001e for e e e okay okay for good evening and calling the meeting to order welcome to the West Harford Public Schools regular Board of Education meeting it is Tuesday April the 1st 2025 Charlotte may you please call the role Mr gagman here Mr Goldman here Dr Harris here miss maramon she she's here on by phone Mrs nazarella present Dr Thomas Faron here Mrs yagaloff present student representative Sarah grest here and student representative Alexis Nan here thank you and Sarah may you please lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance iedge ALG 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 it is time
002for public Communications first off want to thank all of you for your patience as we're getting started we do have all of our teammates here however as you can tell some of them are virtually here so thank you very much so we do have Dr Harris who is um via superintendent via's phone and Shannon Marone she is via my phone but she's in rout here our teammates are very dedicated and so we appreciate all the means in which they are here to participate so again moving on to public Communications this is an opportunity for us to hear from you your thoughts your questions your suggestions each individual is allowed 3 minutes to speak we ask when you go to the podium to please share your name and your town of residence please be mindful of
003Charlotte who will hold up a yellow card when you have one minute remaining in your time and when your time has expired you will see a red card we ask for you please to conclude your sentence and respectfully take your seat please know that we are attentively listening to what is being shared however it is policy that we do not respond to comments as they being made we are receiving comments on all items we do prioritize first hearing from those speaking on agenda items and for our awareness for this evening the agenda includes adoption of the 2025 2026 board of education budget state of Connecticut healthy food certification 2025 2026 non-renewal of non-tenured personnel approval of approval of the financial report for period ending February 28 2025 approval of minutes from the March 4th 2025
004Board of Ed meeting approval of minutes from the March 12th 2025 board budget workshop and approval of minutes from the 20 from the March 26th 2025 budget Workshop so with the list we have here I will start with those who signed up to speak on agenda items and we have shayana Quinn hi my name is Shaya Quinn and I live in West Harford tonight the elected Board of Ed uh votes on the superintendent's proposed 2025 26 budget in recent weeks community members many of whom our teachers themselves have made it explicitly clear that we do not support the reduction of elementary teacher positions cutting Elementary teaching positions is a short-term solution a loow hanging fruit you must consider at least maintaining the current elementary teacher Staffing levels bear in mind the hundreds of children directly
005affected by these Cuts started kindergarten in first grade online and in masks the long-term consequences out outweigh the short-term inconvenience of revising the proposed budget sure teachers and students can adapt to larger classes ultimately because they have no choice you all have a choice on the matter tonight fiscal responsibility and evidence-based decisions should apply across all areas of the budget and some expenditures have not been scrutinized closely for example I have not heard much open Dialogue on central office spending at the board of ed meeting on March 18th multiple parents asked why are there no cuts to central office why cut teachers when they have direct impact on students in response to the claim that our District's standardized test scores were outstanding in the past even with larger class sizes I would maintain that during
006those years teachers likely spend precious hours teaching to those tests that you're referencing replacing creative engaging authentic project and inquiry based learning with test prep we must consider the long-term benefits of maintaining smaller classes not just the quantifiable outcomes of standardized tests yes these tests do provide important benchmarks easily published and shared but they do not capture the full picture of educational success the fiscal challenges we Face have been made apparent but a deeper analysis of spend within pupil Services must occur too what about what about the adage that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure don't you think behavior and academic challenges will only increase with larger classes please do not misunderstand my message here special education services are essential and legally protected and the funding complicated but the efficiency within
007that department must be analyzed deeply based on the most recent data published by the school and state finance project West Harford spent 29% of our our total school budget for the 2223 school year on special ed services yet very little of the latest budget conversations have addressed this large variable excuse me I've watched and taken notes on every single one of your meetings this year it is my duty as the Whiting L PTO liaison to the board and your commitment to our town and the education within our schools is palpable now demonstrate your commitment to the highest quality education and use your position as elected officials who represent the people of this town and do not approve the budget as is it's okay to revisit and revise encourage the superintendent to reimagine his current plans
008to consolidate Elementary classes it is the duty of the Board of Ed to represent the interests of the community and this community has demonstrated strong opposition to these elementary teacher cuts thank you thank you is there anyone else who would like to speak on an agenda item okay please come to the podium and share your name and certainly um I'm aan I live in West Harford um we are eighth graders representing Quest from King Philip Middle School we're speaking on behalf of the quest program with the aim to keep all the quest teachers in the middle schools Quest is aimed to ensure the development of academically gifted students in the district but above that Quest is an important part of our Lives as students can learn and grow in a safe creative environment that environment
009is in jeopardy with the recent discussion of moving a quest teacher from the middle schools Ria choa I live in West Hartford as it stands there are 103 Quest students between only two teachers at KP losing one of our very talented teachers would be incredibly detrimental to a project that requires a very unique one-on-one connection between students and staff we have been able to create unique relationships with our teachers and we need them to work as a quest unit these three years that students are allowed to participate in this class enable us as students to have the opportunity to not only enhance our learning and reach our potential but to also build relationships with our Quest teachers and the students involved in the program I have made so many new connections with students who think
010like me which has made my KP experience so much more enjoyable Ana I live in West Harford thanks to our teachers we've been able to accomplish the difficult goal of the three research project each year but with just one teacher our classes would have twice the number of students and half the amount of learning from my experience the type 3 project requires a substantial amount of work both from the teacher and the student in sixth grade I wrote a book and my teacher spent an equal if not more amount of time going through in proof reading and fixing my writing with double the amount of kids in each class that would simply be not possible will I'm Bloomquist Jordan uh West Hartford when the current eighth graders including myself were in sixth grade we experienced
011a similar situation of only having one Quest teacher that was during a transitional time while King Philip was hiring a second teacher and we all spent two months learning in one classroom from one teacher the class ended up being chaotic loud and difficult I remember those months as being incredibly disorganized because there were too many sixth graders in one classroom no one had the voice they were entitled to in the normal Quest format if this became an everyday occurrence we would not be able to express ourselves at all Marley Scott West Hartford we are asking you to stop this act from happening our quests teachers are quintessential parts of our class lives and academic careers we treasure the one-of Aon connection we've made with them in a small educational environment we are able to learn
012so much from them but this could be taken away from us we need the quest program and the funding it has now to be able to continue learning in ways that benefit us at KP and in West Harford finally we would like to share a few statistics from the petition we passed around the school today to show our community's support on the matter we collected 125 student signatures in favor of keeping all of our Quest teachers including 38 signatures from Quest students we also got 13 signatures from parents and teachers all of this was achieved in under 2 and 1 half hours collect just a few signatures out of the many like-minded students at KP thank you very much for your time thank you is there anyone else who would like to speak on an
013agenda item otherwise we'll move on to those who've signed up to speak on General comments all right with the list for those speaking on General comments we first have William bloomquest and Jordan or maybe that's a hyphenated last name so William that's all right oh I see all okay William and Emma and Annie Raina Mar no that do not apologize that's all right thank you okay is there anyone else who would like to speak on any topic once again all right thank you we shall pause on public Communications and now moving on to non-staff Communications and reports this is where we're able to hear from our student Representatives what's going on in their schools so let us begin with Alexis please what is going on at Connor um happy April everyone as third quarter ends
014and fourth quarter begins starting tomorrow Connor students are involved with numerous exciting activities last Friday we had our Unified sports pep rally sponsored by ESPN sports which celebrated the amazing achievements of our Conor Hall Unified sports teams the pep rally highlighted the talents of many of our student athletes and sparked lots of cheer from everyone in attendance we were also able to unveil our new Banner that named names us a unified Champion School through 2027 thank you to the numerous amounts of people involved that made this such an amazing event and it truly was such a memorable pep rally we also have been celebrating our boys hockey team who became back-to-back state champions after defeating jbwa 4-1 in the D3 Championship a huge congratulations to the coaches and players of this outstanding program there was
015no better way to close out this year's winter sports season um we look forward to the upcoming achievements of our spring sports team as scrimmages and games begin this week the Connor chapter of the technology Student Association competed this past weekend at the TSA state competition in Killingly 15 outstanding students competed all day at this event and brought home phenomenal Awards they swept the competition earning first second and third place honors in video game design coding photographic technology technology Bowl CO2 dragster design architectural design web design Structural Engineering 3D engine in design music production and Technical problem solving as you can see congratulations to all these students invol all the students involved with this remarkable success in all different categories the World Language Honor Society induction will take place in the auditorium on the evening
016of April 8th students that show a high level of comprehension and fluency in their respective languages will be honored and inducted into the Conor chapter of their World Language Honor Society next Wednesday students in our acting classes will take part in fictional character day where they will portray a character of their choice all day and present their research and extensive knowledge of said character to the rest of the school on April 11th there will be a breakfast at 7:00 a.m. in the library to honor military pural up day and then our choir program will put on their Fantastical for their fantastic annual Broadway concert on April 25th at 7:30 p.m. a concert filled with outstanding musicality and voices that honor the Brilliance of Broadway musicals this is a must attend concert if you can't make
017it to the Friday show no worries because this year there will be a second performance on the following Saturday at the same time the UniFi theater production has been coming along smoothly I'm happy to share that the theme for this year is Once Upon a Time um with many humorous skits that present the acting talents of all of our students regardless of if they actually are an actor or not the audience is in for a treat shows take place on May 1st and May 2nd so want mark your calendars and come to this entertaining performance there will also be a UniFi theater ice cream social to celebrate the production on April 10th in the cafeteria after happening throughout the fir also happening throughout the first week of May sorry the spring play will take place
018in the blackbox that Thursday through Saturday and of course Spring break starts in less than two weeks so hold on everyone we're almost there thank you Alexis Sarah please share what's going on at Hall happy April 1st as always we have been very busy at Hall with academic and extracurricular activities last week a number of Hall musicians dancers singers and crew members put on six incredible pops and Jazz performances with multiple soldout shows we want to congratulate every student and faculty member who participated in this production their hard work really paid off with these professional quality shows this past week we also participated in some not so exciting standardized testing in particular for our Juniors all Juniors at Hall and Connor took a digital SAT test last uh Thursday which went very smoothly last week
019H students had the opportunity to take the CLA biter biliteracy exam and yesterday all Juniors took the ngss test which completes the graduation testing requirement for science some very exciting news Mrs ISAC was recently appointed as Hall's pres principal as you all may know she has been our intern principal this school year and we are so lucky to have her as a leader in our school congratulations to Mrs ISAC some more good news last week on Monday Tuesday and Wednesday NEOS visited hall for an accreditation meeting and we're very happy with us thank you to all of the administrators teachers and students who helped to coordinate the nias visit West hartford's registar voters Elizabeth rouso visited Hall last Thursday to help eligible students including myself register a vote during lunches we want to thank her
020for helping to make this process easier for our students who will be voting for the first time in the fall tomorrow is par professional per professional appreciation day and we want to thank all of our Paras we truly could not do it without without you we also want to shout out our students who are a part of West Hartford Unified sports who were honored on Friday at the ESPN pep rally at Connor spring Sports started this week and tomorrow marks the end of quarter 3 and the beginning of quarter 4 this Saturday from 1: to 400 p.m. at the Town Hall the West Harford Community of consern will be hosting a teen Wellness fair in partnership with many other organizations all Hall students were invited to attend and participate in Wellness activities such as yoga
021QP are training and art therapy all students grade 6 through 12 and their caregivers are welcome to attend thank you Sarah both Alexis and Sarah thank you so much I have a quick question is senior itis starting to kick in yes all right all right hang in there hang in there like you said all right thank you both so very much now moving on to unfinished business where we have adoption of the 2025 2026 board of education budget seeking a motion that the Board of Education review the superintendent's proposed budget in the amount of 215 m226 1800 make revisions as necessary and adopt the 2025 2026 board of education budget is there a motion so moved thank you Jason is there a second second thank you Ethan discussion so teammates here we are again we've
022been building up for this moment for quite some time and this now is when we officially vote on the budget but not without having discussion and review and certainly taking into account all of the feedback that we have received before we move any further superintendent by CS just want to see if there is anything for you to share before we continue on absolutely thank you very much um and again thank you all um for all of the effort related to the budget I want to I want to thank the community uh there's been a dramatic amount of community engagement now only through uh participation at this event and our public hearing and uh public comment but throughout the three um Community conversations uh that were just concluded last night um I want to thank uh
023mayor Sher caner and Rick ledwith and our Deputy Mayor um Ben W uh W to grat as well uh just just the um the support and the collaboration has been phenomenal um and I would be remiss to not give Miss huitt another another huge shout out here um for all the work of her office one of the things I wanted to highlight uh before we started for all the board members however is kind of the work that happens in between so we had uh a formal presentation of the budget um much earlier this month or much earlier I guess in March it's already April um and then we had the workshops but we had a regular Board of Education meeting meeting where budget really wasn't an item and in between that time um you know
024we continue to do work we've uh as you know in one of the workshops we provided you with some updated um figures for class enrollments and we're always looking at what those refinements might be um we wanted to be able to provide you with some information because we do have some refinements to the budget that I think um you would want to consider in your deliberations based on um the the latest and greatest information that we're able to receive from um from folks like our insurance companies and um as in the state partnership plan so um and I'll let Liz kind of talk through them all but just to kind of give you an understanding as you know one of the things that we presented when we first uh when I first provided the recommended
025budget was that the state partnership plan uh cost estimate that we built the budget on was 10% and we did receive uh just prior to that period an updated figure and it did not change dramatically it only changed uh by a tenth of a point to 9.9% but there were some other uh there were some other information within that that uh does does effectuate uh a savings that we can account for and then in addition in conversation with with some of our insurance providers we've received some updated rates so with that kind of leadup and and explanation I'm going to uh turn this over to Liz who can give you some specific figures across a number of categories um that I think she's typing in as I speak um and I'll let her uh kind
026of give you the detail on that um as to where these update where this updated information came from and uh how you might consider it thank you Paul um as Paul mentioned and as we talked about previously we had assumed in the budget an increase of 10% um to our state um partnership premium rates as you know they came in at 9.9% we do actually have the actual rates at this point in time um and in addition to the 99.9% um there is a county adjustment for Hartford County so what the state does is they put out their overall increase and then based upon different um expenditures in various counties in the State uh they make an adjustment to those premiums so Hartford County had a reduction of0 5% and so because of that um
027I am estimating at this point in time that our overall premiums for the year will be 150,000 lower than what is included in the budget so if you um would like to make that adjustment it would result in a reduction of 150,000 to the number that is proposed in addition uh in March we met with our insurance carrier who covers both our LTD and our life insurance premiums and they have agreed to hold our rates flat for the upcoming year so we had anticipated in the budget that you see an increase of 10,000 for long-term disability insurance and 15,000 for life insurance and given that they now have agreed to keep our rates flat for a year if you so choose you can reduce our budget by the 25,000 for those two combined amounts do
028you want me to keep going or do you um the other item um that we have talked about briefly um and that we certainly have talked about in great deal in Prior years is our retiree Health reserve and as you know we um have this Reserve to address the costs of benefits that are provided um in retirement including our contribution um to the opep fund which is the other post employment benefit fund um and so I look at that every couple of months to see where our Reserve is um how the fund is performing and in the budget that you have we are using 350,000 of that reserve and if you would like uh we can go and use an additional 150,000 to affect a reduction um in the amount that you have and then
029I think lastly we talked about um the anticipated net metering we did um all right I'm going to talk in that type I'll type sorry no no that's okay um the last item uh that we've been able to take a look at is our contribution to the utility services fund so I think as you all know we have an energy specialist who works with both the town um and the board on conservation efforts but also on agreements with utilities to do um forward pricing on rates Etc and one of the things that we do is um you know we have uh solar and we sell back um that power um and we get a reduction in our electricity rates um based upon our usage for the year we are eligible in some years not every
030year for what's called a virtual net metering credit and it's basically how much we've used versus how much uh energy we have produced through these um solar agreements so we have received preliminary uh notification that we should receive a virtual net metering credit of approximately 150,000 in May so last year we did not receive one at all the year before we received I believe it was approximately 175 although I'd have to go back and see the the actual amount it is not a guarantee um but she feels uh pretty confident at this point in time that we will receive those funds and those are the the items I believe that have um have changed since we met last and since the docum was put together thank you Ethan I'm sorry I didn't hear the you
031had a fourth item what was that again so uh utility the um Health Reserve yeah and then the utility contribution how much was Health Reserve uh 150 so you just need us to say go oh you're going to do no you need to vote on okay on all of these I was just having trouble talking and typing at the same time so thank you very much Liz um oh Jason yes could you just provide a little bit more color for what the retire Health Reserve is and and if we would be taking money out of it this year do we have to put it back in next year you know the impacts on future budgets exactly um so we would not have to put more money in next year to make up for that however
032we are utilizing that Reserve over a set period of time to pay not only for help pay for but also to phase in our actuarially actuarially there we go determined contribution for our opep benefits going forward and so you know anytime you use more of the reserve now um it certainly is not available to meet those future needs at this point in time I think even with use of this 150,000 um The Reserve will help us smooth that contribution in for probably five more years all right so Jason any other all set with you okay so thank you I just want to make sure that with this information which is good information uh to hear just to collectively uh summarize so in terms of the potential reductions and again we would have to vote on
033each item um to amend rather that so this can impact the proposed budget we would have to vote on each item to affect that we would have for in regard to the projected State partnership plan estimate it has come in at 99.9% as opposed to 10% so that saves about 150,000 correct the second line item is with respect to the life insurance where they're holding it at a flat rate and so at those two areas that is 25,000 the third being use of the retire Health reserve and that is 150,000 and the fourth is contribu to the utility services fund and that also is 150,000 it is so if we were to vote in favor of applying all of these proposed reductions the total amount would be 475,000 all right and that would be $475,000
034taken from the current proposed budget okay teammates other questions or comments with these proposed pieces and again we'll vote on each one individually but any other questions you may have Claire um is this the totality of beneficial surprises that we're going to hear about I mean as far as funding grants or are is that to come or are we is this the totality those are the only adjustments that I have for you okay thank you other question this is in uh with what the items right here we're going to open it up for in general but just want to address these items here okay all right Shannon may you have you know Shannon is in route here I was just gonna ask if the knowing this does I mean I guess is the ball entirely
035in our court at this point or does this affect the superintendent's proposal in any way and thinking about any Chang in addition given these adjusts so what I may in response to that I think if we were to vote in favor of these proposed amounts and we will see the new proposed budget then once we have our open discussion then we will that will we will we shall see so we don't have an answer just at this time or Paul would you like to resp I if I understood the question was is this a change to the superintendent's proposed budget I would say my or my recommended budget my recommended budget is a matter of record from the March 1 3rd meeting um so so my recommended budget is my recommended budget any this is
036this is new information for you as a board uh for you to consider in terms of your budget adoption so you would need to I'm not able to go back in time and and change what I've recommended you would need to take advantage of these or choose not to um you know in specific to the line items that are here obviously um and then any other amendments to the budget that you guys want to discuss this evening she said thank you all right any other questions or comments with these four items any questions on these items just curious can you hear me yes okay I just was curious um what the those reductions would bring the entire budget down in terms of the percent at the top which I can't see right this minute but
037I think is 7.2% so if all of those numbers were applied to reducing the budget what would the percent increase be on the budget 6.9 correct that would reduce the budget uh if all were applied that would reduce the budget to 6.9 okay thank you all right so with the first recommendation with respect to revising the state partnership plan premium rates and applying the reduction of $150,000 is there a motion so moved thank you Jason is there a second second we have two all right Ethan we'll get to the next time CER thank you uh further discussion again with respect to to revising the state partnership premium uh rates plan and reducing it by $150,000 uh to the budget any other discussion all of those in favor say I I I any oppos I any
038oppose any abstain okay the eyes have it thank you moving on to the next one with uh respect to insurance company the insurance rates and there are two pieces but they overall are in regard to the insurance uh rate at that being a flat life insurance proposal piece so uh we'll do each individual one so with respect to revising the rates reducing it by $110,000 is there a motion motion thank you Ethan is there a second second thank you Claire discussion again with reducing long-term disability the long-term disability thank you in the amount of $10,000 any other discussion all of those in favor say I I I any oppose any abstain the eyes have it still in that same regard with respect to reducing it by 15,000 Islands $15,000 in terms of the long-term disability
039is there a motion uh just a correction uh Madam chairperson reducing the life insurance rates the life insurance rates okay that's that's all right no want thank you want to do it correctly so the first one was in regard to long-term disability the second one is in regard to the life insurance rates thank you so seeking a motion to reduce the budget in the amount of $115,000 as it pertains to the life insurance rates is there a motion so moved thank you Ethan is there a second second thank you Latoya discussion all of those in favor say I I I any oppose any abstain the eyes have it thank you moving on to the third item categorical item that is with respect to the retiree Health Reserve reducing it reducing the budget in the amount
040of $150,000 is there a motion so moved thank you Jason is there a second thank you Ethan discussion all of those in favor say I I I I I any oppose any abstain the eyes have it moving moving on to the fourth item contribution to the utility service fund uh reducing it in the amount of $150,000 is there a motion move is there a second thank you Ethan is there a second second thank you Latoya discussion all of those in favor say I I I I any oppose any exensions the eyes have it all right so with that teammates thank you so much for your participation in that now the total budget that we are to consider for our vote is in the amount of$ 2114 m751 1800 so that now brings it down to
041an increase of 6.9% 6.95% and so with that now we'll open it up in general overall with respect to the budget and thoughts discussion comments suggestions Jason Jason I was just wondering Paul if if you could just because one of the you know big issues that we've had over you know the last number of weeks has been I think maybe just collectively kind of we all have had trouble messaging what is exactly proposed with respect to Quest and and I think if you could just give that one more go since since you know we have people in the audience who I'm sure interested in that no absolutely thank you Jason so um as was shared at the at the last uh board workshop and uh so inspired by the really the outpouring of support for
042our Quest program it speaks volumes to the quality of the program and and the inspiration that the teachers um provide to students um it did seem to be you know that there may have been some messaging that was misunderstood with with families um that that there was any effort to you know have a dramatic change in in any way shape or form um I did uh send out at least one communication and I know there were some folks that wrote after that initial communication um to try to clarify that what's intended is to trim some staffing um in response to uh decrease in overall um school-based enrollment that we've seen and um to be able to find some scheduling efficiencies um I'm not proposing any programmatic changes to the quest program um I know we
043had a lot of Elementary folks come out initially at first and there seemed to be some concern was this going to mean there'd be less Quest time was this going to mean that it was going to eliminate opportunities for enrichment for students not enrolled in quest um none of that is is what is being considered um it should be true that we you know as we do currently um typically we have one teacher who works across two elementary schools um they're able to provide the two hours of General Quest at each grade level uh per week and the three hours of math Quest at each grade level per week we are looking I know we have some middle school students here in the audience and we are looking um to potentially see are there some
044savings that we can have I believe the current you know the current class sizes um at one of the middle schools but not both are very very small um and there is a Breaking Point to the students you know to the students uh comments points that hey there may be times when we do need two sections to run at the same time and I'm aware of at least one cohort um at one of our middle schools that's that's fairly large that we would you know that we would look to potentially break but um there are other cohorts at different grade levels that are smaller where um in instead of having classes anywhere from 4 to 8 we might expect classes more from 8 to 12 um so those are the kinds of scheduling efficiencies that
045I'm talking about um to ensure that we're maximizing the use of the FTE that are there um without any neg you know without any intended negative implications to our schedule and I or to our program and I think that we can uh do that at the Staffing levels that have been recommended all right other questions or thoughts again this is our opportunity and we've had many opportunities um we're so thankful for all of the time that you all have put into the discussions we've had at the board table at our public hearing at our community conversations and so appreciative of course of those that have contributed to that and so Claire oh sorry go ahead sh go ahead Shannon oh um I could let go I'm actually pulling in so I'll ask when I get
046up okay um so the proposed uh class siiz document that you shared with us um where that stood is that um right now you anticipate zero classes at the max of 27 and a total of six at the max of 26 out of all the uh fourth fourth grade and fifth grade is that still accurate so thank you for the question I know class size has been clearly one of the more um hotly debated topics within this budget and understandingly so and as I've said I'm I'm certainly not advocating for larger class sizes however we've built our budget off of our existing guidelines uh we ran an enrollment projection in late February Liz was uh in in preparation for the early March uh presentation um and at that time that is that's the that's the
047enrollment projection uh that lives online in our data supplement um that enrollment projection was uh you know a point in time measure and a tool and from that we saw that we could assign 193 of the 196 requested Elementary sections and still have three sections to give um but in that enrollment tool there were several that were uh at a class were at our existing class siiz guideline Max for the upper grades at 27 that's for that's for um fourth and fifth grade uh we reran that enrollment projection um in order to support an understanding with all of the dialogue that was going on within the community that these projections are all point in time they're very fluid um they change as folks reach out to us and either you know provide us information about
048them uh moving into the district or potentially uh moving out of the district and there and but there was also the significant variable of our magnet enrollments so we reran the projections as of March 26th and so the data that is most up to date in and uh what I had shared at that Workshop was the March 26 data um and as I said I am happy I have not yet gotten it up online but I am happy happy to but in that um there there were apparently either some move outs within fourth and fifth grade but more than likely a number of um folks who may have been magnet applications in those grades and then there were also some movein in fourth and fifth grade that crested uh particular grade levels over our guideline
049Max to then to then um break it into three sections instead of two so um so to answer your question um in that particular enrollment projection as of March the 26th I do not take note of any um class sizes that would be at 27 however there are some at 26 and I've certainly heard from those communities um for for whom those are there are also some um when when you pull some out there are some where uh maybe they had three sections and now it's come down to a collapsing where under this tool there there would be some sections at 23 but again this document is also just a planning tool and at the bottom it reflects there are four sections available to still be distributed and we would distribute those um basically once
050we had the best information possible later in the year as we always do um to those areas uh where we see the need because there may be still some give and take there may be some students who move in on their own and a section breaks and we have to um we have to add there there may be some places where there's some two or three families who move out and there's a section collapse and we have to look at that so all of those things come into play a little bit later on down in the year uh but but with the most recent one I do have four sections um that'll be built within the budget with which to consider if something you know and we think those four sections would be sufficient to
051staff at our current class siiz guidelines if something unusual happens as is sometimes the case and for instance kindergarten is always the toughest one to predict uh because in all of the other grades you know the students and the families are known quantities so uh we we have a very uh High ratio of what used to be called the cohort survival ratio idea of if I'm in first grade with the this year I am very likely to be in second grade with you next year um so kindergarten is the hard one so sometimes we can have fewer sections than we anticipated sometimes we can have greater but in any case you know where we where we would see at any grade level um an extraordinary need uh that would cause us to go over budget
052that be something that we monitor closely consider very carefully based on the financial constraint but add where we need to and you know this year this current year is an example of that where we had the need to add what what we do when we add however I do want to make you know mention we try to do so equitably so if if I'm going to if I'm going to add to a place because there might be I'll say 26 students you know I'm going to look are there other instances where that's true because it becomes a hard argument to defend that um I'm able to do it at one school and not do it for another because there is always you know a set of circumstances that do need to be considered so uh
053we do try to be Equitable with that um recognizing that there's really no way to equalize the the number of births in a particular neighborhood so cohorts of students will vary year over-year um but uh you know the part that we try to remain Equitable with is in the application of the class siiz guidelines that we have and the exceptions that we make when we do so have there been years where the you've had a budget set um school starts and classes are maxed out and you've had to hire a teacher um at the last minute and then find places within the budget to cover that because you can't raise the budget it would be unusual I think it would be highly unusual for school to be start started what we really try to do
054is use that late August date of when we send out the um class lists as kind of our cut off um there certainly have been instances again this year is an instance where um coming up to that date approaching that date or even well beforehand we we sort of had indications that we were going to need to hire um and have gone over budget uh but typically if if uh you know if we're right at a Brink and we get one or even two movein at a particular at a particular grade level at a particular school that puts a school um over the guidelines what we've done is we've hired um a teaching assistant uh someone to go into the class to provide additional support and and to support supervision of small group instruction so
055that's that's our typical I don't know if there's been a recent occurrence or An Occurrence that I can recall where you know we're breaking classes out after students have already met with their teachers that would be typically it would be highly problematic for parents and and so it's something that we would shy from other questions Shannon yeah apologies for being late I've been in three airports today so um my question was along the exact same line so you covered it thank you other comments Claire can you clarify you have up there uh 5.2 certified FTE as an addition uh is that correct that is correct so um as we've gone through um the budget uh what you're seeing here is the comparison of certified and non-certified FTE budget to budget but the numbers you're probably
056more familiar with are the comparison that Paul did in his presentation which is our roll forward budget um to what's proposed um but so in in that are we losing five certified teachers no that means that we have five we will have five more in the upcoming year than we do this year 5.2 more we will have 4.65 fewer non-certified and so the difference in total FTE is less than one opposition okay adopted to adopted adopted to adopted if if I may um you know what what does hold is we do we will have from we do anticipate 8.2 total positions fewer that that that cuts across um teaching positions that cuts across some administrative positions um I think we've we've talked about what those positions are during our budget workshops I know there's been
057some emails there's been some concerns about um I've read some language in some of the emails about you know one person used the word firing teachers one person Ed the word teacher layoffs um certainly it's not a firing um but I I appreciate the the concern out there for our highly dedicated you know folks meet a person and you know the teachers really are transformational in their children's lives so there's concern about losing those individuals um we work very very hard uh you know through that through our process when we have this to uh try to ensure that we can find a spot for for folks when we're when we're going down in positions um we're we're pretty successful with that we're not I can't guarantee that we're always 100% successful but what happens just
058so that so that the folks at home can understand is you know when we look at our retirements when we look at um folks who may be moving out of you know themselves moving or a maternity leave or things of this nature um we we generally then you know anyone who's um in a position that wouldn't be there we would uh we would give them the opportunity to be moving into uh whether that's a new school or perhaps a new grade level at the same school or a different school um and and in cases where where that can't happen uh then there's a process that we follow for reduction in force thank you other questions or comments all right Claire yes do you have an anticipation of how many teachers you will be hiring this
059year uh I'm not sure how many will be hiring I know in a typical year we have between 20 and 25 retirements so I I don't think that accounts for you know just typical attrition uh Julio may be able to address that but from a retirement perspective alone we generally have 20 to 25 other questions or comments just something I just want to ensure that I'm understanding well and pardon you've already explained um so with respect to the the class size I know we've had a lot of feedback uh a lot of um comments via email and we very much appreciate all of the participation in the listening sessions and I just want to I don't want to assume but I am sure that with respect to the class size I don't believe it ever
060is a desire to strive to have the highest number of students in the classroom correct that is not that is not the aspiration and from what I'm hearing as well in terms of the number per classroom it is quite variable it's changing uh week to week dayto day correct the uh the estimates that that we look at and certainly as we get lead into the into the um later into the school year or this year and into the summer um as families you know that's typically the time frame if if for families who are moving in or moving out uh to be providing notification there can be a lot of variability with the estimates thank you and then with that again recognizing it never is an intent to have the most number of kids in
061a classroom and also recognizing the numbers are constantly changing because our priority is always to deliver quality education there have been instances where even after we have voted on the budget where you and the team have had to make make an executive decision to add a classroom let's say um because of again the numbers rapidly changing so is it fair to say top of mind is still again being mindful of the ratio in the classroom and and um the numbers and trying very fair to say in fact this year is a perfect example this current budget Year we're three sections above what you adopted uh essentially a year ago today thank you and is it also fair to say in CLA I'm looking your ways as being one of our teachers here that certainly recognizing
062it is preferred not to have the highest number of students in a classroom however the makeup of a classroom in the functionality of a classroom is more than just the number per se there are other pieces that play a role in how a classroom functions um such as of course the makeup of the students but also the wonderful leadership of the teachers that are in in the class classroom is that fair to say CLA I don't yeah a class of 20 can feel like 30 depending on the the the impact and the skills of the teacher so it it changes um but I've I've had as few as 17 and as many as 28 and pardon me Lor you also yeah I was going to very similarly I think I shared this yesterday at the
063listening session but um as a classroom teacher I never had under 30 students um because of where I was teaching um and I I don't know I like it was it was fine not saying that it's it's easy but um you know it came from creating a really solid partnership with the special special education teachers and um and just the the school Village at large to make it work but I think coming back home to Connecticut was like this is kind of eye opening for me that there are um smaller classes than 30 that sounds you know thank you so again I know we we certainly don't take this lightly at all it's just it's helpful to know there are many pieces that play a role in in the classroom and the size and and
064um the function but thank you I just wanted to confirm that also too another piece that has received a lot of attention and questions have already been raised about that with respect to Quest and um just might pass the Baton Shannon thank you um yeah one thing um that I just was trying to make sense of was with the with the math respective to what was shared in terms of the to Total student enrollment and eligible students for Quest as of 20145 um that decreased about 11% uh between 20145 and current uh NE or the coming year and the proportional proposal for reduction in FTE for Quest is also a relative 11% reduction so it's a very proportional adjustment so I think just layering on to what you said earlier it's not diminishing quest in
065any way it's actually just proportionally aligning it with the enrollment of our student population and those who are even eligible to be a part of quest um so I just I think it's helpful to share that as just a it's not going to change the nature of the ratio correct and I know um something that got brought up in the Workshop because there was a question about you know the number of I think it was even the number of students that were serviced in quest separate from the from the Staffing ratios um had it gone up had it gone down and and the percentage of students identified in receiving services and Quest was uh I think it was at that same 12% we talked about at one of the pieces you know one of the
066things I want to I want to reiterate there's different ways that we can deliver the program um that that can have different um you know financial implications and and some of those you know some of those can be more cost- effective but would potentially be uh delivering less of a service to kids um that's not what that's not what's being proposed you know um we're not looking to combine grade levels or uh or alter the amount of time that we're providing to the students you know so so really when I when I talk about it's a trim it's not a it's not a it's not a cut I'm I'm choosing those words specifically um to really just reflect what you're saying to uh to make to make some small modest Cuts in the same way
067with fewer Elementary sections you know there's going to be one or two fewer sections of uh World Language that need to be supported uh just based on that at a given school or one or two fewer sections of artter music not looking to cut that program just looking to adjust the Staffing levels um in support proportionally in support of the the the same delivery of the overall program thank you Shannon yes one last item that's come up a number of times is the Bristo assistant principal role could you just explain again just the rethinking of that role yes thank you very much um so uh this this got some late attention at um one of the budget workshops and I was glad to to be able to talk about it and have a back and
068forth dialogue with um folks that were that were providing advocacy because um you know not not only like our our teaching uh roles our administrators do just amazing work and demonstrate incredible dedication to their students to their families and to the schools in which they work um we've had a long standing I don't I don't know if it's I know it's more than five or if if perhaps if it's even as many 10 years that we've had the split within the Bristo um to where the assistant principal when we you know when we started to reduce the class size at bristo from 140 students across teams down to somewhere in the neighborhood of 105 right now um we you know we looked at the assistant principal role and we we had other needs we said
069we could use some help with Supervision in other areas and so we made the assignment of the abisto assistant principal wanting to maintain an assistant principal um be a little bit shared and say we were going to have 30% of that uh 30% of that position be dedicated to some other things and and early on that was that was providing help with supervision at the elementary level which meant that um there would be a case load assigned at at one or two schools and the assistant principal would make time in their day and their week to go out and visit that elementary school and do observations with teachers do goal setting do postc conferencing um and and and then we refined that to say well let's make it one school so that they can have
070a little bit of a foothold a little bit of a presence and not be you know a stranger that just walks in every so often they could be someone that teachers can form the relationship with and parents and students um with the Advent of the elementary assistant principles which uh replac the teacher leadership positions in a 10-month role we um we didn't have that need anymore so we adjusted what that 30% was for Bristo to be supervision at reach or Alternative High School program um and while that sounded good on paper um you know it it bumped into some friction because the time away necessary at reach uh created some friction points at Bristo and then not being able to always be at reach when we needed the person there um created some friction points
071at reach and so we've been working you know with um the individuals with our administrative Union kind of talking about that saying we know there's an issue we'd like to fix it within this budget um and so we were looking at how we can support Bristo with a stable presence throughout the entirety of the school year uh per and there's a couple of ways to do that in one scenario we keep the Bristo position um as it is in a year-long position um and assign them you know a 30% Duty that they're able to accomplish while in the building um in another scenario we can translate that um year round position into a 10-month position um and provide them you know that's their singular focus is just on Bristol for those for that period of
072time and then as as you heard in my presentation um we have in either scenario we have uh the opportunity for some supervision at reach that comes from um readjusting some 54 supervision and some teaching assignment that that Pro that basically solves both of those problems in a gener generally cost neutral way um we haven't finalized exactly how we want to do that for Bristo and that's a conversation you know that we would have with the administrative Union before um before really announcing anything publicly but I know that it's gotten public attention so out of transparency I'm just trying to share some of the potential scenarios uh that could be possible but at the end of the day I think the concerns that have been brought forward are well aligned with our efforts and that
073is how do we provide both Bristo and the reach program consistent um supervision that does you know that that maximizes you know the role of the assistant principal all right if there aren't any other question oh Ethan yes a question about the tuition line line 5430 the um estimated ex excess cost re reimbursement from the state 5430 it's it was a uh email reset explaining the assumptions last week the um and appreciate the information the estimated excess cost reimbursement from the state was 6 million budget in 25 6,150 for the current 25 year and then it was estimated to go down to 6 million for next year so I realize there's nothing predictable about the state but why did we assume that it would be negative my assumption would be the same as this year
074pass around I think Ethan's asking I think it was like what 61 to versus six flat it's not a big difference but understood um I'll let I see Liz looking for I some information you know the one thing I'll I'll certainly share is we we do understand that this and I think this is at the root of your question we do understand that the there's flat funding from the state but I'll let you um you know as you know at this point it really is just an estimate so there's flat funding and so what happens is we are getting a certain portion of that flat funding this year their estimate is that we'll get 6,150 um of that but I really don't know what's going to happen um over the next year as as far
075as what our portion of total special education expenditures will be compared to other municipalities in the state and other school districts and so I I think it's prudent to to make an estimate that that is not um no I I understand my my concern is the number is already a 39% increase year-over-year it is yeah so trying to find anything that will save if I understand um the costs are going up in every District so the more the costs go up in every District they're going to the state for more money and the money is flat so your percentage drops so if it was flat it' be at the 6,150 and the cost increases are captured in the the flat amount is how much they have so if your need exceeds last year's and everybody's
076need exceeds last year that's a separate line item so but the the 61 that you're looking at um you know and that's based on a certain number I I think I I appreciate your point that you're trying to make is like if if I understand you you're saying hey we we know we have 615 this year can we can we make the assumption that we'll have 615 next year um if like you said Paul so for you have an increase of 10 I think it was 10% is what I remember in per student we we do yeah but I'm but every district will have that so it's certainly unlikely that we will get a larger share of a fixed appropriation and so I I just feel that it's not prudent to assume we will get
077that much um or even the same amount um given what the trends are yeah and I was going to say you know it it it can be a case where you can look at um another District who has either they have an increased enrollment or or the particular needs of the outplacement that they face Drive um higher tuition costs that can negatively impact like the total amount of money that's available to go out to everyone else it's it's it's just it's just unknown so we're you know we're we're trying to be um we know put it this way we know this is a significant area of a funding shortfall and um the the $6 million contrib ution um is conservative we're already you know we we feel like this is already an area of U
078you know risk in terms of uh the financial costs one of the things that may be helpful uh to to kind of what you're asking is um I think we have the ability if if there's any overage this year uh about putting that there was there was some legislation that was passed it used to be years ago any overage that we had would always be given back to the town but we've been in communication with the town about any any overages we have and and as you know from the financial examiners we're not expecting a a huge any form of a Sur you know huge Surplus but any surplus that we do have we can put into a non-aps account dedicated specifically to excess cost reimbursement and that's you know that's an Avenue that um
079I expect that we will follow going forward just given the volatility of this uh one budget item my concern is we're my words not your words overcompensating because of the uncertainty with the state I I understand what you're saying um I I don't have the same feeling I feel that there are um you know several components in there and so you have to make assumptions about each one um for example this year in the budget that we're in I had made an assumption that our per student uh tuition would be 128,000 per student instead it actually came in at 138,000 per student so when looking at 135 students that's a very significant increase you know I'm assuming that will go up 10% from our existing rate but it it could go up 11% it could
080go up 12% and so at each of these various components that make up our net cost I'm making assumptions and so I don't want to be um I guess too aggressive uh in making any of those no I I accept that other than it didn't go up it went less than 10 from the 128 to the 135 no the 28 was what was budgeted not what was budgeted it was budgeted for this year so the prior year was much lower than that so I understand your point I'm just trying to explain my reasoning for why I um budgeted or assume the levels that I did I don't have a problem with it other than I think it's over overly conservative other questions or com I I appreciate um your your observation and thought Ethan I
081I if I recall last budget season uh in terms of um overestimating it actually uh was done last season as well and we know unfortunately after we voted on our budget we learned after the fact of our reimbursement amount from the state being even less than what we anticipated and so it um it's again it's it's difficult to anticipate predict I hear certainly hear your your observation and your concern um and I also certainly respect and and hear the uh trying to be as um mindful of what may or may not come and trying to plan accordingly but certainly here say is that's a different assumption move your mic so folks can hear you there you go yes it's a different assumption in the calculation true true yes all right other thoughts or comments All
082right well I am going to ask us to do a roll call vote however before do doing so do want to give everyone an opportunity to make a comment uh regarding what or how they plan to vote did you have another discussion Point yeah I wanted to make a motion that we pull back 150,000 for the tuition line just because we're basing on the assumptions I think that one's so really conservative is there a second again the motion on the floor or the proposed motion is to reduce outof District tuition in the amount of $150,000 is there a second okay so motion made by Ethan seconded by Gail discussion so please share uh sure I don't have the schedule anymore but um my feeling was that this we have a 39% uh increase which more
083importantly I think is 3.7 million we've had problems with the calculation but that's a function of the state this is not well to me that's not part but we' said they do level funding so that would be the 6 million1 50 repeating itself so I'm just looking at it and saying we need to cut somewhere that to me was where I could do it based on the calculations Jason Yes actually yeah so to to clarify so are you saying that as you read the budget we're double counting that or we're accounting for it twice no we don't have it in it's it's in the calculation for the actual because that's what happened or it's been applied that it happened I assume the money's come in but we don't have it applied to next next year's
084budget I can show you on the schedule I don't have only took one copy so if you look at the Cal yeah if I if I can tell me if this I think I have exactly what you're saying so in 20124 25 the adopted budget um let me make sure I have this right we were we were anticipating uh a $6 million um reimbursement level from the state of Connecticut uh when we pass the budget as we as we close out um and we won't you know we won't have a a final determined figure on this wait Liz is going to like jump in if I say anything Incorrect and I'm hopeful because I'm I don't want to um you know 78% let me let me let me even say a little bit more when
085we built the budget last year we assumed that we would have tuition costs at $16.6 million from that $6.6 million we further assumed we would get a $6 million reimbursement from the state what we're finding is we're we're going to anticipate that our uh tuition costs by the end this year will be $18.6 million so above what we originally thought and we will get or we anticipate we will get slightly above what the state uh the state reimbursement of $6.1 million slightly above what we anticipated still obviously dramatically dramatically below um where we are because it's only 62% of our excess costs for the upcoming year we're anticipating tuition to go up uh I don't know the percentage of increase but um we expect tuition to go up to 20.5 million and we're assuming that
086the state reimbursement um while it's flat funded at the state you know that doesn't mean that we're going to get exactly the same amount um so we're we're we're operating from that base of six million so that's that's what Ethan is questioning if if today's projection is 6,1 15,000 could next year's projected reimbursement from the state also be 6,150 th000 that's the nature of his question and I think to what um Liz is saying is we have considered that um and we're you know we're recommending a reimbursement rate of only $6 million because there's a fair amount of variability in this um in the costs in how much any individual district will get um and even if the full amount of that money will be available to us in next year's budget so if I
087and I just wanted to add one more thing we have not received the money yet we we don't receive it yet at this time of year they're still doing their final calculations based on our March 1st filing and then we will receive the money either I forget if the distribution is April or May but we do not have the funds in hand for the current year understand but the best guess based on something is the best guess right now and I'm just saying if they Lev they set they do the same amount year after year hopefully they've gone up to the 6 million 150 I respect your optimism um I guess we're saying we don't share my backup was the interest income on the special funds is 175,000 so if you had to you could
088take that other disc yes Claire so the percentage increase over the years if I we we had hoped 85% it comes in 82 78 75 72 all the way to the last year being 62% correct and then each year that amount that we get is is is 62% or 58% of the total and now we're going looking at 20.5 million for excess cost this year exactly and so I think what you're saying is it's a lower percent of a higher cost so that our our um the differential between what we receive and what we should receive grows each year okay so what if we ow and the end and it costs more what's the benefit of taking it out of the budget now because someone has to pay taxes on it or a large number
089of people so it's a small part but it is it just seems if we can cut the cost where appropriate we want to do that it's not excessive it's but if they're my understanding is they're funding at the Six Million now the Six Million w 150 being optimistic it's not they're not doing percentages we were just taking it as a percentages that's that's what I've thought I've heard that definitely is what you've heard I guess the the variable is you know at this point in time when we look at the total appropriation for the state and what our percentage of that it's at about 3.3% so depending on what happens in other districts if we dropped and now our percentage is only 3.1% of the total or 3% of the total then it certainly uh
090would be likely that we would receive um a lower Grant amount or lower reimbursement amount other questions or comments regarding the motion on the floor again to reduce the out of District tuition in the amount of $150,000 I I don't understand the wording when you say the reduce the amount are the amount allocated for tuition so we're so we have appropriated in this budget we are appropriating a certain amount for outof district tuition and I believe what Ethan is saying is he would like to reduce the amount of that appropriation by 150,000 assuming that our reimbursement from the state is that much higher therefore our cost would be lower our appropriation would be lower is that correct I mean so do you seriously think we're going to get more money from the state in this
091year that we're in right now or is this a numbers thing with interest that you're no the my original intent is to replicate what I believe is what we expect to get this year so it's not to get a higher percentage it's not to there'll be a lower percentage but to say that am no it's the same amount or it's the same amount projected I mean I can only go on what's projected cor correct what what I think I want to reinforce is just one thing um I know I know Ethan's talking about the fact that the state funding is flat funding so so if we assume that at the end of the day this the pile of money that the state has to distribute out to all the schools is the same what does
092vary Year bye to to the point that Liz just made most recently is you know this is all based on actual expenditures across school districts that that that schools will file and this particular year our share of that money was uh three and change 3% in change change which which becomes the 6.15 million that that we expect to get in total that doesn't mean we're going to get 3.2% of the state's money next year it really is a question of um what are all the filings based on what are what is the trend of out placements across all the different schools so it's so it's not a it's not a I I just want to point that out it's not a perfect um I I have I I understand your logic 100% I just it
093gives me pause knowing the volatility of this particular line item so and I understand but I just feel if we're going to be consistent with our assumptions the 150 is hopefully not going to be there I can't guarantee anything no I understood my my assumption is that the you know I'm I'm consistent with the assumption that my that the costs in this area for the placements continue to go up um significantly which is which is kind of what we've seen over the trend over the last five years so that that's the part that I'm I'm I'm most concerned about and I understand and that's why I didn't question the 10% even though it seems high compared to this year but you know again I can only go on the det data I have understood any
094other questions otherwise we'll vote on in regard to the motion on the floor Jason so if we reduce this and then it turns out it's actually 150 or even more than you know that um or less than you know we get less money from the state which I think we all think is probably the likeliest outcome um where do we make that money up from in our budget so at that point we um you know look at areas uh where we can cut you know maybe that means we keep a position open a little bit longer um you know it's kind of all the things we have talked about um um as we've seen this be an issue in the current year um you know it's looking at other areas where we can pull back
095our expenses either as it relates to uh positions or vacancies or supplies or textbooks or or those types of things it's it's managing the budget to make up for that shortfall so there's not a reserve here for that shortfall no there's not any other any other thoughts or questions I'm I'm smiling only because I really I think we collectively all do appreciate and and agree with wanting to try to find or do something I think it's just that particular area but nonetheless we'll let our vote speak for it any other thoughts or comments okay with respect to the motion on the floor to reduce the outof district tuition budget in the reducing it by $150,000 all of those in favor say I I those oppose Nay Nay n n any extensions okay the motion does
096not pass I apologize I didn't have my mic on very good okay correct yes thank you for being creative thank you all right that's what we're here for other thoughts or suggestions again in terms of the budget overall again the proposed budget on the floor is in the amount that we see before us which reflects a 6.95 any other suggestions all right again before doing a roll call vote do want to give everyone an opportunity to share their thoughts about how they do plan to vote and so doing so uh we'll go in alphabetical order and Mr Jason may we start with you please we could always mix it up and go reverse alphabetical but thank you um so even under the difficult circumstances of of setting this budget and maybe all the more so
097because of it i' I'd like to start from a place of gratitude um first to Paul and your team um many of whom are here um thank you for the countless hours the hard work that goes into creating this budget but also the care and compassion um I think that sometimes get lost when we start talking about numbers um but you never let us you guys never lose focus and you never let us lose focus of the fact that these aren't just numbers there's you know there's students there's families there's Educators and staff behind those numbers and that this budget has a very real impact on them um I was moved Paul by the um the speaker who came in to to say that he had the privilege of serving with you and that despite
098the fact that he didn't agree with everything in the budget or that this wasn't the budget that he would want that he had the utmost faith in you um and it reminded me that many of us on this board not only place our trust in you you and your team um as board members um but as parents um we entrust you with the most valuable things that we have uh Second and it's been said uh to all those students parents residents who came out who reached out by email who took time to come to the board of ed meetings the public hearings or the town listening session thank you for your passion thank you for your commitment to the town to the district um it really is you who set this town apart um I'm
099proud to live here I'm even more proud when we're able to debate topics which we care about deeply with the utmost respect and Civility and I think it really has been a model for civic debate um that we've had over the last six weeks uh in a time of ever increasing incivility so I do think that should be a point of Pride for West Hartford the budget we have before us like any budget is one of compromise it's a compromise recognizing that while our list of priorities is great not to mention diverse and sometimes lacking consensus uh our finances are not unlimited uh this mismatch has been brought into Stark Relief by the sunsetting of the Esser funds which brought to light areas of need not previously recognized as well as a really really bright
100glimpse into what things could be with the fiscal Surplus uh but today we face not only the end of the those Sesser funds but historic shortfalls in state funding and education in particular the excess cost reimbursement for special education funding as I've noted before I call into question the very idea of a surplus when we are not fully funding education in this state the failure to do so acts as a tax on the residents of West Hartford who must shoulder that burden in the form of increased property taxes and on the schools who are forced into making difficult choices about where and what to cut the failure to fully fund special education is a failure to fund all education and while I recognize the impulse as a parent to say let us shoulder that burden
101or that I am willing to pay more in order to provide more I must temper that with the knowledge that we are stewards stewards not only of our education system but of the financial resources we are provided with not everyone in West Harford is in a position to take on that burden and more and more we hear of the affordability crisis impacting so many in our community we cannot budget in a vacuum as a result of all these factors the budget we have before us is not one of wants but of needs it is one that after agonizing over this and taking this binder with me almost everywhere for six weeks I believe will meet the needs of West Harford students and families without a loss of the programming and services that set us apart
102and so I am voting in favor of this budget not just like many of you because this is the budget that I would want if we had the resources but because it's some one I am confident will provide all that I have come to expect from West Hartford for our children my own included as we now pass this Budget on to our colleagues on Town Council I do so in the hopes that we and they will recommit to the offre repeated quote that if West Hartford had a state religion it would be education to that end and for my part I will be proposing that the policy committee begin a review of class size guidelines thank you Ethan thanks so I would Echo what Jason said appreciate all the work that's going into this uh
103I'm struggling with the vote um I have a problem approving a 7.2 now 6.9% in increase in the budget especially when the interest rates have been um 3 % approximately were lower um at the same time I respect the desire of parents to have a small class size um and I realize it's frustrating when it's I to my mind it's sort of random depending on how many kids are in a grade and just the numbers um well I believe we shouldn't change the class size per grade Matrix on a fly it was disconcerning the number of parents upset by the proposed structure it wasn't one school it was multiple schools probably about half and the oh I should add um what was also interesting last night in or yesterday during the meetings was seeing parents
104of small kids come it wasn't just the senior citizens or people who kids are out of school it's those whose kids have not yet gone to school looking at their costs and I know for my own son uh CH Child Care daycare can be very expensive so you want to try and balance it so we take into account the parents who want the small classes which I fully respect and probably would be there with them and then also the residents who are looking at higher costs and things that they're not ready to expend um so just on the Matrix um I think we should re look at it I don't know if it's wrong it's right it's been there since the 80s so I assume it's probably legit but it's definitely worth looking um I
105was also I want to comment on impressed by the number of parents and kids who came out on behalf of quest I will add that couple of my kids were in quest and I don't remember it having that big an impact so the programs obviously progressed substantially in the last couple years um and then I've I mentioned the uh line 5430 the um tuition line I just think we need to look at that hard because that's a 40% increase more importantly it's a 3.7 million increase and I don't want to take anything away from what the special needs need but that's 25% of the budget increase it's it's it's just a staggering amount and that's why I was hoping to find something in the assumptions um and then I mean part of the problem is
106the state is an unknown so will we get another million repeat like last year probably not but um I think uh and I will compliment you all um for coming up with ways to alternatives for special needs students so the amounts lower I did catch that and it was pretty impressive the amount that you've saved in the process so my concern is I don't see this expense getting better in terms of tuition it's just going to get worse and we need to figure out something or it's going to be a real problem so I'm still uncertain what I'm voting but I appreciate all the hard work and just wish it wasn't that high thank you e thank you Ethan Gail um thank you so I wanted to start by also thanking uh Paul and his
107team um for all the hard work that they put into making this budget I I know this is a very very long process um and I appreciate um everybody who works hard to make it happen um I also want to thank um all all of the parents um and the community that um came out and spoke um and um I want them all to know that we we hear everything that you're saying uh we appreciate the engagement um and um we understand your concerns um since I've sat on the board of education this this budget has gone up almost $40 million um it's just simply unsustainable in my opinion um and I've said that before uh we are in a situation where um State funding does not come through though we are mandated uh to
108provide Ser certain Services by the state but then they don't fund us uh we have a situation uh a few weeks ago or maybe months ago where the state legislature uh put forth a bill a bipartisan Bill to fund $40 million in um help for schools which was then promptly vetoed by our governor so we're basically between a rock and a hard place the things that are um driving this budget are mostly um items that we really can't control uh we don't have any control over the major drivers of the budget and we don't have any help from the state um this budget is like I said basically unsustainable able um it's will cost the average West Harford uh family more than $1,000 this year and we do that year after year after year there
109are definitely people in our town who could afford that but there are definitely people uh who can't um so I I feel that as a more General concept we have to find a way to get this budget under control and I think we as a board um need to find some method or mechanism going forward that we can have better control over the bo over the budget um I was very happy to see when we came in today that um Liz and and um Paul were able to reduce the budget uh by bringing in some reductions um and for that reason um I am actually going to support the budget and um I am like one of my colleagues said it's not exactly the budget I want it's nowhere near the budget I want but
110it does provide for the basic things that we need um in in our schools um and hopefully going forward we can find better ways to make the budget more palatable uh in other years thank you thank you Gail Shannon all right um so as others have already said I want to express my gratitude uh first and foremost to the community members for their active participation through public comments at our recent hearing and the community hearings which I heard were very well received and I hope we can continue those uh with our Town Council colleagues um as well as the many thoughtful emails that we received over the past few weeks I know it's not easy for people to take the time and put themselves out there so it's very much appreciated um and it just
111it highlights that such involvement reflects our community's deep commitment to the Excellence of West Harvard public schools and I go in front of a lot of boards of Education around the state um in the work I do uh as part of a non education nonprofit and the Civility and the thoughtfulness and the research and the due diligence that our community is doing and our Administration is doing is unparalleled to any District that I have come across in the state so uh very proud to be a part of this community um I truly believe that all of us uh including the school district the administration our superintendent and our Board of Education colleagues um have a North star of ensuring that we maintain essential programs that serve all students while upholding the district's high standards and
112as such I am supportive of the budget proposed by superintendent vicus um as it reflects our dedication to making prudent financial decisions without compromising the Excellence that defines West harford's educational experience um I want to recognize the community's concerns about potential increases in class sizes as a parent of a child in a West Harford Elementary School I share a personal understanding of these concerns and and see and hear about it every day um but I think as we've discussed this evening class sizes are influenced by enrollment which can fluctuate pretty significantly as we've seen just in the numbers released last week um and those will continue to shift so I feel I we've asked lots of questions we got pushed on this a lot um and I have utmost confidence in the administration's plan to
113mitigate larger class sizes based on the four class sections already budget budgeted for and the evidence of past professional judgment they have exercised in adding additional sections where needed um also want to acknowledge the concerns regarding the the adjustment of the 7 uh full-time equivalent position for the quest program uh especially recognize the compelling testimonies made by uh students who have benefited from the program but as shared this adjustment does align with the proportional decrease in the overall student enrollment and will not affect current program offerings um as we understand it and I would just like to highlight the importance of incorporating Claire mentioned this at our last meeting uh engaging project-based instruction for all students so that they are well prepared for their future career and life opportunities and I do believe that that
114is happening across all classrooms in West Harford um I just like others I want to acknowledge the unprecedented uncertainty stemming from underfunding in the special education excess cost Grant uh support from the state as well as the current federal restructuring I believe the district will continue to engage in proactive planning to navigate this uncertainty and any challenges it poses as effectively as possible we're all doing the best we can with the information we have and as Jason noted I want to stress the import of considering our budget in the greater context and activate our state and federal delegation to advocate for increasing necessary contributions many of which are statutorily mandated and we need to just keep applying pressure especially at the state level but also anticipate what what we need to just kind of um
115block and tackle as we get new information at the federal level as well so uh just to conclude as noted by my fellow board members I'm so appreciative of the collabor ation of everyone around this table um also our student Representatives just hearing your perspective informs everything we do um the administration and our community are all so uh committed and involved it's it's wonderful um but at the end of the day it does just sort of reiterate my support for the superintendent's proposed budget as a balanced approach that prioritizes students needs and I commend the administration's dedication to maintaining educational quality while being fiscally responsible to the town's residents your unwavering dedication is both pragmatic in terms of anticipating the unknown while simultaneously exemplifying the spirit of unity that propels our educational system forward so
116thank you thank you Shannon Claire um so I'd like to say again I I know how much work goes into this it's been months and months um and then all the Board of Ed members we carry this big binder we spend lots of hours it is our third uh Duty as a board member and it's a very tough one um I've read all the emails I think we're over 120 right now um and it's it's I hear people I hear them speaking I really am impressed with the kids that come forward so I know the hard work that goes into this um I will be voting to approve the budget as it was proposed the rolling over last year's budget and continuing all our programs and services resulted in close to $16 million budget increase
117teacher contracts utility increases healthc care and unreimbursed special education costs make up the bulk of the increase the superintendent presented a lean budget with a 1.56 million in Cuts but it's still close to a $14 million increase that is double the percentage of last year I'm proud of our district and all the financial educational opportunities we offer West Hartford students continue to represent the state with accolades and our town has benefited from National recognition all of this while offering quality education and keeping the cost per pupil right in the middle of all the west or Connecticut towns I believe there is a limit to how much we can ask residents to pay in increased taxes I'm hopeful that the budget we pass will be approved by the Town Council and we will not have to
118make additional Cuts I'm very concerned that our state's 8% Reliance on federal funds for title grants and Ida grants will be jeopardized with the dissolving of the Department of Education how will we cross the bridge if our funding for special education support for struggling students and ledge programs is reduced I was overwhelmed by all the speakers and emails we received this year from students and parents it is so important to stand up for what you believe in it's clear our residents care about the schools and are making their voices heard many shareed their support for decreasing class sizes I agree that a smaller class size is ideal I know as a teacher the number of students is as important as the makeup of the class the quality of teaching and classroom management just today I
119taught three kindergarten classes with 23 students in one class class during covid that class was 16 students adding nine more to that class is a challenge but schools across the us are going back to preco numbers I know teaching can be really hard and a smaller class makes it easier but unfortunately each year there have been Financial hits and increases in educational costs that make it impossible to revise the class SI guidelines without a huge financial impact on the west Harford Community I appreciate the hard work the administrative team principles and department leaders put into the budget I believe the proposed Cuts will not have a negative effect on the quality of Education or students receive that is why I will vote in favor of passing the proposed budget thank you Claire Latoya um good
120evening and um I echo my colleague sentiment and just having gratitude for everyone who showed up and SP um and spoken out um and of course gratitude for Paul and team for putting this budget together um I wasn't going to say a lot but I do think there's something that needs to be said um and I'm going to share it in my remarks um and I'm starting with uh this quote by Audrey Lord and paron me I get nervous in these situations because I know that I'm at this table for certain reason um and it means that like I'm going to say things that are uncomfy um but I'm also uncomfy saying them so bear bear with me um Audrey Lord uh one of uh one of the quotes says uh when we speak when
121we speak we are afraid our words will not be heard nor welcomed but when we are silent we're still afraid so it's better to speak um and so I just you know want to say I know what it's like to um have a disengaged superintendent um a disconnected Board of Ed um unsafe schools lowquality education um I know what that's like to be Stu a student in those schools right here in the state of Connecticut not in West Harford but right here in the state of Connecticut um in in a city that is still in the same condition today that it was 37 years ago um because our state has has made an intentional decision to neglect certain um communities in this state so I know what that's like as a student I also know
122what that's like as a teacher I know what it's like to teach in those conditions um and I know what it's like as a school leader I've been a dean of students I know what it's like to lead in those situations and man it's really rough like it's night and day from there to what what what is experienced here and so I wanted to just add that perspective because as I come to these meetings and we hear from the public um and I look out in the crowd I think I've only seen three people who look like me that have come and spoken up about you know uh grievances that they've had um regarding some of these issues um and so I think being a parent being a black woman and a black parent in
123this District who is here at the time where we can share um I think it's important for me to offer a little bit of a different perspective and and and not that it's right or wrong but just some perspective sometimes you don't know how good you have it when you've never really had it that bad um and I think like I'm saying that not to diminish anything but also saying that like I'm speaking from a space of never having privilege like never ever um and some of those students that were talked about in terms of we have so many kids in these classes and they have all these issues and yada yada yada you know that like me some of those kids in in their families know what it's like to climb their way out
124the trenches and they have certain experiences and expertise that they can offer um in a classroom in a school environment um that just that just enhance everything and when it's nurtured um in the right way um and it's cared for and it's watered um that that that it can really add such a light to to our classroom rooms in our communities um and you know so I was thinking about Quest and I love quest you know I think it's a great it's great to to give kids those opportunities but you know one of the things I think about is like we're fighting you know to keep this program um and it's great but I also think about like man like what if there was like a black Quest or a multilingual Quest like programs where
125it was it was like specific Aly tailored to be culturally responsive to these communities I wonder how that would inform our data and so when I think about how we encourage our young people and how we as families in this District who do come from uh the families that come from privilege are are stepping on the stage to Advocate and speak up and and encourage your kids to do that I think about how we can redirect some of that energy to be allies and speak up for those communities who have been systematically marginalized and who live right here in this town I just wonder what that energy would look like if we shifted it towards that um and really came together on that um and so you know again just wanting to be clear and
126the reason I'm saying this is because you know this is a really rough time for our country um and we're seeing the trickle down effect in our town um and there's just really big issues and I think you know when I look at us not getting the reimbursements from the state that we're supposed to um that all that stuff is directly tied to inequity and there there have been communities in this state and in this country who have been facing those inequities for hundreds of years and we're now seeing some of those results and I think maybe one of the most hopeful things I'm seeing right now is that some of the people who've like been in a bubble of privilege are now starting to feel a little bit of that tension and it's causing
127a stirring and I love the stirring but I want us to like be cognizant of the the kids and families right now that are waking up in our district every day not knowing if it's going to be safe for them not knowing if they're going to be able to stay in this country for another day um and really feeling like there's a Target on their backs and thinking about how we can really use our voices and our advocacy to stand up for them and protect them um and and and I mean that's all I want to say on that I think you know systemic racism is alive and well um and right now we're we're really feeling it um and and I think that needs to be top of mind when we're coming up here
128and we're advocating um because this is nothing about right now as business as usual and I think we need to be um mindful about what we feel is like the worst thing ever happening um and how we use our voices so I'm supporting the proposed budget um I would not be sitting up at this board table if I felt that I couldn't trust Paul and his team or my colleagues for that matter I do come from an activist background and so if I felt that there was something that wasn't right and that there wasn't an attempt to be doing right by kids and families I just wouldn't be here um and I wouldn't have a problem with saying that publicly and so I am supporting this budget I support my colleagues um I hope I
129haven't really offended anyone I hope I have made some people feel uncomfortable enough to start thinking a little differently um because I think that's what it's going to take that change um comes from discomfort so thank you thank you Latoya and so with my thoughts which I can't say much more than what my colleagues have shared I appreciate what each of you have shared but I I first off want to certainly Express appreciation to superintendent Vice uh and your team for putting together the budget and being thoughtful in doing so but even beyond that certainly want to thank our teachers our staff PA professionals anyone who helps out in the school building to maintain the building because everyone plays a role in helping to support this district and so with that absolutely have to express
130appreciation to all of the families that are part of this process that have come out to speak up and out with their thoughts in regard to the budget and this also relates to the children who've come up and come out to speak with their thoughts in regard to the budget and that is what our charge is as Board of Ed members as CLA mentioned this is one of our charges which which is to establish the board of education budget and we do not take it lightly and with that want to very much also thank our mayor and our town counselor for initiating and being a part of the listening sessions this is something since my tenure being on the board is the first time that we were able to do that to go into the
131community to allow for reciprocal engagement as you know with public hearings it's just one way where you come to the podium you share we receive and we don't respond whereas with these three separate listening sessions we had it did allow for an opportunity for comments to be made and for us to respond and thanks so much to Our Town Council and mayor for being a part of that because what it allowed in a public facing way is for all of you to recognize what is a part of this budget process and what goes into it and it also was an opportunity for our constituents and the public to know that it really does involve all Hands-On deck to support this budget as we've shared before the town budget overall 60% of it is made up
132of the board of education budget we make up the most of the budget however we make up a minority of those in town just 30% of households in town are for students that are in the district and so for that reason we had to certainly give people and share with people and discuss with people because everyone is involved in this process and with the budget and with the numbers we know that they are not mutually exclusive and what I mean by that is I appreciate all that my colleagues have shared and certainly recognizing the importance that these numbers relate to people and they relate to human beings and we know that several concerns and thoughts have been brought up by families with respect to class size and we know that is something that we do
133not take lightly and as has been shared that is something that is not taken lightly when it comes to establishing that and so for that reason I do share the thoughts and desires of teammates to look into how to uh consider that differently moving forward but again it's not a mutually exclusive task because in order for us to consider looking at that that's certainly unfort again comes back to numbers and does come back to a budget and that again involves all teammates that play a role in that and so with that we'll also say I'm very thankful to our delegation who has been advocating for us with respect to our reimbursement amounts which we unfortunately for some time now have not received in terms of our fair amount and so although they're advocating for us
134we need to continue to advocate in that regard because um we continue to receive less than what we are due and that is why still nonetheless so impressed and proud of our district for with what we do receive still striving to make the best that we can with it still ensuring that we prioritize high quality education for all of our students and I say all in bold letters italicized underlined flashing whatever you may say because our district is comprised of many students of different abilities of different backgrounds of different languages and we love them all we love them all and we prioritize all of them so this has been quite a budget process we anticipated that we rolled up our sleeves some time ago and here we are and I will say that I am
135in favor of supporting this budget because it is one where a lot of thought was put into it a lot of time was put into it and it is quite a lean budget in spite of and as a colleague has shared this budget reflects what we need it's not what we want it's what we need and any significant changes to that will be felt and we know that anytime there are changes to the budget we certainly do not want that to be seen in the classroom in terms of impacting the classroom and so thought has been put into this budget care has been put into this budget but most importantly care has been put into who the budget is for and that is for our children and if this process is not reminded us all
136the more of that it takes a village to raise a child all hands on deck well we have yet been reminded again of that and so with that we'll proceed to a roll call vote uh again thank everyone that's played a role in this process everyone that's played a role in this process and please let this not be a one anddone period of advocacy once we vote we know it goes to the Town Council once they vote please do not let this be a moment of no longer advocating we have to continue to advocate for what our district is due with respect to supporting our children and so with that Charlotte will we please have a roll call vote Mr Gagner yes Mr Goldman no Dr Harris yes Miss Maron yes Mrs narella yes Dr
137Thomas farason yes Mrs yagala yes thank you the motion passes the budget passes for the 2025 202 School 6 school year in the amount of 214 m751 1800 right thank you and now I I will specifically thank my colleagues around the table thank each and every one of you for your thoughts and for your opinions and for your presence in this process again we know that our charge is to serve the children and families in our town and I appreciate that you do not take that lightly even communicating with with us in route from the airport and communicating with us out of town so thank you all so very much for that what was that Ethan out of the country hey yeah yes out of the country that's right yes yes yes and so and
138Liz thank you so very much because you crunch those numbers real time my oh my thank you thank you and so with that let us now move on to new business state of Connecticut healthy food certification 2025 2026 seeking a motion that the Board of Education adopts the following two motions pursuant to CGS section 10- 215f the West Hartford board of education certifies that all food items offered for sale to students in the schools under its jurisdiction and not Exempted from the Connecticut nutrition standards published by the Connecticut State Department of Education will comply with the Connecticut nutrition standards During the period of July 1 2025 through through June 30th 2026 this certification shall include all food offered for sale to students separately from reimbursable meals at all times and from all sources including but
139not limited to school stores vending machines School cafeterias culinary programs and any fundraising activities on school premises sponsored by the school or non-school organizations and groups also the West Harford Board of Education will allow the sale to students of food items that do not not meet the Connecticut nutrition standards and beverages not listed in section 10-20 20 221 Q of the Connecticut General statutes provided that the following conditions are met one the sale is in connection with an event occurring after the day of the regular school day or on the weekend two the sale is at the location of the event and three the food and beverage items are not sold from a vending machine or school store an event is An Occurrence that involves more than just a regularly scheduled practice meeting extracurricular activity
140for example soccer games school plays and Inter Scholastic debates are events but soccer practices play rehearsals and debate team meetings are not the regular school day is the period from Midnight before to 30 minutes after the end of the official school day location means where the event is being held and must be the same place as the food and beverage sales is there a motion so move thank you Shannon is is there a second second thank you Ethan and also no no thank you LaToy and thank you Jason all right discussion passing it to superintendent byas and Liz please thank you um so what you have before you is our annual recertification that is part of our participation in the national school lunch program we will adhere to the Connecticut standards of Healthy nutrition and
141healthy foods um by passing passing these two motions we not only commit to do that but we are eligible for additional Grant funds from the state of Connecticut we receive an additional 10 cents per meal which this past uh school year was approximately 65,000 that goes into the national school lunch program um accounting fund thank you questions discussion regarding the motion on the floor just to be cynical is there really a choice yes you could decide not to pass this um and we would not receive the additional funding um nor would we have to follow the regulations I I don't think that's what you would want to do I don't think that's prudent uh We've certainly been following this course since uh 2007 uh primarily because of the benefit to our students and to their
142health not just because of the funding but the additional Grant funds are certainly I just as I was reading it I wondered why they were bothering to ask and it's says required certify if you would like to participate and adhere to these guidelines then you are required annually to recertify all right thank you any other qu yes CLA so is there similar Federal funding for the school lunch programs an agreement we make with the federal government uh so as a participant in the um national school lunch program um we receive federal funding we do not receive a specific Grant related to healthy foods this program is specific to the state of Connecticut other questions or comments gaale may you have any thoughts take the silences no not at this time all right so with the
143motion on the floor all of those in favor say I I I any oppose any abstain the eyes have it thank you very much thank you thank you now moving on to staff Communications and reports where we shall receive our superintendent report so I I do not have um news to report I there was well I have couple of things that I want to highlight which which will uh most of my news was stolen by Alexis and Sarah and I'm so happy to do so um so glad to see how in tune they are with everything but um first and foremost I did I did make take a point of privilege during one of our workshops STS to announce Sarah Isaac's but I want to publicly acknowledge her here as uh the very proud principal
144of Hall High School um so dramatically impressed uh with her leadership and uh not in the least bit surprised of of uh the incredible reception that she received by the hall staff when when we announced her at the conclusion of the uh of the nas visit which I will report on at a later time but they uh it sounds as if they have amazing amazing accomplishments to share um again no surprise um also incredibly proud moments um and so inspired by the wonderful uh celebration that took place at Connor for the hall and Conor unified uh program the banner celebration um I I need to give a shout out to Lisa Daly who um is our health and physical education supervisor that did a lot of work to help coordinate that event uh but but
145as Lisa has very clearly instructed me the real heroes of the story other than our student athletes and their peers are our three coaches um Heather Russell Tracy Kelly and Tommy Venia um just amazing uh gratitude to them for the inspiration the leadership um the direction that they provide that has made uh West Harford one of only uh three school districts nationally to be highlighted by ESPN in this way and the Special Olympics and a huge huge thank you to both of those organizations for um for coming and celebrating us um and it was it was magical um I I have so many more things that I will share but I'm going to hold uh some of them until our May meeting um it's been amazing amount of things that are going on an amazing
146amount of accomplishments um I might repeat a few of the things I was going to talk about um you know the uh the computer SC the computer technology team and and those wins but I'll I'll save that for a different evening uh one last note I will um again I think I said it at the beginning I want to thank um I want to thank the board um we just concluded with board appreciation month and uh you are genuinely appreciated for all of your extremely thoughtful engagement in this budget process your advocacy for our families and for the fiscal responsibility that you wield I want to I want to further thank um our mayor the town councilors who were present at those Community conversations who we passed this along to our our U Our Town
147manager um I want to thank the leadership team that has been here at these meetings throughout showing their support um but but the community engagement uh as was said I think well over 100 uh 120 or more um email Communications folks coming out and um you know I think uh what has come through very loudly and clearly from all of the parental engagement is the dramatic respect that our community holds for our teachers um for our parent Educators for for everyone who works in the schools and um it's not lost on me that um we are we are we are clearly not um able to get everything that we want uh financially out of this budget process but we are committed to providing that same level of service and giving students um everything that they
148need um and deserve and and we will continue to work on that as our Northstar Mission um to support uh Inspire and prepare every student every day um so dramatic amount of gratitude to our teachers who have inspired this this incredible Community engagement in this very important conversation so thank you questions or comments regarding our superintendent's update all right thank oh your hand i'm yes let my bad um it's not on the update but all that sounds wonderful as usual um I just wanted to say I know that Eid just um concluded this past weekend um and that we have a lot of students and families in our town that celebrate that just celebrated Eid um so to all those families Eid Mubarak or blessed Eid um and that celebrates the ending of Ramadan um
149and you know for people who might not know about Ramadan like that's really intense fasting and when you have students who are are fasting and going to school at the same time and keeping up with their studies I mean that is just like another level of discipline um that I find to be admirable also just want to shout out all of our teachers um you know who have supported students throughout their fast providing spaces for them to pray um and then whatever other supports are needed to families to be able to acknowledge that and I think it speaks to the beauty um of the diversity that exists within our town and our district so yeah thank you other comments regarding our superintendent report or certainly holidays and pieces that are happening in our community all
150right thank you very much moving on to routine matters where we have the financial report seeking a motion I apologize pardon me I Julio I am so sorry excuse me now now we shall move on to staff reports and board discussions thank you teammates for tapping me alerting me uh where we shall have non-renewal of non- tenur personnel Personnel report so Mr DTE apologies once again no need for apologies um good evening every year at this time I present a list of all the non-tenure teachers whose contracts will expire on June 30th and according to State statue the board of education has to vote to non-renew these contracts once this occurs we are are then required to provide written notification of that vote to the impacted non-tenure teachers and administrators before you this evening you
151have a list of 29 staff members who are being non-renewed I did want to point out that all of these folks are currently in interim positions or in other words they are filling in for someone who has been out on a leave of absence and will be returning next year so when these staff members were originally hired they knew their contracts would expire at the end of the school year as always the pool of candidates that we hired this year was exceptional and we would like to be able to find spots for all of them and when I do my presentation for opening schools next year you may see many of these names back on that list because we always try to look at these lists uh the folks on this list first so following
152the vote this evening we will provide written notification to those impacted we will of course thank them for their year of service and we'll let them know that unfortunately their contract will expire on June 30th again this is more of a formality because they all understood this coming in and they knew that this was going to be taking place this evening I'd be happy to answer any questions that the board may have prior to you taking your vote thank you we'll do the motion in second and then we'll have for discussion so seeking a motion that the teaching contracts for the identified non-tenure teachers are recommended for nonr non-renewal is there a motion so moved thank you Ethan is there there a second second thank you Jason discussion or questions all right seeing none all
153of those in favor say I I I any oppose any abstain the eyes Havoc thank you thank you very much now we shall move on to routine matters of the financial report seeking a motion that the Board of Education appr approve the financial report for the period ending February 28th 2025 is there a motion so moved thank you Jason is there a second second thank you Ethan discussion well once again Liz hello good to see you and who is doing the honors today all right Jason passing to you all right more numbers uh so I I think the theme for for this month's financial report is we're back on track uh thanks to the the emergency funding coming through from the state so we're once again as of the end of February projecting a small
154surplus of $50,000 in the general fund and the question would that now end up if we get that fund with the town will that go into that fund for excess costs if that is what you so choose to do with it uh under salaries we are currently um projecting to have surplus of $300,000 um driven mostly by favorable variances in teacher substitutes and teacher assistance uh benefit costs at this time are expected to be within Appropriations uh total purchase services are predicted to have a shortfall of $300,000 U most of that is driven by uh Transportation costs Al U which are currently projected to exceed budget by 300,000 um that number has not changed from the uh last report though we are continuing to monitor that uh great Grant funds are also um in keeping
155with budget um to date we've not had any disruption um coming from what's going on at the federal side uh special program funds 350,000 Education Service reimbursement Reserve is going to be utiliz to fund out of District tuition and we have uh the rental Reserve uh fund there will be additional 50,000 uh to custodial overtime and nutrition services at this time earned an operating profit of $74,900 through the end of February uh interest income is at $4,210 expended $176,500 equipment resulting in a year-to-date net income of just over $3,000 so again back on track all right thank you Jason teammates any questions or comments regarding our financial report seeing none all of those in favor say I I I any oppose any abstain the eyes have it thank you Jason thank you Ethan thank you
156Liz now moving on to approval of the minutes seeking a motion that the Board of Education approved the minutes of the regular Board of Education meeting of March the 18th 2025 is there a motion so moved thank you Latoya is there a second second thank you Shannon discussion suggested edits seeing all of those in favor say I I any oppose any abstain the eyes have it now seeking a motion that the Board of Education approve the minutes of the budget Workshop of March the 12th 2025 is there a motion so moved thank you Latoya is there a second second thank you Jason discussion suggested edits seeing none all of those in favor say I I any oppose any abstain the eyes have it now seeking a motion that the Board of Education approve the minutes
157of the budget Workshop of March the 26th 2025 is there a motion so moved so moved oh sorry thank you Jason is there my brain is there a second second thank you Latoya any discussion or suggested edits seeing none all of those in favor say I I I any oppose any abstain the eyes have it thank you so very much now moving on to information and Report board members do we have any Communications and reports from other boards or other organizations any other information or discussions Claire yeah um I just wanted to share I was able to attend the pep rally and um was so impressed with the whole organization but the energy in the excitement it was amazing and one of our athletes hit a basket and the whole crowd screamed and yelled and
158it it just there were a lot of parents there too that were close to tears um so I know what it does for me as far as my daughter being an athlete but what it does for the general population it really showed that this isn't just for kids with special needs it's for everybody and it really makes um West Harford a unique place um and just was very proud of the district may I apologize in my report I failed to mention so the board members you've received to save the date um for our annual military inductee dinner um if there are uh I mean it's appropriate we're in the uh month of the military child I heard about the purple up uh breakfast is happening um so I just wanted to to make mention to
159this especially if there are families listening at home who have a child that that is graduating this year going into any form of military service whether that's active duty Reserve service of any form or to a military academy uh there will be there should be an email going out through their school through the counseling department um to elicit their um potential interest to come to this just amazing amazing celebration that's held annually hosted by the American Legion Post 96 here in West Harford do you um what was the date on that it's going to be Tuesday May the 27th the day after Memorial Day thank you thank you for that update and announcement and thank you Claire very much as well for sharing about the wonderful event from last Friday it absolutely was was wonderful
160and Ethan you're so flood just hold that finger up yes Ethan so it just occurred to me I think we should thank Gail for 10 cuz it's like 4 in the morning I think I was going to say she started at 2: in the morning I'm pretty sure it's 4 in the morning so she is unquestionably a trooper Gail we're giving you your flowers you deserve your flowers and thank you for reminding us of the commitment of being a part of this Bard we're so thankful for you demonstrating that so Gail thank you all right Ethan good looking out Shannon yes um I I believe I was driving but I believe that there was a reference to tomorrow being par educator day and just want to extra emphasize the gratitude for everybody working as par
161Educators in our system because um I know that they are a tremendous resource and I'm also the proud daughter of a former par educator from whing Lane um so just it's it's something that I'm glad there's a day it should be every single day um But be sure to thank your par Educators and just a fun fact as I was coming from the airport woman leaned over and goes are there gift cards at the Starbucks and I go yeah maybe at the airport I assume so she leaned over she goes every time I get on the airplane I give the flight attendance a gift card and I was like that's the nicest thing ever so those little they go a long way those little thoughts so for April all right so it's Autism Awareness Day
162and the month of April we also recognize all of our students and their wonderful abilities and talents and those that identifies as being autistic as well so wonderful thank you thank you and we'll give you your flowers as well because we know that you've been in three airports and you had to catch another flight to catch another flight to get here so thank you and the best one is Bradley all right all right any other information or discussions teammates all right well I'm going to to give all of you your flowers thank you all so much for being and students want to give you your flowers as well you have hung with us the entire time bless you thank you thank you bless you yes yes yes wonderful you continue to represent your schools so
163very well hang in there we know senior ritis is kicking in but hang in there all right thank you and so now moving on to board member we already did that information and reports you've covered that so now let's go on to Future business announcement of future meeting dates our next meeting will be in May again no longer in April our next meeting will be Tuesday May the 6th 2025 our regular Board of Education meeting here at 7:00 in room 3:14 at the Town Hall followed by Tuesday May the 20th 20125 our regular Board of Education meeting at 7:00 here at the town hall and then our last Board of Ed meeting this Academic School year on Tuesday June the 3r 2025 7:00 here room 3:14 of the town hall is there a request for
164any future agenda items Jason yeah I I mentioned it earlier but even knowing we only have three meetings left um I would like for the policy committee to begin the process of of figuring out what a thorough and comprehensive review of our um classroom size guidelines would be and and even though I as a board actually if we look we only have till November is currently constituted I think we need to start laying that Foundation I think we owe it to the students the parents who have come out out um and as was mentioned a number of times the the last 10 years since we've reviewed that have not been a normal 10 years it's not like going from 1970 to 1980 I think we've traversed such different ground over those 10 years that that
165we should be taking a look at that all right dully not to thank you for the policy subcommittee to review and discuss yes thank you any uh request for future agenda items Shannon yes um so I've been part of a really amazing um book group as part at Sedwick that is being done on the anxious Generation by Jonathan hate and it's a um a collection of teachers and parents coming together to talk about the book and in light of the fact that he came and spoke to the superintendent Association a couple weeks ago he's just very front of mind and if you haven't read his book definitely read his book and I would love if there's a way to bring some of the learnings and discussion from that conversation at Sedwick to the board I
166think that could be really powerful to hear how we as a community can address what we want to move towards more you know we talked about play based learning you know the whole book is focused on increasing play-based childhood and decreasing uh screen based childhood practices and so um I think that that would be very timely for us to discuss thank you duly noted as an agenda item future agenda item all right any other suggested future agenda items again so far what has been shared has been an item for the policy subcommittee thank you Jason and an item for a future agenda item thank you Shannon any other yes Claire yeah um for for a couple years now um I would like to see if we could do some kind of um dream projection of
167increasing prek opportunities within our district um with the lottery um up to I think 500 families did not get a placement and I don't know what's involved about that but it would be great to at least set some fiveyear or 15-year goals um of increasing seats thank you Claire so as noted for a future agenda item regarding prek projections all right Ethan so I might well get in on it um I'd like to propose that we have a discussion again on the finance committee just because we had a massive to me very large increase this year and I'm fearful what next year will bring so the more we can anticipate think through this out I think it'd be beneficial so I'd like to discuss having a finance committee thank you Ethan so a future agenda
168item regarding discussion of a finance committee all right so just to make note and again any other suggested future agenda items okay we have three suggested agenda items one suggested item for the policy subcommittee just want to remind us we have three board meetings this Academic Year remaining and then we kick off again in September of 20126 for the next academic school year so these suggested future agenda items are ones for where we are but I don't want to give a false sense of hope that they will all be on prior to the conclusion of this Academic School year unless I'm misspeaking I don't okay all right and so we'll we'll try our best with that but thank you very much for the suggesting suggestion Ethan thank you Shannon thank you Jason and thank you
169Claire all right any uh we'll move on now to comments from visitors do we have any visitors here that would like to make a public comment seeing none we do not have an executive session therefore seeking a motion to adjourn go moved thank you Shannon is there a second second thank you Ethan meeting adjourned for