[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.