is states that they believe the state must heed its constitutional mandate to provide a free and appropriate public education to all Connecticut students not allowing a bare-faced child a public education would be unconstitutional and would violate
094that child's right also in their agenda Estates Kate believes that local governance of public education through locally elected or appointed community members strengthen the Democratic process provides accountability and assures strong continuing public support of Education I agree with these statements so again it is time Bristol regained local control and the board would also have my full support to separate from keep and follow their beliefs for local accountability thank you my final thought is where are the field trips the kids have not been on field trips in three years thank you thank you [Applause] next is Kristen Bevins good evening everyone I hope everyone's having a fantastic evening uh when is this going to end almost everything we have said that's ridiculous has now been proven to have been ridiculous we no longer contact Trace at
095the school because it's ridiculous how many children miss school because they might have coveted our children missed so much because of might never have I personally seen a child as a close contact actually get it we no longer quarantine 10 to 14 days why because it's ridiculous we no longer believe cloth masks work because that's ridiculous according to the CDC anyways there have been 1 223 coveted cases in school so far this year but we say masks protect us here's another ridiculous idea masks don't work what they do work at is increasing anxiety it does work to lower self-esteem it does work to push adult fears onto children since when do we put adult fears above our children's well-being they are there to teach and to make them feel safe and in this instance they
096have failed my children running in my child running in gym class while sucking in paper masks feeling like she's suffocating my child who gets Mass breaks which I'm grateful for but misses half her lesson we are more worried about all inclusive trans kids proper pronouns furries blacks whites political correctness and our woke Society rather than the health and mental strain this puts on all of them I will remind you all that you are elected officials here to serve our students the majority majority of Voters wanted you here we ask you to stand with us if this is a position to hold just because you can say you're on the board please step down we are here to fight for our beliefs and our children why aren't you local control is where we need to be
097take the power so you can follow what your constituents want I'm glad to see it is on the agenda and I hope it has the support thank you thank you next is Brianna tirado my name is Brianna Charter I live at 41 Leon Road and I'm also a presidential student I come here today to talk about how Mass have affected me and how I'm treated differently due to me not being vaccinated the government's Powers have gone on for way too long and students and parents are forced to follow the mandates hoping it don't hoping they don't get extended we want this to end lose the masks I have asthma and they want me running the mile and and I'm already struggling the hot air blowing back on my face feeling like I'm suffocating as the
098mess sucks back into my face I it has been proving Mass do not work the damage is causing to kids mentally some kids like to stay hidden from their peers and their teachers having a mask on how can we tell our friends our struggles in life when they stay hidden behind a mask not being vaccinated I'm treating differently because I'm told I wouldn't get as much trouble with my mass being done if I was vaccinated being being asked in front of my peers if I'm vaccinated or not is not okay we know getting the vaccination you can still get and give coven it does not matter stop the mandates follow the science my parents always made the best medical conditions for me no needs for the government to do so I survived cancer because of
099my parents they may because they made the best medical decision for me no one told them what to do they could have refused treatment and let me die no one told them anything I trust my parents to make the best medical decision for me not the government thank you [Applause] thank you run a new paper I'm sorry if I'm dismantling your name foreign oh you know what she I read her into the record Buena are you here as well because you've already been reading to the record okay thanks um Kristen Bergeron good evening board uh Madam chair um I'm here to show my full support for sending a resolution for local control to the the governor and and I hope that everyone on the board supports it I encourage you to be as strong as
100possible in your wording to my knowledge we are the first town to do this it would be great if Bristol could set a president and cause a ripple effect throughout the state and Inspire other towns to send in their own resolutions I think we all know that the governor isn't going to let these mandates go without a fight he wants the school Mass Community codified and one Fell Swoop along with 10 other emergency orders as an educator it makes me stick to my stomach also is the mask mandate contingent on the Esser funding my understanding is that it is and if that is true with declining future Esser funds give the district more autonomy I know it's a lot of money but to me it just seems like an offer from The Godfather that you
101can't refuse and there are to my understanding additional rounds of Esser funding scheduled to be dulled out through the fall of 2023 so there's no plan to unmask the children before then um I that young lady that spoke earlier um I identified with her a lot because um I went through a lot of the same troubles that she did but I'm a teacher um I I I don't take I I do what I know is in the best interest for the children and I don't listen to government officials in Ivory Towers that know nothing about education and I've been quite busy in the private sector and change is going to come from within so I I really I missed the classroom I want to be back in the classroom but there's also a chance I
102could be busy again in the private sector come the fall of next year so you know either way I'll be okay but I'm here to speak for for the families and and for the children who are are really suffering the most thank you thank you next will be at Jasmine and Mary hickey let's see I'm Jasmine and I live on 25 Toy Street and I can talk about positions and how it scares me a lot with my anxiety um there's a lot of yelling and screaming on the bus and um he's dirty noise canceling headphones yeah uh he has noise canceling headphones but the yelling and screaming is so glad um that my brother says that he doesn't even want to use them anymore because he said that so you said that it wouldn't work
103anyway because they're because everyone is yelling and screaming anyway and I'm concerned how the bus driver is driving when everyone is so loud I'm concerned how she's concentrating on the road there is a lot of swearing and bad music notice people are switching seats when and setting up when the bus is still moving there's people fighting and I've seen people lunging at people from other seats at each other and I make Grayson sit by the window and I sit in the alley just in case a fight does happen I'm I'm the one that gets hurt and he doesn't Miss Lisa my old bus driver used to check the seats to make sure everyone got off at the correct destination but this bus driver does not Miss Lisa would stop the bus to tell everyone to
104stop yelling and then she would continue to drive but to sleep bus driver there's not even stop she just keeps driving like she doesn't have ears um so I'm going to speak a little bit too on the same thing um so I'm speaking for both of my children who ride bus 13 for West Bristol um specifically the experiences they've been having um it's been bad overall for a while but it got worse after their bus driver had to had to leave um Jasmine has had anxiety attacks in the morning because she doesn't know what bus driver they're going to have or if it's somebody who can control the kids um she says there's hitting slapping swearing bullying jumping over seat standing in the aisle playing music with inappropriate lyrics and as she said my son
105said his headphones don't even drown out the noise um there's no seating right now forcing younger kids to sit in the back of the bus there's no like assigned seating um and my 11 year old has to Shield her brother from any fights and I hope you agree that that's not something an 11 year old should have to worry about on a school bus um and when asked why she doesn't speak up and she says why they don't do anything to the bullies and they just get madder um and so it's like what is it going to take before corrective action is done is it going to take someone getting hurt um it's not an isolated incident I've lived here for 17 years and friends are experiencing the same things on the bus um kids
106missed their own driver someone who you know she cared enough to keep them safe she paid attention to the well-being you know of my well-behaved children um so please help address this issue and you know let's see if we can get the kids a safe environment to ride to school thank you [Applause] thank you Mary thank you Jazzy you're the chair for the chair can I get uh the name and address for the the last two speakers yes I I have those for you do you need them now or I'm sorry okay next um Sam Marcella karowski hi bristol board of ed I'm Marcela karowski I'm actually a resident of Wallingford but I really hope that this resolution passes for our choices um to be made um I'm sorry I was informed that because you
107were not a Bristol resident you are not able to speak okay I I heard otherwise so thank you Emily Michaud hi everybody my name is Emily Michaud I live at 19 Driftwood Road here in Bristol I'm here today because I am going to tell you about my personal experiences given this entire situation I'm a 29 year old single mother of two children I have a three-year-old and an eight-year-old my eight-year-old did not attend school the year that coronavirus exploded um simply because of the mass mandates when that ended and the next year came on my three-year-old was supposed to be going to preschool and my older daughter would go back to school if things were going to change things did not change so I had to make a choice I had to make a choice
108to either remain lower on the totem pole financially or I had to make a choice to slave to the dollar and put them in the school where I knew they would be abused I had to make that choice against my own personal feelings um I had to do what was best for them and in four months I was able to take them back out of Bristol Public Schools and I say that with pride because I have actually had to go to the school and ask them why they returned my child away and tell me who told them that they could and the only answer that I was given was it's a law last time I checked it is not a ratified law you can't arrest me for a misdemeanor for not wearing a mask in
109a public building you cannot arrest my child for not wearing a mask in a public building you also cannot arrest the child for not being vaccinated and today I stood downstairs where they would not allow us to come upstairs because we were at capacity when there is not a legal capacity to uphold and then if you're going to tell me that there's a Corona reason how many people in here don't have a mask how many of you are masked so the rules only apply when you choose to apply them and who you choose to apply them to and as a resident as a citizen of the state of the country I don't owe you an explanation as to why I don't want to wear a mask I don't even have to ask for your permission
110I'm an unmasked unmuzzled unvaccinated and unafraid and I have the right to be that way and you don't get to tell me that I don't and you certainly don't get to tell my kids that they don't either and I will continue to keep them out of the school district not because I think I can do a better job but because I know that they are safe with me and they are safe with the people that I put them around because they support me and they support my choice and my freedom and I will continue to do that thank you Allison Adams okay good evening boy my name is Allison Adams I live at 35 George Street um I'm actually here just to share a few things I didn't plan to speak tonight but I do
111have some messages from my nieces and nephews that are students here in elementary school they range from ages of six to nine this one is from my niece uh her name is Kaylee the The Masks are uncomfortable they make it hard this is for my nephew Ethan The Masks are make it hard to breathe my nephew Logan who is soon to be nine I hate masks it's hard to breathe especially in gym for my six-year-old niece Ashland I feel so sad I miss my friend's Smiles this is we are destroying our children's social abilities to learn to interact do the right thing past the resolution thank you Miss Brown are you able to access online to see if there were any public participants who wanted to speak online foreign hand raised earlier and messaged that
112gentleman and he did not message me back so other than that I don't see any participants online okay then that will conclude our public speaking portion for this evening we will now move on to deliberated items and District leadership team reports first up will be Jill this will be to a point a board of ed commissioner to the srr building committee I can speak to Okay I can give you an overall general idea thank you um at last month's city council meeting uh this building committee was formed by the city council and the first order of business is three members will be appointed to the committee one from the Board of Education one from the board of finance and one from the city council once we have our Three core members we'll call it according
113to our city Charter six more members will be um appointed through our three members and the remaining members will be two citizen taxpayers that must be from the school area to be served one citizen taxpayer from the district Community as a whole one representative from the professional education staff here at the Bristol school district and then two members from the professional and or commercial or industrial community of the city so that will round out so tonight you are going to appoint the member from the Board of Education yes it is my honor to appoint commissioner tagriello as the Board of Ed commissioner to the srr fulf building committee next we will have our January enrollment count for the 2021-2022 school year Dr Galloway good evening I report out on enrollment numbers three times a year
114at the beginning of the year in October and in January the numbers I'm going to speak to you about tonight compare this January to last January in the interest of time I will summarize my report and it won't report each school but I'll give you the overall from last January to this January the K5 numbers increased by four so instead of me reading every school it's four K five the average class size K5 is 20.5 in our schools six seven and eight That's chippings Green Hills Northeast and West Bristol it's a decrease of 44 students from last year this time our high school numbers for Bristol Central and Bristol Eastern there's an increase of 27 students and overall district-wide there's an increase of 17 students from last January to this January 19 students have returned
115back to the district from magnet schools and that concludes my enrollment report pending your questions through the charge I just have one um can you begin the process of modeling out the average class size as we go along a reimagining plan and what would be the average class size for that K5 Outlook have you have you looked at the header we did that was part of the modeling that we did during the work with the board when they were looking at the various configurations in contemplating split school um and what grade bands are appropriate contractually we have uh rules around K1 and 2 at 22 per classroom and then it's a broader when you get three through eight we use no more than 25 in the classroom as a threshold when we were doing this
116study okay through the chair go ahead Dr Galloway would it be possible in the enrollment report by the way thank you very much um for providing this level of detail to the board it definitely helps and your summary is fine because we have this before us uh is it possible to um notate for the board uh the amount of students that are experiencing homelessness so we can follow that Trend and also the number of students that have chosen homeschool but the Lea is still responsible for advising yes it is possible thank you for you any other questions thank you Dr Galloway thank you I do need to take one step back as I did a point commissioner tagariello but we do need to take it to a vote so I would love a motion to
117approve that commissioner tagarella would be appointed to as the Board of Ed commissioner to the srr building committee second motion has been made and seconded is there any discussion hearing none all in favor please say aye aye opposed abstentions motion carries next for our special services leadership team report Dr Culkin okay that's fine I can move on with the agenda and we can have her work back in we can now move on to curriculum of vision Dr sarley you have five things to present to us this evening I do but I'm going to be succinct okay so the first one I'm presenting to you is dramatic theater I did present this to student achievement just a few weeks ago I do want to recognize our teachers Teresa McDonald Lisa Carroll and Lindsey dph who created
118the entire theater curriculum for their hard work on this so for this this is dramatic theater it is a half credit course with no prerequisite it will be offered in the fall semester only that's intentional because it aligns with fall dramas students will study contemporary and classic plays while learning performance skills and basic theater elements class will culminate in a performance of either a play or scenes from various plays there's a total of seven units which are designed to scaffold off of each other to prepare them for the performance for example in the first four units students are learning technical skills such as projection and where to take creative Liberties as well as how to work with others in order to prepare for their audition skills which culminates in a final performance are there any
119questions that I could answer at this time I didn't believe something okay so we're gonna move on so this is our second reading of the instrumental Ensemble curriculum specifically for beams um and this course is of a full credit so it's a full year course with no prerequisite uh there are eight units that you could see up there and they are scaffolded and they layer on top of each other throughout the year uh the first reading was presented in our January Board of Ed meeting I have not received any questions but if there are any at this time I could take them um or I would ask for a motion I'm looking for a motion please to dissimulate the motion to approve the new instrumental Ensemble curriculum second promotion has been made and seconded any
120discussion hearing none all in favor please say aye aye aye opposed abstentions thank you motion passes okay so next up is our second reading of intermediate acting again this is a half credit course uh no prerequisite and it's specific for beams um there's seven units that similarly build upon each other and this was also presented in January and I haven't received any questions in the month that's passed so if there's any I could take them or I would also request for a motion I'm looking for a motion place for approval of intermediate acting so moved back in motion has been made and seconded is there any discussion hearing none all in favor please say aye aye opposed abstentions motion carries thank you okay the next one is musical theater again this is specific for beams
121it's a half credit course with no prerequisite the only difference is it will be a spring offer spring offering only and that's again due to the musical theater performance that happens in the springtime um this was presented at the January Board of Ed meeting I haven't received any questions I'm willing to take any um or I would also request for a motion so I moved second motion has been made and seconded is there any discussion hearing none all in favor please say aye aye opposed abstentions motion carries okay so this is the last one for tonight and this is uh the physical theater and movement it's a four unit series it's half a credit no prerequisite again presented it a month ago I haven't received anything I can take any questions or I would request
122a motion for approval so moved second motion has been made and seconded is there any discussion hearing none all in favor please say aye aye opposed abstentions thank you Dr sarley thank you so much and next for textbook adoption Dr reckenberg good evening Commissioners um early in the fall our AP and ECE chemistry teachers came together to review three potential new textbooks they scored those textbooks against a rubric and the rubric had categories like the alignment of the content the ECE and AP curriculum accurate presentation of content promoting higher order thinking includes authentic activities aimed at building student understanding addresses skills and practices within the AP and ECE curriculum and uses a variety of modalities to meet diverse Learners in the process of reviewing the three textbooks the Top Choice was the chemistry the central
123science from Pearson this is actually the 15th Edition which we are recommending to the board um interestingly enough our previous Edition was the 11th edition of this text so our teachers are very comfortable with this text it also has an online component as well so students can access the book digitally or in hard copy there is also a component to this text that is called mastering chemistry which provides online tutorials simulations and support students at home as they're learning through the process I have samples in my office for anybody that would like to preview them um and please just Reach Out thank you okay next up is policy revision Dr Dieter I'm super excited about this one thank you chair for our consideration this evening is a new policy policy 6163.33 animals in the classroom
124the subcomm as commissioner d'antonio has reported earlier the policy subcommittee met to review this proposed policy and we are asking for your approval we've expanded the frequency of inviting therapy animals into our buildings these highly trained animals when they come into our spaces and programs um as frequently as they have been we determined that we needed to move to a place to codify uh uniform procedures and policies across the board this would include credentialing Insurance proper training Etc and just for a point of clarification these are therapy animals which are different than service animals service animals would be covered under the Ada the policy committee has reviewed the documents that are shared in the agenda and unanimously recommended it to the full board for approval I'd be happy to answer any questions that you may
125have hearing no questions may I have a motion to approve policy 6163.33 live animals in the classroom motion has been made I need a second second all right thank you motion has been made and seconded is there any discussion hearing none all in favor please say aye aye opposed abstentions thank you very much thank you moving on to new business as I'm not aware of any new business to be falling before the board so we can next move on to building reports first will be Dr Dieter to discuss mbiams thank you again um the as reported previously the lottery is underway the final round will be completed this coming weekend we've had tremendous interest in the program and we've been answering the phone quite a bit providing updates and clarification to families OTL continues to
126impress with the quality and rigor of course offerings for Pathways at beams as well as in our existing schools and programs the project continues with substantial completion of the third floor and finishes emerging on all levels as we discussed at a previous meeting ffne schedule has been submitted to OPM for their approval Mrs Landon and Mr Callahan are working through this multi-day task the project continues on time and within budget recent progress photos have been scrolling as I've been doing the voiceover two weeks ago we did take a delivery of our theater light it was returned to the building and was installed without incident thank goodness and with some Fanfare for those of us that have endured ourselves to that aspect of the project we're getting close to pictures of that which I will um
127talk you through do we have the oh here we go so uh here's our theater space coming together you really get a sense for the enormity of that space the natural light and some of the restored features that are going into that space um these are photos of the uh theater light prior to uh restoration this is in process at a local shop here melnick's which is just adjacent to the Board of Ed this is the crew and here we have the light fully restored and operational with uh the LED fixtures and here we have the Cradle hoisting it through the window to get a sense of this is uh just over 10 10 feet across going through the window that had remained out of crane setting it in and final picture of the theater
128light in place so this is a important artifact to the city many of the features of this light were made here locally in the sessions Factory over 100 years ago before concluding our remarks I just want to take this opportunity to once again thank the generous donations of both the model construction and QAM architecture their combined donation of fifty thousand dollars is being applied to Restoration efforts within that theater space so we're very grateful and fortunate for that donation thank you very much next to discuss the South Side School HVAC project Mr Callahan good evening everyone um South Side School uh is moving along we still have an issue with one of the deacons uh units that's on the roof uh has has been leaking it leaked uh on January 20th with uh the driving
129rain and winds on that day uh we are working through some more water tests we're hoping that we'll get that solved and taken to step into the plate and continuing to help us with that and we plan on doing one more water test uh on uh this Friday uh to check out uh to make sure that uh We've we've got that last problem solved so that's where we are with south side and we're working through punch list issues and uh everything is uh is on schedule any questions I don't believe there are any questions thank you very much thank you next on our agenda is discussion and possible action concerning a proposed resolution for the Governor's executive powers as all Commissioners know you've been forwarded a copy of a resolution that would be sent to
130Governor London Ned Lamont Matt Ritter who's The Speaker of the House and the Connecticut state legislature Martin Looney president and pro-temper of the Senate Connecticut state legislature Charlene Russell Tucker Connecticut State Board of Education commissioner and Manisha jusani MD commissioner of the state of Connecticut Department of Public Health before discussion I will entertain a motion to accept the resolution as written I just would like to respectfully ask that each commissioner would speak on the issue once and may speak again following all Commissioners having had the opportunity to speak to the chair at this time I'd like to make a motion to adopt the following resolution regarding returning full decision and policy making Authority back to the local Boards of Education in lieu of operating under emergency executive Authority or legislative mandate the resolution reads as
131follows whereas the state of Connecticut has been operating under a state of Public Health Emergency declared by Governor Lamont for nearly two full years and whereas the impact of the covid-19 pandemic has ebbed and flowed while our understanding of the virus and the ability of our Health Care system and local government to manage it have steadily increased and whereas there is no current emergency which prevents or prohibits state or local government from meeting to make policy for their constituencies and whereas our system of laws and Justice in Connecticut and throughout the United States of America relies on a recognition that individual citizens are the highest Authority when it comes to their personal choices including but not limited to decisions affecting their health travel employment Association and customary lawful behavior and whereas local Town governments including
132our Board of Education is the proper body to determine policy affecting the citizens of our town and whereas our local government has been restricted in making policy for our town and our school system by the actions of Governor Lamont and state government agencies under his control including but not limited to the State Department of Public Health and the State Department of Education and whereas state government and the governor of the state of Connecticut are poised in the next several weeks to adopt legislation extending the authority of the governor unilaterally to override the proper power of local government and to diminish the right of the free citizens to exercise their own liberty and judgment and whereas the Constitution calls on three co-equal branches of government and the legislative branch debates and passes laws and the executive
133branch enforces those laws and administer state government and whereas the people of our town have spoken and expect us to act on their behalf to defend their constitutional freedoms and to set policies for our town now therefore be it resolved at the bristol board of education and regular session assembled calls upon the governor of the state of Connecticut and the Connecticut General Assembly to rescind any executive or legislative Authority created in response to the covid-19 pandemic that overrides the proper local control of the Board of Education of the City of Bristol and to haul any further similar actions by the executive or legislative branch be it further resolved that the board of educations shall be restored as the policy-making body for the local school district as it was prior to the covid-19 pandemic and that
134it shall make policy in keeping with the state and federal constitutions and the consent of the people who elected them to office second the motion has been made and seconded is there any discussion yes um hearing of this for the first time yesterday when it was sent to the full board I have some questions the first is who wrote this so I had sent this to you it wasn't yesterday but I can look back I know it was no years yesterday I'll double check that because I I sent it far earlier than that it was drafted by commissioner G Antonio so one commissioner wrote this alone one commissioner does have the right to ask for something to be put on the agenda I'm not asking who has the right I'm I'm looking for clarification yeah
135no that's fine there's only one commissioner that wrote this alone like no one else worked on this no it was commissioner Antonio we worked on this I I submitted a resolution that was drafted with typical resolution language and how you write a resolution also collaborating with local officials who confirmed that this is the proper way to write a resolution and I was presented to the caucus and asked to be put on the agenda okay I'm not questioning the legality of the way it was done I'm questioning if we're a board of nine people why I myself and the my caucus the Democrats were not ever just this wasn't something that was discussed with us we were never asked how we felt or had any kind of dialogue or conversation or you know this wasn't something
136this was just something that we learned about through an email but people who are testifying today had information that this was going to happen and knew that this was happening and so it feels it feels like we are not apart we are a fragmented marginalized part of this board it does not feel like we are being acknowledged or engaged in these types of conversation and I would like to say that I would appreciate in the future when we're going to put something forward like that that we be included in a conversation when it's something to do with a resolution that represents all of the constituents in Bristol um I look at this and I read it and I see that it says the people have spoken while I'm in the minority party on this board
137I'm on this board and I am curious as to know what people have spoken because we represent over 60 000 people in Briscoe and I want to know if we did any type of survey or we held any Community forums or we talked if if I'm on the board and I wasn't just this wasn't even discussed with board members I'm wondering how we can be so confident to put forth something like this without serving Schools staff students families community members there was none of that that was done as far as I know please correct me if I'm wrong but I I know nothing about that so there's a chair through the chair um I'm not I wanted to finish I'm so I'm sorry I thought you were done no please um I also am confused
138as to the purpose of this I understand that people are frustrated with masks and they're over the masking I get it it's frustrating right but the governor has an executive order in place we have no control over that that executive order is set to sunset at the end of this month at the same time he was on the news today saying that he's considering lifting The Mask mandate so these are all things based on the numbers the science you know these are things that are being considered and these decisions may be made within the next few weeks I I feel like it the letter itself what is the outcome that we're looking for and this is a question now for the chair do we actually believe that by sending a resolution for a referendum or
139this this document that we are going to be a sovereign District that he's going to say Bristol alone is exempt from the executive order is that the intention I'm going to ask through the chair point of order yeah right I'm getting to that right now thank you commissioner River and commissioner scholinka I do need the gallery to be silent while we are conducting our business Kristen did you want to speak uh since I was asked the questions I brought forth the motion um this motion clearly has been very clear and distributed it's about because of the current deliberations that are going on at the state it is a board's attempt to request that the governor consider that local Boards of Ed would like to resume their local control there was nothing in here that said
140anything about mass for clarification we are looking for him to consider that there are local Boards of Education that would like to go back to regular policy making Authority it was very clear in the first paragraph and throughout the whereas Clause statements I know that not everybody has the same experience with writing resolutions or reading them but clearly it's declaring the reasons why we would ask for local control back because it's I'm powered by us as a local Board of Ed to be the policy making decider that's what you'd run for that's what you get elected for that's all this is It's a request to make sure that the excuse me excuse me excuse yes it says Bristol okay okay so when the governor is still in deliberations between now and this and and what
141during this period of time we had an opportunity at this meeting to create a voice because we are a local board and that decision is coming up in a very short time frame it is another vehicle to express the board's request about why they want their policy making Authority return to them it's really just that simple it okay so in my opinion commissioner ponds I do need to allow all Commissioners to speak before we go back and forth if that's okay unless this is a continuation of what you are already saying yeah a continuation of what I was already saying okay what I was saying is I understand what was written I can read what was written I guess what I don't understand is if there is an actual expectation that Bristol would be considered
142as a town that did not have to that regained its local Authority while an executive order is still active because there there is no precedence for that this isn't something that happens where we just separate and we're our own entity outside of the governor's executive order so I would motion that we postpone this until next board meeting to see if the executive order is lifted and the sun sets and it's a non-issue and we go back to business as normal motion okay there's a motion that has been made and seconded to postpone this item agenda we're still on the first motion we are still however on the first motion so actually the postponement takes precedence over the primary motion this is privilege okay so then I will now ask for a roll call vote for
143Commissioners who would like to post this moment allows debate okay so if anybody would like to speak to postponing this please feel free to speak now I'll speak to that motion I think it's uh premature for us to be considering this resolution until such time as we know the direction um that we're going and then secondly I think it's clear that the board is divided on this issue so for us to send a resolution that does not represent both sides of the debate um is unfair to those that end up on the minority side of the debate so I think it would be appropriate to have more discussion on this since this is the first time this board has spoken about this issue at all so I would think postponement so we can all delve
144into the intricacies of the resolution so that we know what we're voting for okay I will just address what you had said and then if any other commissioner wants to speak we can speak and then take a vote um in the event that the vote is along party lines the Republican caucus or Democratic caucus whoever so chooses can send a similar communication or resolution and they can sign it and Commissioners who are dissenting do not have to be any part of it so you would never be in a position where anything is put out that does not have your approval does anyone else have any communication that they want to share on this particular vote yeah I I through the chair um I don't really see a reason to postpone this resolution regardless of the
145fact if we're divided if we always waited to take action when we're divided we'd never take action at all and I think that I'll speak to this later and by support of the resolution but this has been a two-year running event there are this is a multi-faceted issue um I saw that just two days ago the governor because he's up for re-election hinted at the possibility of returning us to local control I think this allows the Board of Education to take a position statement which we have been asked to do multiple times not just by one percent of this community but by many many people so I will uh I will not be voting in favor to postpone the motion thank you yes is so just to address that and I did check the timeline
146of my emails everyone including Dr Carbone the Republican caucus and you all received this on the same day which was January 31st it was Monday I did include in the email if you had any questions comments or concerns you could certainly reach out to me or to commissioner G Antonio as she was the one who penned it so correct she spoke with the caucus the day that she submitted it to us which was Monday and Dr Carbone can confirm that as well because I sent her the email directly before I sent it to you guys breakfast thank you for your comments do anyone else have comments that they want to share on the postponement of this item agenda through the chair yes I would just like to to voice my opinion and kind of echo
147what commissioner tagariello said um if we wait until there's unanimous consensus behind the uh a vote we'd never take a vote on this this board because it doesn't seem that there ever will be unanimous consent um second of all to wait for the governor um we're going on two years of these executive orders and numerous times an expiration date has come and it's just been uh re-upped and it continues to go on to wait for the governor to finally decide that he is going to give us back the power uh the authority I should say excuse me wrong choice of words that the people of Bristol voted us voted for us to have that authority to make these decisions waiting on the governor to give that back to us is is a foolish thing for
148us to do at this point and even if we will not be a local autonomous group um who is going to be uh uh you know outside of the governor's mandate I understand what commissioner ponds is saying but nonetheless our voice does need to be heard and the voice of the people who elected Us in this town needs to be heard and there were thousands of people who came out for the election and um overwhelmingly voted for the people who are sitting on this board here tonight and so for us to waste this opportunity and not take the action that this resolution provides I think would be foolish and therefore that's why I would vote for this resolution that give is there any further discussion on postponement of this agenda item if not I would
149like to ask Ms Everett for a roll call vote if you are in favor of postponing this until next month please vote Yes if you are not please vote no commissioner Carlson no commissioner G Antonio no commissioner ponds commissioner scalanka nope commissioner sturgeon no commissioner tagarello no commissioner vibbert yes commissioner Wilson yes chair Dewey no okay so the motion has failed so now we will go back to the original motion on the table and I will now open it up for discussion on said motion yeah um you know I agree with commissioner bonds um it it's nice to be consulted it would be nice if there was you know a survey or something the governor's office has never sent me a survey they've never asked local Boards of Education the governor made this made the
150mask mandate on his own without question without asking local control whether local control could uh you know have any any say on it they just overrode us all and said you will do what we say and that's it and then it was re-upped and re-upped were on omnicron we're going through the alphabet on the Greek alphabet on all these variations covet is here to stay but damn it these masks suck and I'm tired of them we have third graders now 38 are reading at grade level in grade three that's that's embarrassing schools falling apart and this the actions of the governor are directly causing it I uh given the depth of this motion I had actually prepared some remarks for it and uh it's only one page please bear with me Madam chairman the resolution
151before us gives our board an opportunity to be a voice for our community as well as ourselves for the past two years our state government has worked to steer the way for how everything operates during the declared pandemic actions have demonstrated areas of Praise And of course criticism we have heard from our community regarding many issues ranging from student access to resources as they were forced to stay home and learn to masking during hours-long school sessions to the acute need for increased awareness and assistance in the area of Mental Health without any doubt a panda a pandemic coupled with rules which often limited contact has had an adverse impact on adults and more importantly our Young Learners governing administrating and operating during a pandemic is not an easy task as an executive at a growing
152company I know all too well the pains many of us face when it came to making decisions for the safety of our Workforce as well as our customers at the same time it was clear and present how has this pandemic progressed rulemaking and extensions of unilateral Authority made less and less sense spikes in hospitalizations and infections became more predictable and seasonal managing the pandemic which certainly has entered the endemic phase has become more reasonable this is why this resolution makes sense as our legislature considers codifying or codification or extension of executive Authority I think it is time to make a point it is time to make clear that a collaborative approach among stakeholders is far more appropriate at this time than seeding our decision-making authority to Powers elsewhere I think it is time for all
153elected officials to abandon their couches or vacation homes and come back to the table face to face with their constituents as we enter into this endemic phase of the coronavirus it is incredibly important that those with oversight responsibility are able to exercise that Authority and answer for their actions it is time to move Beyond passing the buck and it's time to work together to collaborate on how we will continuously respond to our constituent needs Madam chairman for these reasons articulated I support the resolution thank you anyone else in this side moving down the line commissioner Robert do you have anything else you would like to share I can't hear so uh commission Wilson will speak if no one else is commissioner Viber is speaking she will now speak a little louder into the microphone okay
154good here can you hear me now yes thank you um I am going to vote no and I I'm also sure that it's going to pass be that as it may if this is sent to the legislature and to Matt Ritter and to the sde or whoever I want my name listed as dissenting as voting no I don't feel that I have to write a separate thing saying that I voted no of course I know that most things in the Board of Ed when we vote on them if you voted against it and it passed you have to support it when it comes to curriculum and other things like that but resolutions we don't have to support it going forward so if and when it passes and it's sent out my name she dissented of
155course that is fine commissioner scalanka commissioner Antonio I just yeah I wanted to say oh correct commission yep commissioner Wilson do you want to speak or do you want me to speak before you how do you want to go I don't know if it's my choice whatever the chairs decides I would like commissioner Wilson to be able to speak first before we have any second comments okay um you know I personally have been involved in making resolutions in the past both in this organization and others so I certainly support resolutions I always try to bring resolutions that I knew I would have 100 100 support or I would try to change the resolution so that I could get a hundred percent uh support by collaborating with those who might have disagreed with my opinion um
156that's clue didn't happen in this case in fact I was informed today that our board chair um had remarks read into the record at the State Board of Education before we even discussed this issue so um it's clear that we're not in a mode of collaboration I've always viewed myself I guess as an institutionalist that is I support institutions that support people other people not just me or my own vested interest but I'm concerned about all 8 000 students that are in our district not a certain segment of the students that are in the district we have 1200 staff people that I'm worried about if we unmask and they will be at risk for getting the pandemic I think we have to care about others other than ourselves even if it doesn't affect us today
157marks ten thousand people dying in Connecticut and when someone dies in a family of the pandemic it's just not the dead person that we reflect upon but all the disruption in the family I think it's important that we think about that and we've always aligned ourselves to safety and protocols and safety for all of our students on all of our staff and I think this policy has been a good policy and I've supported this policy I am not sure where the people that wrote this uh resolution got their information but I have family members who work in the healthcare business and I have not seen it ebb much uh since the Delta variate variant and they would suggest that it has not had there is some data that's supported starting to ebb but we're still
158seeing a high influx of people in hospitals getting sick and overburdening hospitals and uh elective procedures not being done because we're still dealing with so many people uh with the pandemic another point I'd like to make is that we in the Board of Education are really an agent of the state The Authority for Education doesn't come from a local municipality but it comes from the state the state decides when students go to school the state decides what criteria teachers and administrators have um and so to say that to bring local control back to the bristol board of education is kind of a misnomer because we've never had local control entirely now we've had some control and we've lost some control in the over the pandemic I suspect over the masking is really the only thing
159that I can think of that might have we have lost in control and so I guess that's the only thing that this resolution is really about I understand it didn't address masking but it seems to me that's what it's all about is the masking um and again I get back to the point of yes there was an election and the election caused the changes and the elections have consequences for sure but we all the people that won the election got voted in by six or seven thousand people and as someone mentioned we have 60 000 people in our our town so I'm not sure that that is has create a benchmark as we all think um and um I guess I'll lend it at that there's a chair point of clarity the resolution asked for
160policy making Authority back to the Local District that is the sole governing mission of the Board of Education it's written in the statute that Boards of Education are responsible for local policy making that affect their local school district it doesn't say anything other than that commissioner Pence yeah like Karen agree that it will pass and I too would not want to be on that letter as somebody who supports um I I don't see it as being something that's feasible I don't see it as something that's going to be recognized by the governor or the commissioner of Education or the commissioner of the Department of Public Health I I see it as you wanting to be heard and that that can happen um I also want to say that as Chris stated 7 000 people voted
161each one of us who are sitting on this board in approximately that's about the number of votes we got 700 000 people voted in the governor um and Eric recognized it's nice to be consulted or surveyed or discussed to have matters discussed and to take input and I think we should lead with how we think things should be if if we wish that we were surveyed we should do that for our community I don't think we should um move recklessly or make decisions without speaking to all of the public that wants to be heard I think we should do we should lead by the example that we would we would like that consideration we should give that consideration to others thank you if there is no other discussion before the board I would like a
162roll call vote to accept the resolution as written commissioner Carlson yes Antonio yes commissioner ponds yeah commissioner spelanka yes commissioner sturgeon yes commissioner tagarello yes commissioner Robert commissioner Wilson no chair Dublin yes motion passes 63. now this time I need to go back to our District leadership team reports and allow Dr Culkin to please speak to the special services leadership team report foreign so our January enrollment report for students with special education services has a January 3rd student count of students eligible within our district of 1678 students and that was out of a total of students at the time enrolled of 8099 students as of January 3rd we have a 20.72 percent identification rate in Bristol Public Schools during the month of December there were 45 of our newly registered students identified as students with
163special needs at the time of registration also during the month of December two students newly enrolled in Bristol Public Schools already receiving their programs and services through out of District special education programs as of January 1st 118 of our 1678 students are requiring out-of-district placements at special education private school programs and 69 students requiring their special education programming while they attend other public out of district schools such as magnet schools that number reflects seven additional private out of District school program placements and two less Public School placements as compared to our district out of District placements the previous month that's a snapshot of our special education enrollment and also and if you have any questions I'm happy to take them foreign thank you Dr Culkin could we just please include this information with the meeting
164materials it's not in board book in the finance report okay submitted submitted during the finance committee correct but it's not available to be viewed by the public who attends the meeting to review the materials that are being presented and but like the other enrollment numbers are in here as attachments and I'm just asking for it to be treated the same way however you would like that for next month I'm happy to oblige I don't think this is any different than it's been in the past so okay I'll take Dr Corbin's Direction okay also last month I had indicated that I would provide an update regarding esy planning so extended school year planning for summer 20 2022 as you are aware last summer we provided remote instruction for esy and in person for most of our
165related services this year's esy program is being planned to be in person we've conducted nearly all of our interviews for directors positions all of which are internal candidates will be posting for teaching and additional staff positions next week an interest survey was sent to our Bristol special education staff approximately a third of the respondents indicated that they are interested in working in esy this coming summer nearly a third of the staff who responded had also indicated they would be more interested in working in esy if there is a raise in their rate of pay I'm aware that there was some timely work of the stipend committee that may influence this factor I look forward to the decision of the stipend committee not because they think it'll greatly impact our staffing for Bristol Public Schools teachers
166and staff as being interested and potentially available for the summer additionally as we look to expand the hours and days hours days were weeks of esy the majority of responding special education teachers and staff certified staff had indicated their preference for continuing a four-day esy school week Monday through Thursday there was a near split in those who responded with availability to work either 9 to 12 or to extend the day to to the majority however had indicated they would be interested and available for nine to noon there had been interest and the likelihood that we will be able to have those staff who indicated they were interest extending another week so that would make that a five-week session this school year this summer we'll be posting as I mentioned for the teaching para educator staff
167and additional staff with an anticipated esy window of July 5th through August 4th being Mondays through Thursdays the offices of teaching and learning and special services have been looking for opportunities to coordinate to allow for enrichment opportunities is where students attending ES1 might have access to some of the opportunities that their peers have who are participating in summer school that work is ongoing we will have the opportunity to utilize some of the recovery funding to provide expanded and engaging learning opportunities during the esy program whether or not it's in conjunction with the regular Ed summer program or remains independent as an esri program and that's my update for this month through the chair I have a question sure you indicated that a third were interested in the esy a third of the staff who responded
168to this survey indicated interest in working in the summer in a third indicated that they'd be interested in additional pay to do it so some of the folks who said they'd be interested in working said okay that would really be interested if I had more money and others who said that at this time they were not interested they might be if they had a higher rate of pay okay and then my second question when do you normally send out the communication for the esy program for the Florida is it for the staff we usually we post around February for the parents sorry um so parents have their esy programming determined at their individual PPT meetings so those meetings happen they happen throughout the entire school year and while esy is identified as a program and
169it's often referred to as a program the actual design of each individual students esy services are really intended and need to be made on an individual basis so they shouldn't be cookie cutter per se well we might have a program identified for a particular length of time that will not necessarily meet every student's needs and it's not supposed to um it's not supposed to undo the work of a child individual planning and placement team they really do need to address the esy needs of that student to be individual to the child so there is Broad programming but they're they're caveats okay any other questions for Dr Culkin so there's a chair just one clarification on the enrichment piece I'm glad to hear that it's ongoing working to provide enrichment opportunities for those students that would
170be in um esy and especially if the majority of the staff that's willing to support esy has responded as um being mostly available between 9 and 12 so I applaud the efforts to continue to make enrichment available in addition to the 9 to 12 including um uh in addition to whatever's decided in their IEP but having the opportunity to engage in enrichment with their peers has always been something that I've advocated and voice for in the past I'll just remind that um enrichment that's scheduled for typically scheduled for Bristol Public School students was always scheduled in the morning time frame and only had morning offerings with limited afternoon offerings not every year but in some years so that would continue to be an obstacle if those times conflicted so I'm looking forward to hearing the
171continued work on how we can make an enrichment program for those students that want to engage with their peers after esy thanks for the chair last year through use of rsr to monies and it's in our sr2 monies again the only reason why we have the enrichment program is through those monies and we will have a morning and an afternoon program students who may be programmed for esy would have opportunities to engage in enrichment activities in the afternoon um as well as a family that might choose to have their child participate in enrichment activities only partial day but that's not through the general fund that is through our sr2 Monies thank you Dr Culkin next on our agenda are liaison and information reports this month Commissioners that are Liaisons to middle schools and K-8 schools
172will give reports I do ask that reports are given only for middle schools in K-8 schools as they are divided on the agenda for a reason so that all schools are represented equally are there any Commissioners who have a liaison report to a middle school or a K-8 school I will start to my left commissioner Carlson um well I'm pretty much of a report on the school but it is a report on Northeast Middle School now has QA M as the chosen architect by the committee so it's going to essentially be the same team that's working on the boulevard is now going to create the Northeast Middle School thank you Mr sturgeon commissioner thank you Mr James Antonio I do have an update from West Bristol school okay through eight I'm from Dr levasser uh
173December was a busy month at West Bristol school students participated in grinchmas and focused on acts of kindness to grow their hearts three times larger to complement this all Scholars were surprised with the delicious hot chocolate treat as a random act of kindness our fun Patrol has been out and about recognizing staff with small treats and kind words students and staff raised 985.90 for Connecticut Children's Medical Center for a pajama day to complete our December acts of kindness January brought our return from Winter recess and a restart of Pac Pride at West Bristol school we celebrated our January worthy wolves on Monday with a school-wide parade in recognize in recognition of pack Pride students recently participated in a virtual assembly the NED Show which is an interactive educational Journey filled with storytelling Illusions yo-yo tricks
174and humor Ned's message inspires students promotes academic achievement and supports our school goals West Bristol is looking forward to another great month of learning and Community Building thank you commissioner pons commissioner scalinka no ma'am commissioner Wilson no report thank you commissioner Viber I know you're walking back in do you happen to have a liaison report okay city councilwoman Lewis attorney do you have any information over liaise and reports you would like to share with the board at this time not at this time okay at this point I'm going to ask for a motion to vote to convene into executive session for the purpose of discussing superintendent's annual evaluation and 2021-2022 goals second motion has been made and seconded we will be meeting in room 36. thank you no I I did session the contracts but
175yeah it's a secretary that was fun foreign