[3:18] our unused

[3:20] funds at the end of

[3:21] the year and place them

[3:22] in a non-expiring account

[3:24] that would be

[3:25] monitored by the Board of

[3:26] Education at the end of

[3:27] each year, instead of

[3:28] our

[3:29] unused funds

[3:30] going to the

[3:31] city general fund.

[3:36] This issue

[3:36] was discussed at

[3:37] our monthly

[3:38] meeting of the Education

[3:40] and Cooperation Council with the City

[3:41] . At the last

[3:44] meeting, we talked

[3:45] about the carbon deficit

[3:46] for food services,

[3:48] and that was from our

[3:49] surplus. But there was

[3:53] some talk that,

[3:55] actually, the city

[3:56] asked if the council had created a

[3:57] non-

[4:00] expiring account that would allow

[4:01] us to set aside up to 2% of

[4:03] our budget

[4:04] each year. So, a

[4:06] $17 million budget

[4:08] would be

[4:09] $350,000 if the council

[4:10] decided to set aside 2

[4:12] %, and that

[4:12] would carry over

[4:13] every year. You can

[4:16] save up to 2%. I mean,

[4:20] about 4 years ago

[4:21] they changed the law to,

[4:22] um, leave it

[4:24] for council funds only,

[4:25] and the council has every

[4:26] right to decide how

[4:28] those funds

[4:28] are used. Er

[4:30] , the council would have to

[4:32] approach the city about this,

[4:33] since the city

[4:34] commission

[4:34] would be using

[4:35] the funds. Uh, but now the

[4:37] funds will be

[4:38] completely under

[4:38] the control of the council, and the

[4:39] council can

[4:40] use them

[4:41] for

[4:42] emergencies,

[4:43] unforeseen

[4:44] deficits that may

[4:45] arise, and/or for

[4:46] pre-

[4:47] planning things that,

[4:48] as we know, some

[4:50] major items of

[4:51] expenditure that, as we

[4:52] know, may

[4:53] arise in a year,

[4:54] two, three years. If

[4:55] we had this

[4:56] non-overdue account,

[4:58] uh, we could better

[4:59] plan for these

[5:00] future expenses

[5:01] in advance.

[5:03] So this would include,

[5:04] for example,

[5:05] coverage of heat

[5:06] pumps and ice for

[5:07] maintenance.

[5:08] You can

[5:09] use it

[5:10] for anything.

[5:15] So, the way it usually

[5:16] works, if I

[5:17] understand correctly,

[5:18] when I see a financial

[5:19] need in the district, I

[5:21] bring it up for

[5:21] council approval, and the

[5:23] council votes on

[5:24] whether

[5:24] to use that

[5:26] non-

[5:26] deductible account. I

[5:29] also want to point out

[5:30] that it doesn't necessarily

[5:31] have to be 2%; it can

[5:33] be up to 2%, but we

[5:34] can do less

[5:35] if there is not that much

[5:36] surplus, or whatever is more

[5:37] convenient.

[5:38] After, you know,

[5:39] maybe we'll decide to

[5:40] give the guys

[5:41] a little bit to town or

[5:42] something, but it could

[5:43] be up to us

[5:44] how much.

[5:47] So we just want to

[5:48] bring this up

[5:49] tonight as a topic for

[5:50] conversation so you can

[5:51] ...uh, we can definitely

[5:52] come back to this

[5:53] at another meeting...uh

[5:54] , give people time

[5:55] to think about it...

[5:56] ask me

[5:57] any questions...in the

[5:58] meantime. This is not something

[5:59] you will have to act on tonight

[6:00] .

[6:01] Can

[6:02] your contribution percentage

[6:03] change from year to

[6:04] year, or is this normal?

[6:06] Up to 2%.

[6:07] Yes. So it will be the

[6:08] end of the fiscal

[6:09] year when they decide that

[6:10] this is our surplus.

[6:11] Yes, this will be a decision

[6:12] made at the end of the

[6:13] year.

[6:13] That means it will be the

[6:14] beginning of

[6:15] next year...

[6:17] right.

[6:20] So the end of the year will be

[6:22] ...I mean, we

[6:23] don't usually

[6:24] have meetings

[6:25] until July unless there's an

[6:27] early process going on

[6:28] ...So we're

[6:29] talking about August.

[6:31] Can we do this

[6:32] in June, Kasia?

[6:34] Yes, let's

[6:35] try to do it

[6:36] in June. If not, I

[6:37] will bring it to your attention

[6:38] if the situation

[6:39] changes so much

[6:40] that we will not be able to make

[6:41] this

[6:42] commitment because

[6:44] there are simply not enough

[6:45] resources. Um, otherwise

[6:47] we should be able to

[6:48] do it in June.

[6:57] I'm not familiar with this

[6:58] value, so

[7:02] $336,000 from the last

[7:04] budget would be 2%

[7:06] .

[7:09] This is approximately...

[7:11] So, this money

[7:12] always comes back

[7:13] to the city?

[7:15] Now it is.

[7:16] And then they

[7:17] use them

[7:18] to offset

[7:19] whatever...

[7:19] Yeah, I mean,

[7:21] usually the finance

[7:22] committee in April and

[7:23] May is racking their brains

[7:24] over how much

[7:25] money we can

[7:26] put into the budget for

[7:27] next year. If

[7:30] we do that,

[7:30] the answer is nothing.

[7:32] Or less than...

[7:33] Less than...yes. Are

[7:35] they...

[7:35] More than...

[7:36] How do they feel about it

[7:37] ? Or

[7:38] the CFO

[7:39] ...

[7:39] They should bring

[7:40] this to the

[7:41] finance board's attention.

[7:41] Good.

[7:42] Um...

[7:42] That's right.

[7:43] When we had a

[7:45] city collaboration meeting, there

[7:46] was, uh, Rodney

[7:47] Fournier, uh, Jim

[7:48] Rupert and Stephen...

[7:49] Mr. Miller.

[7:50] Sorry.

[7:51] They suggested we

[7:52] do this or

[7:53] that. They brought it to

[7:55] our attention and

[7:56] wanted us to

[7:57] look into it.

[7:59] Yes, I think this is a

[8:00] good

[8:01] budgeting tactic,

[8:02] but I think it will be

[8:03] related to the budget

[8:05] cycle. For example,

[8:06] if they need

[8:07] these funds, depending

[8:08] on what stage

[8:09] we are at with

[8:09] the budget, that's where the

[8:10] difficult decision will be.

[8:11] I think that's what

[8:13] I want to put

[8:14] in the budget somewhere.

[8:15] I wonder if

[8:16] that would allow us to, maybe, I don't

[8:18] know, if we could

[8:19] put together a

[8:20] tighter budget than

[8:21] we already have, but, um,

[8:26] knowing that we'll have

[8:27] something in reserve

[8:29] if we don't hit the

[8:30] mark, that

[8:31] might help with

[8:32] planning as well.

[8:35] But it's great

[8:35] for

[8:36] things like...

[8:37] Yes,

[8:38] the cost of major

[8:39] repairs. Yes,

[8:43] these unexpected things

[8:44] like...

[8:45] Yes...

[8:46] I did our

[8:46] return to the city

[8:47] this year based

[8:49] on the budget numbers

[8:50] before we went to the

[8:51] referendum that

[8:52] passed? Do we know,

[8:55] I think it's about

[8:56] $7,000.

[8:57] Yes, that was early, was

[8:58] n't it? Okay, but

[8:59] they didn't

[9:00] count on this

[9:01] extra amount.

[9:02] No, and it will go to

[9:03] next year.

[9:04] All of these points are for

[9:05] next year, so there is a

[9:06] high probability

[9:07] that we are short on funds. Will

[9:12] I do a good job for

[9:13] the city, or just...

[9:14] What if we... maybe

[9:15] we can get to 2% and

[9:16] then we'll still have

[9:17] money to

[9:18] give back?

[9:19] This will change from

[9:20] year to year.

[9:21] Yes.

[9:21] If it's going to be great, that's

[9:22] exactly what I meant

[9:24] .

[9:24] This can keep it

[9:25] at a higher level from

[9:26] year to year, rather than one

[9:27] year we'll have a

[9:28] huge surplus

[9:29] and the next we won't, and if there

[9:30] are big

[9:30] expenses...

[9:32] Yes.

[9:33] If they can't

[9:34] make the budget

[9:34] work, they'll just

[9:35] have to wait.

[9:36] Above that, and they

[9:37] say, "Well, you

[9:38] somehow

[9:39] lost this amount of

[9:40] money, so we're

[9:41] going to cut you by this

[9:42] amount of money."

[9:43] Yes, it is possible to

[9:44] say that.

[9:45] Yes.

[9:47] So, in that case, it would be

[9:48] almost the same.

[9:52] Yes. And usually,

[9:57] at least in recent

[9:58] years, we have

[9:59] these

[10:00] emergencies

[10:01] throughout the year, and at

[10:02] some point,

[10:03] like 6

[10:04] months into the fiscal

[10:06] year, we know that for X number

[10:07] of days we can't

[10:08] get coverage

[10:09] for subcontractors

[10:10] or something like that.

[10:13] We had some kind of

[10:14] vacancy. So we were

[10:16] able to cover

[10:17] a lot of these things as

[10:18] we know them. This

[10:19] happens before the

[10:20] funds are returned,

[10:21] but in this case

[10:23] we have reserves from which

[10:24] we draw funds,

[10:25] instead of

[10:26] saying, "Well, now that it's

[10:28] February, we're

[10:28] confident that our

[10:30] savings and this and that

[10:31] industry are enough to

[10:32] cover them." So is it

[10:35] better, is it really that

[10:36] much better, or will it

[10:38] change anything at all?

[10:40] I don't know.

[10:46] It seems like if there

[10:47] 's a big

[10:48] project coming up that

[10:49] could be scaled back for this

[10:51] year so that we don't have to

[10:51] have a

[10:52] huge jump

[10:54] in the new budget,

[10:56] yes, we could

[10:57] take some

[10:58] money out of that

[10:59] budget.

[11:01] Well, for example, in

[11:02] my update I

[11:03] was going to talk

[11:04] about budgeting for

[11:05] next year for

[11:06] wireless

[11:07] access points that need to be

[11:08] replaced in buildings.

[11:10] And that would be

[11:12] approximately

[11:13] $150,000. So Crystal,

[11:15] because it's her job

[11:17] , has already started

[11:17] pre-planning for

[11:19] this and putting

[11:20] some of the money aside,

[11:21] like from the

[11:21] funding for the choices

[11:23] that we get, and

[11:24] planning for this. But it

[11:26] might be a point that's

[11:28] worth it, and she

[11:29] says, "Okay, we'll have it

[11:30] in a year or

[11:31] two." This

[11:33] non-overdue account

[11:33] might be something that

[11:34] could be

[11:35] considered for this

[11:36] along with the

[11:37] non-

[11:37] overdue account portion.

[11:41] Yes, it's just hard to

[11:42] say what the

[11:43] finance committee is as a

[11:44] whole, because we

[11:45] had that practice.

[11:47] But again,

[11:48] a lot of the people on this

[11:49] committee are new, so

[11:50] they don't have the same

[11:51] experience as you do.

[11:52] They may think it's

[11:54] better. We have

[11:55] new financial

[11:55] leadership at the

[11:57] city level. Also, I think it's

[11:58] something better than what

[11:59] we've seen

[12:00] before. This is something that

[12:03] can cause

[12:04] a lot of confusion, but

[12:05] so can we, so yeah

[12:07] .

[12:07] Well, they all

[12:08] lose money there.

[12:09] Yes.

[12:10] You can see it now

[12:11] . We

[12:14] can also create a fund

[12:16] to invest money.

[12:19] Of course.

[12:20] Or very small

[12:21] amounts.

[12:21] How many

[12:22] small amounts are there?

[12:23] Yes. It's more like

[12:27] our reserve fund

[12:28] .

[12:28] Reserve fund and

[12:30] fragmentation.

[12:39] That's good. This is what

[12:42] we agree with. Think

[12:43] about it, or how do we

[12:44] want to continue this?

[12:46] Hmm, I just brought this up

[12:47] for discussion, so the

[12:48] board can consider

[12:50] the idea. And, as I

[12:51] said, we don't

[12:52] need to take

[12:53] action now. Hmm, I

[12:54] don't think the council will have to

[12:54] take

[12:55] action over the

[12:56] next few

[12:57] meetings unless they

[12:57] want to because

[12:58] we can't

[12:59] do it in the budget anyway.

[13:00] What will be the actions?

[13:02] Create...Create

[13:03] it.

[13:04] Good.

[13:05] And she might, you know,

[13:07] might want to have

[13:07] future

[13:08] conversations with the finance

[13:10] committee about this

[13:11] , not just the,

[13:12] um, smaller committee that

[13:13] we meet with

[13:14] every month. Um, and also

[13:15] I think you're

[13:16] right, Ashley, about

[13:18] us

[13:19] reporting this properly so that

[13:20] the public

[13:21] fully understands what's

[13:22] going on. Um, we

[13:23] need to be as

[13:25] transparent as possible. I think

[13:27] the better everyone

[13:28] understands this, the easier it

[13:29] will be to implement it effectively

[13:30] .

[13:32] Yes. And it might also be a

[13:34] good idea to

[13:35] talk to the

[13:35] finance committee

[13:37] , because you don't want

[13:38] them to feel like

[13:39] you think this is

[13:40] somehow

[13:41] undermining their

[13:42] authority.

[13:43] Right.

[13:44] Given that we have

[13:45] members who...Yes, this...

[13:46] is also a new

[13:47] task...So it's

[13:49] been getting better over the

[13:50] last year or two...Um,

[13:56] anything else on the finances?

[13:58] No, all of this...That was

[13:59] all.

[14:00] Good. Okay, so

[14:02] let's move on to the

[14:03] staff. The

[14:05] Personnel Committee has held

[14:06] several Zoom meetings

[14:07] regarding

[14:08] teacher negotiations and how

[14:09] we approach them.

[14:13] The negotiations

[14:13] are taking place

[14:14] informally, which

[14:15] means that the council is

[14:16] not currently involved

[14:18] , and we hope

[14:19] to conclude them

[14:20] informally. Um, these

[14:22] negotiations are ongoing.

[14:27] Good. Um, reports from

[14:29] community meetings? Are

[14:32] there any others besides the

[14:34] public

[14:35] storage commission?

[14:36] Nothing to report.

[14:40] Hmm, no. I'm

[14:42] very happy to go. Me

[14:44] too.

[14:46] Of course, the first class

[14:47] opened up a whole

[14:48] new playground, so

[14:49] that was pretty good. The

[14:51] first week of school, there

[14:54] were more

[14:55] people on our playground than I had ever

[14:56] seen. Incredible. Hmm,

[14:59] back-to-school night is coming up,

[15:00] when we usually

[15:01] have some

[15:02] activities at school, and

[15:03] then we had

[15:03] field trips for the

[15:04] kindergarten kids,

[15:05] greeting them. And

[15:08] we will also have a marathon

[15:09] – a big annual

[15:10] fundraiser for all

[15:11] our events and interesting

[15:13] things at the school throughout the

[15:14] years, a musical

[15:15] atmosphere and all that

[15:16] . Interesting things again.

[15:22] What are the plans?

[15:27] Thank you very much. The Temporary

[15:33] Commission on

[15:33] Public Buildings has

[15:35] finally been formed. I am

[15:38] participating in it

[15:39] along with several

[15:40] other members of the

[15:41] public. We

[15:49] had two meetings and

[15:50] we approved a request for

[15:51] proposals (

[15:52] RFP) to go to

[15:54] an engineer, which is the first

[15:55] step in

[15:56] bridge projects, to

[15:57] come in and do

[15:58] a study, which will

[15:59] then have a report that is

[16:00] then

[16:01] used to

[16:02] get the actual

[16:03] work done by the contractors.

[16:12] So, we approved

[16:13] the Request for Proposals (RFPQ),

[16:15] and, uh, it was sent to

[16:16] our city

[16:17] attorney and

[16:19] Karma Insurance attorney

[16:20] for review.

[16:25] It will then be

[16:26] published, and we are

[16:27] tentatively

[16:27] hoping for a 6-

[16:28] week period for

[16:30] companies to voice

[16:31] their proposals. And at

[16:35] the end of October, we will have

[16:36] meetings to

[16:37] review their

[16:38] proposals, after

[16:40] which we will select a

[16:45] few more firms, depending

[16:47] on how many

[16:51] people we have, to

[16:52] select an engineer for

[16:54] our bridge project.

[16:57] Did I say everything correctly

[16:58] , as far as we

[16:59] know?

[17:00] Yes, we did it.

[17:02] Hmm, does anyone have any

[17:04] questions about this

[17:05] ? We

[17:08] are currently in the

[17:09] early stages of...

[17:11] Hmm, Jim Rupert

[17:11] worked on

[17:12] a project in Ashford

[17:13] on the roof and we

[17:14] are using some

[17:15] of his previous

[17:16] knowledge to help

[17:18] guide our

[17:19] review phase of our

[17:21] pre-

[17:22] order request. Have

[17:27] we applied for

[17:28] bonds

[17:30] or are we going to? Yes,

[17:31] okay. Good.

[17:32] Yes, so the reimbursement rate

[17:35] will be either 50

[17:37] or 55%.

[17:38] Good.

[17:40] I know this might

[17:40] be a rather

[17:41] late project,

[17:42] but everything is going perfectly,

[17:43] like what are the

[17:44] deadlines? I would

[17:44] assume this can't

[17:45] be during

[17:46] school, right?

[17:47] If everything goes perfectly,

[17:48] the project is summer 2027. The

[17:49] entire course, you know,

[17:52] will be completed by the beginning of the next academic year.

[17:52] Well, okay. Perfectly.

[17:56] You know, usually everything

[17:57] goes perfectly.

[18:04] We've only had a

[18:05] rainy summer this summer, so

[18:06] everything should be dry, I guess

[18:07] . We need to

[18:08] do a lot of

[18:09] preparatory work. Uh

[18:12] , are there any more

[18:13] questions or are there

[18:14] any

[18:15] meetings going on that I don't

[18:17] know about? I will now proceed to

[18:20] hand over the matter to

[18:21] the Head of the

[18:22] Education Department

[18:23] for today's

[18:24] report from the Head of the

[18:25] Education Department.

[18:26] Okay, thank you. Greetings to

[18:28] everyone. It's nice to see

[18:29] so many people in the

[18:30] stands. We had a

[18:32] wonderful

[18:33] school opening. Um, actually, I

[18:35] started thinking about this

[18:36] school year

[18:37] last school

[18:38] year when the

[18:39] strategic

[18:40] planning committee met

[18:41] to develop our

[18:42] new strategic

[18:43] plan. And we

[18:44] presented it to the

[18:45] council, and the council

[18:46] accepted it. And then

[18:48] over the summer, myself, the

[18:49] leadership team,

[18:50] and new groups of

[18:51] teacher leaders

[18:52] began working on

[18:53] using this

[18:54] strategic plan

[18:55] to create their

[18:56] school plans for the

[18:57] year. And one

[18:59] common theme that

[19:00] we kept hearing from

[19:01] all the students last

[19:03] year and on our

[19:04] committee was the idea

[19:05] of the student experience. And,

[19:08] do you know what

[19:09] each class looks like through the

[19:10] lens of a student? Through the lens of

[19:13] the learner, who is an

[19:14] auditory, visual,

[19:15] or kinesthetic

[19:17] learner. Hmm, and this

[19:18] year we're really

[19:19] encouraging staff

[19:20] to think when they're

[19:21] organizing their

[19:22] learning tasks,

[19:24] to make sure we're

[19:25] thinking about all the

[19:26] different students that we have in

[19:27] our classroom, and to

[19:27] make this

[19:28] learning experience

[19:29] as

[19:30] positive,

[19:30] engaging, and

[19:31] fun as possible. Hmm, so it

[19:33] was really interesting for me

[19:35] to talk about this, to have

[19:36] this vision

[19:37] emerge from the new

[19:37] strategic plan,

[19:39] discuss it with the

[19:39] leadership team, and

[19:40] then see it being

[19:41] put into practice

[19:43] right after we

[19:43] got back to school.

[19:44] Hmm, all of our, uh,

[19:45] personal, uh,

[19:46] professional training

[19:48] events have been

[19:49] focused on this

[19:50] topic. Hmm, it was interesting

[19:52] to watch, uh, the

[19:54] BCS leadership team.

[19:55] I applaud them for

[19:56] setting an

[19:57] example of what we

[19:58] want staff to

[19:59] do with our children

[20:00] , and they did

[20:01] some

[20:02] interesting and

[20:02] engaging activities for the staff, and

[20:03] I think the staff

[20:04] really appreciated that, um,

[20:05] instead of

[20:06] just sitting and

[20:07] listening to adults

[20:08] talk to them. Hmm,

[20:09] that was fun. Uh, the

[20:12] high school also

[20:15] really

[20:16] focused on the

[20:17] first

[20:18] strategic

[20:18] priority and

[20:19] dug into it last week at their first staff meeting,

[20:21] which was great. The

[20:22] high

[20:23] school team asked

[20:24] their leaders

[20:24] to split into

[20:25] four groups and they

[20:26] had really

[20:27] positive and

[20:28] productive discussions

[20:29] about the strategic

[20:30] plan and what we

[20:31] want to do for the

[20:32] kids. I heard

[20:33] teachers talk about

[20:34] finding creative

[20:35] ways to create

[20:36] different clubs for

[20:37] students to

[20:38] play sports

[20:39] after school; and, you know

[20:41] , how do we fit all

[20:42] this in for our children?

[20:44] Teachers said

[20:45] they wanted to have a menu of

[20:46] options for

[20:47] professional

[20:48] learning opportunities so that when

[20:49] they have a

[20:50] professional

[20:51] learning day, they can

[20:52] choose one or two

[20:53] out of three, one or two

[20:54] different options that

[20:56] they really

[20:56] enjoy and

[20:57] want to

[20:58] work on. So, some really good ideas came out of

[20:59] this meeting as well

[21:01] .

[21:03] So, we're off to a great

[21:04] start as far as the

[21:06] strategic plan is concerned.

[21:08] Um, the communication, in

[21:09] my opinion, was very, positive,

[21:12] optimistic. Um, like

[21:13] I said, a lot of

[21:14] positive energy

[21:15] and enthusiasm from the

[21:16] staff. Um, I don't

[21:17] know if it was just

[21:18] because I'm the head of the

[21:19] education department,

[21:20] but a lot of teachers

[21:21] told me that they were

[21:22] very excited and happy to be

[21:23] back. Um, and, uh

[21:24] , this year we changed things up a little bit

[21:25] , and we had

[21:27] a senior, uh,

[21:28] Nicole DiNunzio, come in, and, uh

[21:29] , I asked her, and Mr.

[21:31] Mizelli asked her,

[21:32] uh, to tell

[21:33] the staff about her

[21:34] student experience

[21:36] at Bolton. Um, and that

[21:37] was a really powerful,

[21:39] I think, part of the day.

[21:40] Um, she was able to

[21:41] talk about how

[21:42] different teachers and

[21:43] different, uh, opportunities

[21:45] influenced her experience

[21:46] at Bolton. And that was, I

[21:47] think, a really, great

[21:49] addition to that.

[21:51] Um, transportation, as we

[21:52] know, we have, uh, a

[21:53] new transportation

[21:55] company this year.

[21:57] Things are

[21:58] going very well with the new supplier. Hmm,

[21:59] some minor

[22:00] difficulties were along the

[22:01] way the first few

[22:02] days, and I would say that,

[22:04] um, their leadership

[22:05] was extremely

[22:06] responsive to

[22:07] our school staff when

[22:08] they reached out with

[22:09] questions like, "Hey, we

[22:11] had this problem"

[22:12] or "Hmm, what can we

[22:13] do to

[22:14] fix this?" And they

[22:15] were very, very

[22:16] responsive,

[22:17] responding to us immediately and, um,

[22:19] seeming completely

[22:20] committed to making sure everything

[22:21] went as

[22:22] smoothly as possible, and a lot of these

[22:24] difficulties were

[22:25] resolved, um, as

[22:26] expected. As I already

[22:28] reported in my

[22:29] update, the refrigerator at the

[22:30] central school

[22:31] broke

[22:32] . The approximate cost

[22:34] is $4,000

[22:35] and we will

[22:36] use

[22:37] our food service account for this

[22:39] . Hmm, we

[22:41] have a very exciting new

[22:42] SmartPass system. This is a

[22:44] digital

[22:45] pass system for

[22:46] middle and high

[22:47] school students. So when they

[22:49] want to go to

[22:50] the nurse or to the

[22:51] bathroom, um, they

[22:52] go to the Chromebook and

[22:53] type in where they

[22:54] need to go. Uh,

[22:56] we have a limit on

[22:57] the number of children who

[22:58] can

[22:59] be in the

[22:59] hallway at one time. So I

[23:00] try to use

[23:02] the restroom, and there are already

[23:03] too many kids there, and a message

[23:04] pops up on the screen

[23:05] : "No,

[23:06] passes are not

[23:07] allowed." I can

[23:08] try again

[23:09] in 5 minutes, and then they

[23:10] give me a

[23:10] pass and I can

[23:11] go to the toilet. So,

[23:12] um, I've heard a lot of

[23:13] positive things, even

[23:15] from students, believe it or

[23:16] not, about this

[23:17] smart pass system.

[23:19] So so far everything is

[23:20] working very well.

[23:22] Anecdotally

[23:23] , one of the teachers at the

[23:24] high school yesterday,

[23:25] while she was on

[23:27] hallway duty, said that

[23:29] she sees

[23:30] far fewer students having to

[23:32] use

[23:33] the restroom while on hallway duty. Uh, you know,

[23:34] I don't know if they have to

[23:36] use

[23:37] the restroom less often or if

[23:38] high schoolers don't

[23:39] want to take

[23:40] another step and have to

[23:41] sign out to

[23:42] get a pass.

[23:43] In any case,

[23:44] they are

[23:45] in class more often, which is great.

[23:46] So, obviously, there's a

[23:47] certain

[23:48] safety component to this because, um,

[23:49] in the event of an

[23:50] emergency, we always

[23:51] know where

[23:52] our

[23:53] kids are. We know where

[23:54] they are recorded. This is

[23:55] a little easier

[23:56] to track than

[23:57] paper passes.

[23:58] And it also allows

[24:00] us to track time

[24:01] outside of class. So if

[24:03] a student is struggling with a

[24:04] certain subject and

[24:05] we notice that they

[24:07] may be missing

[24:08] a lot of

[24:09] class time because they

[24:10] are in different

[24:11] places, um, that might

[24:12] be something we

[24:13] can address. So

[24:15] , the smart pass

[24:16] was a big success, a

[24:17] big success, and very

[24:18] effective in both

[24:19] buildings. I already

[24:22] talked about the

[24:23] wireless access point

[24:24] , which we are planning

[24:25] ahead, and we

[24:26] had another

[24:27] productive

[24:28] Board of Education meeting in the city with

[24:29] city staff.

[24:32] It's continuing, um,

[24:34] a lot of

[24:35] brainstorming and how we

[24:36] can collaborate

[24:37] and work on

[24:40] some shared

[24:40] services to

[24:41] reduce costs,

[24:42] to be more

[24:43] efficient. Uh, like, uh

[24:44] , Mr. O'Neill mentioned,

[24:46] there's

[24:47] new management in the finance department,

[24:48] so it's nice

[24:49] to get a fresh

[24:50] perspective, fresh ideas, and

[24:52] I hope, uh, that

[24:53] good ideas continue to

[24:54] come out of these

[24:55] meetings. This

[24:59] concludes my

[25:00] update.

[25:05] Okay, uh, I have

[25:10] no unfinished

[25:11] business. We have new

[25:13] things to do, and the first is the

[25:14] BCS trip to

[25:15] Washington, DC

[25:16] . Do we have

[25:18] any replacements?

[25:21] I'll pretend there's a microphone next to my

[25:22] head

[25:23] . Good

[25:25] evening. Uh, just

[25:26] waiting for

[25:27] board approval for

[25:29] our biannual

[25:29] 7th and 8th

[25:31] grade trip. We are planning to

[25:32] travel to

[25:33] Washington,

[25:34] D.C. again with our

[25:35] 7th and 8th grade students from

[25:36] March 17-19. Very

[25:37] excited, the kids are

[25:38] excited. Uh, we're

[25:39] in the early stages, and the

[25:40] board's approval

[25:42] tonight is important

[25:43] because it allows us to

[25:44] continue

[25:45] fundraising and provide

[25:46] opportunities for students to

[25:46] raise money for their

[25:47] trip. We would travel with

[25:49] the same company,

[25:50] Destinations Unlimited, with the same

[25:51] guide, Julie

[25:53] Kachanowski. No

[25:55] significant changes to

[25:56] the route. Um, we would

[25:57] leave on Wednesday

[25:58] morning, March 17th, at

[26:00] 7:00 am, and we would

[26:01] return, according to the plan

[26:02] , at 9:00 pm on

[26:04] Friday, the 19th. Um, we're in the

[26:05] capital of the country. As I

[26:07] said, a very

[26:07] busy schedule,

[26:08] sightseeing

[26:09] , lots of

[26:09] educational programs are

[26:10] part of this trip.

[26:11] The number of museums

[26:12] we visit and the

[26:13] knowledge the

[26:14] students gain is incredible.

[26:16] Um, it costs about

[26:17] $800 per

[26:18] student.

[26:18] Insurance

[26:19] remains

[26:19] the same, which

[26:20] worked very well for

[26:21] those who had to

[26:21] cancel their trip at the

[26:22] last minute. With

[26:24] last-minute flight cancellations, uh,

[26:25] we benefit

[26:26] from cancellations for

[26:27] any reason. Um,

[26:29] deposits are non-

[26:30] refundable because

[26:31] some, uh, attractions

[26:33] require

[26:34] non-

[26:35] refundable tickets. So, whatever the

[26:37] amount of your

[26:38] deposit, that portion

[26:39] is reported

[26:40] to the parents, and that portion is

[26:41] not refundable. And, uh

[26:42] , one last word:

[26:44] we have a security

[26:45] company again, who were on

[26:46] the floors and outside the

[26:47] rooms for two

[26:49] nights, and they've been

[26:50] great in the past,

[26:51] so they would alert

[26:52] me at 3:00 in the morning if

[26:54] anything was going on. Uh

[26:55] , a student might

[26:56] get sick, or one

[26:57] year there was a little smoke,

[26:58] and they would let

[26:59] me know, so, uh, they

[27:00] were very, uh,

[27:01] nice and responsive,

[27:02] and it was a great

[27:03] trip. This will be our

[27:04] fourth trip,

[27:05] so I'm looking forward to

[27:06] returning

[27:07] home. Uh, could

[27:11] we please ask for

[27:13] approval for the BCS

[27:15] Washington DC trip this year,

[27:17] 2020-2026, yes?

[27:18] Something about time.

[27:19] It says 2026,

[27:21] but I'm looking at it

[27:22] saying it should be

[27:23] 2027, right?

[27:24] I support this.

[27:25] I support.

[27:27] Moreover, as I

[27:28] said, I'm like, "

[27:30] Uh, does anyone have any

[27:31] questions or

[27:32] comments about this

[27:33] trip?"

[27:35] How many times has this happened? Is this

[27:37] your fourth

[27:37] trip? Are

[27:38] you flying or

[27:40] driving?

[27:40] Uh, Coach Foster

[27:41] is sitting in the back, right?

[27:44] Foster, I've been going on this

[27:45] trip for the last three out of

[27:46] four years, so it's a

[27:47] great trip.

[27:52] Yes. Does

[27:55] anyone else have any questions or

[27:57] comments?

[27:58] I just want to

[27:59] answer this

[28:00] question

[28:01] my child asked.

[28:03] Rumor has it that something is

[28:04] changing so that this

[28:05] time they'll

[28:06] go to the zoo instead.

[28:11] That would be news to

[28:12] me. Miss Peltier is

[28:13] our contact,

[28:14] Miss Lambert

[28:15] has been doing this for many

[28:16] years. Miss Peltier is

[28:17] incredibly eager to get down to

[28:18] business.

[28:19] She organized the

[28:20] previous trip and

[28:21] is organizing this one. So that

[28:22] 's a good possibility

[28:23] because she's always

[28:24] communicating with the

[28:25] company and looking for

[28:26] new things. So I don't

[28:27] know the exact

[28:27] answer to that

[28:28] question, but I think there's a

[28:29] chance

[28:30] you'll come back. And I

[28:32] just got back.

[28:33] Yes. Everything is fine. Are there

[28:37] any more?

[28:38] How is it in this district?

[28:40] Thank you". Thank you for

[28:41] doing this for the

[28:42] children. This is a great

[28:43] number.

[28:44] All those in favor,

[28:45] please say "I do." "I am

[28:47] ". Is

[28:47] anyone against it?

[28:48] The proposal is accepted.

[28:51] We abstained.

[28:52] Thank you. Regarding the

[28:55] BHS release date.

[28:59] Um, I know that

[29:00] last year

[29:00] around this time

[29:02] we brought the

[29:03] issue of

[29:04] setting a

[29:05] release date to the board for a few

[29:06] different reasons. We

[29:09] held some events

[29:10] at the end of the year. We

[29:12] added a graduation

[29:13] walk to BCS. And it

[29:16] was fantastic

[29:17] right before the release.

[29:20] And a big part of

[29:21] wanting to set

[29:22] the date early is so that

[29:23] Project

[29:24] Graduation can

[29:25] find a great place

[29:26] for the kids. And even though

[29:30] we don't have as many

[29:31] graduates as

[29:32] some other schools,

[29:33] I think it's important

[29:34] , and I think I don't

[29:36] want to speak for

[29:37] other people. What I

[29:38] heard is that it is

[29:39] important to our families

[29:40] that we are in a

[29:41] safe place that is

[29:42] designated for

[29:44] Bolton High School students only. So this is

[29:45] their special

[29:46] event just for the

[29:47] kids at

[29:48] Bolton High School. And so

[29:49] the sooner they

[29:50] can set

[29:51] a date, the sooner they

[29:52] can start

[29:53] working on

[29:54] securing a place

[29:55] that will be

[29:55] exclusive to

[29:56] our children. Just

[29:59] a reminder that the

[30:00] last day of

[30:01] school this year is...

[30:02] Tuesday, June 8th.

[30:04] Is it 180 or 181?

[30:08] That's 181.

[30:17] So, at least for

[30:18] discussion,

[30:20] can we make a

[30:21] motion to

[30:22] set the

[30:23] release date to June 8,

[30:25] 2027?

[30:27] So a proposal is a

[30:28] proposal.

[30:30] I support.

[30:33] Question? Comments?

[30:36] I will start. So,

[30:39] for the first

[30:40] few years of working

[30:41] on the board, we would

[30:42] set the

[30:43] graduation date sometime in the winter

[30:44] when we had an idea

[30:45] of when the

[30:46] actual last

[30:47] day of school would be. And

[30:50] then, three or four

[30:51] years ago, we started

[30:53] setting the

[30:54] graduation date to the last

[30:55] day of school

[30:56] because the law changed

[30:57] to allow us to

[30:58] do that. And parents who

[31:04] were on the committees

[31:05] expressed the opinion

[31:06] that for

[31:07] planning purposes it was

[31:08] easier to set a

[31:09] graduation day. And I

[31:11] always said, "Well, how do

[31:13] we set a

[31:14] release date if we don't

[31:15] know what the actual date is going to be

[31:16] ?" And is there

[31:19] really a problem with

[31:23] booking things,

[31:24] for example, for January?

[31:25] Well, maybe that's true.

[31:27] Yes, I meant to say

[31:28] that it probably is.

[31:29] So I always said, "

[31:31] What happens if we

[31:32] set a

[31:33] release date and then we

[31:34] have five or six

[31:35] snow days?" What

[31:36] will happen in these days?

[31:37] Well, graduates

[31:38] take tests and

[31:39] they don't really exist.

[31:41] So I don't know what

[31:41] happened last

[31:42] year, because we had

[31:43] about five days

[31:44] after graduation day.

[31:46] But then I said, "

[31:47] What if you just

[31:48] pick a day and

[31:49] assume there are going to be

[31:50] snow days, wouldn't you

[31:52] want your

[31:53] graduation to be on a

[31:54] Friday instead of a

[31:55] Tuesday or Thursday?"

[32:00] So, now that I

[32:01] have expressed my opinion on

[32:02] this, I know

[32:03] that we have two

[32:05] board members who have been very

[32:06] well involved in

[32:07] this process

[32:08] in recent years, and

[32:09] they can give a very

[32:10] informed opinion

[32:11] on why I

[32:12] graduated. Do

[32:15] you want to go first

[32:16] ? Do you want to go

[32:17] first? So, after a

[32:19] recent release

[32:21] last year that

[32:22] had the same

[32:23] experience. I was here

[32:24] last year. Emm,

[32:27] so at this very

[32:28] meeting I heard the

[32:29] same questions, and everything

[32:30] was spot on. This

[32:32] helped us

[32:32] decide on the date.

[32:34] This, um, relieved the

[32:35] last bit of stress. This

[32:36] helped us

[32:37] start

[32:38] fundraising right away. And this day from

[32:41] Tuesday to Wednesday

[32:42] gives me, uh, my,

[32:43] for example, my

[32:44] daughter, enough

[32:45] time to recover

[32:47] before the family

[32:48] holiday. So this is a nighttime

[32:52] thing, right? So there is a

[32:54] lack of sleep, and that

[32:55] helped all the

[32:56] participants. It was a

[32:58] stress-free and

[32:59] stress-free event. More or less...

[33:03] Can

[33:03] I ask, as

[33:04] a teacher in another

[33:05] district, how

[33:06] disruptive is it to the end of the year

[33:07] when seniors

[33:08] take exams a

[33:09] whole week earlier

[33:10] than juniors,

[33:11] because I know that's the

[33:12] case in my class?

[33:13] So

[33:14] we always had, because of

[33:15] graduation rehearsals and

[33:17] whatever celebrations you had,

[33:18] the seniors

[33:18] never took

[33:19] exams at the same time as the

[33:20] juniors.

[33:22] None of them...Okay.

[33:23] Never. We have a different

[33:24] model. It is

[33:25] distributed in stages

[33:26] . So, whether

[33:28] it's spread over 1 day, 2 days, or 5,

[33:29] it doesn't break other

[33:30] functions.

[33:31] Great question.

[33:32] Got it. The

[33:33] only obstacle

[33:34] for us was my

[33:35] daughter. In fact,

[33:36] she had an exam or

[33:37] exams, and my son didn't

[33:38] , so we lost a

[33:40] driver.

[33:49] Also, from my experience,

[33:51] I would say that

[33:52] helping to

[33:52] plan the

[33:53] prom and

[33:54] end-of-

[33:55] year celebrations as a family member

[33:57] helps people who are

[33:58] visiting

[33:59] from out of town to

[34:00] know exactly when the

[34:02] prom will be, helps

[34:03] to plan the evening. These

[34:09] graduates are

[34:10] being discharged. You

[34:11] need them to

[34:13] leave the building as soon as possible. I

[34:16] say this as a teacher.

[34:22] But in this case,

[34:24] you shouldn't...you

[34:25] shouldn't...given the

[34:26] way the dates fall...I

[34:27] wouldn't wait until

[34:28] Friday, because if

[34:29] you don't have snow

[34:30] days, then you're making

[34:32] the graduates wait

[34:33] until everyone else

[34:34] finishes their

[34:35] graduation, and the

[34:35] poor graduates

[34:37] ...So I would

[34:37] stick to that

[34:38] last day,

[34:39] as much as

[34:41] the law allows. It just

[34:44] makes...

[34:45] Which day do you think is easier?

[34:47] Tuesday.

[34:49] Last year it was

[34:50] like Tuesday,

[34:51] graduation, yeah.

[34:53] Yes, sometimes when it

[34:54] falls on a weekend,

[34:55] I know which district

[34:57] I work in, sometimes they

[34:58] do it on purpose.

[35:00] They are having

[35:00] trouble finding

[35:01] venues. For the

[35:03] Grad project, the price

[35:04] changes if it is a

[35:05] weekend.

[35:07] Unlike everyday life.

[35:10] What about you being from

[35:11] another city?

[35:12] No, I just wanted to

[35:13] say that we

[35:14] actually set a

[35:15] date tonight

[35:15] . We have an

[35:16] opportunity to

[35:17] apply for a grant, which

[35:18] must be submitted by

[35:20] October 25th. This actually

[35:21] covers about 40% of

[35:22] the cost of the venue

[35:23] . So that's

[35:24] great. Yes. Thank you.

[35:27] As for the

[35:28] out-of-town guests

[35:29] arriving on

[35:30] Tuesday instead of here on the

[35:31] weekend, it doesn't really

[35:32] matter

[35:34] because...Uh, are there any

[35:40] questions, comments,

[35:41] or further

[35:42] discussion of the

[35:43] graduation? All those who

[35:52] support the proposal

[35:54] , please say "

[35:55] yes."

[35:56] Is anyone against it? Is there anyone who

[35:59] abstained? Uh, okay.

[36:08] Graduation

[36:08] will be held on

[36:10] Tuesday, June 8,

[36:12] 2027. Good

[36:13] luck.

[36:14] Thank you.

[36:16] We have no future

[36:18] affairs, do we? So

[36:20] I would like to

[36:21] suggest

[36:21] perhaps adding the

[36:23] education fund bill to the upcoming

[36:24] agenda. That probably

[36:26] doesn't need a

[36:26] suggestion, right?

[36:28] No, I think it's a

[36:30] great idea. It's

[36:40] about this button. Uh,

[36:42] should we?

[36:42] Yes, I don't know. I think this is a

[36:45] meeting or

[36:46] put it on the

[36:46] agenda for the next

[36:47] meeting.

[36:48] Yes, okay. Sounds

[36:49] good. Sounds good.

[36:52] Em. We are now seeking a

[36:58] motion to

[36:59] bring the Superintendent into closed

[37:00] session and

[37:01] consult with him to

[37:03] discuss

[37:04] the Superintendent's goals. I

[37:08] suggest. Um, everyone who is

[37:13] "in favor"? Yes.

[37:14] Is anyone "in favor"?

[37:15] Thank you for coming.

[37:18] Thank you all.

[37:25] Um, I would like to make a

[37:27] motion to

[37:28] approve

[37:30] the superintendent's revised goals for the

[37:31] 2026-2027 school year.

[37:33] So I suggest. Second.

[37:35] Jim. Em. Do you have any

[37:37] questions or comments?

[37:41] Everyone who is "in favor" of

[37:42] the proposal,

[37:43] please speak up.

[37:44] Em. I. Who is “against” or “

[37:45] abstains”? I am looking for

[37:47] a proposal to

[37:48] postpone the

[37:48] meeting. So

[37:49] I suggest.

[37:50] Second.

[37:51] Questions, comments?

[37:52] Everyone who is "in favor",

[37:53] please speak up.

[37:54] Em.

[37:55] I.

[37:55] Who is “against” or “

[37:56] abstains”? Thank you

[37:58] all.

[38:00] Thank you.

[38:01] Thanks for the first one.

Bolton Board of Education - September 10, 2026

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