All right, welcome back. Good evening. I
call the August 25th board of ed meeting
to order at 5:30. We have a moment of
silence and pledge by Miss Kushman.
It would truly be difficult to top the
incredible welcome extended to our
teachers and staff at convocation
yesterday by our band, choir, and
elementary students. But nevertheless,
we do want to offer and extend a warm
welcome back to our students, staff, and
teachers for the 2026 2027 school year.
As we gather together here in council
chambers to conduct the business of the
board,
I invite you to join me for a moment of
quiet reflection or silent prayer.
And for the pledge. I pledge allegiance
to the flag of the United States of
America and to the republic for which it
stands, one nation under God,
indivisible, with liberty and justice
for all.
Thank you, Miss Kushman, for that
welcome back message. Um, fire fire
evacuation announcement. In the unlikely
event of an emergency, please go through
those back doors or you can go out the
side door and down the steps. Um, roll
call. Miss Lawler.
Mrs. Kushman
here.
Mr. Anderson
here and refreshed.
Mr. Okulio here. Mrs. Gerard
here. Mr. Gaus
here.
Mrs. Ker absent. Mr. Cobber
present.
Mrs. McGuire Bruce
here. Board Chair Picket
here. All right, we are going to move
over to item four, which is our board
guests. Before I turn it over, I just
want to echo some of the comments that
Miss Kushman mentioned. Um, I also was
able to attend convocation. Thank you to
those who helped support convocation.
Um, but more than anything, I think I
was really most excited to be in the
room to honor our staff member of the
year and our teacher of the year. um
their introductions, their comments
themselves made me really proud as a
board chair um and as a mom. Really just
proud of the educators that we have in
our school district. Um so I'll turn it
over to you, Mr. Mchio, to provide some
formal introductions, but thank you so
much and so excited to be able to
acknowledge you.
Right. So, I'll be um brief in terms of
my opening remarks because we're going
to have uh Lauren Andrews, who's the
director of Eagle Academy, come up and
she's going to introduce to you the 2000
um or the support staff member of the
year um for last year and that is Mr.
Quinn Hanigan. He did an outstanding job
in terms of his speech. I know how
excited all these folks actually are
when they have to stand in front of, you
know, 880 folks and give a speech, but
outstanding job. So, we're very proud of
Quinn and look forward to continued work
with him. Uh, and Lauren, uh, we're
going to have you go ahead and you can
lead it off. Yeah, sure.
All right. Is this on? Yes. Okay. It is
truly an honor to introduce Quinn
Hanigan, EPS Support Staff member of the
year. When we say that it takes everyone
working together to keep our buildings
afloat, Quinn is the perfect example of
what this looks like. He is someone who
never says that's not my job. He sees
what needs to be done, steps in without
hesitation, and does whatever he can to
support our students, our staff, and our
families. Quinn's commitment to the
students of Enfield, especially our
Eagle kiddos, is exceptional. He works
every day with some of the highest need
students in our district. He does so
with a calm presence presence, the
patience of a saint, and the incredible
ability to often remain a couple steps
ahead, oftentimes even of me. He
understands our students, anticipates
what they may need, and often helps
prevent a difficult situation from
becoming an even tougher one. Quinn has
stepped into many roles at Eagle. Beyond
his role as a behavior technician, he
also steps in as our building sub when
needed and has taken on long-term
substitute assignments whenever we've
needed him multiple times over the last
few years. Our kids trust Quinn because
they know he is steady, fair, and always
there for them. Our staff respect him
because they know they can count on him
even on the most challenging of days.
His ability to remain calm and quietly
help hold everything together is
invaluable. Quinn, I'm incredibly proud
of you and so grateful for everything
you bring to Eagle Academy and to the
students. This recognition is so welld
deserved.
Good evening, everyone. I'm truly
honored to receive this support staff
member of the year award. Over the past
few years, I've had the opportunity to
gain valuable experience in different
roles, including working as a behavioral
technician, building substitute, and
long-term substitute. Each of these
experiences has taught me something new,
challenged me in different ways, and
have helped me grow both professionally
and personally. Most importantly, these
roles have given me the opportunity to
work with and learn from so many amazing
students and staff members. I'd like to
take a moment to thank everyone from
Eagle Academy for everything they do for
our students every single day. I am
incred incredibly grateful to be part of
such a caring and hardworking team. And
finally, I want to give a special thank
you to my sister Samantha. Thank you for
all the late nights spent helping me
lesson plan, answering my endless
questions, and teaching me how to run a
classroom. Thank you.
Congratulations. And thank you. And I
was just sharing to both of my
colleagues here, that's when I started
crying in your speech at convocation,
you mentioned your sister and I was
like, "Oh, I have a a son and a
daughter." And like hearing those
special thank yous, I think mean a lot.
Um, so thank you. Um, congratulations. I
know we have done our formal
acknowledgement. um of your winning at
convocation, but I will open it up here
for any board members who would like to
share any um comments or questions or
thoughts.
Go ahead, Miss McGuire. I'll just echo
thank you for all that you do. Um I know
that your efforts go well beyond the
classroom. Um so, thank you so much and
your sister is pretty great.
Quinn, thank you so much. I'm excited to
see what this school year brings at
Eagle Academy and the continued impact
that you have on our students. Um, I
think hearing about the trust that you
build with staff and students and how
you model that calm, consistent presence
is something that we can all take away.
So, thank you so much, Quinn.
Congratulations to the work you do at
Eagle.
Thank you.
All right, now over to teacher of the
year. All right. So, we're going to
welcome
uh Aaron Clark, principal at the high
school, as well as Joel Sen, director of
humanities. And they are going to
introduce to you. You can bring him with
you.
Yes.
Yeah. Absolutely.
Sure.
Introduce to you our teacher of the
year, Miss Nicole Kuchio.
Not yet.
Who now has a famous middle name. I
don't know if she's going to give the
same speech. which I doubt she's giving
the same speech as she gave at
convocation, but she had some wonderful
zingers in that speech. Um, so excellent
job by her as well. We're very excited
and proud uh of her. And I'll turn it
over to you, Joel.
So, first of all, let me just say um how
honored um I am to be here to introduce
Nicole um as our teacher of the year in
Enfield and our nominee for Connecticut
teacher of the year, which I think we
got a pretty good shot at here. Um, so
just a quick little anecdote back in I
think it was 2015. There's last secrecy
around the teacher of the year process.
Um, Nicole was a relatively new teacher.
She was probably in her third year at
this point. Um, and she walked in on a
conversation that I was having with Mr.
Crane in her neighboring classroom about
Tony Allegro, who was our teacher of the
year that year. And she just kind of
walked in and flippantly said, "What are
you guys talking about?" and I said, "I
can't tell you, but I think you're going
to find out one day." Um, because I knew
back then um how dynamic she was in the
classroom, how creative she was with her
lesson planning. Um, and just how great
of a teacher she was as at that point, a
young 20-some year old fresh out of
college. Um, and I'm just so proud to
see the teacher she's become, um, the
mother she's become. um and just how
great she is with her kids. Our teacher
of the year every year we kind of know
who they're going to be because of how
many kids gravitate to them, right? I
see it in her instruction and as an
instructional leader. Um, but when you
see the kids in there every day and you
see the impact that she has on those
kids outside of the classroom and that
they want to be there and be with her
outside of that, um, that just speaks
volumes about who she is as an educator.
So, congratulations, Nicole. And now to
Miss Clark.
I uh nominated Nicole Kuchio for teacher
of the year. I had the pleasure of
hiring her um many years ago and have
watched her evolve into this incredible
teacher. Um, and I'm just going to read
a little bit. Like many great teachers,
Nicole flies under the radar. She's
understated and unassuming, but quietly
extraordinary. If you walk into her
classroom on any given day, students are
engaged in something meaningful. They
might be preparing to pitch a bill to
Congress, role-playing members of the
Iranian government, or working together
to build a better understanding of
something going on in the world. They're
talking, they're interacting, they're
laughing, and they're learning. You can
feel the energy as soon as you walk in
the room. Uh Nicole creates the kind of
classroom through thoughtful,
intentional lesson planning and she
plans courageously. She never begins
from the assumption that something is
too difficult for students. She begins
with the belief that if we give students
meaningful challenges, they will rise to
them and they do. Her students tell me
that she has made them love social
studies and care deeply about what is
happening in the world. A large part of
that is because Nicole's takes learning
beyond the classroom walls. Her students
have created awareness campaigns,
recorded intercom announcements,
designed bulletin boards, and led
activities to educate their peers about
global issues. She truly helps students
find their voice. When students walk
into Nicole's room, they know their time
is going to matter. They are going to
think, talk, create, collaborate, take
risks, and build confidence. That is
what exceptional educators do. They help
students find their voices, engage with
the world around them, and discover what
they're capable of. Nicole does that
every day and she represents so much of
what we value in Enfield public schools.
It's our priv privilege to recognize and
celebrate Enfield public schools teacher
of the year, Nicole Katuchio.
Thank you.
Yeah, I have my own right. Okay, I'll
let you talk in after if you want. Okay.
Um, good evening and thank you to the
board, town leaders, and families for
being here tonight. It is an incredible
honor to be recognized as this year's
teacher of the year. Before I start, I
should apologize. As you can see, I had
to bring my three-year-old to the
meeting, and he was kind of upset that
his favorite sushi place was closed
today. So, but he seems okay with a
goldfish.
Um, so here's my speech. So, I wanted to
start with something that might surprise
you. I'm not Thank you. I'm not from
Enfield. When I first came here 12 years
ago, I was very aware of that. But over
time, my students, colleagues, and my
family became my connection to this
community. and Enfield became a place
where I felt like I belonged.
Yeah, the idea of belonging has shaped
so much of my work and especially
through the building of GSA from the
ground up.
I'm incredibly grateful for the support
that all allows our students to find
their voices and to create spaces where
others feel seen and valued. As a civics
teacher, I believe my job is to teach
students how to think, not what to
think. I want them to question, listen,
and develop their own ideas and their
voices. And I want them to understand
that we can disagree
on issues and still leave with empathy.
Whatever our beliefs when a student is
struggling, worried about their family,
or facing circumstances outside their
control, what matters most is they know
they're supported. Because at the end of
the day, they're just a kid. I want my
students to leave my classroom with more
than knowledge about government. I want
them to gain real world skills like
compassion, resilience, curiosity, and
the confidence to share their opinions
to see beyond their perspective. The
skills I'd want for my own son. What are
you doing?
Okay. Um, Anthony is sitting right here
tonight or going somewhere else. I'm not
sure where he's going. And becoming his
mom changed the way I view the
profession. I think about the teacher
I'd want for him someday. someone who
notices when he something is wrong,
challenges him while still believing in
him, and sees the person he's becoming,
not just his grades. And that's the
teacher I try to be. And I know that I
couldn't do that alone. Teaching is
emotional work, and I'm incredibly lucky
to have colleagues who support me
through the hard days, make life, make
me laugh when I need it, and remind me
that we don't have to do this alone.
But I also think that we need to be
honest about what it takes to keep great
teachers here. Teaching is a a female
dominated profession and many of us are
also mothers. We pour everything we have
into someone else's children and then go
home to do the same for our own all
while navigating teacher shortages,
budget challenges, and endless to-do
list that grows every year. For some
perspective, I have two master's degrees
and 12 years of experience, and I still
find myself making difficult choices
about what I could afford for my family
and what I'm willing to spend out of my
pocket for my classroom. And I know I'm
not alone in that. And our recent budget
crisis reminded us that staffing
decisions are more than numbers on a
spreadsheet. Every position represents a
person our students know, trust, and
depend on. I'm not saying this to
complain because I love my job. I'm
saying it because loving what we do
shouldn't mean ignoring what it takes to
do it. Despite these challenges, our
educators and community continue to show
up for our students. And that gives me
hope. I see Enfield moving forward and I
hope we continue building a district
where great teachers feel supported,
valued, and want to stay. Through all
this, I incredibly proud to be a teacher
in Enfield. I'm proud to teach young
people about government, proud of our
GSA and the inclusion it promoted
throughout the district, and proud of my
students who continue to challenge me,
keep me humble, and occasionally remind
me to touch grass before I crash out.
And most of all, I'm proud that I that
of a town that I didn't grow up in
became my community. Enfield may not
have been the place I grew up, but it
became the place I built my career,
found my people, and truly came to
belong. I hope we continue building a
community where our teachers and
students feel the same sense of
belonging. Thank you to the board, my
colleagues, and especially my students
for making this job worth doing. So much
of what teachers do happens behind the
behind the scenes, so it's pretty
special to have some of the work
noticed, even if being the one getting
the attention isn't exactly my favorite
part. And Anthony, Anthony, hi. Uh,
thank you for giving me a different
perspective on every student who walks
through my classroom. One day you'll
watch this and maybe understand what I'm
saying. Uh because now when I look at my
students, I don't see them as teenagers
and as just my students. I see them as
someone's baby. And that's why I'm proud
to be their teacher. Thank you for this
honor. And now I need to head up my next
job, which is being his mom and taking
that responsibility away from Joel.
Thank you.
Oh, Nicole.
Yeah. Thank you.
You want to talk? Yeah.
You want to say hi?
I would love to hear from Anthony. Oh,
he can speak however he'd like to speak.
Hi, Anthony.
What's your favorite thing about your
mommy? Did you hear the question?
Yeah.
What do you love about mommy?
I bet she's a fun mommy. Nicole, thank
you so much. Um, thank you for multiple
things. One is, um, I was at
convocation. I didn't get enough time to
still dry my tears. I knew you were
going to make me cry again. Um, thank
you for being honest and real about your
remarks about the stress of being a
teacher and the burden that also comes
along with caring. Um, I think your
quote in uh, convocation was when you
know a lot, you carry a lot.
Um, so building relationships with
students and all that you put into the
work does carry another burden. And you
have a beautiful little one there.
It's okay. He's totally fine. you can do
it on me.
It's totally fine. Um, so I just want to
thank you for for sharing that
perspective and being real with us. Um,
because I think how we support and care
for our teachers really matters. Um, I
also just want to share openly with you.
I know I sent you a personal email after
convocation. Um, but I was with a group
of educators today and I quoted you
multiple times and I shared strategies
that you shared with your colleagues
around the power of music and how that
connects folks. Um, and sharing those
strategies. So, hitting the grass
before, what was it? Hit the grass
before crashing out. Uh, touching grass
before crashing out. Um, building those
strategies of what do we do when we know
that it's been a rough day and what do
we need to do to take care of ourselves?
So, thank you for modeling that. Thank
you for building the skills with our
students. Thank you so much for the work
that you do. Anthony, thanks for having
an amazing mom. Um, any other comments
that you'd like to make?
Thank you, Nicole. Congratulations. You
do not need to apologize.
Yeah, we'll do it after. Okay,
I'll do one more time.
I'll do it one more time.
Well, I'll take care of
Okay. Thank you. All right. Don't judge
me.
Thank you very much.
I'll do one more time.
We'll do it another time.
Bye, Nicole.
Okay. Bye.
Bye, Nicole. Bye, Anthony. Thank you all
so much. Um, what a great way to kick
off an opening board meeting by
celebrating our staff um and the folks
who work so hard for our kiddos each and
every day.
All right, we'll move over to Steve with
your superintendent report. I will also
just note for the public um I appreciate
as part of our reorganization of our uh
meetings and our agendas, Steve is now
our superintendent is now providing a
little bit of what's going to be
included in the superintendent report.
So for the public who looks at our
agendas, you have some idea of what
might be coming up. So here you go,
Steve.
Right. So I have a variety of different
topics to talk about in the
superintendent report and I'm going to
go a little bit of out of order um
because we have a couple of folks from
downstairs. Come on up, Tom Beth. Uh,
regarding the special primary
accommodations, um, as everyone is
likely aware, we have a special primary
uh, for the 58th um, district that is
going to be happening on September 1st.
Um, so we have Tom Kinsler and Beth
Derez uh, from town hall and we had a
meeting with both of them, myself, uh,
our director of security, DPW, Chief
Fox, we had a number of different people
there. so that we could make sure that
we had accommodations in place um
because uh the schools will be open uh
specifically the three that voting
occurs at and that would be at JFK
Barard and at Enfield Street. Um so Tom
and Beth had asked for a few moments. I
said, "Hey, I happen to have this item
on my superintendent report and you can
go ahead and take care of it for me."
Great. Thank you for having us. Um, we
just wanted to tell the public again
trying to get out there that we do have
early voting currently happening
downstairs the basement level. Um, our
hours today is one of our longer days.
It's open till 8:00 tonight. So, if you
have time, get in your car, come. Um,
our other late night is on Friday from
8:00 in the morning till 8:00 p.m. The
other days, um, Wednesday, Thursday,
Saturday, and Sunday. Sunday is our last
day. It is open from 10 until 6. Um
because school is open, all voting at
our locations in the schools, that would
be Enfield Street School, um Henry
Barard
and Enfield Street, Fermy is normal, but
they're all in the gym this year or this
time around, I'm sorry. Um so at Enfield
Street, just please parents and the
public be careful when you're driving.
Um, we'll have an area for you to drive
around back at Enfield Street. You're
going to use the back entrance into the
gym.
Um, and you're going to also park your
vehicles into the back. So, please,
please drive safely. Um, and be aware,
especially at pickup and drop off times,
Tom.
Okay. Hello everybody. Been a been a
minute.
Um we we we really thought working with
um the superintendent and the other
parties involved that being bringing out
to the public uh the concessions that
were made. Uh originally we came into
this trying to hope not really
justifying but trying to hope that we
hey let's close schools and then after
that we realized it really can't happen.
So, we worked together, came up with a
plan uh that we're both happy with, and
I believe they're happy with that, uh
addresses everything. But, we wanted to
talk to the public about uh a few of the
locations. First, um uh Henry Barnard.
Um Henry Barnard is going to be a
challenge regardless of what we do to
prepare for it, what the uh schools do
to prepare for it, and what the voters
do to prepare for it. So, what we've uh
what we've asked is that we'd like you
guys out there who are going to vote
that vote at Henry Barard to please
avoid vote v voting at Henry Barard
during the hours of uh 7:30 in the
morning to 10 minutes of 8 or in the
afternoon
from 3:25 to 3:45.
If you can do that, uh the log jam that
occurs with buses, vans, parents picking
up and dropping off, teachers arriving
to school, all the myriad of traffic
that comes in and out of that uh
complex. Uh it will make our lives a lot
easier and a lot safer. Uh we have a few
years back we had a an almost issue over
there with somebody almost getting hit.
a voter comes in, doesn't go the right
way around the back of a car and a van
thinks the person's doing the other
thing, and next thing you know, there's
a kid running and screaming. Um, so it's
a recipe for a problem, but they're
going to have extra staff out there to
help guide all the traffic and the
people, but we just want to reiterate if
you can choose to come at a later time
uh or an earlier time, we would really
appreciate it and you'll get in and out
of there quickly.
So that's it for Barnard.
Yeah. And thank you very much for
meeting with us and putting the extra
steps in. Um and for you guys as well
helping so that we can have extra safety
steps. And I would also before we leave
like to say thank you to Tom and Tony,
Amy and I would love to say thank you
because he did not have to help us with
this primary and I was drowning. So I
don't think I could have done it by
myself. And we had a lot of people step
up this time, our workers. So, thank you
very much to our workers. I didn't have
enough tempms to fill those spots for
workers. So, we did have a a lot of
Republicans and a lot of unaffiliates
come in and help us when they did not
need to. So, thank you very much.
Appreciate it. We would do the same
thing. We've we've come a long ways.
We're very apolitical in our office and
all of our workers. So that's
we don't mean to brag.
Yeah.
But but we really feel, you know,
government should work like we work in
our office. It would be nice if we could
go to, you know, whether it's a town
council meeting, a board of ed meeting,
a planning and zoning meeting, a general
get together out in the green, any
anything where they people got along
with the goal of accomplishing the task
the best they possibly can, regardless
of party, regardless of biased beliefs.
I mean, she's wrong. And no,
I don't we don't even think about it. it
it's sometimes I do something that she
corrects and and gets a better idea and
the reverse happens. It isn't about
who's winning and who's losing. And I
just I hope that that message gets out
there because the elections in Enfield
are always done unbiased, impartial,
accurate, and after what we just went
through with the two lawsuit or the
lawsuit and the appeal. Um I hope
everybody realizes that. Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you. Questions? I just want to
quickly say um I want to echo the thank
you for the collaboration and the
thought partnership. I know that um
putting together an election is not just
a simple like oh polls are open and
people show up and you just come and
vote. It's a lot of
polls are open in two weeks.
It's a lot of a lot of work. Um so thank
you for the work that you do on behalf
of voters and residents. Um but also
thank you to our town colleagues and our
building our school officials for coming
together to thank
and buildings and grounds.
Yes, buildings and grounds. DPW, EPD,
Enfield public schools, and you all. Um,
thank you for that collaboration. Um, I
do know, and I'm just going to preface
this because I'm anticipating a
question, Steve, so I'm going to look at
you. I do anticipate that we will be
having some very clear communications to
families around especially at Henry
Barard Enfield Street School and JFK
around the first to ensure kind of
families are aware of their parking and
um procedures and then we can help share
that information as well to help ease
that burden.
More the better. Yeah.
Perfect.
Mr. G. Yep.
Could you do me a favor and just
out loud state what the election is for?
Sure. We are dealing with parents and
kids and I would hate to have extra
people show up.
Yes. Thank you. Thank you, Dean. So, the
the this this election, the last
election was for governor that only
governor only primary and it was
supposed to have the 58th legislative
seat on it, too. So, it was going to be
two sets of people. after the lawsuit
that that that race was removed from
that ballot. Then it was put back on
after an appeal and the judge ordered it
September 1st emergency special election
so that that could get that wrong could
get writed and and the people would be
able to vote. So on the first you have
two candidates. You have uh uh Tom Tyler
running against the incumbent John
Santella. That's the only people in it.
And it's for the 58th legislative seat.
And it's Democratic only.
Democrat only. If you live in the 59th,
you you you can't vote. If you uh are a
Republican, you can't vote. If you're an
independent, you can't vote. If you're
unaffiliated, you can change and you can
vote on election day. But other than
that, it's just a Democrat.
And if you're not registered, you come
see us and we'll register you and then
we'll tell you when to come back to
vote, right? if you're doing early
voting or election day.
So, it's it's a very narrow. Right now,
we have 113 when we came up here.
Early votes in two days.
Not too many, but we're hoping that that
increases with this public uh FYI, but
thank you for asking. See, you corrected
me.
Thank you. Thank you, Mr. G. That is
helpful information. So, it is
Democratic voters in the 58th district.
Thank you.
Any other questions?
Mr. Anderson,
you said if they're unaffiliated, they
can change their affiliation and vote on
voting day.
Correct.
They could change to Democrat.
Okay. But only for unaffiliated, not for
registered independent or registered.
No, no party people can move. Well, they
can move, but they can't vote. They
haven't there's a 90-day privilege that
needs to be attained before you can go
from one major party to another. So I as
a Republican can't change the Democrat
tomorrow and vote in this primary. I
have to wait 90 days.
An independent is a party because a lot
of there's a lot of confusion with
people thinking that if they choose
independent that's unaffiliated.
Independent is a major part party.
That's all. Thank you.
Anybody else?
Other questions about the first.
Perfect. Thank you.
Thank you guys for having us.
Thank you sir. You're welcome. You can
go ahead and hit your mic before you
Thank you.
All right. So, continuing on um just a
beginning of the year update. Uh I think
we heard through um during the opening
remarks um about the convocation uh that
occurred on Monday. We had all staff
back on Monday. today and tomorrow they
have their two days of professional
development that they'll be going
through at their in their various
buildings. And as a reminder to
everybody out there, everybody needs to
get to bed at a nice reasonable hour on
Wednesday. Uh because the first day of
school for kids is on Thursday the 27th.
Uh next week we have the full week, all
five days, and then we have a long
weekend because we're all going to need
a little bit of rest after those first
few days of school. Um, I thought
convocation was obviously we put it all
together, but I a huge shout out and
thanks to all the folks that helped us
be able to put that together. Uh, Leslie
does a tremendous amount of work to be
able to do that, but everybody sort of
gathers together to make sure we have
some excitement and energy uh, as
teachers are walking back in. Uh, having
the band outside is always a hoot
because they are highly offended if you
do not walk through the middle of their
little uh, gauntlet that they set up. Uh
but it's wonderful to have them and we
have kids involved with it. Teacher of
the year speech, staff member of the
year speech. We recognize our staff
members. We gave out our 30-year
um recognitions to those uh folks who
have provided 30 years of service to
Enfield. And um outside of the norm, you
know, that would normally be a certified
staff only award. I've expanded that to
say anybody who works in the district,
non-certified, non-union certified. if
you provide 30 years of service to the
Enfield public schools, you know, you
deserve a plaque. I mean, you deserve a
lot more than that, but we're going to
recognize you at convocation. Um, so
that's a change for us moving forward.
Um,
staffing update. Um, going into the
beginning of this year, we are in a much
better position than we have been in
years past. Uh I think what we are
seeing out there anecdotally is uh what
Enfield went through a few years back is
what many other districts are going
through now. Um they're seeing layoffs.
They're seeing reduction in staff and
things of that nature. We had large
candidate pools for pretty much all of
our openings. Um we do still have some
uh positions that are open. Uh we have
currently eight certified staff
openings. Uh I will tell you that those
are in the most difficult positions to
hire in. Um they are things like
psychologists, um special ed teacher in
one location. Um arrangements have been
made whether we're using outside
agencies, whether we distributed to
other um rooms within the building or
across the district. Uh the students
have been taken care of, but we still do
have some openings. um non-certified. We
do still have openings uh around 30, but
those vary uh depending on what they
are. We have one nurse that we're still
trying to solidify
um in one of the buildings. So, we'll be
sharing nurses across the buildings or
be utilizing our subservice for the
nurses on a day-to-day basis. We have a
number of pair professionals, building
subs, um behavior technicians, and you
know, some part-time lunch aids, uh
lunch/res aids. Uh you'll get a full
detail in your weekly update where I'll
break it down by number uh across the
schools. Uh but just the overall
staffing um I think we're in a much much
better place and again we saw an
outstanding candidate pool uh as
compared to a very thin candidate pool
in the past. So that's good news for us.
We already covered the special primary
accommodations uh and again I know
they've left but a big thank you to Tom
and Beth for being willing to sit down
and look at things in a different way um
so that we could continue to have
schools uh school open on that day. Uh
and last not lastly but uh the prek to 5
schools and Eagle Academy project
update. Well, when I originally had
written my update, it had to get
changed. Um, so and it's since been
changed because I just received some
information uh at about 5:35 from
downstairs. Um, so let's go through this
a little bit. Um,
first of all, uh, last evening we had
our first public hearing. Actually, we
had the public hearing regarding the new
construction on the Hazardville,
Crannle, Barnard, um, Parkman and the
conversion of Eli Whitney into Eagle
Academy Therapeutic Day School. So, um I
would say the room was pretty filled
last evening uh in council chambers.
There were some folks standing on on
both sides and in the back. Um and at
the end result of this is that uh due to
a
very cautious concern that they had
regarding one of the postings. Uh one of
the postings they felt was needed to be
adjusted and reposted again for the
public hearing. nothing about what we're
moving forward with, nothing about the
numbers or the bond rate or anything
like that. This is solely about how it
was posted on the website. Um because of
that, they decided that they would not
hold a vote last evening. Um town
council got together downstairs at 5:30
tonight, right when we started. They
were downstairs. I received word that
they did vote and approve to hold an
additional public hearing. That will be
held next Wednesday, September 2nd.
It'll be at 6:30 uh right here in this
room again. Um and then they will hold a
special meeting immediately following
with the purpose of sort of taking in
that public hearing information and
having a town council vote as to whether
or not they will move forward uh with
the resolution. uh the resolution and I
just want to make sure everyone is
crystal clear because there is there's a
whole lot of numbers that are floating
around out there and some are all over
the place. So
the entire project if no funding was
provided is $511 million.
However,
significant amount of funding is coming
from the state of Connecticut
to the tune that they are conservatively
estimating
and this is super conservative because
I'll give you the actual cost what it's
going to be. They're conservatively
utilizing an authorization for issuance
of bonds not to exceed $89 million.
The $89 million does not take into
account
special education reimbursement or
incentives in some of the schools. It
does not take into account the 5%
housing incentive. It does not take into
account certain other areas.
If all of that gets taken in, the
special legislation goes through next
year for the other three buildings.
Estimates are that this is going to cost
approximately
55 to60 million. Now, that's still a
large amount of money, but 511 million,
55 million. That's a lot of money that
the state's putting forward for this.
Um, so we we would be receiving a
significant amount of money from the
state of Connecticut. Again, I would
suggest anybody who can or is able to
come out to the public hearing or listen
in through uh Enfield TV, please do. Um
if anybody has any questions related to
this, they are more than welcome to call
my office. I will take them through um
the nitty-gritty of the numbers if you
wish. More than happy to do that. Um,
but there will be the special town
council uh vote next Wednesday hopefully
to set the referendum date to be
November 3rd. Um, which is the same date
of the regular election.
I think we're good on that one. I have
one other and this is like a public
service announcement.
The town council also approved a
resolution last evening um to be moving
forward with uh or setting of a public
hearing date. This a separate topic, but
the town council uh needs to notify
everyone of a public hearing date that
will be held on Wednesday, September
9th, and that is regarding a new program
that is called the school bus stop arm
program or excuse me, school bus stop
arm and enforcement program. So, this is
a new program which is hopefully going
to stop people from driving by our buses
when they are stopped with their stop
signs out. Um, it's a video camera type
of program that automatically sends
tickets and things of that nature to the
offenders. Um, I believe even when I
came out town hall, there was I saw a
sign that was put out by the police
department about the size of the fine.
That's for current. Um, so this is a
resolution that is for a different type
of program. Um,
so again, public hearing for the school
bus stop arm and enforcement program,
Wednesday, September 9th. That's going
to be held at 6:50.
I I just tell you what I was told.
It says 650 on the website.
special meeting a meet or excuse me not
a special meeting but public hearing
6:50 at night Wednesday September 9th
for them just to have input and then
they will take an actual vote at their
next town council meeting which I
believe is scheduled for September 21st
that would be here yes so a bunch of
different public hearings going on
please ask me questions and I'll try to
clarify
I just want to make sure um the
September Second one, council chambers
referendum public hearing. What time was
that again?
6:30.
30. Got it. Okay.
Two public hearings referendum
6:30 September 2nd.
Following Wednesday, 6:50
September 9th. That one's for the school
bus stop arm.
That is everything for my update. Thank
you very much,
Mr. Cobra.
Thank you, Mr. Makio. Just a quick
question and I do appreciate the more
detailed superintendent report and you
covered a bunch of topics. The only
question or I guess the request if you
could just pro the like a summary. I
know we moved the
alternative ed from the firmy to um
central office. Could you just talk
about that and just confirm that that's
happening for Thursday?
Yes. Um so actually a lot of work being
done by buildings and grounds um over
the course of the last week or so I
would say to be able to make sure that
they we are good to go with that. Um
alternative program has fully been moved
over from out of the annex and will be
on the third floor of Alorn
and just how many students does that
affect?
Between 20 and 30 I would say would be
accurate.
Okay. Thank you.
Yep. Miss McGuire Bruce, I was just
going to publicly thank you at central
office. Um I know that with the um
special primary, you guys are helping
out and I just wanted to say thank you
for making that work, for making sure
that there's safety precautions for kids
and to really be out there and help
supporting that. So, thank you.
Come out and get a nice picture of your
superintendent in a crossing guard
outfit. Not a problem at all.
I'll pay someone. I'll be at school.
Mr. Roder, I'm sure we'll take it.
Um, thank you. The only comment I want
to add, um, I want to publicly thank the
board members who attended last night's
public hearing. Mr. Gaus, Miss Kushman,
Mr. Roard, and myself were there. I know
we all can't be there, but I think I
just want to thank folks for in a
bipartisan way coming out and being
active and engaged um, in this project
and staying up to date. Um, there was a
good turnout, so I'm hopeful to see next
steps. All right, let's move on to
public comment. So, good evening. Thank
you for joining us. A few reminders
before we begin begin public comment.
You have four minutes. Name relationship
to the district. It's time for your
comments, not a Q&A. The role is
governance of the districts. Frame your
marks accordingly. Um we welcome all
comments, but please we ask you to
refrain from anything in confidential um
personally identifiable student or staff
member matters which can't be addressed
in this public forum. Thank you, Miss
Griffin.
There's a lot of people waiting to go. I
know there always there always is
Griffin Abby Road parent um regarding
the referendum. I said it last night
when I was um up here. It's shocking. Um
but is there a way for the schools to be
made available for people to tour once
or twice between now and the referendum?
Because I think people often times think
back to when they were in school and
presume that the buildings are like they
are like they were then. They're not.
They're in much poorer shape and the
needs of the district are different. So
it would be beneficial, I think, for
some people to walk through and see if
that's doable. Obviously, not during
school hours, but maybe on a weekend and
or an evening so that people could see
what we're talking about. Okay. first
meeting of the year, I always have to
give a little lecture, but this time
it's not really a lecture. Um, the last
three board chairs, I'm including you
because, you know, did last year, I
think we've had a really good run and I
hope it continues. Thank you for your
work. Um, to really not have it be,
we're the majority. you all get to shut
your mouth on in the minority, but to
let people have their say, even if it's
a very contentious issue, even if it's
something that they're not going to get
their way eventually, but to be heard.
And I really appreciate when you guys
talk about committee meetings, when you
discuss
not only what was decided, but the input
that went into it and where the
questions were and where the where the
making accommodations for each other and
listening to each other. That's the way
to do it.
That's the way we got to teach our kids
to do it. So please really continue that
and keep talking about it. People need
to know that you're not steamrolling
because that's not governing. So please
continue. Um I was listening to a
podcast. I won't say who it was because
then people might think one thing or
another because of who it was. A couple
of really good quotes
talking about what I was just talking
about. I think you the first thing you
have to do is walk into these those
conversations without having already
made a judgment.
And when you walk into it with an open
mind, then it means that you can
actually have a conversation and make a
decision as to how you feel after you
have that conversation.
And I think in a lot of our politics, we
label people and then disregard them
entirely. We treat them as if they're
not even people worth engaging with
and doesn't help anybody. And then
another quote from another podcast.
So you have caricatures of so many
people and you have to leave those at
the door and you also have to be willing
to move beyond them. and for some of
those conversations to be actually good
faith ones to offer people the ability
to critique critique you to you.
And I think sometimes
when you're in a position of power, you
want people to just tell you, "Oh,
you're incredible. Here's what I love
most about you."
Don't sell yourself short. You're all
capable of it. So, please prove me
right.
Thank Thank you, Miss Griffin. Maybe
you'll stay in a little bit. I'm going
to give an update on that retreat. So,
hopefully you hear more about our
collaborative work.
Uh unfinished business, there is none.
New business on our consent agenda. We
have approval of minutes from our June
9th meeting and our special meeting of
our board retreat on July 28th. Um do I
have a motion to approve our consent
agenda?
Motion to approve. Second um made by
Miss McGuire Bruce, seconded by Miss uh
Gerard. Hand vote uh Mr. Cobra.
Before we do, just a comment, not
adjusting anything, and I forgot to send
an email, but through the board chair,
to the board secretary, to the board
clerk on the June 9th uh meeting minutes
um regarding some of the uh policies
that were voted on. I think it was the
ones that were like the 630, the three
names that are listed, it doesn't say
how they voted. So, yeah.
Perfect. Outstanding. Just want to make
sure that's reflected correctly. Thank
you.
Perfect. Thank you, Mr. Cobber, for
mentioning that publicly. That will be
um with that change um noted in the
minutes with the vote count on the 6,000
public uh policy vote. Um all in favor
of the consent agenda.
That looks like eight of us. Um
obviously none and no abstensions.
Perfect. Thank you. All right, moving on
to committee reports. Um, unfortunately,
Miss Ker is not here, but these should
be quick updates for our beginning
meeting. Um, the curriculum meeting, the
curriculum committee will meet on
September 10th. Um, you will hear a
little bit more about our board retreat
in a moment, but I think there's going
to be some interesting topics brought up
there um this year pertaining to our
district improvement plan and some of
our budgetary u moves that we made. So,
look out for those agendas. But that
next meeting will be on September 10th.
Finance Committee. Our next finance
meeting will be on Monday, September
14th at 5:00.
Go ahead.
Just a quick question or comment to
finance. I know you guys haven't met
yet. Um, but can you just give like a
quick overview or um an understanding of
like where we ended up closing last
year's budget just because June 30th was
several weeks ago. So, just to give a
Yeah, I'm not Steve. I know there was
the Hartford Choice numbers. Can you
I don't have them in front of me.
I don't want to give you wrong
information. Um, Hartford Choice was
fully paid.
Um, and I want to I'm going to give you
a round number and I'll give you the
detailed number in the weekly update.
Um, but I want to say we put
approximately $600,000 into the
non-lapsing account. and that I can look
before I should say this uh because
again another resolution last evening
was about the health insurance fund. So
the town council did approve that
resolution. So I'll be bringing that
forward to the finance committee at the
next meeting. Um so we can discuss that
in terms of implications for budgets
moving forward. Um but then that will
come to the full board following that.
But we did send back all of our um
any monies that were left in our health
insurance fund. We did send that back to
town.
All right. Thank you, Mr.
So, our health insurance fund right now
between what we contributed back cuz we
budgeted, we had open positions, and
what the town did the same with, um, the
health insurance fund is is going to be
going in the in the extremely positive
direction.
Okay. I I appreciate that. And I know
probably in the September agenda, we'll
talk about it more after finance has a
chance to review the um the statements
and the line item transfers and stuff
for for board action. So, I know I think
where we left off because our last
meeting was June. Obviously there were
some questions and just for public
awareness obviously and I know the
Hartford was obviously a big topic. So
you know for for everybody to know that
did get reconciled and then obviously we
did end in a positive not a deficit. So
thank you.
Thank you Mr. Cobber. Um and we will
make sure that we get a more complete
update and that definitely will come up
when we do the approvals um in our next
meeting uh policy committee. Our next
meeting is September 15th at 5:00 pm at
Elorn. Perfect. All right. Now my turn.
Um, so a few updates here for our
leadership committee. Um, we did have
joint leadership with town council over
the summer. So, summer isn't completely
quiet. Um, we do continue to meet and do
some work. So, we met with town council
on July 25th where we continue to look
at some of our buildings and grounds
work. Um, obviously the referendum um,
conversation really took the majority of
that piece um, and continued those
dialogues with our leadership on the
town council side. As a board of ed
leadership, we met met on August 5th
where we reviewed obviously our upcoming
this tonight's agenda. Um we also
discussed the September 1st primary. Um
we do have an administrator's union
negotiation that is taking place. Um and
we did have some discussion about board
guests. But what I want to spend a
little bit of time chatting about is the
retreat that took place. Um and I'm
going to read a little thing that I had
prepared and then I welcome any other
additions or reflections or corrections
um from my colleagues up here. Um, so
the Enfield Board of Ed held our first
board retreat in many years. Um,
actually I'm not sure when the last one
took place. So it was an important
opportunity to step away from our
regular meeting structure and spend time
together reflecting on how we can best
support Enfield Public Schools through
strong, thoughtful governance. I need to
thank each member for their genuine
engagement and thoughtful participation.
Even you, Miss Bulio, who couldn't
physically be with us, continued to
follow up on what happened and ensured
that your ideas were considered. We we
began by reconnecting as people because
I believe strong working relationships
matter. To your point, Miss Griffin, um
we reviewed our district improvement
plan and our superintendent's goals.
Then we spent time in independent
reflection before coming together to
organize and discuss our ideas as a
group. The goal was to identify common
areas where we can focus our board work
and continue to strengthen our support
of the district's priorities. Yes, there
was plenty of conversation,
collaboration, and even some laughter.
Unfortunately, there was no robes, no
spa treatments, or no fancy dinners. Um,
but it was really nice to spend some
time and connect with each other as
people. So, some areas that did come up
as themes. I just want to be very clear,
these aren't new goals, these aren't
commitments, but these were themes that
came up in our discussion across the
board. So again, demonstrating our
collective um ideas of focus. We're
around teaching and learning, continuing
to understand our core instruction and
our academic coaching model and how
these efforts support our student
outcomes. We're interested in our
multi-tered systems of support and data,
deepening our understanding of those
things um and how they inform our
instructional intervention decisions and
ultimately our budget. um special
education. There is continued interest
in learning about our programming, the
supports, sustainability and
opportunities to be creative and
innovative and strengthen those services
for students.
Student wellness and behavioral supports
were also discussed continuing to
understand the systems and practices
supporting students mental health,
behavioral health and overall
well-being. TAG or talented and gifted
programming that will be continued work
um this term looking at how we are the
constant evolution of that programming.
There are some changes that are
happening this year um and how we
benefit those um that do benefit from
our advanced learning opportunities. And
then a last goal that I think was a
really important discussion was the
importance of student voice. Um, last
term we were really blessed with amazing
student reps who rose to the occasion of
not just attending our meetings, but
soliciting other student feedback,
putting together projects. Um, so we had
lots of discussion around how can we
continue to strengthen the role of our
student representatives and create
meaningful opportunities for student
perspectives to inform our work. So
again, these are not new board goals.
They're not formal commitments or a
checklist of initiatives. These were
themes that emerge from our
conversation. Again, I want to say how
thankful I am to work along um side both
sides of the the aisle here um and
really taking time to reflect, share
ideas, listen to one another, and think
collectively about how we support our
students, staff, and our families. I
believe that good governance requires us
to keep learning, keep listening, and
keep working together. Um and I'm
looking forward to bringing these themes
into the next school year. So, thank you
to our board. Uh, if there's anything
anybody would like to add, if I
misrepresented any conversation or
things that were left out that you think
were heavily important, please don't
hesitate to chime in.
Great job.
Maybe robes next time, Rob.
All right. So,
I just for the public.
So, this is my first time doing this
with with the board of ed, so I don't
know what to expect.
They tell me there's going to be this
board retreat. I'm like, "That sounds
great. We're going to have a a spa day
or I don't know what we're going to
have, but it's going to be great."
Then I find out where we're having our
retreat. Carefully, it's right here.
So, we're having our retreat in Andy's
office.
like, okay, this is not definitely not a
spa.
I'm expecting robes. I'm expecting
cucumbers for my eyes.
Maybe a mud thing on my face. I don't
know what's going on. I get none of
that. None of it.
I get an hour and a half of meeting
and cookies.
You had cookies.
Definitely definitely not a retreat.
Definitely not.
I will say not a retreat. Uh but I got
to learn more about your dogs. We did
get to connect and we did did some good
board business. I appreciate
and it needs another word for this other
than retreat, right Rob?
We'll rename it next time. Okay. Um but
thank you Mr. Anderson in all
seriousness for the candid laughter um
and your engagement in the activity.
Everybody's engagement. I truly truly
appreciate. All right. Let's move on to
less on report school updates. I am um
going to start with you Miss McGuire
Bears. Perfect. All right. Thank you to
the staff for welcoming kindergarten
orientation this past week. Made us
kindergarten parents feel a little bit
more ready for this big milestone. Um if
you are new to Enfield Street School,
please make sure you are following the
PTO page on Facebook. The welcome picnic
is on September 9th from 5 to 6:00
followed by open house from 6:00 to
7:00. Lastly, this is for all Enfield
public schools teachers and staff.
Yesterday, I was at my convocation, so I
was unable to attend Enfields. Um, but
our superintendent shared some messages
from families. Um, she collected 250 of
them in the commemoration of our 250th
America's birthday. Uh, one of them
stuck with me and I wanted to share it
with you all tonight. You are more than
just staff. You are architects of hope
for this community. So, thank you for
giving us all hope and thank you for all
you do. I know how much this job takes
and I appreciate you and happy new year.
Very nice, Miss McGriers. Any other
school updates? Mr. Cobber and then Miss
um Gerard.
Thank you, Madam Chair. So, just a quick
uh just want to shout out and welcome
back students and staff to the uh 202627
school year. Obviously, as mentioned,
first day of school will be Thursday. Uh
so, it's right around the corner. Um I
know we talked about convocation. and I
was not able to attend. Um but again for
and I think the context clues described
what it is but for those not familiar
obviously it is like that welcome back
for staff. Um gives them the opportunity
for uh speeches recognition um and just
kind of that warm welcome back to put
all the uh returning staff in one place
and then obviously greet the new staff.
Um just in regards to my specific
leaison um with the ERFC I know I uh I
checked in through a lot of their summer
programs. I was able to attend their
summer talent show over at Prudence
Candle. see some of the students do
their great work. Um I briefly um met
with the new executive director uh Mr.
Ker. Um I haven't recently made it over
to Eagle, but of course we just saw
their uh support staff of the year, so
we know they're doing good things over
there. Uh so that is all I have. Thank
you.
Thank you, Mr. Mr. Wright.
Um Kit's next meeting is September 2nd
at 5:30 p.m. at CT State as Nuk. uh
parkment update, welcome back picnic is
on September 2nd from 5:00 pm to 7 pm.
You can bring a picnic um before 6:00
p.m. the doors will be open so that you
can actually go into the school visit
your child's classroom and if you've
never been to Parkman before, you get to
visit it for the first time. Their first
PTO meeting is going to be on September
8th at 7:30 p.m. via Zoom. They do have
a new group of new PTO folks and a new
president. So, congratulations to all
them and I can't wait to see what they
do. Thank you, Mr. Oh, was that No,
perfect. All right. I'm going to um
channel Miss Ker and read her back to
school message. But before I do that, I
think it's some pretty generic back to
school message around schools will be
sharing information through their
newsletters and through Parent Square.
Um, as a district, we're also doing some
work around website and communication.
And so encouraging families to make sure
you have parent square access um and
that you are checking those things and
um being up tod date. But as far as some
special news from Crannle um Mr. Dupair
welcomes everyone back reminding folks
that the Cougar Chronicle newsletter
will continue to be the primary source
of information. It's sent out every
Monday. So please make sure that you are
checking those and we welcome back
everybody on August 27th. Um I also just
want to I've mentioned it a couple times
now. welcome folks back. Thank you for
our staff um who will be ready to greet
students on Thursday. Um I'm not the
official JFK leaison, but I did ask my
incoming sixth grader if he actually he
said before I left the house tonight.
He's like, "Oh, mom, I have something to
share with you at the to say in the
meeting, and I was like, you know what?"
Um he's been getting used to his walk to
JFK and doing those, you know, to end
the summer. and he said there's lots of
like what looks like electronic scooter
and bike marks across the basketball
court and across like fields. So he was
asking his fellow peers to be mindful of
using electronic scooters and bikes um
especially on school property where
students use those facilities. Um so I
do think that's an important reminder
for all and safety. Um so thank you for
those being safe around the first day of
school. Um and always
joint facilities.
I actually do have a brief update. Um
joint facilities did meet on August 13th
to discuss the status of the roof
testing and potential repairs needed um
for even the short term on well short
long term depending on how things go. Um
on schools likeRandle Parkman and Stowe
um councelor Zenon agreed that he was
going to bring the conversation to the
town council in order to determine where
the funding for this project uh the need
could come from. Um, our next meeting is
scheduled for September 10th, but we
have discussed that if it was not
discussed yet by town council, we would
potentially postpone this as not meeting
until we have kind of an answer. Um, but
the committee did have conversation
around having uh quarterly meetings. We
know that this joint facilities was
really formed as more for roofs and um
with other committees. they talk about a
lot of other things but just staying on
top of it and even meeting quarterly um
we thought was was helpful moving
forward and I know there's other
colleagues on so if I missed anything
feel free to chime in I just want to
give a little update Mr. Cobber
all right thank you uh ju just to
supplement I think uh Mr. Bruce did a
good job um kind of highlighting it. Um
of course and just to again refresh
people, the joint facilities committee
when it was originally created 10 plus
years ago had a wider purview when it
was refined this past I believe it's
January or February. Uh its scope was
really narrowed to um overseeing the
roofs on school buildings and the roof
referendum. Um, I know one of the
friction points that we mentioned that
that came up um in the meeting is the
current status of the approved
referendums for roofs and then obviously
the for lack of a better term the freeze
on that pending the outcome of the uh PK
through5 modernization uh referendum and
update. So, um I know there were some
plans regarding um preventive
maintenance and testing and things of
that sort. Um we originally hoped some
of that would get done over the summer.
It seems like it did not. So, I know
we're trying to just re get tracks on
that um through uh the town council and
the DPW side and obviously keeping that
committee looped in um because of course
if for any reason the uh modernization
doesn't happen, we still have these
roofs that need replacement. So, just
obviously maintaining oversight on that.
Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Cobber. I would also just
um ensure the public understands
whenever we have joint leadership u
meetings with our town council
counterparts, facilities tends to be a
large portion of our conversation.
um joint insurance. So I we heard an
update a little bit. Um Mr. Pulley or
Mr. Mchio, would you like to
shoot it to you, Mr. Mchio? Sorry, it's
all you.
Sorry. I will keep chatting while you
I'll get you I'll get you there. Okay.
Uh last night
I think I think the big update for the
joint insurance committee was our
agreement to go with the resolution
um regarding what we will do with any um
budgeted funds at the end of the fiscal
year. Um so again uh town council did
approve the resolution last evening
related to that. It will go to the
finance committee in terms of um next
steps for our board and then I'll bring
it forward to the full board uh just to
share it with you. But basically,
it puts some regulation, not some
regulations, but some guidelines in
terms of what we must do related to any
funds that are budgeted for health
insurance.
Thank you, Mr. Mchio. Sorry, I didn't
mean to put you both on the spot there,
but I do think that is another another
piece of work um that is really around
fiscal transparency and best fiscal
practices. So, thank you to those on
joint insurance and thank you to our
counterparts on the town council side um
that hopefully we can move forward in
some good fiscal practice. Go ahead. I I
just want and I should have said this
during my superintendent report, but
a lot of that came out of the efforts of
the collaboration and communication that
happens between my office and the town
manager's office. Um, you know, last
evening was Mr. Cppler's last evening um
as town manager and to my understanding
he's probably in a car right now driving
out towards Michigan uh in his new job.
So, I'd like to thank him for that
collaboration. Um Andy and I would meet
with him and Steve Belinda uh and then
the following week we would have the
joint leadership meeting and that's
where a lot of this got worked out and
then we would bring it to the joint
insurance or joint security. Um so it it
is it it was nice to see that amount of
collaboration and communication between
the town hall and the board of
education. Um I'm hopeful that whoever
comes in as the interim uh town manager
continues to do that with us. I know we
do have a joint leadership meeting
scheduled for this Friday, so we can
have some further conversation at that
time.
Thanks. You're reminding me of a to-do I
had to to do.
Thank you, Mr. Mchio. Um, pre-referendum
committee.
As of right now, there is not a new date
for a meeting. Correct.
I'm looking at you. Sorry.
Notice how I didn't put another candy in
my mouth. Um there are two dates being
um there are two dates that are being um
bantered about in terms of having an
additional pre-referendum committee
meeting. Yep.
Um they're towards the end of September.
Nothing uh solidified yet.
Right. And then um I think one of the
other conversations that we've talked
about too in prere is doing another
community conversation and being being
able to have that back and forth. So we
are scheduling that and we're getting it
there. Um, PAC is, I believe, up and
running. So, they're going to put
together some information, very
fact-based information about the preref
and how that will be. So, yeah, that's
basically it.
You're welcome to visit the website. Um,
I just want to make sure I get it
correctly for the pack. Oh, my
internet's not working, so that doesn't
work. But I believe it's nfieldpto.com.
Right. So the all of the information um
related to the referendum is up on that
website.
Awesome. Thank you.
Thank you for the updates. Do I have a
motion to adjurnn?
So moved, Madam Chair.
Second. Moved by Mr. Cover. I'll give
the second to Mr. Gerard. All in favor?
That looks like all eight of us. Thank
you all.
One hour.