[13:12] All right, I'm going to go ahead and

[13:14] call this meeting of the Madison Board

[13:16] of Education to order. It is 501. We

[13:20] will stand for the pledge of allegiance.

[13:24] I pledge also.

[13:42] » Our first order of business is our

[13:44] school community session uh where we

[13:47] have public participation if anyone is

[13:49] in attendance.

[13:52] If we do not have anyone in person or

[13:54] online, we will move on to our next item

[13:57] which is the superintendent report. Dr.

[14:00] Cook.

[14:01] >> Yes. Uh thank you chairman Rosen.

[14:07] » Um big welcome to Kevin Fogerty. Thank

[14:10] you for uh joining the board um

[14:12] midstream, but we are all here to help.

[14:14] But uh as we shared, Kevin came in over

[14:16] the summer and it was great to meet with

[14:18] him and and give him uh some background

[14:20] information and some information to get

[14:22] started. He has the new board member

[14:25] packet and uh has been excited to go and

[14:27] we'll have you in soon to meet with the

[14:29] central office administration when we're

[14:31] all together. So um welcome Kevin.

[14:36] Uh just a few quick items before we turn

[14:40] I turn it over to uh Ben Whitaker on our

[14:42] construction manager on our CIP. Um but

[14:46] just wanted to uh report out some of the

[14:48] things that have been going on this

[14:48] summer registering a lot of

[14:50] kindergarteners. We are five over

[14:52] projection. So first of all projection

[14:54] was very close. We were projected at 191

[14:58] kindergarteners. We're at 196. Um a

[15:01] great balance 79 at Brown and 117 at

[15:04] Nick. are pretty much hitting where we

[15:06] expect to to hit. But um that's really

[15:09] great accurate projections from our

[15:11] demographer, but then also about what we

[15:14] wanted to see. So we're really pleased.

[15:16] I do expect we'll pick up a few more by

[15:19] then. So I bet you we do hit 200

[15:21] certainly um you know sometime into the

[15:23] school year, but that's uh that's great

[15:25] to see. Um, as of today, we are fully

[15:28] staffed for our teachers and in the

[15:30] process of hiring several uh, pair

[15:33] professional openings that still remain.

[15:35] Um, facilities has had um, one of the

[15:37] busiest summers on record. Um, I'm sure

[15:40] I don't think we'll keep these stats,

[15:42] but it's just an unbelievable number of

[15:44] projects. So, I'm going to probably

[15:46] undersell everything that they did, but

[15:47] I know that we'll cover this in greater

[15:49] detail. Our facilities committee meeting

[15:51] coming up. um Pollson was the primary

[15:54] focus as it um is the third leg of our

[15:57] um school renewal project and um just an

[16:00] incredible amount of work has has

[16:02] happened there. We are on track to open

[16:04] out there. Um all the work has been

[16:06] taking place. Um both the gym and the

[16:08] auditorium are completely empty. Um you

[16:11] know that was a big piece of the work in

[16:13] the beginning of the summer but now all

[16:15] the focus is um inside the building. Um

[16:17] the interior doors were refinished. um

[16:20] they've been touched for the first time

[16:21] since the building opened. Um if um

[16:24] board members or public has remembered

[16:26] being in Pulson, the the doors really

[16:28] stood out after we did some more um

[16:30] interior as uh really being outdated. So

[16:33] they look uh look fantastic. And then

[16:36] most of the work uh occurring lately has

[16:38] been the HVAC work. Um you know so as we

[16:41] bring cooling to the entire building and

[16:44] the plan is still on track for um late

[16:47] September but we're really hoping we can

[16:49] turn those on earlier uh you know in the

[16:52] uh in the school year. So I'll keep the

[16:53] board updated on on that. Um and they're

[16:56] working basically seven days a week on this project right now. So lot

[17:00] happens every day that you stop over

[17:02] there. Uh, in terms of Neck River, we've

[17:05] been completing punch list projects and

[17:07] I'm happy to report um, as I shared with

[17:10] the board earlier, but uh, over $2

[17:12] million in a rebate for the geothermal

[17:14] project was received by the town. So,

[17:16] that money was received and uh, we're

[17:19] thrilled that that was u able to be part

[17:21] of that that project. So, that was

[17:23] funding that um, you know, was not

[17:26] anticipated in the original project, but

[17:28] it has been returned to the to the town.

[17:30] Um, and several things that we struggled

[17:32] with last summer, like as we were, you

[17:34] know, getting the building open, like

[17:36] the flooring being, uh, fully waxed and

[17:38] things like that. So, it it looks uh, it

[17:40] looks good over there. Right now,

[17:42] there's a lot of work uh, you know,

[17:44] occurring there as well. Um, two items

[17:47] that we couldn't get to at Brown School

[17:49] last summer that we did this summer was

[17:51] additional uh, preK and K playground

[17:53] equipment was added and a whole new

[17:55] additional site. So, um we'll have two sites for uh preK and K that are um

[18:01] really fantastic and we redid the uh the

[18:04] basketball foursquare area. So, that was one thing we heard from

[18:09] parents as uh wanting to be done. So,

[18:10] I'm really pleased that we were able to

[18:12] get that done this summer. Looks

[18:13] beautiful. Um and then um Daniel Han, a

[18:16] lot of work inside, a lot of painting

[18:18] went on um including the the gym for the

[18:21] first time in 20 plus years. So, uh

[18:24] that's great. And then the board will

[18:25] see one item related to that is new

[18:28] banners for the for the gym. So we have

[18:30] a um an action item to um to donate the

[18:35] uh uh the previous banners uh you know

[18:37] on the agenda tonight. So that's uh uh

[18:40] really really great to see. And then the baseball field project is uh is on

[18:45] track. Um no real hard deadline on that.

[18:48] So, but it's a a lot of work, an

[18:51] unbelievable amount of uh truck trucks

[18:53] bringing uh um you know, stone in for uh

[18:56] for that project. And then the last

[18:58] thing to report just received about this

[19:01] time yesterday was um we put in for a

[19:04] special education grant to um support

[19:06] our our teachers being reading trained

[19:09] in uh in Wilson. And we received that.

[19:11] It was a competitive grant. Um so, it's

[19:13] $43,694

[19:15] that Liz Bagula, Dr. tag they put in for

[19:19] um will be used this months to uh train

[19:22] our special education teachers on on

[19:24] writing and some several of them will

[19:26] get certifications out of that. So we're

[19:28] really excited about that uh process

[19:30] because it's always u great we can uh

[19:32] support our special education teachers

[19:35] with more reading training. So really

[19:37] exciting. Um there any questions on

[19:40] that? Happy to handle that but I'm not

[19:43] I'm going to turn it over to uh Ben. So

[19:45] each year what we um do around this time

[19:48] is finalize our capital improvement

[19:50] plan. This typically would have gone to

[19:52] committee first but with our blocks of

[19:54] uh committee assignments we brought

[19:56] wanted to bring it to the full board. So

[19:58] you've seen these uh documents they do

[20:00] look a little different as we've been

[20:02] working through this process over the

[20:04] last um really it's it's been different

[20:07] every every year but the last few years

[20:09] um in particular we've been refining it

[20:11] as we went from six sites to to four.

[20:15] So, uh, really important work that's,

[20:18] uh, that's occurred here and I think

[20:20] this is the the best format that that I've seen in in terms of that's

[20:24] really clear and so I thank Ben Whitaker

[20:26] for all his work on that and uh, Pete

[20:28] Anderson, our facility director is with

[20:30] us as well. Ben is our construction

[20:32] manager and um, is going to present the

[20:35] CIP to you. So, thank you Ben. Yeah,

[20:37] thank you for the opportunity. Um, those

[20:39] don't know me, Ben Whitaker, director of

[20:40] construction and planning for both the

[20:42] district and the town. Uh this is my

[20:44] first year in this kind of kind kind of

[20:45] new role. Um jumping into the capital

[20:47] improvement plan. Um these this type of

[20:50] planning has been kind of my thing for

[20:51] the past 10 plus years. So I'm happy to

[20:53] be a part of it. Um understand that it's

[20:56] baby steps. Change is hard. Everybody

[20:57] gets used to formats. Everybody gets

[20:59] used to kind of the way of doing things.

[21:00] Um nothing was wrong. This is just a

[21:02] little bit different. Trying to put my

[21:04] own spin on it. um just using some tried

[21:06] and true tools that I think people have

[21:08] found helpful to uh digest what could

[21:10] sometimes be a pretty complex process

[21:13] and of course once you start adding up

[21:15] the projects um you know just having

[21:17] that clarity and really the definition

[21:19] behind the projects we're not going to

[21:21] dig into each one tonight um but the

[21:23] process that we used uh before you you

[21:26] always had a 5-year plan and there was

[21:27] also a 10-year um the 10-year was almost

[21:30] into wish list status um it really

[21:32] wasn't implemented with any sort of

[21:34] fidelity um a 5-year look is really what

[21:36] you want to focus on. Um and and that's

[21:40] what the town is typically used to to

[21:42] fund. Now, um I normally treat capital

[21:45] improvement plans as just that. It's a

[21:47] plan. It's not it's a it's it's a list

[21:51] of concept list of project concepts that

[21:54] are well scoped that everybody agrees on

[21:56] that say, "Hey, if we get the money for

[21:59] it, this is what we're going to do." Uh

[22:01] my last district, we were very uh

[22:02] heavily grant funded. grants fell out of

[22:04] the sky in various places, congressional

[22:06] designated spending, uh grants from the

[22:08] state, you name it. So, we always wanted

[22:10] to plan for a lot more than we could

[22:12] really afford. Um, kind of the Madison

[22:14] method is using a declining balance from

[22:15] what they call the CNRE fund. And they

[22:18] actually aim to even though every year

[22:20] during your budget process, you're only

[22:22] funding the first year of the plant,

[22:24] they really try to do a decline in

[22:26] balance and u kind of pro-form fund the

[22:29] entire plan. A little bit different.

[22:31] Again, nothing wrong with that. Um, but

[22:32] it's a it's a system that we're gonna

[22:34] kind of bridge the gap here a little

[22:36] bit. So, you'll notice in this format

[22:38] you have your five years 28 through 32

[22:41] and then you have what we call an on

[22:43] deck year. So, an on deck year is

[22:45] basically everything that you would have

[22:46] seen in your long range plan. What we

[22:48] don't want the long range plan to become

[22:50] is like a bullpen of projects that

[22:52] really everybody's just pushing off. The running joke a few years ago is

[22:56] like, "Oh, put that in year six." Like,

[22:57] well, year six is now this big. Year six

[22:59] is your never. Um, we really want to

[23:01] have visibility for it because once you

[23:03] actually take the time to scope out a

[23:05] project and define a need, circulate it

[23:07] to a board and everybody agrees on it,

[23:09] that project never goes away unless

[23:11] you've done another project that tackled

[23:13] it or you've just completely

[23:14] reconfigured change building something

[23:16] like that. So this way, uh, this is a

[23:18] public document. We want the public to

[23:20] be aware of not only what's in our

[23:22] five-year uh but if we're going to use

[23:24] that approach where we defining balance

[23:26] fund um it's not showing the entire need

[23:29] of the district. So this is an attempt

[23:32] to do that. So, originally this plan had

[23:34] everything that was in the on deck year

[23:36] actually in uh uh fiscal year 28 through

[23:40] 32. Um at the request of the town um

[23:42] wanting to limit us to about $10 million

[23:45] because using that declining balance

[23:47] approach that's what they're comfortable

[23:48] funding through the Madison investment

[23:49] plan. Uh we moved everything that didn't

[23:51] fit into their into that off debt year.

[23:54] So one thing you'll notice in this

[23:55] summary is u there are some blank lines.

[23:58] Normally what the way this is set up is

[24:01] you have each year um and then projects

[24:04] in order of magnitude based on dollar

[24:06] amount not necessarily priority. Um I

[24:08] always found it helpful that the biggest

[24:09] projects always come up first. Um you

[24:12] will see some gaps and you'll say okay

[24:14] why is this project in 30 but it's

[24:16] online too. That's because that project

[24:18] actually is needed in 48. We moved 30

[24:21] when we were doing our balancing act.

[24:23] And you'll see like the fifth line down

[24:26] is Brown's Cath flooring. um that's an

[24:28] on deck yet. Why is it so far up on the

[24:30] top? Because we wanted that that we knew

[24:33] we had some projects that were actually

[24:35] in the five-year that because of that financial method, we were I don't

[24:39] want to use the term forced. We weren't

[24:41] forced, but we put it into the the on

[24:43] deck so we didn't lose sight of when we

[24:44] actually need that project. Um what I

[24:47] think might be helpful is to take a look

[24:49] at one of the detail sheets and then

[24:50] we'll talk about how the the uh the

[24:52] actual model was built out. So page four

[24:56] or

[24:58] Page four is the build. Yeah, you you're

[25:00] going to include one detail sheet, I

[25:02] think, for an example. There it is. Just

[25:04] make it a little smaller so it all shows

[25:06] up.

[25:06] >> So, this is what we call a project

[25:08] scoping sheet or project submitt. Um,

[25:10] we've actually empowered all of our

[25:12] administrators. They're brewing up a

[25:13] project at the school level. Um, this is

[25:15] kind of the format that it gets to us

[25:17] and we can start working together to to

[25:19] scope and package the project. No

[25:21] project gets into this plan whether it's

[25:22] in the five-year or the on deck unless

[25:24] it has at least this amount of detail

[25:26] associated with it. Now when you put a

[25:29] pro ideally when you're running a

[25:30] five-year plan all your projects are

[25:32] going into year five and then they march

[25:34] forward or sometimes there's projects

[25:36] that that have to jump up in priority

[25:38] their emergent needs whatever. Um but we

[25:41] always start with this format and then

[25:43] every year as more details are known as

[25:45] the project moves forwards in the plan

[25:47] you sometimes start engaging out

[25:49] engaging outside parties for to start

[25:51] getting some harder pricing um some uh

[25:54] design concepts done whatever the case

[25:57] may be depends on the project um this

[25:59] sheet is dynamic and it will change

[26:01] every year the capital planning process

[26:03] never really stops it happens all year I

[26:05] like to say it just gets frozen once a

[26:07] year when the board votes on it um so it

[26:09] doesn't sit on the shelf by any means.

[26:11] Um we're always reccalibrating the

[26:12] projects within it, updating our

[26:14] numbers. Um so what I did with this

[26:16] year, uh went through the long range

[26:19] plan, everything that was in 32 really

[26:21] went through and validated a lot of

[26:22] those projects. Some of them were

[26:23] irrelevant because of projects that were

[26:25] done, say at Pulsick, we might have

[26:26] tackled a couple things through a bigger

[26:28] project. Okay, wipe that one out. Um and

[26:30] then everything that went into this

[26:31] plan, uh put some better numbers behind

[26:33] it and and got them loaded in here.

[26:35] There were also several opportunities

[26:37] where we're able to take projects and

[26:38] combine them. Uh for example, there were

[26:41] u three projects in here that had to do

[26:43] with locker rooms at Pulson. Work with

[26:46] the athletic director and the principal.

[26:47] We're actually able to package those

[26:49] into a smaller project and actually save

[26:51] about a million dollars total um to to

[26:54] do it in that way and actually build a

[26:55] space that that the school and athletics

[26:58] actually desired. So, a lot of work kind

[27:00] of went in behind the scenes uh for this

[27:02] plan this year. Um the goal is to create

[27:04] a model and then we just kind of uh uh

[27:07] tune it up every year and and represent

[27:09] it for approval and hopefully knock some

[27:11] projects out. Um so again, everything

[27:14] starts like this. Um these will be made

[27:16] available to you. If you want to get

[27:17] into the details at some point, you can.

[27:19] Uh but tonight we're just going to kind

[27:20] of focus on the uh the bigger picture.

[27:23] So if we back up to this slide here,

[27:26] this page here, um what I tried to do

[27:28] this year, it's always the way I found

[27:30] uh especially coming in new to a plan,

[27:32] how to kind of articulate how did we get

[27:34] from last year to this year. So it's

[27:36] balancing act. Um the first line there

[27:40] is last year's 5-year plan, and that

[27:41] gives you the total. You subtract out

[27:43] what we actually funded last year. Um so

[27:46] if if you didn't fund it, you carried it

[27:48] forward. Um, we added back a couple

[27:50] multi-year projects. So, 11 projects

[27:52] made their way from last year into this

[27:54] year. And then you'll see some different

[27:56] categories in there. Um, this list

[27:58] actually was a lot bigger before we

[28:00] started moving things into on deck. But

[28:02] again, we took projects that were in 32.

[28:04] Um, and we put them into year five,

[28:06] validated the number, got them into year

[28:08] five. Um, we also had some brand new

[28:10] projects that were scoped. Um, again,

[28:12] this is the the facilities team bring

[28:15] these up. They could come from

[28:16] principles. um as I've done projects uh

[28:19] through various schools uh we we've seen

[28:21] some needs put the put these projects

[28:23] together package them put them into to

[28:24] year five so you see those there uh we

[28:27] pulled in one project into year three uh

[28:31] from the Pulson bond project uh we were

[28:33] hoping to knock out a few extra projects

[28:35] with that bond fund um because of the

[28:38] cost of the the current project some of

[28:40] these things aren't aren't going to be

[28:42] funded through that bond fund a couple

[28:44] are sitting in on deck one is actually

[28:46] in the plan now in year three. Uh then

[28:49] there's a couple of new projects that

[28:51] were emergent issues. So I call it an

[28:53] emergent issue, something that isn't

[28:54] going into year five. Again, ideally

[28:56] everything goes into year five, but

[28:58] sometimes things can't wait till year

[29:00] five. So those perfect example is Brown

[29:03] fire alarm. Uh that was a need that was

[29:05] brought up both by the school and the

[29:07] fire marshall. Uh that one is the only

[29:09] project I think that we actually put

[29:10] into the first year of the plan.

[29:12] relatively small at $150,000, but at

[29:14] least you can see how that breaks out.

[29:16] And a couple of projects were actually

[29:19] taken from the five-year plan and moved

[29:22] into the on deck. So, that's not the

[29:23] direction we really want them to go. Uh,

[29:25] but we to get to that $10 million

[29:27] number, uh, we we removed a couple

[29:29] projects that already existed in the

[29:31] 5-year plan and and moved them out to to

[29:34] on deck. So, if you scroll down just a

[29:36] little bit, it will give you a couple of

[29:38] miscellaneous moves in there. Uh we

[29:41] retoled the estimate for the DHHS roof

[29:44] replacement. Um we actually had went

[29:45] through the conceptual design process

[29:47] with an architect. Um their estimate

[29:49] came in $125,000 less than the estimate

[29:51] that I was carrying in the plan. So we

[29:53] had to remove that from there. Um and

[29:55] then we restored last year might even

[29:57] been the year before. We cut down the

[29:59] number uh for Brown's kitchen um to

[30:02] really unreasonable number where we

[30:04] couldn't even execute the scope. Um, so

[30:06] we restore 200,000 of that um to meet

[30:09] that objective. Uh, again, that's

[30:11] something that I want to try to move

[30:12] away from. We either do a project or we

[30:13] don't do it. If there's a way we could

[30:15] rescope a project to make it less, fine.

[30:17] But just taking a project, uh, you know,

[30:19] my commitment to you is I'm going to

[30:20] bring you good numbers. Um, if you if a

[30:23] project's $6,000, um, please don't play

[30:25] that game where you go, we'll give you

[30:27] four. Um, the game we can play is what

[30:30] could you do for four? And then we could

[30:31] talk about it, but don't take a scope

[30:33] and go, just do it for four. that

[30:34] doesn't work that way. Um, so that's adding that that project back.

[30:38] So, we're left with 106. Um, that is the

[30:41] total cost. Everything in this plan is

[30:43] total cost. If there are grants attached

[30:45] to a project, um, that'll net out and

[30:47] you'll see if we go back up to the So,

[30:50] long story short is we're up about a

[30:51] million dollars uh from last year last

[30:53] year's 5-year plan. Um, if you go back

[30:55] up to the summary, the last line in the

[30:58] summary to the first page,

[31:01] last line of the summary is what the

[31:03] estimated local share is. So that's net

[31:05] of grants. Um, so the only project in

[31:08] here um that has a significant grant

[31:10] attached to it is the high school roof.

[31:12] Um, that's we carry about 25% for an

[31:15] estimated reimbursement for that. So

[31:17] total that all up, we're at the 9.7,

[31:20] which is in line with the Madison

[31:21] investment plan. Uh but our hope is

[31:23] always that if we do find money from

[31:26] other sources, hopefully some of those

[31:28] projects could either jump out of on

[31:29] deck or we're able to hit some that are

[31:32] in the uh in the future years. What's

[31:34] really important here is everything is

[31:35] out there for the public to see because

[31:37] what we want to avoid and this has

[31:39] happened a few times now where projects

[31:41] pop back on the list of people where did

[31:42] that come from? Why are you doing that

[31:44] instead of this? Um so this will really

[31:46] show that again in my perfect world

[31:48] everything gets laid out into the five

[31:50] years. You don't fund it. it just moves

[31:51] forward a year. Yes, at some point

[31:53] you're going to stack up year one. You

[31:54] have to recalibrate. Um, but it really

[31:56] shows that that projects never leave

[31:58] this plan once they're in them. Um, and

[32:00] again, the public gets comfortable with

[32:02] it. They start seeing it over years.

[32:04] Now, one great thing about this exercise

[32:06] is you'll notice you have $22 million in

[32:08] your capital plan in your on deck right

[32:10] now. So, I guess we're done capital

[32:12] planning for the next 5 to 10 years

[32:14] because there it is and you're on deck.

[32:15] We're just going to move forward if

[32:16] we're only doing 2.5 million a year. Uh

[32:18] [snorts]

[32:19] so that's uh that's why we also didn't

[32:21] want a new site of we'll we'll every

[32:23] year uh we'll we'll refresh those

[32:25] numbers, make sure the project's still

[32:26] relevant and uh we'll keep trying to

[32:29] move it forward. So I know that was a

[32:31] lot uh anything you guys have on the

[32:33] overall process. Happy to uh to take any

[32:36] questions. I don't think we're diving

[32:37] into the u project details tonight, but

[32:40] the the the big one for next year is

[32:43] obviously the the high school's roof. um

[32:46] that is not categorized as something we

[32:48] just want to do that is something we

[32:50] have to do um and pulsing we're going to

[32:52] execute Pulson at the same time

[32:54] hopefully u to build it in 28 um that's

[32:57] part of the bot which is why you don't

[32:59] see it on the schedule here projects

[33:00] already

[33:02] because I remember you had said it had

[33:04] been brought up at the pulse also

[33:06] meeting

[33:07] >> yeah and uh the good news there is the

[33:09] way things are tracking with this

[33:10] project we were waiting till March when

[33:12] basically this this current phase was

[33:14] done just to make sure we did have the

[33:15] funding for it. Um, right now that

[33:17] project is actually trending a little

[33:18] bit under budget. Um, so as of right now

[33:20] we will have the funds to to move

[33:22] forward with state grant application for

[33:24] that. Um, so we have the conceptual

[33:26] design done for that project as well.

[33:28] Uh, we're pretty much right on with the

[33:30] estimate for it. So we will uh hopefully

[33:33] move these two projects through the

[33:34] state process together. It's a lot more

[33:36] efficient, a lot cheaper to do it that

[33:37] way.

[33:38] >> And is there a reason why it's not on

[33:40] this list?

[33:40] >> It's not on this list because it's

[33:41] funded already. It's in the bond fund.

[33:43] Yep. So projects in a in a capital plan

[33:46] remain on the plan until they're funded.

[33:48] So you it's not necessarily when it's

[33:50] executed, it's when it's funded.

[33:55] » So we will be taking action to approve

[33:57] this tonight. So, um, that's later in

[34:00] the agenda, but anyone has any questions

[34:02] or wants to clarify anything now.

[34:08] >> If you are approving it, maybe some of

[34:09] the bigger dollar ones, if anybody has

[34:11] any project specific questions, we could

[34:13] tackle those. Um, there's only a couple

[34:15] of them that stand out there.

[34:18] One I just wanted to highlight and

[34:19] because it's, uh, new, but the board has

[34:21] talked about it before is the Daniel

[34:23] Hand of Auditorium. And so, uh, the

[34:26] board knows we had the accreditation

[34:28] recommendation. It is on the on deck,

[34:30] um, portion. It's the last item on that line. Um, a rough estimate from Ben's work. Uh, that would most

[34:38] likely be in in my opinion a bonded

[34:41] project in town and probably wouldn't be

[34:43] one that goes through the CIP process,

[34:45] but we want to hold that somewhere and

[34:47] start that conversation because we do

[34:49] have um, that recommendation from uh,

[34:52] our accreditation board. Also, parents

[34:54] and staff have, you know, asked for that

[34:56] for for years. So, it's uh um something

[34:59] that's obviously um new, but it's it's a

[35:01] pretty large um project, but we um

[35:05] wanted to highlight that there

[35:08] conversation. Yeah, it's the last item

[35:10] on the uh

[35:12] on the list high school auditorium.

[35:16] >> 8.5 million.

[35:18] >> Biggest number out here by far, I think.

[35:28] Is there any anticipated date when that

[35:30] would go to Bob?

[35:32] >> So, it's a um a discussion with the

[35:34] town. I know they have several projects,

[35:36] too. They're looking at the U surf club

[35:38] and and some other areas. So, we'd like

[35:41] to hopefully at least one that's tied in

[35:43] with several other other projects. Um

[35:46] no, it no certain title.

[35:52] Ben, do you maybe just want to walk us

[35:54] through the items that are for fiscal

[35:55] year 28?

[35:56] >> Yeah, sure.

[35:57] >> To make sure that we know

[35:58] >> Absolutely. So, again, the biggest one's

[36:00] the roof. We just talked about that one,

[36:02] the 3.7. Uh, that actually has been

[36:04] validated by a third party estimate.

[36:06] Now, we were able to I think my number

[36:07] was about 3.9. Uh, we're able to cut

[36:09] that at 3.7, which is good. Uh, Brown's

[36:12] fire alarm, again, that's a that's a

[36:14] fire marshal issue. Um, the horn strobes

[36:17] in that building are uh are not

[36:19] appropriate for elementary school kids.

[36:21] They're I'm not even going to try to

[36:22] make the noise. It's bad. Um, it's also

[36:25] not synced. So, the horn the strobes in

[36:27] that building in a in a modern building,

[36:29] all your strobes are synced, so they

[36:31] flash at the same time. Um, in that

[36:33] building, they all fire at different

[36:35] rates. Um, if you were like I mean it

[36:37] could if you were in a dark space if you

[36:39] saw that, it would make be very dizzying

[36:41] and confusing just how things were done

[36:43] back then. Um, so that the the fire

[36:45] alarm there is grandfathered in to its

[36:47] code from when it was installed. Um, the

[36:49] fire alarm panel and like the brains of

[36:52] it are fine over there. Um, that's the

[36:54] reason it's not a $400,000 project. Um,

[36:56] so this is rewiring and actually putting

[36:58] in um code compliant devices there and

[37:01] also adjusting the decibel levels. Uh

[37:04] that system there now you can't adjust

[37:05] the decibb and they are way too high. So

[37:08] it is it's I experienced it myself last

[37:10] summer. Um, it's one of those things

[37:11] like, you know, no principal likes how a

[37:13] fire alarm sounds. Then I we tested it

[37:15] last summer. We're like, "Yeah, this is

[37:16] not good for little kids." So, um,

[37:18] that's, like I said, that's the one we jumped up in the list. Um, Pulson

[37:23] restroom refreshes. So, this is a

[37:25] project. It's actually a kind of a

[37:27] reconfigured version of something that's

[37:28] been in your your capital plan for

[37:30] years. Um, just a little bit

[37:32] reconfigured. You remember in 2024 was

[37:34] my first summer here. There was a

[37:36] project that u had significant surgery

[37:39] to a couple of the restrooms. It wasn't

[37:41] just a refresh. It was actually

[37:43] structural walls removed, plumbing

[37:45] fixtures removed. Uh the project I we

[37:48] got through it. Um but it was major. And

[37:51] when you're ripping into a building that

[37:53] was built in the 50s or 60s, you're not

[37:55] going to find things until you start

[37:57] ripping into it and find things we do.

[37:59] Um and we barely got that that building

[38:01] open in time for school. Um, and there's

[38:03] really no, we did make a restroom that

[38:06] wasn't ADA compliant, ADA compliant.

[38:08] Yes, that's always a good thing. Um, we

[38:10] could use that now as our compliant

[38:12] restroom. Um, what I've done in school

[38:14] portfolios or I just call them a

[38:15] refresh. Um, where we go in there. So,

[38:17] I've I've plotted out a needs assessment

[38:20] of all the restrooms in the building.

[38:21] Kind of went through and has a menu of

[38:23] items for each one and we give it

[38:26] basically a cosmetic refresh. You get

[38:27] new plumbing fixtures. U, we usually use

[38:30] an epoxy coating. Uh it's called the

[38:31] Duraflex coating over the floor. Um a

[38:34] lot of them are just like the old

[38:35] avocado tile floors from the '60s. Um

[38:37] nothing wrong with them, but um they're just not that appealing looking.

[38:41] U most of the walls in there are just

[38:43] regular old cement block walls. So we we

[38:45] put some wall treatments in there. Um

[38:46] toilet partitions, you know, a lot of

[38:48] them are just old and rusty and they're welding on their life. So, uh,

[38:52] don't have the number off the top of my

[38:54] head, but we are looking at doing either

[38:56] the $100,000 basically gets you one set

[38:58] of what we call gang restrooms,

[39:00] multi-person restrooms, or two to three

[39:02] smaller restrooms. So, we'll do those

[39:04] over the course of the next five years.

[39:06] Um, and again, those are are each each

[39:08] restroom has kind of its own menu. Um,

[39:11] but after the five years, everything in

[39:13] the building will be uh nice and shiny

[39:14] and new. Uh, school security

[39:17] enhancements. That's a a project that

[39:19] the board has committed to for for many

[39:20] years. Um, it's it's been level funded

[39:22] at 75 a year. Um, it goes into an

[39:25] account. If we don't use it, it just

[39:26] it's not it's a

[39:28] the money just keep rolling over

[39:30] basically. Um, it's used for for

[39:32] security enhancements. So, this year we

[39:34] used um all of it and a little bit we

[39:37] had in our savings, so to speak, to redo

[39:39] the public address system at data head.

[39:42] Uh, that was something that we did this

[39:43] summer. It was original to the building.

[39:45] and it was on its last legs. Uh, luckily

[39:47] we were able to find a system that

[39:49] reused all the speakers. So, kind of the

[39:51] opposite of Brown. Brown, we have a new

[39:54] headend and we but we've got to replace

[39:56] all the field devices. Um, there we kept

[39:59] all our field devices and we replaced

[40:01] the brains of it. Um, and we got it done

[40:03] for about $98,000 versus I think the

[40:06] quote that was on the table a couple

[40:07] years ago was $450,000.

[40:09] Um, so that's that's what that money is

[40:12] used for. It's a great thing to do. Um,

[40:14] this is the first district I've worked

[40:15] with where a board is actually committed

[40:17] to to to putting money uh into that

[40:19] every year and sticking with it. Um, and we're putting it to good use. Uh, so

[40:24] that's that those are the the four one

[40:26] four projects for 28. Um, happy to

[40:30] answer any questions on those or really

[40:31] anything else.

[40:34] >> Anyone have any questions?

[40:40] » So, we'll take action on that in a

[40:41] little bit. Thank you so much. Thank

[40:43] you. Super helpful. I like how arranged.

[40:46] It's great.

[40:50] » That's uh completes my report.

[40:52] >> Thank you.

[40:53] >> All right. Our next item is board

[40:55] members comments.

[40:57] Any comments?

[40:59] just thank you so much for all that

[41:00] work. I feel like um there was so much

[41:04] intentionality, you know, just really

[41:06] organizing everything and also the fact

[41:08] that there's um know you're really

[41:10] thinking about transparency for the

[41:12] community. I really appreciate

[41:14] >> one thing I think quickly uh I I would

[41:16] like to start more of a cyclical update

[41:19] cycle with the board as well too. So um

[41:21] normally a capital presentation is is

[41:24] that you start with here's what we did

[41:25] since the last cycle. Um this year I

[41:28] think just as a catchup in uh October uh

[41:31] we'll we'll we'll present what we did

[41:33] kind of over this summer. That's really

[41:35] over the last year but schools always

[41:36] work with summers. That's when the the

[41:37] bulk of our work is. So I think we're

[41:39] going to shoot for October and get a

[41:41] nice update on that and then these

[41:42] projects as a board member I think it'll

[41:44] be fun to see how they you know they

[41:46] march on paper for years and then you're

[41:48] actually seeing it happen.

[41:54] comments.

[41:58] » I'd just like to welcome you Kevin

[42:00] again. We're so glad to have you. Um, as

[42:03] you heard from Dr. Cook questions or,

[42:05] you know, one of a friendly bunch and a

[42:07] few of us are missing tonight, but

[42:09] [laughter]

[42:11] >> um, but we're really glad to have you.

[42:13] And I also just uh a couple weeks ago

[42:15] Vanna and I so we serve on the uh Pulson

[42:19] beachback special committee um for

[42:22] Pulson in Hand and so we went on a tour

[42:24] of Pollson within um we got up on the

[42:28] roof. We saw all the work that's been

[42:29] done in the building.

[42:33] It was just incredible. Um, so I know

[42:35] there's pictures online, Ben, of sort of

[42:37] update of the process throughout and

[42:39] there'll be some befores and afters, but

[42:42] it was incredible to see the amount of

[42:45] work that's been done throughout the

[42:47] whole school, all the people working

[42:50] seemingly around the clock to get it

[42:52] done in time for the students. So,

[42:57] >> have

[42:59] great

[43:00] >> skilled workman.

[43:01] >> Yeah.

[43:05] All right, more comments.

[43:09] Okay, we do not have any audience in the

[43:11] room. Um, anyone online public comment?

[43:15] No. Okay. All right. So, we'll move on

[43:16] to our action items. Our first action

[43:19] item is election of a board secretary.

[43:23] Do I have a nomination? Uh,

[43:25] >> it would be my honor to nominate Molly

[43:26] Lewis for the position.

[43:31] Any discussion? All

[43:34] right. All in favor?

[43:36] I I Any oppose?

[43:40] Abstain.

[43:42] All right. Motion carries.

[43:44] >> Welcome, Moren.

[43:45] >> Thank you.

[43:46] >> Congratulations.

[43:47] >> So, you need to bring the donuts now.

[43:50] >> Get your cards ready.

[43:54] >> Right. Our next action item, um, I'd

[43:56] like a motion to appoint Kevin Dean

[43:57] Silvery to the facilities committee and

[44:00] the finance committee. Do I have a

[44:02] motion?

[44:03] >> Thank you. Good morning. Is there a

[44:05] second? Second.

[44:09] Any discussion?

[44:13] All in favor? I opposed.

[44:20] Welcome, Kevin. You'll be getting

[44:22] notices and actions for those.

[44:25] [laughter]

[44:26] They're great. You'll getting to hear a

[44:27] lot from her facilities and other so

[44:30] we'll know even more.

[44:32] All right. Our next action item is a

[44:34] motion to approve the 2027 2028 capital

[44:38] improvement plan. I have a motion

[44:43] second.

[44:46] Any more discussion or any other

[44:48] questions?

[44:52] All in favor?

[44:55] Any oppos?

[44:57] Same.

[45:02] Our next action item is a motion to

[45:05] approve the disposal of used books and

[45:07] equipment. Do I have a motion

[45:10] to move? Thank you, Kathy. And a second.

[45:13] Any discussion? Thank you, Mary.

[45:18] So this was included in the packet this

[45:20] information

[45:23] sort of standard.

[45:26] >> Yeah. When anything of um particular

[45:28] value and sometimes we have to kind of

[45:30] guess on the value. This is one of those kinds. Um it's really just to

[45:35] cover um an improvement of our our

[45:37] process. So in the past we had um

[45:41] uh material banners that if a team won

[45:44] so if a if say the girls basketball team

[45:46] won the state championship then a banner

[45:49] at some point had to come off the wall

[45:51] sent out to have the new year 2026

[45:55] sewn into it and then it would come back

[45:57] and then put back up. It took a long

[46:00] time um as you can imagine and it was we

[46:03] were always outdated at some point. the

[46:05] um schools won 89 championships um and

[46:09] uh or 94 I might be a year back might be

[46:12] in 94 at this point um state

[46:14] championship so we're we're constantly

[46:16] out of date the new banners will um be

[46:19] able to just put the year on so we'll

[46:22] keep them constantly updated and it's

[46:24] great for the the students to see the

[46:26] you know almost immediate results of

[46:28] their their championship so that that

[46:30] was uh this quite an improvement it will

[46:32] look much nicer too in

[46:35] jokes.

[46:37] >> Thank you.

[46:40] Discussion.

[46:42] Okay. All in favor?

[46:44] >> I oppose.

[46:48] Carries. Our next action item um is a

[46:53] motion to approve a donation from the

[46:54] Neck River PTO to Neck River Elementary

[46:57] in the amount of $2,1241

[47:01] for the purchase of library books. Have

[47:04] a motion. So move. Thank you, Kathy.

[47:09] There second. Second.

[47:13] Any discussion?

[47:17] Thank you.

[47:20] any library books.

[47:23] Okay. All in favor? I opposed. Same.

[47:28] Motion carries. Nothing. Thank you. Our

[47:32] next action item. Um I'd like a motion

[47:34] to approve a donation from the South

[47:36] Central Regional Council of Governments

[47:39] to Neck River Elementary School in the

[47:41] amount of $2,222

[47:44] for bike racks.

[47:47] I have a motion.

[47:49] So

[47:52] second

[47:57] any discussion?

[47:58] >> Uh yes. Um this is very generous. And

[48:01] just a quick question. How much bike

[48:03] traffic do we expect?

[48:06] >> So um it's kind of a tough spot. So all

[48:09] our schools are really not the best

[48:10] biking areas, but oftentimes what we'll

[48:13] see at at Neck River is students in

[48:15] those immediate neighborhoods will will

[48:17] bike and many times the parent will bike

[48:20] with them. So it makes it really say

[48:22] student will leave their bike for the

[48:24] day and then parent will will bike in to

[48:26] pick them up. So it's uh it's it's

[48:28] really been a nice kind of

[48:32] >> weekend.

[48:35] It's rare that this Yeah, it's right.

[48:36] No. Yeah. that the family may fight

[48:38] after school or on a Saturday to to use

[48:41] the playground. So, um you know, it's

[48:43] not a ton of bike traffic because it's on a little bit of a major road,

[48:48] but um it's pretty bad up. So, it's it's

[48:51] great to be able to do that.

[48:53] >> There'll be additions of sidewalks out

[48:55] of now.

[48:58] Yeah.

[48:58] >> Yeah.

[49:05] » Any other discussion or questions?

[49:09] Okay. All in favor?

[49:12] >> Oops.

[49:16] Thank you. Our next action item. I would

[49:19] like a motion to approve a donation from

[49:21] the Brown School PTO, the Brown

[49:23] Elementary School in the amount of

[49:26] $46,746.50

[49:29] for school wish list items and field

[49:32] trips.

[49:37] » Motion do

[49:43] first place.

[49:45] >> And so if I could just comment on that

[49:47] as well. Um what happens um typically in

[49:51] this there there's um it's it's

[49:53] fantastic. It's really generous but just

[49:55] so parents and neck river um are not

[49:58] feeling that their PTO is doing less.

[50:00] It's neck river often times give more

[50:03] specific donations throughout the year

[50:05] whereas the Brown PTO often likes to

[50:07] just start off with a a donation. Um,

[50:12] you know, they they actually run very

[50:14] similar, you know, as the year goes on

[50:16] and very similar activities and

[50:18] experiences for the kids u which is is

[50:21] fantastic. You know there's so many

[50:22] things that we could not do without the PTO's uh they're incredibly

[50:26] supportive. So u they really do enhance

[50:29] this experience but they're very u

[50:31] similar you know at the end of the year

[50:33] it's just that they're the different

[50:34] they have a different way they they go

[50:36] about it.

[50:38] >> Yeah. [laughter]

[50:40] That's helpful.

[50:43] >> Any other discussion?

[50:46] Okay. All in favor?

[50:48] >> I.

[50:49] >> Any opposed?

[50:51] Same. Motion carries. Thank you.

[50:56] And then our final action item. I would

[50:58] like a motion to approve the minutes of

[51:00] the June 9th, 2026 board of education

[51:03] meeting.

[51:08] Kathy and a second

[51:14] » any discussion.

[51:20] All in favor?

[51:21] >> I oppose or saying? Motion carries.

[51:26] Thank you. And finally, do we have any

[51:30] future agenda items?

[51:33] This isn't an agenda item per se, but I

[51:36] um there's an registration deadline for

[51:38] early registration for the K gaps. U I

[51:42] think that the early registration closes

[51:45] on this Friday. So if you'd like to go,

[51:46] I think

[51:50] those

[51:58] » any other notes for future agenda items?

[52:02] I left one piece out in terms of the

[52:04] donation uh or the disposal. The um

[52:08] banners will be going to the uh athletic

[52:10] hall of fame. They had asked for them.

[52:12] So they're not just going to be put in a

[52:14] landfill somewhere.

[52:18] » So the process I think they were going

[52:20] to contact the library and maybe um put

[52:23] on display them from time to time or

[52:25] something like that or they'll hang them

[52:26] at their um banquetss. So yeah, they

[52:29] just want it's fun.

[52:32] Thank you, Chad.

[52:35] Okay. Anything else? All right. I will

[52:38] call for a motion to adjourn at 5:40.

[52:43] So, thank you, Kathy. Do you have a

[52:45] second?

[52:46] >> Second.

[52:47] All in favor of adjoining.

[52:51] >> I oppose.

[52:56] » Thank you everyone.

[52:58] shorts. You like

Madison CT Board of Education, August 2026

Transcript