Board of Education Meeting May 6, 2025

001Good evening and calling the meeting to order. Welcome to the West Harford Public Schools regular board of education meeting. It is Tuesday, May the 6, 2025. Charlotte, may you please call the role. Mr. Gagnon, here. Mr. Goldman, here. Dr. Harris, here. Miss Maramman, excused. Mrs. Nzarella present. Dr. Thomas Farquson here. Mrs. Yagalof present. Student representative Sarah Granquist here. And student representative Alexis Newan here. Thank you. And Alexis, may you please lead us in the pledge of allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you. We do not have a revision to the agenda order. Now we shall proceed to superintendent's presentation where we shall have where we shall have presentation

002of the finalists for the West Hartford Board of Education Teacher of the Year. Passing it to you, Mr. Vicinas. Thank you very much. Um, and this is always one of my absolute uh favorite days of the year. Uh, during my favorite week of the year is teacher appreciation week. Um, and today is National Teacher Appreciation Day. And I can think of no better day uh to honor our 2025 teacher of the year finalists. Um, and before I do so, I just want to uh provide my absolute genuine gratitude to the uh teacher of the year uh committee led by GE. Where's GE here? Oh, it's way in the back, hiding in the back. Michelle Hedlock, Tom Led Veroski um who year after year volunteer their time um and dedicate themselves to really uncovering um the

003absolute brightest, best superstars to represent a district of exceptional teachers. Um and they've certainly done so this year. Uh this is an entirely teacher-led um program. Um, and I just get asked to provide the recognition, which I am so so proud to do. So, without further ado, I'm going to start off. I'm going to uh let me let me announce each of our teacher year finalists, who they are, where they're from, and I'm going to tell you a little bit about each of them, and then we have a small token from the board of education. We'll ask you to come forward uh to to accept uh a token from us. But uh very proud for the following three in alphabetical order. No, no, no spoilers. Um, Danielle Droz of King Phillip Middle [Applause] School, Christina

004Fidelfi of Charter Oak International [Applause] Academy, and Erica Graph also of King Phip Middle School. So, let me begin with Danielle. Danielle is completing her 28th year in education and her 12th year here in the district uh where she has served with absolute distinction as a middle school mathematics teacher. She's a graduate of St. Joseph's University in West Hartford where she earned her master of arts in education with a concentration in middle school mathematics. She attended the University of Connecticut where she earned her bachelor's and she was certified in middle school mathematics through a professional program at Quinnipak University. Uh Danielle is extremely active in her school and district. She's a team leader providing leadership and support to her colleagues, which I believe she's done for nine years. She has served on the school improvement

005committee as well as the professional learning and evaluation committee, helping to lead and achieve organizational and systemic improvement at the building and district levels. She's engaged in the school community, serving multiple years as a school store adviser, keeping that entirely student le, pingpong club adviser, stock market game adviser, and as a brownie and girl cart scout troop leader in her community. She volunteers her time for organizations such as the King Phillip PTO, the New England Board of Educ uh the Newington Board of Education, Newington Little League, and the Lions Club. Danielle's colleagues remarked about her loyalty and her friendliness, her fierce advocacy for students, her incredible support for colleagues, no matter how big or how small they ask. Pretty sure there's some stories about squashing bugs in Hara's classroom. Her love for bus duty of

006all things because she gets to start and end her day with students. And I'm told that walking the halls with Ms. Dro is like walking with a celebrity. Every student she teaches is excited to shout out a hello. And it says here, and I'm not sure what this means, she's more popular than John Sakowski. I'm unclear on that reference. She somehow balances a passion for Patriots football with a love for the Yankees. She always has a new different car, citing that she likes to change it up. In fact, the West Harford police have taken notice given that she parks in the same spot every day, but she seems willing to stand up to that scrutiny. Her principal noted she has passionate about student learning and understanding math and does the work to make sure that

007it happens using strategies to make it stick. She cares deeply about student as learners and as citizens and every kid feels it and knows it. And lastly on the most important question, she's Duncan over Starbucks. My kind of human being. Danielle, please come forward and accept this. Secondly, Christina Fidelfi. Christina's resume boasts 31 years of teaching experience, having been with West Harford Public Schools since 2015. She began in West Hartford as a special education teacher at Wulcat Elementary, transferring to Charter Oak shortly thereafter in 2017. In 2021, she transitioned from special education to general ed as an upper grades classroom teacher. She has developed and taught the international balora primary years program curriculum and her background in special education and trauma-informed instruction make her an invaluable resource and an incredible teacher. She earned her mers

008in education from Leslie University and her bachelor of arts from Wesian. Christina demonstrates impact well beyond the classroom through a wealth of participation in leadership and professional development committees. She led the positive school climate team that examined behavioral data and created systems to provide a a set of tiered supports for students. She has taken on a leadership role as a union representative and served on elementary scheduling and new principal hiring committees. She has taken an active role in developing and leading school and district professional learning around zones of regulation, differentiation, and behavior expectations and interventions. Christina's colleagues remarked about her incredible sense of humor, her genuine connections with others, and her steadfast commitment to colleagues and friends. Her impact on students is powerful. She motivates by tapping into kids' interests and talents as evidenced by

009her genius hour projects. Her principal noted she brings authenticity to everything she does, always speaking honestly and with a clear goal of helping the group to grow and thrive. She's given me a lot of that honest feedback myself. She's a fierce advocate for students, but especially those with greater needs. And above all, she's a connector. Whether hosting summer gettogethers, afterchool socials, or or early morning walks, and yes, I did clean those up. She brings people together and fosters a sense of community wherever she goes. Christina, please come forward to accept our gratitude. [Applause] And thirdly, Erica Graph. Erica has 16 years of experience in secondary education, having begun her career as a high school English teacher. Early in her career, she altered course to follow a passion for school counseling. first as a director of

010high school and college programs before landing at King Phillip Middle School as a counselor in 2019. Eric is a graduate of Central Connecticut State University, earning her master's of science in counselor education and her bachelor of arts in teaching and her teaching certification in secondary English from Eastern Connecticut State University. Erica is a presence at King Phillip, wielding positive influence through her engagement in efforts such as team leader, crisis team member, and leader in residence for the school-based diversion initiative. She supports students beyond her role as a counselor through systemic efforts such as King Phillip Ambassador Student Leadership Program and as club adviser to GSA and the King Phillip Kindness Club. She is well respected by her peers and has been nominated for the keeper of the light for her exemplary practice, professionalism, and dedication

011to excellence. Erica's colleagues remarked that she shines as a student advocate and an amazing teammate. She serves as a co-chair to the cheer committee and is always finding creative and uplifting ways to support staff morale, camaraderie, and fun in the building. During lunch waves, she creates a safe space for as many as 10 students who in her office who flock to her for her warmth, a feeling of safety, and belonging. She is a leader in restorative practices and skillful in resolving difficult student relational issues with both caring and concern. Her principal commented that she's an outside the box thinker who is constantly innovating and in support of creative means to help children access their education. She consistently goes the extra mile through home visits, phone calls, and outreach between schools to support the mission of

012reaching every child every day. Everyone deserves a school counselor as dedicated as Erica. Please come forward and accept our gratitude. [Applause] Those are our three finalists. I could not be more proud. And if we can offer one more round of applause for all three of them. Indeed. Well, we're standing. Why are we standing? very good reasons to stand because we clearly see why you have been nominated. So for Danielle, Christina, and Erica, my oh my, oh my, I was trying to keep track of the total number of years you shared, Mr. Vicinas, but well over 50 years of educational expertise the three of you collectively have and we are so honored to have you in our district and we are so blessed to have you feed into our children. So no matter who is named

013as teacher of the year, please know that all of you are winners to us all. Thank you so very much. One more round of applause, please. So, we're going to transition into the business part of our board meeting, but we're going to take a brief pause to do so. Thank you once again. A brief pause. All right. Any comments? All right, we shall resume. Thank you so much for your patience. And so with that, we now shall proceed to public communications. This is an opportunity for us to hear from you your questions, your thoughts, your suggestions, your concerns. Each individual is allowed three minutes to speak. We ask when you come to the podium to please share your name and your town of residence. Please also be aware of Charlotte who will hold up a

014yellow card when you have one minute remaining in your time. And when your time is expired, you will see a red card. We ask for you please to conclude your sentence and respectfully take your seat. Be aware that we are attentively listening. However, it is policy that we do not respond to comments as they are being made. And we are receiving comments on any topic item. We do have a list here, but there are no names on this list. I will ask anyone in the audience, anyone may care to make a public comment. All right, seeing none, we shall proceed with the meeting. Moving on to non-staff communications and reports, and this is where we're able to hear from our student representatives what's going on in their schools. So, let us begin with Sarah sharing

015about Hall, please. As usual, we have had a busy month at Hall filled with many student achievements and activities. Our spring sports are in full swing with practices, games, and meets every day. On Sunday, two Hall students were honored at the CIA Scholar Athlete Banquet. Abby Sanderson and Fared Abarivia. Four students from Hall and Connard were also recently honored at the CIA unified sports banquet for their commitment to the unified sports program. We also have a new school record. The Hall boys 2x4 realized that a new record time um across all track seasons. On April 23rd, the National Honors Society hosted its induction ceremony for the class of 2026 members. This ceremony was led by the current NHS officers, and we had 143 new inductees. Last Wednesday, we hosted our World Language National Honor Society

016induction ceremony for students from the junior class who have demonstrated high achievement in a foreign language. Hall Latin students attended an event last week for Latin Day and they came in first place in the upper level certain which is a quiz bowl competition. Over in the arts department, Hall will be hosting our spring play 12th night this Thursday, Friday, and Saturday at 700 p.m. as well as a 2 p.m. show on Saturday. As always, you can buy tickets at hall highthe.ludis.com. We encourage everyone to support our performers and attend a show. The spring unified theater shows were hosted at Connor last week and we had a number of hall students that participated in this program. Also in the theater department, the Sonheim award ceremony which recognizes students, schools and directors for their achievements will take

017place on May 17th. Hall has multiple individual and group nominations for our fall. Our hall play our fall play the Adams family. On May 18th, Hall and Connor combined select orchestras, Cisti and Camarada, are hosting their spring showcase at St. James Church in the center. Admissions is free and we encourage you all to attend and support Westford musicians at Hall. We are currently celebrating Jewish American Heritage Month and Asian-American Pacific Islander Heritage Month in our community lessons. We also have senior prom coming up on May 17th as well as a career pathway signing day event at town hall where we will celebrate students entering into internships or jobs postgraduation. One of our wellness classes, health and education in urban communities, which is also an ECE credit class, will be starting a free hygiene and food

018market at Hall. This product this project will provide free hygiene and food products to students in need. Last Monday, Hall celebrated Earth Day by hosting a fair during lunch waves. We had many clubs and town organizations who created booths that discussed topics related relating to the environment. And from what I saw, this event was a big hit. And of course, it is the season of AP exams right now. We wish all of our students taking exams good luck and remind everyone to take care of themselves during these stressful few weeks. Thank you, Sarah. Alexis, what is going on at Connard? Happy May everyone. Connor students have been extremely busy this past month and will continue to stay involved in numerous activities up until the very last day of school. For starters, since this week is

019teacher appreciation week, we'd like to recognize all of our hardworking teachers that put in so much effort every day to help us students succeed. We are so lucky to have some of the best teachers around. So, thank you. In other news, last week we had our two outstanding unified theater performances. Congratulations to everyone involved for putting on such a fantastic and uplifting show. A heartfelt thank you to adviserss Holly Ruiz, Mike McGary, Sharon Wall, Nora Labberte, Jerson Montero, and Tiana. Additionally, thank you to Sam Urick for your vital tech support. Well done everyone. Furthermore, congratulations to Hunter Parker and all the students who brought our town to life in the blackbox. Your enthusiastic performances captured the beauty, complexity, and quiet truths of Grover Corners. Thank you for reminding us to cherish the small moments. Lastly,

020we'd like to acknowledge some of our incredible cast and crew from Disaster the Musical that got nominated for Sonheim Awards. Congratulations to Charles Avery for best actor, Taylor Lstini, best supporting actress, Alli McLaren, best supporting actor, Kelsey Collard, achievement in sound design, Sam Urick, best music direction, and of course, everyone else involved for best ensemble, achievement by a student orchestra, and achievement in stage management. The Sparks Fly event took place last week. Sparks fly light up the evening as students showcased a wide range of artistic talents including painting, drawing, and guitar performances. It was a truly memorable event. Special thanks to Pam Murphy, Jessica Fall, and Sarah Rean from Connard for their outstanding efforts in organizing the event. Thank you as well to Alfredo Grado, his guitar students, and all the amazing student performers. A

021few weeks ago, students participated in the Together We Grow event. By planting flowers, they are enhancing Connor spaces by creating bright, colorful, and welcoming areas throughout the building. Thank you to Rachel Caravella, McKenna Driscoll, and Kyle Triet for Triplet for working with these students. West Harford Public Schools is proud to announce its participation in Skills USA National Signing Day, a nationwide celebration that recognizes high school students who are committing to careers in the skilled trades. The event is being organized in conjunction with the Town of West Harford and the West Harford Chamber of Commerce and will be held on Wednesday, May 14th from 8:30 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. at the West Harford Town Hall auditorium. Students attending will also benefit from a breakfast and a networking event. This past weekend, like Sarah said, the Connecticut

022Association of School and Connecticut Interscolastic Athletic Conference celebrated outstanding student athletes from high schools all across the state. Congratulations to seniors Courtney Mcvy and Jules Capone for being awarded the Connecticut High School Scholar Athlete Award and representing Connard at the banquet. Additionally, our boys tennis team is currently undefeated and are hoping to remain that way. A few weeks ago, we also had some talented track athletes attend the very competitive pen relays. On the turf, our girls lacrosse athletes have been achieving some amazing things. Sophomore Cece Cersimo was recognized for scoring 100 career goals and senior Olivia Hull was recognized for becoming the all-time career point holder sitting at 231 points. Congratulations to all these athletes and keep making us proud this spring season. Junior and senior prom tickets are on sale right now. The last

023day to buy tickets is this Friday, May 9th, so don't forget. And lastly, as always, we continue to wish students the best of luck during this AP exam week, weeks, plural, actually. Thank you, Alexis. Well, Sarah and Alexis, you have reported well. You continue to represent well, and I must ask, has the final countdown begun? And how many days? 36. 36. All right. All right. That's right. Well, wonderful job. Thank you so very much. And now moving on to unfinished business, which we do not have any of. So we now shall proceed to new business where we have a recommended 2025 2026 budget revision. Seeking a motion that the board of education adopt a revised 2025 20226 budget of 213,000 3 no 213 2133 351800 0 by making the following reduction to the previously adopted

0242025 2026 board of education budget reduced appropriation for outofd district tuition by $1,400,000. Is there a motion? So moved. Thank you, Claire. Is there a second? Second. Thank you, Latoya. Discussion. So, thank you, Liz. And Mr. Vice, we'll pass it to you, please. Thanks. Thank you so much. Um, so as as you all know, a couple of weeks back, our town council um did uh go ahead and pass the a town budget that included roughly uh $2.5 million less overall from their overall 1 million being um a reduction that they were making on the town side. and they are uh they passed uh a board of education budget that was 1.4 million below uh what was initially presented and they did so speaking about that um in anticipation of some uh potential state funding um

025that would specifically support um all districts with out of district tuition costs. Um so we bring you uh this budget this evening um and are recommending that we make a reduction specifically to the outofd district tuition line equally in anticipation uh of that potential funding at the state level. Um and I have my very esteemed colleague Liz here uh who can support with any finer detail questions as you enter into discussion. Thank you Paul Jason. So, I I do have a couple of questions. Um, so I've been sitting with this for a couple weeks now. Um, and and I've kind of struggled a little bit to be candid because it violates the well-worn adage of counting your chickens before they hatch. Um, but I do have every confidence in our state delegation. Um, can you

026talk a little bit about what's currently at the state level being proposed? Does it have the buyin of the governor? You know, what what level of confidence do we have? I'll start and I'll ask you to add some things on. So, currently my understanding is that uh you know the budget went to appropriations and at appropriations um they added is it a $124 million total to the out of district tuition. Initially there was conversation, you know, certainly when they passed the emergency certification this this last goround and and provided an additional 40 million uh at the state level um for for excess cost reimbursement. Um there was a lot of talk from the legislature about wanting that additional 40 million to be the new floor to be the new minimum. um they took steps uh

027in in the session to provide money above and beyond and I and I and I do think that uh there while there's you know there has been widespread support on both sides of the aisle for increasing the spending towards excess cost reimbursement there is a tugof-war uh with the governor and and at large relative to spending guard rails. So, while you know, my opinion, for what it's worth, um I'm not certain that we're going to get the full amount coming out of appropriations as as what's there, I don't um I I'm optimistic, cautiously optimistic that uh there's a lot of attention and there may be more funding. Should there not be um as you as you know and for the public audience uh should should it come through and there's an absolute zero uh additional

028that's been provided then the town has already offered publicly uh that they would fund uh 50% of that 1.4 4 million um from on their side and we would we would be responsible to find the additional and we're we're looking and I think we can we can talk about courses of action for that. But I'll I'll toss it to Liz for any just just on the uh just on the what the state's doing side and and and your thoughts on that. Thank you. Um I agree with Paul. You know, we were very pleased to see that the 40 million that the governor had proposed for 2027 uh was included for 2026 by the appropriations committee and then again uh pleasantly surprised when on top of that they added an additional 84 million. Um we don't

029know at this point in time as Paul said whether that will go through or not but we certainly are hopeful that there will be additional funding um and that that amount will come to the 1.4 4 million that we are currently asking you to reduce the outofd district tuition um appropriation by today. Um and I think that you know um while it certainly isn't certain the fact that the town has offered to cover half of that should this funding not come through is just um reassuring as well uh that we will be able to deal with with whatever funding level we have. So, I just like to piggy back off of the the 700,000 is is obviously generous from the town council, but our ver our half of the 7 or half that 700,000 that

030we'd be responsible for, that's that's a lot of money. Um, and so, um, first couple questions on that would be first of all, if if we had to come back and make cuts that 700,000, would we as a board have a say in in where and the what that that would be cut? Would we have to vote on that? And then secondly, is it likely that it would be something less than 700,000? So, we've talked in the past about a non-lapsing account or maybe some surpluses in this year's budget which we might be able to carry over. Yeah. So, um I I'll start um you correct me where I go wrong. Um, so obviously we uh we have a financial examiner's meeting coming up and one of the things um I I may have alluded

031to it um I'm trying to remember if I alluded to it on April 1st at our last board meeting and if I didn't um I just try not to get ahead of the financial examiners in our process but uh when the when the state finalized its its last um I shouldn't say its last when the state finalized its March data collection for excess cost reimbursement. What what what what they do with that is uh they'll go back to districts at different points in time to have an estimate and an ongoing record of what those excess costs are, which which shift obviously as students move, as services change within IEPs and so on and so forth. Um and uh that last data collection occurred in March and was finalized after our budget process was completed. And

032um when that was when that was done um there were there were kind of a couple of interesting outcomes. Number one, um the excess cost reimbursement that's out there uh in the world was uh is going to create reimbursements at a slightly lower rate than what we were previous what we were previously told. That's sort of like the scary news. The good news is that is that our chunk of that pie um is actually more than uh what they had previously reported to us. So um and and the rationale behind that is there are just other districts uh who had lower costs than anticipated. We not surprisingly had higher costs than we anticipated. Um and we will we will have some money that will go into um at a at a later meeting once once

033we have a final kind of kind of number on that. we will talk about at an upcoming meeting uh establishing that non-lapsing fund and putting that money that excess money into that account. Um and we feel confident at this point that um even with a shortage of funding, we'll be okay to uh to cover what we need to cover with excess cost reimbursement utilizing surpluses that will be the effect of that increased uh contribution from the from the state in this year's in this year's money for next year. for next year will by virtue of our ability to place that into a non-lapsing fund this year. So the short answer is yes. We feel comfortable that the funding levels um that that we'll have a course of action plan that's not going to impact um

034programs or other cuts. Jason, was there another followup? All right, Claire. So, so if I understand the budget adopted by the the budget approved by the town council, that amount now is going to be reduced based on a anticipation or potential of money that we think will be coming. And so, I guess what's the what's the problem with going with the budget that was adopted? And if the money does come through, wouldn't that then be something that would roll over into next year and reduce next year's budget? Why why would we reduce the adopted budget based on something we're not sure of coming in? So, thank you for that question. Our budget has been reduced. Like our bottom line, the town council, that's a that's a that's a past tense statement. Um what we need

035to decide, what you need to decide, excuse me, as a board is given the fact that the town council has reduced uh the board of education budget by 1.4 million, in what line do you want to reflect that 1.4 million? So we don't have the ability to go back and change what has occurred. The rationale for why it occurred um on the town side is as as stated is as you said in anticipation but they you know and their rationale for doing that to sort of answer your question why why not wait was because they wanted to have an upfront way to reduce the tax burden. Um but they made that decision that's that's like in cement. So so we don't have a choice there. our choices are how are we going to deal with

036um 1.4 million less than than what you put forward to the town council and and that is the recommendation before you to align it with the out of district tuition because on the one hand u there's there's an anticipation uh of potential increased funding which would which would negate the need for as much as we've currently budgeted. And on the other hand, regardless, um, any monies that we have, and we do expect to have a surplus, and we'll have a financial examiner's uh, report upcoming, but we do we do anticipate that any excesses that we have, we put into this non-lapsing fund, and it would cushion that, whether it be for uh, this coming year or even if we, you know, even as we uh, kind of went forward, if if we had an additional

037excess, we'd be able to create that for the following year. uh our our goal with with budgeting it will always be not to budget more than is necessary. So any any excesses that we have in any given year will we'll account for at our next very transparent very public uh budget cycle. So so the town council was confident that the 1.4 4 million is coming in and they reduced our budget that we put forward by that amount because of that confidence they have in that amount. I I'm very concerned because I'm not confident about a lot of our grant funding this year and there have been multiple threats at a federal level that we will lose some of that funding. Now that funding goes to the state and then the state then what do they

038have to make up to all the districts of any federal funding in title grants and IDA and so there's a lot of um concern I have about um nothing's certain and this anticipation of money that could not transpire. Um it just I don't think it's a year to gamble. No, I appreciate that and I I think you know I sat at that town council meeting. I think the the uncertainty with funding levels federally at the state level I think I think that's shared by everyone. Um that said, you know, we don't have the ability um as a district, you don't have the ability as a board to to to um to increase what's been approved by the town at this stage. So your your your decisions are on how to deal with the 1.4 million.

039So what are we voting on? We are voting on which line item to reduce the $1.4 million from. And is there an option of different fine line items or is that the one vote one option? Well, what our superintendent and his team have recommended is what we see before us and so we are entrusting they would make a wise uh recommendation. However, if there is a disagreement on that particular line item, then that is why we do have this discussion period here. But the motion on the floor pertains to the reduction to said line item. you're non-verbbally communicating. Do do you care to to add? So, is this basically the fact that certain line items can't be designated by the town council, but this line item is designated in many ways because we know exactly

040what it is and where it's coming from and what it pertains to. So, we're basically agreeing that this money from the governor is probably going to come and having confidence that the town council believes that, too. And and we're all voting that we all believe that this might come. Is that basically what we're doing? Yes. But I want to I want to empower us a little bit more uh in that I think and we all know the budget process that we have gone through for months now. And yes, it was complete when we voted in April. However, it certainly was an inclusive one. One that involved voices from many. I'm not there. Oh, I I know you're not. I'm saying this intention. And you're we're on the same team. On the same team. I'm saying

041this intentionally because also to what was very helpful with this process was having the support of the town council in being in those conversations. So to your point in terms of what line item and having to reduce none no decision was made in haste and I think all would would desire to just fund exactly what we asked for. But there are so many decisions many decisions that have to be made because of how precarious this current climate is right now. And so from what I gather, the recommendation as it has been in terms of the dollar amount, as we know, when it comes to our budget, only we can decide on what line item it comes from. Now, I hear what you're saying. Oh, well, it just happens to be within a line. But again,

042that in fairness to our mayor and our town council was done intentionally because they do have confidence in the reimbursement we are to receive. They have been advocating for us in front of the scenes, behind the scenes, at the capital, at games, literally advocating, advocating, advocating, pushing, pushing, as has our state delegation, advocating, advocating. And so many people have basically said, you know, we're counting on this to happen. So, here we are right now. Yes, with the amount that needs to be reduced, um it it is what it is, but it is with confidence that we will receive the reimbursement from the state as they have said. However, if the worst case scenario were to happen, and thank you, Jason, for your question. Thank you, Superintendent Vices, for sharing a backup plan that we do

043have in place. So, we do have some wiggle room. Thank you so much, Liz, for your wonderful fiscal expertise. We do have some wiggle room just in case the worst case scenario were to happen. But to your point, this is is where we are and it is one that will help us to move forward depending on which path may happen. But at least the path is taking us forward. U Gail and then Ethan. Um, so I, you know, I'm a little bit concerned, um, because we did have a bipartisan bill put out, I believe, within the last few months at the legislature and it was ve and it was, I believe, for these this type of funding and it was vetoed by the governor. So that makes me very uncomfortable that, you know, we're we're

044saying that we think we're going to get this funding. We believe we're going to get this funding, but the governor had a bipartisan bill and he vetoed it. Um, my question though is what I don't exactly understand the non-lapsing fund. I think I I think what I understood, but I would like to be corrected if I'm wrong, is that what you're saying is that you would be finding savings in other places and that would be going into a fund that would then fund um half of 1.4 4 million should we need it. Um if that is true that we're simply going to be looking for funding and you know where we've saved a little bit here, a little bit there and then be putting it into a fund. I'm just curious what we have saved

045in a previous year in terms of numbers because I I don't remember ever hearing that we saved $700,000 and on on a budget uh you know I think those numbers were much much smaller. So, I would be curious to know what we have saved in previous years. Certainly, I want I want to start with one piece and I can have Liz help me on some specifics, but um you're absolutely right that uh first and foremost dramatic bipartisan support for um increasing spending towards excess cost reimbursement at the state level for all districts. And it did go forward and it did and it was initially vetoed. Um but then it was passed and the and the whole rationale behind the veto had something to do with the language of the bill. And so what happened immediately

046following the veto as you'll recall is I don't know the turnaround but it was 24 48 hours. It was very short where the governor basically said you know no to the way that it's written but rewrite it this way and the legislator re legislature rewrote it that way and then it was signed and passed and we are receiving that money. Um and that additional money uh as you'll recall is part of the savings uh that we do anticipate because we were uh we were earlier this year we were projecting a fairly significant shortfall within excess cost reimbursement. And so when all the you know when all the tables were balanced and everything was justified our bottom line was going to be uh we were concerned that we would have a shortfall and we wanted to

047publicize that. um number one out of transparency um and number two to really um provide the community at large like Liz and her team always do an amazing job because we have a statutory requirement to come in with a balanced budget. So they always find a way. Um and and there are always some extreme measures that can be taken to to to fill in shortfalls that have to do with um you know uh some some funds that we have that that I know get talked about at the financial examiner's committee uh that that that are protecting the budget at large from large cliffs or large increases o overall some of uh reserve funds for different things um utilities um insurance, uh, some some of these things. Um, it's it's not good budgeting to deplete those

048funds in a singular year in case, you know, unless and in case of an emergency. And we were facing the emergency until that emergency bill was came through. Um, and then as I was saying that once it once it was basically the early weeks of April, we got updated numbers from the state of Connecticut as to what our actual uh funding will be. And there is one more filing for excess cost reimbursement that happens. The the total excess cost reimbursement doesn't happen until the last bill essentially is paid at the end of the school year. However, for planning purposes, they have to cut it off. So they use the they use the March data collection at the state level to say that when you're going to close this year's books, this is the dollar value

049that we're going to promise you. So the state has recently in the first weeks of April republished districts. This is how much money you are going to get. You have to still do a a late June filing. And if there are corrections to that, those corrections, like if the state still owes us a little bit of money or if potentially we owe the state because they paid us too much, uh that gets corrected in the uh in the next fiscal year so that school districts can close their books statutoily like they need to do. And the bottom line of it is that um the biggest amount of real savings is is is really more revenue coming in from the state through excess cost reimbursement uh that we learned about in April. We didn't want to

050look a gift horse in the mouth and we wanted to be certain. So Liz's team has been in frequent communication with the state to verify that number to then ask, hey, well, what about this extra money from the 40 million, right? we're we're supposed to get a little more than a million from that. Um and they said, "Is the formula going to be the same? Can you give us that number?" Uh so she ver she's verified that um and and we will have the opportunity that that's really going to be the place by which uh we'll create um the ability to to have this uh non-lapsing fund. And and you asked about, you know, so that's that's where the savings are going to come from. And what that's going to do is it's going to

051insulate us from if there was a shortfall, if this money didn't come through from the state, to Claire's point, like what's the other line item, we don't want to cut a program. We don't want to cut x number of teachers and take from insurance and reopen a contract. You know, we don't want to do any of that. We've been very transparent about that uh throughout our entire process. Uh we've had great communication with our town council. Our town council doesn't want us to do that. Um although it's not their decision, it's your decision. Um but we you know we do feel confident and and relative to how do we do it um it is the creation of a non-lapsing fund where previously going back a couple of years anytime there was an excess it was

052uh it was a requirement that the board of education turned that money over to the town. But a couple of years ago, and Liz will jump in and clarify this with much better granular detail, uh the state passed a law that said that school districts, boards of education could create a non-lapsing fund, uh and put excess money that they had at the close of their budget year into it specifically for educational purposes. And I'll say that in general terms, and you can clarify that with better language. No, that's actually it's a very um general law as um Paul said. Um it used to be that it required town council approval in order to set up a non-lapsing fund and in fact we did so during COVID um and then use those funds going forward. Some

053of you may recall that. The legislation has changed and the statute now says that the board of education has the ability to set up a non-lapsing fund to put unexpended funds into that at year end and use them in the following year or following years plural as long as they are used for educational purposes. So, I just want to clarify because I've never seen us, you know, at the end of the year, I mean, we have we're talking very small amounts of money and we've always been told that that money has to go back to the town council. But even if it doesn't have to go back to the town council, I mean, the numbers are quite small compared to $700,000. So, is there a non-lapsing fund that has, you know, No. So, hundreds of

054thousands of dollars in it? No. Currently, there is no non-lapsing fund because the board would have to um take action to establish that now that the legislation has changed. And you're correct that we generally have very small um surpluses. However, this year because of the um repeated revisions to the excess cost reimbursement, we do expect that just in that line item, we will end up having a surplus of approximately 700,000 that you could take action to put into a non-lapsing fund in order to ensure against any sort of shortfall next year with the town committing to matching that 700,000. Okay. And I just want to this is my last followup. So, um, Paul, I just want to also clarify that, um, you know, what I think I heard is that basically the legislature went back

055after the governor vetoed it and actually passed it. Yes, that's the that's the 40 million that we we are getting. So, I'm talking about for 26 for for this year. for this year. Oh, for this year. But then there was a bill, I thought, to for 26 that the governor vetoed, even though that had bipartisan support. I my understanding was that was this year. I don't think he he's done that yet. At this point in time, he um expressed support for putting the 40 million in for 27, but since they're still in the process, the appropriations committee has now proposed that for 26 along with an additional 84 million and he has not taken action on that yet. They're still reviewing that and and he will have to to decide. Yeah, I think the veto

056that you're was for this year's money. I thought it was for 26, but okay. So for 26 he they've not there's no agreement yet. Okay. Thank you. So first question is the lapsing fund or non-lapsing what the fund it can the town council come back and say they want the money. Uh no once the funds go into there it is at the discretion of the board to spend those as long as they're done um in accordance with the statute. Okay. So, um I was the one who voted against the budget and I voted against it because I thought that the uh tuition payment seemed high. I was over 150,000 versus a million four. I think since our vote is on the that it line item alone, I'm good with that. But what I'd suggest, Lorna,

057is we should talk to the town council and figure out a better process because I feel like trains left the station and why do we spend all this time looking at it? If the town council is going to reject the budget substantially, then there should be some communication so we can at least adapt as the time goes on as opposed to sort of at the end saying, "Okay, I mean, there's not that many changeable items in the budget." So no correct it's frustrating very much. I don't you know the process that we have the obviously the town council has responsibility to pass the overall number uh for both the board and the town and they have line item control over the town side and you have line item control over the board side and um

058while it can be frustrating I can appreciate that. I would certainly say and you you you attended like there was a lot of cross communication uh between the town and the board that was happening and and we had significant communication in and around this one very item excess cost reimbursement. It was the overriding driver of our budget. Um the town as Laura said uh was extremely engaged as you know uh with the delegation. Uh I was a little bit engaged with the delegation. and they were incredibly engaged um with the delegation. Laura and I had the opportunity to to go when that bill was passed um based on West Hartford's um advocacy. Uh we were kind of highlighted as a as a district um related to the passing of that emergency certification. So, so I

059do appreciate there's a a feeling of angst and frustration specifically. I mean, and this is a good news story cuz you did you, as you said, you wanted to reduce this and and here you are. Today's the day you're getting into it. Um, I just think it was a 40% increase, which seemed excessive, and when I went through the formula, I thought there was some give there. So, it it's water under the dam. I just think if the town knows they're going to make a substantial cut in the budget, which is their right to do, a little pre-communication, I would I would want to say, you know, I I out of respect for for the collaboration that we've had in the process, I'm I'm only saying that we we had a lot of ongoing and

060and it's really the the sequencing of, you know, our budget, which comes first, the town council's budget, but then the state budget, which is still ongoing, right? And and I think it I think it this is a byproduct of um where the state is in its process and ongoing conversations that were happening between the town and the state um as to kind of where they were leaning uh as a state and they were you know this excess cost reimbursement became a major issue in the state's budget. So it became a major driver for them. And early in this process, you know, in transparency, our communication with the town council was we can't we can't take a dramatic hit of millions of dollars without slashing programs. And it was really only by virtue of this ongoing

061communication and the advocacy that was happening at the state level. And then I think good fortune u that in early April we learned um that we were going to get a sizable sizable increase in excess cost reimbursement across state. Our our original was uh we were anticipating getting 3 can't remember 3.2 3.4 3.4 originally% of the total appropriation statewide and now we are getting 3.8 85%. And that's because of our our cost going up as a percentage of the total cost across the state. It just seems like there was a number that the town people in the town council and I have had no communication on it, but having done budgets many year for many years and private sector sounds like they got a cushion and I don't know. I I just think it the

062process was frustrating because the number's big. I understand why they cut the number, but it would have been nice to have been part of the process and you all might have been, but I didn't feel like I thought we were sort of catching this now. So, and I'm not faulting anybody. So, it's No, no, I'm not taking it as fault. I think I mean some of its proximity. I mean, work with the town manager. We throughout throughout the month of March, you know, I might have met with Rick two, three times a week to talk through issues, where things are as I'm developing recommendations that came to the board. And, you know, I know that um Lauren and I had the opportunity to sit with um the mayor and and you know, we we have

063conversations as to where we are, what it looks like. Um and those were early on. And then we had all of the joint board of ed and uh town council representatives who came to those community pieces. But you know there was conversations that preceded that conversations that followed after. So while it may not have been you know the entire group of folks there is there's there's a lot of communication that's going on. I just find it hard to believe they didn't have a number they didn't want to go over for um tax increase and I don't I think that's the right way to do it. just would have been nice to have been able to be preemptive as opposed to we're sort of react retroactive now just we don't really have much choice. So I

064did want to just add one thing. I didn't want you to think that the 1.4 million was just kind of a number that they selected. So the 1.4 million is our portion of the emergency certification that the state made of 40 million. And so when the when the state made the emergency certification we estimated that we were getting 1.4 4 million of that this year, right? And so that's the amount that they selected that the town council reduced us for next year because they felt confident that that same 40 million would pass. So I I think that was the tie into the amount just in case that wasn't clear in our previous explanations. Okay. Thank Jason Jason and then Claire. So, coming back to where we are tonight and and for purposes of what we're

065voting on, the simple fact is we have to cut $1.4 million from our budget. Um, we just so happen to have a way being proposed tonight that is the one most likely to have the least impact and potentially no impact on what actually is happening in the classroom on a day-to-day basis. Correct. That's fair. Yes. Um, and being my fourth budget that I've been working on since I've been on the board, um, this process I felt had a lot more, um, collaboration, the talking sessions, the work that was done with the town, um, how much work you do with the town manager, um, it just the way it was presented was just a little surprising. I was under the impression, are the budget we propose passed? And so this proposal, but would this be the

066process that we would take after the budget is approved by the town or is this an extra step? Because I don't remember in the four years that we then had to vote on a change. So I that's what's confusing me and it seems something new. I have nothing against how this process works. It's just confusing the way it's presented. Now, if I appreciate the question, so I u sketchy on the on the exact details, but I'm pretty certain last year the town council reduced our overall budget by somewhere in the neighborhood of 550,000. Exactly. Um so, you know, just over a half a million dollars and we came back in a subsequent meeting and determined the means by which we would absorb that $550,000 cut. Um and I and as I recall, we might have

067spread it across several line items. I don't have that resolution in front of me, but I seem to recall that we did spread it across. Yeah, it could have been a um the retirey health reserve. Yep. The reserve for retirey health is I believe where we took it. You're right, Ethan. Yeah. So, so it is the process that you know it is our in in theory it's our our I won't use the word routine. It is our standard operating procedure. Um, you know, if the town council passes uh the board value, the board dollar value, there's no need for us to revisit. But if the town council makes any reduction at all, then we come back in subsequent meetings and decide how to absorb that reduction. And coincidentally, there's always seems to be that exact

068amount in some fund within the board of ed that can cover the amount that is reduced. I don't think that's exactly right. I think they make a reduction and we have to find a way to react to that and respond to that and our practices to do it in a way that does not affect our students and stays away from the classroom. And so we look at our options and select the option that we think is least likely to impact our students and our teachers. Gale. Um, yeah, thanks. So, I I just want to make one comment that I find, you know, the whole process, I agree with some of my colleagues here, is like confusing and seems a little bit like um backwards. Um, but you know, we voted on a budget which was

069exceedingly high for all the years I've sat on the board. It was certainly the highest percent budget that I think we've ever had in the last as long as I'm sitting here. And I was under the impression that um you know I I actually voted for it um because I felt that most of the stuff on that budget we didn't really have control over. A lot of it was being driven by things out of our control. But, you know, I'm sitting here now and it seems that like when we have to be able to come up find to find $700,000 um of savings, we somehow could do it. And, you know, I just think the look of that is a little bit weird um that we, you know, had a budget of I what was

070the percent on the budget? 7% 7.2 7.2%. Um, but now we can suddenly find $700,000 in savings. And if the town had said, you know, 1.9 million, maybe we would have found a million dollars in savings. So, I don't know. That's just seems a little kind of unusual to me, but that's just my comment. I'm just putting it out there. Yeah, you passed um I think my recommendation originally was seven seven and change. you guys passed 6 uh 89 6 point 6.9 6.9 um and and and to Liz's point um at the end of the day the town council will advise us you know here's your final number we we basically go to them you guys vote and you agree this is what we want to ask for and you present that and and as

071you said it was a high and there there are there were dramat atic number of variables that were outside of our control. And when we made that decision, um the alternative of providing a budget that was going to be lower, uh would have required cutting programs. Um so we went and said to the town council, this is what we would like. and they had several weeks before uh you know they they pres they first presented their um their first budget on April 1st, April 2nd was the first they presented their proposed in March. We adopted around April 1st or 2nd but then they didn't have to adopt for another 3 weeks. Another three weeks in that 3 weeks time um you know they gained more information and greater outlook and and had conversation with us.

072They talked about the 1.4 million as Liz said based on the appropriation that we had and they offered 700,000 because when they came to us, you know, hey, we're we're thinking of a they didn't come and ask permission. They kind of came and said, so that you know, we're thinking of a significant cut because we have this trust in the state. And of course, we're saying, "Yeah, but what if and and we can't absorb 1.4 million. It's not going, you know, if that 1.4 million doesn't come through, we cannot absorb it. It will be um significant cuts that happen." Uh but at that time as I've said in early April we got updated numbers on what excess cost reimbursement would be and we were able you know we're able to then project um what we

073think might be reasonable to come to come to an understanding. So there's no, you know, as I think Liz said it best, at the end of the day, the count town council does come to us and say, "This is your number." And it is our responsibility to find a way to make that work. Now, our goal with that is always to find a way to make that work without it impacting classrooms and services that we provide. But should the town council have wanted a zero, which was part of a conversation that was had early on in the process, uh we would have to adjust to that. And there would be a recognition and understanding that that would mean like there's not a way for us to do that from a utility reserve or or or

074something, you know, or buying less computers. There's just, you know, the the the the significance of such a number would mean would mean dramatic cuts and changes to to what services and programs look like currently. There was no appetite for that. Certainly at the board level, there was no appetite for that at the town council level. So, uh, so the cut that they proposed was one that, um, there was some confidence that should the state money not come through, uh, that that all entities, both the town and the board, um, would would have a means by which to, um, absorb that, um, through whatever whatever financial working. So, I I I don't want it to feel anything other than it is, which is planful and in reaction to um the most up-to-date information from the

075legislature and the most up-to-date information from the state of Connecticut in terms of our reimbursements. So, and and just so the record's clear, as I've understood this entire conversation, we didn't find $700,000 that existed on April 1st when we passed the budget. No, we actually, you know, we got a slate of good news coming from the state that hadn't happened in a while, but that we were getting more in excess cost reimbursement, which is why if we have to next year, we could absorb that 700,000. It isn't that we found $700,000 that we could have at the time we voted on the budget. Is that fair? That is correct, Latoya. Thank you. Yeah. And um I also just wanted to clarify too for the record that tonight we are voting on the line item proposed

076um for this uh reduction, but we are not voting on whether or not we can or cannot suggest this. Right. That's correct. Just wanted to clarify that. Thank you. Yes. Other questions or comments? Again, we have a motion on the floor. This is the discussion period. All right. So, with that, I am going to ask Charlotte, please for a roll call vote just because I want to make sure that all voices and votes are heard clearly. So, a roll call vote, please, for the motion on the floor. Mr. Gagnon, yes. Mr. Goldman, yes. Dr. Harris, yes. Mrs. Nzarella, yes. Dr. Thomas Farerson, yes. And Mrs. Yagalof. Yes. Thank you. The motion passes. Thank you all so much for your input. And Liz, thank you for your Thank you. Mr. Vicas, thank you as well. And

077so with that, now moving on to staff communications and reports and we shall receive our superintendence report. Mr. Vinez, thank you. Um, and it's been a while since we've met, so I have a number of things. So I uh I try not to repeat some of the stuff our students shared which was outstanding news that we have going on in our schools and but I will take a moment to you know again recognized today is National Teacher Appreciation Day and uh thoroughly appreciative of everything that our hardworking teachers do every single day to impact the life of a child. Um it was mentioned uh JewishAmerican Heritage Month, AsianPacific Islander Month. Um, I'm very excited for the pieces that are that are happening in our schools to help educate our kids and you heard about those.

078Um, it's also mental health awareness month and so I I certainly want to share that. Um, so incredibly proud to announce the Connor High School Student Council has been awarded the National Gold Council of Excellence Award, which is a dramatically prestigious recognition that celebrates exceptional student leadership, service, and community engagement. And by virtue of this award, the Connor Student Council has distinguished itself from among thousands of councils nationwide. Um this is uh only I think three schools um who who received the award. Special kudos to Kelly Casey um our student council facilitator. And I would love to thank the leadership of the Conor student council, but they are um they they lead by cooperative and and there's a picture that I emailed you. There's so many of them to uh to recognize. So, just just

079incredibly just a great great award. Um, congratulations to Bugby students Eevee Miller, Gabriel Burnham, and Wesley Morin, who are the state of Connecticut spring 2025 stock market game winners. We seem to have so many state winners in the stock market. Maybe we can have them do a board workshop for us at one point. U, they competed and surpassed 84 teams of fourth and fifth graders from across the state. They had a 13.5% return during this very volatile period from January to April of this year. So, um, a shout out to Miss Post Perez, the Quest teacher, for all of her support and inspiration. Um, and incredibly proud once again to announce the amazing performance and talents of our Quest students and and Quest program graduates on yet another incredible performance by West Hartford students at

080State History Day. Uh Cedric eighth grader uh Danni Luther earned first place honors in the junior individual documentary category for her project entitled Fighting Against Barb Wire: Japanese American Internment During World War II. Cedric seventh grader uh Cameron Bachelder took second place for his piece, The Price of Power: How the United States Left an Indelible Mark on the lives of veterans and Marshall Islanders. Keep listening to these topics. They're so impressive. Cedric eighth grader Anna Pax Small earned second place honors in the junior individual exhibit category for her project do with less so they'll have enough how the US rationing during World War II called upon Americans to sacrifice personal freedoms for the greater good. And finally, Connard sophomore Luke Cal earned first place in the senior individual documentary category for his research on uh

081I hope one day you'll join us and the world will live as one. the consequences the United States failure to ratify the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. All of these incredibly talented student scholars have qualified to advance to the National Level Competition hosted at the University of Maryland in June. And kudos to Quest teacher David Lee for his amazing inspiration and guidance throughout the entirety of the process. Um, our students both spoke about uh the incredible Unified weekend we had between Unified Theater and Unified Sports uh as well as the amazing uh Sparks Fly event. And again, the whole team and and a special again shout out to Alfredo Grado who's kind of like the the father of the whole effort um as I understand it. Just amazing. Um, I'm very

082happy to announce Connor Boys hockey is planning an event for the state hockey championship banner unveiling on May the 31st. So, kudos to the players, the coaches, all the support of the Connor community. We're certainly extremely proud of that accomplishment. Um, there's been several leadership announcements uh during the month of April and there will be several to come still. So, uh, first and foremost, I want to thank and congratulate Liz Hwitt, our director of finance and planning, as well as Dr. Andy Morrow, our assistant superintendent for administration, on their uh, impending retirements. Both Liz and Andy have been absolutely amazing partners, incredible leaders, and trusted friends. um and their time in West Harford is undoubtedly lasting positive impact on the operation on the legacy of our school district. Uh I want to publicly acknowledge and

083welcome Barbara Rua as our incoming director of finance and planning. Additionally, I'm glad to announce that Julio Darte will take the helm as assistant superintendent for administration. And finally, I'll be welcoming Shannon Majinsky as our next executive director of human resources. and somehow I feel I've got the great fortune of amazing draft picks and the absolute top prospects on the team. Uh Barb uh Barbara has an incredible background in finance and accounting from her time in the district where she operated as accounting manager as well as a length of experience at the state level. She's a superstar. I'm so fortunate to have someone so ready to step into this position of significant trust and responsibility. You all know Julio very well as our human resources director where he demonstrates himself as a strategic leader and

084a systems thinker. Prior to that post, uh you may or may not know he was one of our top principles serving in the Connor community for many years and he will bring all those skills to bear as um he takes on this new lens and this new office and I'm excited to work closely with him in that capacity. And finally, Shannon, who's following in Julio's path as an exceptional principal, problem solver, and leader. She'll be our next director of human resources. She was recently honored by the bridge as the Build No Fences Award recipient, which speaks to her character, to her demeanor, to her dedication and her support for everyone around her. So, I'm excited by this team uh joining with Ann, Melissa, and Teresa to take the district to even greater heights. So, kudos

085to all of you. I've also recently announced Sarah Issacs as the principal of Hall. I'm happy to now announce uh Kelly Susa Purcell, the principal of Whiting Lane Elementary. Um these two leaders began the year in interim roles, and they not only proved themselves well in these roles as the best choices for that moment, but each shined through their individual interview and search processes, winning out over a c a pool of highly competitive candidates. uh will soon be announcing Webster Hill and Aken uh who are in different stages of their search process. Um on a more challenging note, I want to bring attention to the public of a racial recent social media challenge. Um if you've heard about the different challenges that go out to adolescence on social media, they're never any good. Uh, it

086encourages students to tamper with Chromebooks with the intention of damaging them, uh, causing their batteries to overheat and potentially ignite. Um, it's obviously a dramatic safety concern. Uh, we're communicating with students across the secondary level where students are more apt to see these messages. Um, and we're taking precautions to support supervision and appropriate use of material to avoid any unnecessary property damage or safety concerns. But uh I would ask parents to you know have conversations at home. I trust you too are good. Uh last week on May the 30th, our adult education program celebrated uh four adult graduates who received their high school equivalency as part of the national external diploma program. Mayor Caner was on hand to provide short remarks and we also celebrated residents who had earned their citizenship taking language and adult

087education courses in pursuit of the same. Uh the comments that were provided by these adult students were incredibly moving and demonstrated the power and the value of education. Um just so pleased by that. [Music] Um, lastly, spring has arrived and with the nice weather, we have a greater number of students walking, riding bicycles to school. So, I always ask the listening public to be aware of the increased traffic, keep an eye out for kids. Uh, the commissioner of public safety has announced a community conversation with the hate crime investigation unit in collaboration with the state police and West Harford police. And that's going to take place this week, May 8th, here in the town hall. Uh Monday, May 19th, the district will be hosting our annual mentor breakfast. Be very excited for that downstairs. Uh

088please join if you can. And save the date for Thursday, uh May 29th for the future educators of diversity pinning ceremony. and was as was already mentioned a couple of times, Connor is celebrating uh the career fields signing day which will happen on May the 14th. So, uh all great events. Um I have one more announcement, but I will save it for when specific person comes up to the board table in a moment. So, pending your questions. Thank you so much. Any questions or comments regarding our superintendent update? All right. Thank you, Mr. Vicas. Oh, you Oh, please, Claire. Yes. Um, so the elementary uh Special Olympics Day that was held at Connard, do you know what schools participate in that? And is it or is it districtwide? Are there schools outside of West Hartford?

089You know, I don't know about schools outside of West Hartford. That's a great question. I don't um but I I believe it's all of our all of our um IIA program schools that participate uh or have the opportunity to participate. I don't I didn't get metrics unfortunately. I had drill this weekend so I didn't attend. Um but um all of our program schools um my understanding have the ability to participate in that. And uh I know that Melissa's not here today. She's out. But um she said she was brought to tears um this weekend by just the incredible um not just the sports event but the theater event which said it was just so moving. Um I' I'd like to add a lot of the um the theater unified theater students volunteered the next day

090after two nights of long performances. And um it was the young kids just loved it. the the older kids were so supportive and I saw the kids leaving with their medals and I just I really think it's great that we're bringing the unified down to elementary um because it makes a big difference. Beautiful. Thank you. Any other comments, questions regarding our superintendent update? All right. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you again. Now moving on to staff reports and board discussions where we shall receive our personnel report and having Mr. Julio Dwarte to come to the table. Right. Good evening everyone. I am pleased to present our latest personnel report in accordance with district policy. You will find it on page two of your board packet. As you know, I provide regular updates on any changes

091related to our certified staff, including teachers and administrators. Tonight, I will summarize these numbers reflecting all changes since my last personnel report in February. This month's report includes the following: one leave of absence, 15 resignations, and 16 retirements. We also hired one contracted teacher, and one interim teacher. As we quickly approach the end of the school year and continue to receive retirement announcements, I want to take a moment to acknowledge these outstanding individuals and educators. The 16 dedicated individuals listed in my report today have contributed a combined 340 years of service averaging over 21 years each in West Harford public schools. We are deeply grateful for their unwavering commitment to our students and our community and extend a heartfelt congratulations and best wishes for a joyful and fulfilling retirement. Thank you and I'd be happy

092to answer any questions that the board may have. Thank you. Thank you so much, Gail. Yes. Yeah. Thank you. Um I've asked this question before, but I I you know, when I look at the resignations, um 12 out of the 15 resignations have um resigned and people who have been here really just for three years. Um, so I'm curious, do you collect I I mean, and obviously here we don't really get any information as to why these people resigned, but do you collect information um regarding why people are resigning and um ever look at that like as in terms of trying to retain teachers because obviously hard to come by good teachers? Yeah, absolutely. So, anytime anyone um resigns or retires, I will always send them a letter and an email, but I'll also include

093a anonymous survey that they're allowed to do and to provide that. And in that survey, too, I'll ask, hey, would you like to meet with me? Um, and many folks don't take me up on that offer. And I'll have one-on-one conversation with them to get a sense of, you know, what is the issue? And and truly, they vary from, you know, a lot of relocations, believe it or not. um you know and then just folks that are at different stages now in life and needing to take some you know time to take care of whether it's either a new child coming or an elderly parent and really just doing those types of things. So I'm really I look for themes. Actually Paul and I spent some time yesterday just looking and dissecting some of that

094data to try to look for any uh themes that we would be concerned about and you know we're really just not seeing that. It just tends to be um you know again various life situations I'll call them. And we also took a look at several years back to look and see if there was a change in trends and and again we're seeing that consistent um number across our our staff. Claire, um, if I'm correct, the current statistics are one in the first five years, one in five teachers will not continue with their career. And, and so the dropout rate, um, what you learn in school and then what you find in the workplace, um, having worked 20 years in business and then, you know, 20 some years in teaching, um, it's a whole different thing.

095they can't prepare you in school for what it is actually like the the management, the juggling and everything. So there's a very big problem in United States where one in five brand new teachers will leave the profession. Um but as you said it's not usually new the newer teachers they they can't say they don't have to say why they're leaving. Um, I just wanted to note there's some there's some superstars, some people that I've known for a long time. Um, I I wish a congratulations to all the retirees. Um, I also know that um there's a lot of um hiring that's going to be needed and your new position will not start then till the summer or are you Yeah, you got a lot of hiring here. Yeah. So, I'll tackle that. Um because I

096do want to just circle back to um Gail. You know, one of the things that I think sometimes when we see resignation, we may um you know, I don't know, maybe the the n the national natural natural instinct is to think negatively, but there's actually some folks on there that are getting what we'll call promotions or or moving in a different right, you're moving into leadership roles or something else. So, you know that I think the truth is that the WHPS on a resume is something that's very soughta. Um, and so we've got a lot of rockstar teachers um and and other folks in various roles that once they, you know, they see that and they apply for jobs. Um, and even I know folks that have been called, cold called, right? Like, hey, interested

097in this. Because they really they know the work we're doing here. they see the work that we've been doing here and the work that we're promoting and um are happy to I'll call uh borrow our ideas. Um and so um that comes with the cost of stealing our people sometimes. So so you know I I do as much as I try to meet with them and say like hey we want you to stay here. There's a part of me too that's excited for folks when they're they're getting those opportunities and and then certainly tell them hey you know we always welcome you back. Um you know and so those are some of the pieces. Um, you know, one of the things is that, you know, I I'll be excited and happy to work with Shannon,

098as Paul mentioned, she's she's not only a rockstar principal, she's someone that I've worked very closely with, uh, in her role. Paul, I think, did not mention, she's actually the president of the administrators union. Um, so some of you may have remember dealing with her in in some capacity, too, while we went through negotiations. I think she was in a vice president role at that time. Um, so she's very well suited to do with this and and already starting to I'm including her on emails and you know my uh personal charge is to take care of a lot of the things that I need to take care of before I pass the baton to her. But um you know I do want to just take the time too to thank Andy. He's been um a

099great mentor and friend to me as I've gone through my career and has already just graciously been offering hey here's a committee here's something you want to get involved in. Hey you should attend this. So, you know, I I think that the uh for lack of better term, the baton passing will be smooth. Um, and it's really it's it's not just grounded and because we're all here for, you know, wanting to do the right thing for kids, but we're also really close um outside and want to wish each other the best and have a a good smooth transition um through. So, other questions, comments? All right. Thank you very much. And oh, this may this be our last time having you present to us in your current role? I don't know. I actually look ahead,

100but I'm already thinking about my snow day call. All right. All right. Thank you. Now we shall move to computer science update and we have Miss McCernet and Miss Corelli and Mr. Vos coming to the table. We'll pass it to Superintendent Venus to do more formal introductions. So, as they're getting set up, um I had one more announcement that I wanted to wanted to wait to give you because I'm very excited to announce that our own Miss Jackie Corelli has been selected by the Our Community organization for the STEM Teacher Award. Um this award is given to a teacher whose service, compassion, and commitment serve as an example for all. She'll be formally awarded at a state ceremony this coming May the 17th. I'll be very pleased to to join her there. And honestly, that's

101just one accolade of many that Jackie has earned over the years. She's a um a genuine mover and a shaker within the computer science world. Um and we're so so very proud to have her on the team. Um this report um very excited to present to you an update on where we are in computer science. Uh we've had we've had a few reports. Um and honestly with the with the pace of change it would be it would be nothing to have um really a report probably every two months um to just keep up. Um, as you know, as a board, uh, I've talked about naming computer science as a as an area of focus as a skill that our graduates need to need to have in order to, uh, really be ready citizens. And some

102of the some of the most recent changes within computer science come from um what's going on in the world of artificial intelligence and how quickly that's that's that's progressing. So I know uh the team here. I know Zach uh I was going to have Ann introduce you know Jackie and Zach, but uh I see we're gonna deal with a little there's an irony here technology thing. Yeah, I'm going to um I'm certain we can get this resolved. Uh it's actually pretty perfect. Computer science is a little messy and sometimes it doesn't work. Yeah. But let me jump up. I'll I'll troubleshoot that and if you want to um introduce your team and give some introductory comments. All right. No, it's okay. What' you say? All right. Well, I will navigate from this spot. Um, but

103I am pleased to be here tonight and I introduce our my colleagues Jackie Corselli, our computer, I'm sorry, our curriculum specialist for computer science and Zach Bose who is our curriculum specialist for STEM. And tonight we will uh review our we're really proud to present our computer science program and our updates in artificial intelligence which as Paul said is moving faster than we can get the projector ready obviously. So, um, I'd like to start with, uh, our agenda for tonight. And we're going to ground our agenda in the way we look at our program and the data that we use to inform our the decisions we make about where we're going because there's many ways to move forward in these areas. Um, then we'll spend some time talking about all the updates we have in

104the computer science area, what we're doing in the artificial intelligence area, and we'll leave some time for questions. And um like to turn it over at this time to um Jackie Corselli who will talk about our the foundation of our program which is yeah Jackie you can just sit there if you like. So I'll turn over to Jackie who will talk about who introduced us to uh a framework called the cape data analysis framework which helps us to understand where we are with computer science and how to move forward. So Jackie thank you so much. I learned about the cape framework from my kitchen. I was attending an online conference and the people who were speaking were from the University of Tech Texas. um they had adopted or created it to look at computer science

105from an equity perspective for the state of Texas. And the way that they explained it to me, I thought that is exactly the tool we've been looking for here in West Hartford to be able to look at our computer science data, not based on AP scores or end result experience, but instead based on looking at the there's many reasons how why there's such a disparity between who's participating at the end. So, let's pull that apart. And that's sort of what this framework does for us. Um so I'll start off by explaining that it a little like layers of an onion or uh something that you enjoy more. Um uh it starts with capacity cape. So that's the acronym capacity then access then participation then experience. Um capacity is about are there even enough resources to

106be able to support computer science in an institution or in a district in our case. Uh and even if we have capacity to be able to do that, well then is there um the ability to for students to be able to have the opportunity to learn computer science? Do they even have access to it? Even if we have capacity, the teachers and the opportunity provided by students, that doesn't mean we'll have equity in our classrooms because um we need to think about participation. Does every student participate equally when they're when they're in the room? And and speaking of when they're in the room, even if we have capacity, the teachers access, the students and um participation, they're in the room, they're not experiencing it equally. So there's multiple layers of the experience of computer science

107education. I'll start specifically with capacity. Um we had this analysis done in 2021 and then again in 2023. And in that time, we went from one to four teachers who are endorsed to teach computer science. So that's an example of a capacity statistic. Another example was um a six-fold increase in the number of teachers who reported getting computer science training in the system. Now some of that come from came from yours truly and um other people that are here in the room all working together. This has been just an amazing team to work with. But those are two examples of capacity statistics. The next slide is about access. Yes, please. So this slide goes into little details about access for all of our elementary schools. Let me explain the statistic here. The green dots on

108the left are the 2021 participation looking at the elementary school students and then the likelihood or the extent to which those students for example uh Wilk um opted into taking computer science when they went to the high school. And in order to be a dot, the student just needed to take one computer science course. We weren't worried about a half year, full year, etc. Um, the reason this is so compelling when you look from 2021 to 2023 is do you see how every elementary school has gain in some cases tremendous gain. That's amazing. And in case you thought, well, maybe it's a co thing or maybe it's, you know, nothing special, look at the not in district. You see what I'm saying? Hardly any gain, a 3% gain. So that means we're doing something special

109in West Hartford. And when I was here maybe three years ago now, I said to the board and I remember saying it, if any district can do this, we can do it. We're starting to do it. And it's super I just wanted to show you this data because I'm really excited about this. Um next um so sort of continuing up the journey now we're talking a little bit about participation. So here we're looking at um how why do students opt into computer science courses and uh the dropown shows that based on it's it's not the same for every student demographic universally. I hope you can see the difference that our presentations to our math classes are are making, school counselor conversations, our growth in West Harford, it's not accidental, it's purposeful. It's people again rowing

110ores together, realizing that if we're not welcoming students in, helping them to feel safe, helping them to feel like this is for them, then they may not opt in. And more and more we're seeing, you know, participation and the difference that's making for students Um finally or sorry continuing the participation journey. You can see here on the that although the message is you know good growth but there is still some work to be done. Um in terms of representation across computer science courses, we're pretty on par for many demographics. Our most underrepresented population is our female population. That's true across the nation. Um, we're not unique in that way, but I want to be unique in that way. You understand what I'm saying? Yeah. Okay. Um, now the other demographics when you can, if we

111were to look instead at our AP representation, it would not look as good for some of our underrepresented students. So, I want to, you know, truth and truth in numbers. We can always tell stories with this data. I want to make sure that that's clear as well. And then you can see, you know, at least one computer science course versus two or more computer science courses. Again, there's growth, but there's still room for participation. I want those to be 100%. All students opting into taking computer science because it's part of them just being an educated citizen in our world today. Yeah. Um Jackie, just before you go on to the CS team, I think this this Cape data was collected in 21 in 23 and it's going to be collected again in 26. And this

112data which is a long it's a survey that Jackie gives out to teachers and students that we are able to then analyze this data to see where are our gaps where are our strengths where are our needs and so the whole program and the future of the program will be based on the information that we're getting and we're getting very valuable insights from this data. What elementary schools are sending the most children who are opting into computer science. uh how kids are hearing about the classes um what's making the biggest difference and there's many more questions on this survey than Jackie even shared with you just uh for purposes of the presentation um but one of the ones I also found really interesting is how do you feel once you're there you feel like you

113belong in the class and so there's I don't know how many total questions are on the survey but Jackie collects a great deal of information forms the basis of what we're doing currently and then in in the future as well as she's sharing it with the staff which gets them more excited to possibly take the practice test to be certified or or just learn more about how do I contribute to this effort. So with that I'll turn it back to Jackie to talk with the district computer science leadership team. Okay. So um actually we have a member of the district computer science leadership team with us right now. Um the district computer science leadership team is has done a lot of work um over this past year uh in and a well actually over two

114years. Um and it's very hard because it's right there and you can read it. Um but I can do you want to stand here. Maybe it would be a little easier. Yeah. Thank you. I haven't memorized that one. I memorized the other ones but not this one so much. Um, so we are as far as our accomplishments, you can see we have a a vision statement that sort of um that started our work off and then we developed a Zach and I developed a pathway document together. Um, that was really fun and a lot of a lot of work. Um, that pathway do document sort of frames what computer science um could look like in the future for us prek to 12. Um we have a partnership as part of those um framings with uh

115Farmington and Glastonbury. We together got training and then um formed together each of us our vision statement and our pathway documents and similar sorts of things. And then we hold each other accountable with yearly meetings. Um, we have our course marketing, which is our decision maker and video expanded membership. And I'm going to drill down on some of these, but our future intention is a CIT. Um, continued course marketing, support for existing computer science experiences, uh, video to help teachers prepare, uh, for the practice, working to align to new computer science standards, which are coming out in 2026. Um, I'm very honored to say that I am the chair of the high school computer science standards team. So, we're working really hard to write these national and international standards right now. So, you're in the

116house. Um, and we're working again the teacher facing website which is again for the future. So, first off, the vision statement. I I'll leave it up here so you can read it. I'll highlight especially the last line. We view computer science is essential for all students and equity is a vital component of our vision. Um coming up with a solid vision statement is is harder than it looks. Um so we're really proud of that. Um secondly, the pathway document and I assume they'll be able to see these slides. So everything is a live link as well. This is a little sample. It's um sort of the beginning of what will eventually become a website. Um you click on one of those like the kindergarten and it sort of drills down into the kindergarten and shows

117you what uh like a key question. Um Zach, you know, props to him. He helped me to be able to frame it in a way that was um really friendly and um so yeah, that was a team effort. Course marketing. So, this is our website that our high school students go to to decide which computer science is their happy place for the following year. And then, um, in terms of courses, uh, you might have heard we have a couple. There's nine. Many, many schools struggle to have one or two. Um, AP Computers, excuse me, AP Cyber Security 1, we're a pilot school for that. next year Hall will be the first um among the first in the country to be teaching that course. Oh, and I want to interject here if I may. I can

118remember a couple of years ago there was a district which won't be named which um outside of West Harford that made like the public comment like we have the most computer science courses in the state and they were including in their account you know courses like keyboarding Microsoft Word um I am so proud of the work uh that's been undertaken by our computer science team to offer rigorous relevant really um meaningful computer science courses um and and without a doubt uh I feel that we are a leader in this space um certainly at the state level and our goal is to remain a leader nationally. So I just want to reinforce that. Thank you. Programming in Python is also relatively new. It's a Yukon ECE course. So it's a half a halfyear course that students

119can earn Yukon credit with. Uh so some people might think that computer science is only taught in one department in our schools. As such it probably meets only one graduation requirement. That is not true. We actually teach it in West Harford across three different departments. CTE, math, and social studies. And teachers are from any one of those three departments right now. Some people might think in terms of this computer science thing that we're on our own. As such, we need to train and create everything from scratch. That's also not true. We have some amazing partnerships. EP stands for expanding computing education pathways. They're a national research think tank um that uh has been doing a lot of work with, for example, landscape studies. They're mostly state level things. Uh I've been a member of that

120team for a couple of years now where we've just finished a CS summit here in the state um to be able to set up our new uh plan going forward for the state um of you know computer science in the state. Uh CSDA stands for the computer science teachers association. They're a group of voluntary teachers. I'm the treasurer for the group here in Connecticut. Um we're a nice group of many many of us tend to be islands in our schools. Not true for me anymore, but once upon a time that was true. And um so we work together to be able to make computer science more accessible for students across across the state and country. And actually we have an international presence too. And then the college board of course um you know is responsible

121for AP courses and I've received a ton of training in terms of leadership. I'm a consultant for APCS principles um for the college board and also a member of their development committee for APCS principles as well. So um we've got great partnerships really across the country. Some people might think we haven't started integrating yet, but we will soon. And I'm going to hand it over to Zach Fost for this. Thank you. Thanks, Jackie. Um, so I just want to start with um, shout out to Jackie just for it's I'm also a parent here in West Hartford. My daughter goes to Brayburn and I just it's really an honor to know that you're leading the charge and something I hope she'll get a benefit of including all of our kids here. So um, I'm here to

122talk about uh, some of the integration happening in our elementary schools. So, um, when we talk about elementary school integration, uh, it's easy to think that this is some sort of eventual thing that'll always be that shiny object far away that's making its way down, um, towards us. Um, or that it's something that if we are going to integrate, it's going to be in the world of enrichment or, um, it's going to be as an extracurricular. But I'm very pleased to come here today to share with you all that uh, we've actually been making incredible progress and the integration is happening now. Um, so this past year, every student in all grades at Smith STEM School, uh, has experienced at least one, but for most kids, many, uh, computer programming lessons that were integrated into

123existing, uh, classroom instruction. So, um, thank you. Yes. Uh so we have had uh and this is on top of uh the integration that's already happening across our district for a few years now in library media where our library media specialists led by the curriculum leads there uh have been doing a tremendous amount of work to get computer science and computer programming education into elementary school classrooms. Um so at Smith uh we have been focused on purposeful integration into our classrooms to really take uh computer science from being an add-on to being something that students experience and have access to on a daily basis. So um that has meant finding ways to frame computer programming and design lessons that are an additive tool that strengthens learning in science, ELA, social studies, writing and math. Uh

124the programming tasks that we introduced are designed to be very discreet, focused, curriculum connected exercises for kids to engage with. And uh Jackie has just been an absolute I you know I am not I do not have a tech background. I have I'm approaching 20 years um in education. I've worked as a classroom teacher and school administrator and coach. And so what I bring to this partnership really I think is just uh I was an old school paper and pencil you know printed copy of the book kind of teacher. it took me a long time to start to adopt new technology. So in that respect um I also get to experience the journey that I think a lot of our teachers are going to go on and and this is not many of our teachers

125are are quite immersed in the world of technology but for me it's been it's been a journey it's been an really exciting one um and so part of what that process has involved in the work at Smith is selecting the right tools um and platforms for kids to use in uh using computer programming in the classroom. So, we've really focused on tools that are safe um in in light of our budget discussions that are also free um and that support student problem solving and creativity. So the comparison I've been making as we've worked on this is that these platforms uh that we use are a lot like uh a digital version of a blank notebook paper or whiteboard in that the programming platforms we're using really provide students with a blank canvas to communicate and

126solve problems in their classrooms. uh we've intentionally avoided any platforms that rely on gamification, extrinsic rewards, commercial incentives or cater to the lowest common denominators that we have really uh sought after platforms that just create a nice safe focused environment for students to work in. Um to get there, we've had some really excellent partnerships with the team at Smith. So um many students at Smith have a history of work with computer science through magnet aligned enrichment experiences. uh as well as our existing library media studies uh curriculum and the people who've been leading that in the past and currently are are named here as the building leaders. Uh so I wanted to take a minute and and recognize them. Um, and so one of the great things about this is the climate uh and enthusiasm

127among both students and families at Smith is is really excellent and just created a great place to start developing uh a more formalized pathway for students uh to pursue uh computer programming in their regular educa in their regular classrooms. So for that, we've worked with Smith's uh lab specialist teacher, Courtney Stangle, uh to begin incorporating and integrating computer programming tasks that align with both science and core ELA and math curriculum. These early lessons are also helping uh Jackie and I and other folks involved in designing these lessons hone in on instructional design and professional development tools that support teachers in making quick progress up the learning curve and to begin developing tasks on their own. Um there have been some So now I just want to share briefly uh some of the very encouraging and

128positive outcomes that we've observed at Smith. So the lessons have been very very high in terms of student engagement. Um so we talked Jackie talked a minute ago about participation. Um, these these lessons are just an absolutely joyful, fun, and engaging time. Even during multi-step rigorous tasks that have a really high rate maybe of initial failure where kids need to persevere through difficulty, the engagement is tremendously high. We see a ton of authentic collaboration among peers in these lessons. The technology really works as a bridge rather than a barrier. So, um, you know, and I I shared earlier, I'm a parent in the district, and I think like many parents, I'm dubious about things that might increase screen time, and I'm happy to share that this is actually the kind of screen time where kids

129are spending more time engaging with one another than they are with headphones. You know, we don't allow headphones in these lessons because we want students to be focused on collaboration and problem solving and connected to the people around them. So just the opportunities for kids to collaborate, talk, celebrate one another's success are tremendous as they work through problems and much more. And um that has been a huge huge asset. Finally, um equity has always been a very important part of um my work as an educator and the equity implications for computer science. Um we we've we've spoken to somewhat already. Um but I I just want to share a few examples of what we've noticed in the classroom in terms of the equity implications. Um first off the programming tasks integrated into lessons are less

130dependent on language proficiency than traditional classroom activities. Um and this in turn we found has given our multilingual learners a very significant opportunity to shine and take on leadership roles in the classroom. uh the programming tasks uh with the way we're we're we're working to design them can easily be differentiated to accommodate a wide range of skills allowing a broad range of students to have multiple entry points to access the programming tasks and there's limitless opportunities for adding new layers of challenge and complexity for kids who are excelling. A common issue you would encounter in the classroom is kid I'm done, I'm finished. um that doesn't happen in these lessons because there's always a way you can say try it this way or try to add that or can you make this upside down. There's

131just so many different ways to toss something to students to increase the rigor, increase the complexity, let alone invite them to come and be leaders and help their peers. Um the programming tasks, computer programming really values a diverse uh set of strengths. So students who excel in careful, methodical thinking, who've developed some resilience, but other but may not always be the first ones done in traditional classroom tasks have really um stood out uh because programming really depends on your ability to break a task down and work methodically. And we've seen this is another opportunity for kids who don't always get to stand out in the classroom to shine through coding problems. Um, and I know we've spoken to this already, but I just want to share um, how inspiring it is when you're watching a

132student just jump for joy when they've finally figured out how to program something correctly and what it means as you watch that student, especially at a young age, and you think about what this is doing for their sense of self. Um, and and the affirming moment that I hope they're having, and I I I feel fairly confident they're having where they're doing something in a space that they can now say, "I belong here and I can be good at this." And I think we all can agree on why that's so important of a mindset to develop as young as possible with kids. So, um, looking ahead, uh, next year, we've already launched this with the Smith team, but we plan to formalize integration across all grades at Smith to really begin working with the team

133there in a feedback loop that, uh, I I'm very excited to continue collaborating with them on uh, to start to model a K5 CS instructional program that supports this engagement, collaboration, and enhancement to our uh, current curriculum um, for then future sharing with uh, the other elementary schools in our district. Um, and so I'm going to hand it back to Jackie, but thank you guys for letting me share this with you all. Thank you so much. Um, so another example of integration that's happening right now is a course called human behavior in a digital world. This is a social studies course that was pre created to integrate computer science and social studies at the same time. It's a halfyear course uh and that's currently being offered at both Hall and Connard. This is you. We're

134going to switch over for a second because what we have worked on most recently is um the way artificial intelligence is coming at all of us so quickly and we wanted to again use a similar model get a team together and look at the challenges we uh we have ahead of us and start to get uh to get ready for those challenges because as we know I think it's someone said recently chat GBT is about two years old already and the adoption rate is just faster than almost any other technology which is it's just hard to believe when we know how fast other things have been adopted. So be as I turn it over to Jackie right as I do I'm going to give you a old school handout that will uh show some of

135our work. Okay. Yeah, AI will never be as bad as it is right now. Think about that, right? Yeah. Okay. All right. So, um give a moment for that to go around. I know I can only do one thing at a time. Great. and I'll explain to you what you have soon. Um, but again, from the team perspective, we've got a couple team members here and our accomplishments, we started very similarly, uh, developing a statement to sort of frame our work. Um, district-wide PD that was run on election day 2024. That was an introduction, kind of a teaser of things to come. Uh, guidance documents for classrooms, that's what you have in front of you. More on that soon. And then this past spring, we ran two different dinner and learn events uh thanks to

136Ann's leadership and all of the wonderful people here in the system who attended uh on their own time in the evenings for dinner and a little pizza and some time with Matt MVIS who is a leader from ED advance in this space. Uh, one thing is true with AI and computer science, you're always learning. And then in the future, we intend to uh create some faculty meeting videos. That's June to introduce these guiding documents. Election day PD is planned for 2025. We have a brand new student AI team involving eight students from Connard and eight students from Hall uh because they know a lot more than we do. and then ongoing professional development and then a teacherf facing website. So I'm going to do a lot of web development this summer. Um this is our

137district statement. Again I'll pause please. When we got the when we uh convened the first district uh AI team, the first thing we thought it was most important to do was just to acknowledge that AI is here, that it is something that we need to use responsibly and a lot of people are thinking, do we do we just prohibit it because it has some ethical considerations or do we let it in and deal with them? And so after looking at all the guidance we could find, we thought it was important to say that it it has transformative potential and that we are embracing it but with ethical use and and training. So that was the first thing we did and after we made the statement we were made sure to get it in all of

138our handbooks so the teachers know okay I can use this um it is allowed and now this year we've gone much further to create the guidelines that will help teachers to use it responsibly and I'm very proud of all of the team's work Jackie's work especially getting the student voice in here because they're using it as much or more than the adults are so they are understanding and seeing both the potential and the problems And again, I'm we're here just telling other people's stories. This each of these teams, all of these teams, there's so many people that have worked so hard to be able to create these documents. So, um I'm just happy to share uh the classroom AI guidelines. Those are in front of you. Give you a moment to kind of process those.

139These two documents sort of go hand in hand. So, there's this one and there's this one. So the classroom AI guidelines sort of set up some boundaries for what we would expect student roles, teacher roles and admin roles. And then the AI assessment scale goes alongside it because um it it gives teachers an opportunity to say hey this is a level two assignment or perhaps it's a level one assignment. There's you know no AI at all. These were not we adopted existing documents to make them work for us. Um you can see that we gave credit at the bottom. This is Leon Fursy's um AI assessment scale that we adopted and then this was adopted um a bit from a school in Missouri. Um but we made it work for us and uh through many

140many iterations and a lot of teamwork. So I'll give you a moment to just digest those. I remember every bullet and the reason why each one is there. So, um, okay. Um, and so, yeah, at this point, I'll kind of pause for questions. My oh my boy, wonderful presentation. teammates, questions, comments regarding the wealth of information we've received. Yes, Latoya. Um, I just have a comment. I'm so happy that we're we're on the AI. Um, and we're welcoming it and embracing it. I've been I've been with Chad GBT from day one. I'm a Chad GBT ride or die. Um, and I I strongly believe that we have to embrace these new practices. Um, and I'm just so excited. Like I feel like it can, at least in my experience, I feel like as an entrepreneur,

141as somebody who's a deep researcher, as someone who always has to write reports for um clients, as someone who sometimes has spicy emails that I need to like kind of bounce back with. Um and then just so many other things too. Um teaching re uh teaching me concepts from back in the day. like I've gone to chatgbt and been like, "Hey, I I remember taking this statistics class in college, but there was this concept I didn't really get. Like, could you break it down for me?" And so, um, and I've I've really guided my child, too, who is in our district, um, on how to use it in those ways to be a thought partner. Um, and I think it can just enhance everything that we're doing. So, I love that we're taking the stands

142of not being afraid of it, um, but being responsible with it because it is here. there's going to be a ton of career opportunities for our kids. And I um I I think about it in the like in terms of like being asked if you speak another language that I do feel like that's how it's going to be with AI, like are you efficient? And and that's going to be a job requirement. And so, um once again, you know, West Hartford is ahead of the game on this. Um and I really appreciate you all and your team, um for the really thoughtful, intentional work that's being put into this. And I'm pumped. I'm like I was like yes we're with we're with the times like you know we don't have to hide from this. So

143it's awesome. Um and then I think the other thing I want to say too around the computer science stuff please let us know what we can do as board members um you know whether it's in in community um or talking to parents um around building some of that um just will to want to get our students engaged with that especially our girls. Um there's a big gap there in in in the career um the career force too with girls in with women in technology. Um and I think there is a lift that our community can take too and and providing some of those opportunities and maybe partnering with the district. So please if anything comes up or there any uh ways in which we can support expanding this just let us know. I love your

144energy. Thank you. Yeah. Other Jason and then Claire. So I might piggyback a little bit off of of what Latoya was saying is how do we as a district since we are you know rightly proud of this and and sounds like we're on the forefront not just in the state but nationwide how are we advertising is probably not the right word but how are we advertising this how are we marketing this well um speaking computer science or computer science or AI I mean this presentation how you know where you show those nine courses or more the nine courses that we have. How do how do we, you know, put that out there at West Hartford and really tout this? Um, well, there's a number of ways. One of the ways, we're very fortunate. Jackie is

145a leader in the field. We're very fortunate to have her in district and she's very connected at the state level and with national organizations. Um, and I think that's one of the ways we're getting our name out there. I think we've been able to pilot a few AP courses. Maybe it's because Jackie has com promoted our district, but just even this year um seeing the cyber security uh program, Jackie came to me said, "We need this." And then we looked. It's hard to add a new course in declining enrollment or static enrollments. Adding a new course can be challenging. So, we went back and forth and back and forth to decide, you know, what's the best way forward. So I think one of the ways we get our name out there is because we allow

146our people to uh go to special things that will help them grow professionally and will help connect us. We also try very hard let's say in the AI space we found a leader in the state Matt MVvis who works at at ED advance um we were thrilled at his approach because um because his presentation style is just warm engaging makes you feel like you're right there with him and part of it and we just I think we were a little aggressive and said can we book you for these things and can we bring you in for dinners and talking to our staff and can you come to our PDS and can we pick your brain. And so I think we've been focused and I think we provide our our folks with opportunities to go to

147those outside events and and promote what we're doing. And then some of it comes in the numbers themselves. For instance, um our ECE participation is is very high. And if we look at just in our computer science classes, we can do that. Our AP participation is extremely high. And again, uh I think we have three now AP. We'll have three AP classes next year in computer science and two ECs, one EC, one EC. I don't know if you want to add to that. Uh just I feel very grateful the district supports me to be able to present and take our story nationally. Um so for example, this summer I'll be presenting at CSTA four different sessions. Um I'll be presenting at AP annual conference. Uh I was the a leader for the summit here in

148Connecticut and I will be again in the fall. So it's that increased visibility making sure that and very frequently people will reach out to me and ask if you know could they come and observe and just pick my brain and to me that's not I I see it as a a partnership then right? So then we become a partner with them, they become a partner with us and we grow, we grow together. Um I think that is a powerful advertisement, right? Powerful networking within and and computer science is such a small world that we really do we kind of stick together. Uh West Harford has a wonderful reputation across the country as being a leader in this space and um yeah I I think I'm answering your question. Yes. Now how do we use it?

149I think that's a that's a question for all of us, right? Yeah. Um, one other note is and Jackie's been really um uh important in this work when we bring a CS team together or an AI team together, she's always thinking of the members of those teams. So, she'll say, you know, what's a what's a small bonus we can give them for coming to this afterchool meeting or giving up some of their time to come to this meeting? So, she'll advocate for them to attend a Connecticut CSTA conference or a New England uh computer science conference just but that will spark them because they'll learn there. They'll connect there and that will not only spark their interest but get our name out there as well because um they'll see a couple West Harvard people. We've

150also sent a fair number of students from West Harvard onto places like Amazon, Google, and that's pretty good advertisement, too. Yeah. I want to I want to just interject piggyback a couple of things. Um, you know, I'm extremely proud of the work of uh the district and uh the team and and certainly Jackie. We were we were one of the we were involved with the national pilot for AP computer science principles when that first came on board five years ago more than that 2017. There were only 40 districts at the time doing it. Yeah. I mean our name is out there um as as was stated with Yukon. Uh but but it's also you know we lean forward and this board has has leaned forward in the past when we first talked about and recognized

151the important I mean computer science has been one of those things that's been named as kind of a gamechanging thing that the next the next um fundamental skill that that that students need to know and have in order to be successful in their adult lives. um just based on the nature of you know algorithmic thinking and data science and and all of these things and how how the you know the business world the career world um of to of I would say tomorrow but really of today um has progressed and the need for this to become a foundational kind of a literacy for students. um the board that time you know invested when I was assistant superintendent we talked about bringing on curriculum specialists for computer science because this is a topic we're we're not

152trying to silo it in a department in the way that you know when I went to college that that's there was a whole separate computer science department and feedback you know I can remember you know hearing from graduates who'd come and and you know at the time it was Tom Moore you'd be talking with them and you know that was that was the thing that they said you we needed more and better integration because when they're going into college, some of these skills are integrated across multiple disciplines and across multiple fields. U and that was the impetus when we first started to say we need to become a leader in this space. We need to we need to invest in an infrastructure for West Harvard. We need to uh develop programming and we need we

153need to have a vision for it. And and I hope that's kind of what the team is really bringing you here today. Um, so thank you so much for the presentation. I love the enthusiasm and just from a a standpoint of presenting. Um, it just was very engaging, easy to understand and that's probably the biggest entry point and plus you can have in this kind of technology. I have some quick, very quick questions. Are all classes offered at both high schools? Yes. And are you having trouble finding except for AP cyber security next year because it's a pilot at hall to start. Exactly. And are you able to find faculty to teach these courses? Yes. Okay. There sometime sometimes that is a challenge though um because electives they are they are largely electives. So sometimes

154we you need capacity. Well you need capacity but you also need you know students have to choose the classes. So, right. Um, and there's so many good classes to teach to be honest, um, that we we are able to teach them, but, um, it it it can be, uh, there there's a lot of good things to offer our kids and we want to offer them as many of the great courses as possible. So, for instance, in the CTE field, career technical education, there's many good courses to offer over there. Um, and Jackie works with that team because they they teach some computer science classes, but they might teach woodworking or woodworking and manufacturing, which we also value. So, sometimes we just have to continue to see where the children's interests are going to make sure

155we're offering the right combination of courses. Teaching computer science is right now it is the wild wild west still, right? There's no right now in Connecticut there's an endorsement. There's no certification, right? So teachers have to be in certified in a different area and then get endorsed to teach computer science. There is not yet a requirement for that, but there's a strong recommendation, you know, from the state. So we're in we're a little bit of an uncharted territory. And so there is a just like there's a fear factor for some of our students for sure because there is no formal training, there's a little bit of a fear factor for teachers as well. You know, my background's a little weird. I had three years at Rathon as a systems engineer in Java, you know, C++

156which is close enough to Java. So I was able to like cross over, but you really you need someone with that kind of background to start the ball rolling and then and then you know it becomes sort of contagious and and because it's so fun but um yeah it you're not wrong. Finding computer science teachers is not an easy thing. Yeah. Right. The reputation and the marketing could help. Um, can we get a copy of this presentation? Um, I would love to see um the drill down in why people choose and then that amazing data you show of the elementary jump. Um, I'm very interested in seeing what that in the next survey you do because with that jump in the one measurement um in a in a year from now, it's going I think

157it's going to be huge. Me too. Um, the other thing is is just like to um when computers first came into schools, it was your computer class, your library, you'd have some computer time, but now it's like a tool. It It's a way you get your job done. It It's And so I can see AI being like that. You don't need an AI course because AI is going to be filtered in almost everything. But how do you launch AI? What what is the way that it's launched to the kids? Because they're not going to an AI course. Um who is the teacher? Who is the um the class within Connard or Hall or the middle schools that would first talk to the kids about AI or these documents? Well, that I think the my first

158reaction to what you're saying is this the students are well ahead of us on AI. So they they don't necessarily need a course. They need to know how to use it within their courses. You know what's applicable in that lesson. So what we're trying to do is to train the teach well first of all I'll start with we have opened uh we checked with our technology team Jared Morin and we have opened uh Google Gemini to all of the children age appropriate and over I think it's 14 14 and over all have Google Gemini on their Chromebooks now and for all the adults we have Google I'm sorry notebook LM which is another AI tool that we're using and that would be an adult tool so we've open we're opening the tools to the students

159um because they are using them. What we need to teach them is responsible ethical use and then to follow the guidance that the teacher is giving. The teacher may have a very specific purpose for saying I do not want to use it other than brainstorming or the teacher might say I do want you to use it for as a partner. Um or the teacher might say I want you to create completely new ideas and go wild with that. So the teachers right now are trying to think about the assignments they normally have given in the past and how to keep them relevant and and um appropriate for today's day and age. So they need some of this these guidance documents to help them figure out how to change their assignments, adapt their assignments because the

160students the students are on chat GP and we have two students here here now. So, I don't I mean, they can speak better than I can. Do you What What kinds of tools do you guys use when you're using um um Don't worry, we won't tell your teachers you're doing anything wrong. But that's that's that guilt factor. See, until I'll let you and then Yeah, go ahead. Oh, I was just going to say like when I was reading this like scale, I feel like a lot of the times I'm using it in like the AI planning. Um, like I think for research, ideal development, that's something that's been really helpful for me and I've used that in like different classes. Um, you can find like research sources. You can find like different it can help

161with like making essay outlines. That's what I've heard from other students. Um, I don't I have not really heard of anyone putting something into AI like get directly spitting it out turning it in and getting away with it. So I don't right. But that is a real fear the teachers have and it's legitimate. Um, so we want to give everyone a common language to talk from and and we think this this document that we've adopted from Fursy um will help our teachers all have a common language what how to speak about assignments, what kind of an assignment it is. Can you use AI and can you not? And we also want to help our teachers to understand what we're going to call what not that we've made this term the term durable assignments. They may

162still want to see students genuine thinking and genuine work besides any tools. And so we're going to help them identify what are the ways you can still see the students students kind of original thinking. And that is the creation of what we call durable assignments. Assignments where I hate to say it might be old school, but you might be involved in a debate of teammate versus teammate. You might have some notes and whether you were able to generate them or not, but you'll still be you'll still be required to engage in that thought process and that dialogue instantaneously. uh panel discussions, debates, um even oral examinations at times or old school writing sometimes. So, we need to help teachers because they've become so many of their assignments they've been doing a certain way and now

163they're easy to perhaps if if a child wanted to uh use AI and and complete the assignment. So we're we need to train the teachers how to have a combination of durable assignments and assignments that use this scale because we want to take the guilt factor away from the students and give them clear guidance on you can and should use it for this. This would not be the time to use it. Does that how does that sound to you as students? Well, why why does that sound better? Well, I think like right now a lot of students are trying to steer away from using it because they feel like, oh, we're going to get caught using it, like we're using it for bad reasons. But like for me, when I've used it, I kind of

164use it just to like reexlain things better. Like it's really nice how versatile chat GBT or like any type of AI is cuz like I can plug in like explain this to me but like like it's a reality show that I've watched before and it comes out with this beautiful explanation that I actually understand and like I would never tell my teacher that cuz I feel like bad about doing something like that. But I think with this type of idea it would definitely like encourage a more responsible use and everything. Well, what we've heard is that you need to have clear guidance for your students and you need to be um transparent and clear and give them and and have everyone you kind of use the same guidelines and that will help um everyone not

165feel guilty or feel like they're doing something wrong. Um and then when they when they have an assignment, they'll know to what extent can I use this? So that was the whole effort there. So after we made our statement that it's okay to use, we went deeper into the guidance and we produced Jackie did a great deal of work on this. We produced these documents and then um we'll go further with our training for teachers um because there's a lot of great teacher tools to help them save some time and then there's things we want them to know and you know not to know too because there's there's ethical use for the teachers as well. Last last comment. Um, so years ago at Duffy, um, we offered parents an evening where they could come in

166and understand how folders worked on a hard drive and how to open a Word doc and how to name a file and make sure it's saved in the right place. Um, I would love to see an opportunity where we offer some parents um, a little crash session or something because I think there's a lot of people who just don't understand. And so, you know, a lot of times when computers came out, the kids got so far ahead of the parents in just learning how to use the internet and all that. And and now we're further along, but now AI has changed it again. And I think it would be really helpful for some parents. I think you would have a big turnout. I think you'd need the the big hall, but I think people would

167be very interested. That's a great idea. We had the evening sessions uh with uh you know, we we we bought some pizza and invited teachers in because it was on their own time and uh we had an AI expert and you know, we we could do that also possibly with parents if they are interested in in learning it. I mean, I think that it would help us get our stamp, you know, our position to parents. It would help us communicate this kind of information to our parents. So, our parents are clear, the students are clear, and hopefully the teachers are as well. And just one last thing I wanted to throw out, Jackie, in all your travels and all your presentations, is the district and or is the board supporting and reimbursing for travel and

168all that kind of stuff? That's such a kind question. most of the time they pay for me. Okay. Um I'm just saying when we do Yeah. when we do spread the word and when we do send children, there's always an equity issue too and individual teachers spend a lot. Thank you. And and as well as um students, all students should be able to go to present and and the financial part shouldn't be. So I really when someone's such a spokesperson, you need to track that and and let us know if you need Thank you. I want to clarify what I said. Most what I meant by that is most of the time they meaning the people that flew me out there or whatever wanted me to do the thing, paid for me to go, but

169anytime that I have a difference in that, um, they've been extremely kind and and wonderful about and and as you know, that's why we West Harford is out there. I want make I want to make sure that people know how good it is here, right? So, it's not just about computer science, but this is an amazing place to work. Yeah. Yeah. And then um related to the idea of a family AI night, I love that idea. And then shout out to my APCSA students who are taking their AP exam tomorrow. Um we used AI just today in our studying where they're getting ready for their FRQs. I um found a pretty cool site that had a nice uh feature where they could type in their FRQ is free response questions. So they could type in

170their code response and it would tell them how they did probably based on their AP exam. So imagine that as an AP teacher, it just tells you right away boop, this is your score. I didn't have to do any of it. It sort of told them. So that's awesome. And they could keep learning from that. Yeah. Um, can I share I wanted to speak quickly to the family engagement piece because um, uh, bringing families in for seeing what students are working on in the classroom has always been a pretty important part of, uh, I think of a of a vision for for strong instruction to begin with. Um, so just to we it's it's happening. We did this at Smith. Uh, we had a teach my parent to code uh or teach my grown it

171was teach my grown-up to code. Uh, and we had um 18 students in an afterchool program. I think it was about a dozen families were able to make it. Um, and it was students teaching their grown-ups, their older siblings, uh, grandparents. Um, really adorable photos from that day. Um, and it was, uh, to your point and to just kind of emphasize, I think that this this is it's very purposeful. It's very meaningful. It's also it's also just cool. And so kids to have the opportunity to teach their grown-ups. So I think a big part of that empowerment piece and also um gets families talking about it because the great thing about the platforms we're using is this is kids can bring their work home with them. They can share, hey, here's something I made in

172school today. Can I show you how it works? Can I show you the problem it solves? And then families can talk about it and they can share with other, you know, there's just it it really does invite a lot of opportunities for community building. Um, and that's a big part of our our task for Smith next year is to think about ways to increase that. Before the next question, hearing these wonderful pieces, being reminded of AP exams, want to remind our lovely students, if you do need to depart, please, we encourage that you are students first and foremost. So, please feel free to step aside if you need to pardon. Thank you. Certainly. Thank you. Thank you Ethan. So I have two questions unrelated. Uh the first one was in the presentation you mentioned the

1732025 election and 24 election. I wasn't don't how did that relate? The what? Oh um oh election day is just days we have professional development. I thought you were doing something with AI. No. Okay. Yeah. Well, we are doing something with AI on those days for our teachers. I thought it had to do with the election in the No, no, it's just I couldn't figure it. Oh. Oh, sorry. Okay. No, no. Yeah. No. Wasn't a political statement. So, um to follow up on what Claire had, um when I looked at this the presentation, the one that I thought, geez, I'd like to take would be the cyber security. Me, too. Yeah. But my question was and it sort of builds on what she had. Is it possible to have something on cyber security not just

174for parents or you know but for the community in general because I think that is a relevant issue. I mean it's incredible to me the amount of emails I get that are obviously bogus. I mean I get more docu signs than I can count. I mean to the point where unless I hear from a bank or something I will not sign it or I won't even open it. I mean, I think that's a a thought for um and and as we launch that cyber security class next year that maybe that's something we talk to see how it how it goes with the kids. But that that's a thought too on information parents would like to have. I'm getting the toll ones myself. You know, you haven't paid your toll. Got that one. Don't click on

175it. Um it's interesting to look at the area code. A lot of them from Yeah. Yeah. I know they're from everywhere. But um I think uh you're giving us good ideas of other other ways to spread the word to parents and other stakeholders in our community. Yeah. No, I I just think it'd be so valuable. Frankly, I'm sorry I can't take the Yeah. There's actually a cyber security 2 course that we'll be looking into as well. There's a second part of that one, but we need to get through the first one first. Well, we have a cyber security department in my company, but it's amazing the things that they're dealing with. So, yeah. All right. if you could think about it for the that would be great. Um I I wanted to uh just kind

176of circle back to one of the things that um one of the students said about going to chat GPT and being like, "Hey, can you talk to me like you know a reality TV star?" Um one of the things that I really like about it too and um kind of draws to this larger issue around the fact that we have a lot of different um students that represent different cultural backgrounds. And while we've made a lot of progress, like we're still not in a space where every single lesson that is taught is taught in a way that's going to reach every single student. And so I think that's a great way, and I'm saying that publicly here because I think it's a great way to respond to some of those fears that this increases inclusion

177and belonging um and creates that pathway for students uh while we're we're trying to get there, right? Um and the other thing I wanted to say too is uh is two things. One is that it's really important for teachers to become efficient in this like just on your own as an educator and as an educator when these tools come out like we got to it's like you got to jump on or you're going to get run over by it. Um because when you are efficient in it, you can tell when someone's has not used their original ideas and they've just copied and pasted something from chat chat GPT. But it does take you being a user of the platform to be able to see that. One of the biggest and easiest tells is if something

178has a bunch of dashes through it. Like that's like a number one tell. Like if somebody copy and paste something and it has dashes all through it, ChatGBT probably authored that whole thing. The other thing is you can see the lack of originality, right? ChatGBT is going to give you a general thought taken from a bunch of different thoughts and information out there. Um, and so knowing your students personally, um, I think that's a big thing. I can always tell them people are chatging stuff to me like, and I'll call them on it. I'll like you just chat GBT that, didn't you? And they're like, "How'd you know?" And I'm like, "Cuz I use the platform." And so I think that's another good way to to respond to some of those fears around why we

179want to be efficient users so that we can be ahead of the game when that happens, right? Um just like we've always been able to catch plagiarism, teachers have always been able to to to find it, but we've in order to be a teacher like you've got to you got to be a learner first. Um, and then the last thing I wanted to share, uh, when I was thinking about some of those demographics up there, um, I, you know, I know the CIO of Mass Dot, he's a black man. Um, my father is an, uh, an IT leader here in the state. Um, my youngest brother is an IT leader and does cyber security in Silicon Valley. All three of them um are black men in my life who have expressed um a desire and

180a passion to want to talk to other young black men around getting involved in IT and computer sciences. Um and my youngest brother who's in Silicon Valley, like we could zoom him in, but um you know the other two, my father's right here in Connecticut, the CEO of Mass Dot is one of my uh lifelong best friends. He comes to Connecticut often. Um, and I'm just throwing them out there because I as I see those demographics and who we're not reaching, I think sometimes it's a matter of that, right? When those the the black boys have black men in front of them and then they also have varying levels of education. My friend who's a CIO has his masters. Um, my my youngest brother has his associates. My father um just has some certifications. All

181three of them make six figures. And so those are those are some things that we want to like point out and lift up to the community, too. So, I just wanted to throw that out there. And also, you can hit me up on the site if you want their information. You're welcome. Thank you. Thank you. Other questions or comments regarding this wonderful presentation and information shared? All right. Well, thank you. Thank you. Thank you. I have to say, as I shared earlier, I remember you presenting several years ago and was so impressed by you then and the whole team collectively and continue to be impressed. Thank you so much for impressing upon all of us the importance of this. I will confess I am rather archaic with this. So the idea of learning I'm like

182oh brace myself. My daughters, oh my goodness, they're on it. So thank you for helping to build the confidence in them to go this route and I'll be in in the lesson with Ethan um the tutorial. I will give y'all tutorials. All right. All right. But thank you so very much again for all of what you're doing. Thank you. And as we continue on to routine matters, we have approval of the minutes. Seeking a motion that the board of education approve the minutes of the regular board of education meeting of April the 1st, 2025. Is there a motion? So moved. Thank you, Jason. Is there a second? Second. Thank you, Latoya. Discussion, suggested edits. Seeing none, all of those in favor say I. I. I. Any oppose? Any abstain? The eyes have it. Moving on

183to information and reports. Board members, do we have any communications and reports from other boards and organizations? Seeing none, any other information and discussions? I want to echo and our student representative spoke of this and you did as well, Mr. Vicinus. Again, all of the pieces that we are recognizing this month and want to certainly promote all of them uh and and want to also uplift again mental health awareness month. However, again, that is something that we must be attuned to year round. So, please certainly so and one of the students rep spoke of that uh with the exams that are taking place. So, we certainly want to encourage our students to be mindful of that. Moving on now to future business announcement of future meeting dates, which is down to two this academic year.

184Our next meeting is Tuesday, May the 20th, 2025 at 7:00 here in room 3:14, followed by Tuesday, June the 3rd, regular board of education meeting, 7 o'clock here in room 314. Do we have a request for any future agenda items? I thought we had talked about discussing a finance um subgroup or department or committee that was mentioned for a future agenda item. Yes. And that is something to um our policies committee. We're looking for that. But also in terms of agenda items, we have a robust schedule between now and the end of the year. And so recall duly noted for when soon to come. Okay. All right. Any other suggested future agenda items? Seeing none, do we have any visitors that would like to make a comment? Seeing none, we do not have an executive

185session. Therefore, seeking a motion to adjurnn. So moved. I love it how you all delay with that. Thank you, Ethan. That's Ethan's motion. Ethan, thank you. Uh, is there a second? Second. Thank you, Claire. Meeting adjourned.