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Good evening, South Windsor. I'd like to hold a meeting September 3, 2025 of South

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Windsor Board of Education order. Please stand for the pledge of allegiance.

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I

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pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the

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public for which it stands one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

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Welcome to our new place.

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Ms. Walsh, welcome, please.

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Mrs. Corsi, here.

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Ms. Esman.

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Yes.

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Mrs. Collian.

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Yes.

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Mrs. Kimber.

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Yes.

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Mr. Mackie.

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Yes.

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Chairwoman Manila.

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Here.

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Mr. Marks.

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Yes.

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Mr. Peronum.

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Yes.

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Mr. Zimmerman.

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Yes.

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Thank you.

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All right.

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Ms. Corsi, would you read the district machines?

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The South Windsor Public Schools promotes an engaging and dynamic culture of learning that prepares students to achieve their own individual excellence.

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Within an emotionally safe environment, educators will foster students' academic, social, and personal growth.

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Our students will demonstrate critical and creative thinking, self-direction, collaboration, adaptability, kindness,

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this, compassion and civic responsibility.

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The South Windsor Public School graduate will possess a learner's mindset,

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exhibit resilience, and social consciousness, and be empowered to participate in an ever-changing global society.

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Thank you.

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Next we have approval minutes.

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Assessment?

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Move to approve the minutes of the June 10th, 2025 regular meeting.

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Okay, count a second.

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Any comments?

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All in favor?

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Opposed?

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Motion carries.

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Next, we have communications, Dr. Carter.

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Good evening, everyone.

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At first, I'd like to welcome our new student representative.

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It is my pleasure to introduce our new student rep

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to the Board of Education, Sakai Kennedy.

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Sakai is currently an 11th grade student at Southwest

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or high school and is already distinguishing herself

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as a dedicated and engaged member of our school community.

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Sakai is actively involved in several student organizations,

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including the Black Student Alliance, the French Club,

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and most recently the mock trial club.

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Beyond her academic and extracurricular commitments,

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Sakai enjoys traveling, spending time with her cats,

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listening to old school music, and exploring the arts.

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We are delighted to welcome Sakai as a student representative

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to the board, and I would love to find out

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how you define old school music because I'm guessing it's from my generation maybe, maybe.

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So welcome Sakai, we're very glad to have you and we are welcoming back Sydney May

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who was with us last year so welcome back Sydney. At this time we're going to be

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introducing our new supervisor of special services, Mrs. Lacey Farley. Mrs. Farley it was

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serving as a supervisor of special education and recently served as associate director of

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special education for the KIPP public schools in Northern California. Prior to that role,

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LACS served as a program specialist, special education teacher, and elementary classroom

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teacher. It is my pleasure to invite Mrs. Farley to the podium.

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Good evening, Chairwoman Naly and members of the board. As Dr. Carter shared on LAC Farley,

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I want to express my gratitude to members of the Board and administration for the opportunity to join the team at South Windsor Public Schools.

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Connecticut is my home state, though I did recently relocate from California as Dr. Carter mentioned, and I am just thrilled to have landed at a school district that is as supportive and collaborative as it has been so far and to work alongside really dedicated professionals, so thank you so much.

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Today, we are proud to recognize the recipients of this year's Teamwork Award, our three technology

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content coaches, Ed DuClow, Debbie Matchett, and Daniel Ross.

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This team has modeled what true collaboration looks like, meaning regularly to plan, reflect,

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and stay aligned, while also working directly with principals, teachers, and curriculum leaders

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to support innovation.

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Their shared goal has been to introduce artificial intelligence in ways that enhance learning

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and protect academic integrity.

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They've created professional learning opportunities,

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vetted tools, and developed a user-friendly district web page

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filled with resources, how-to videos, and exemplars.

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Because of their work, South Windsor has become a leader

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in the thoughtful, responsible use of AI in education.

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Their work is deeply valued by teachers,

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students, and administrators across the district

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by modeling shared leadership and inspiring others to collaborate.

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They've shown that innovation thrives when we work together.

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We are proud of this incredible team and it is my pleasure to invite Ed Debbie and Danielle to the podium.

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You can see a Mattak coach at the high school.

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Hold it, where's the walk-up music?

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We don't get any of that?

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All right, Dr. Carter said we have 15 minutes maximum, so that's it.

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All right, we got it.

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Hey, no, first of all, we're thrilled and honored to receive this award and we are just

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a small team, a wonderful team, so much fun working with these two, but amongst a much

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bigger and larger, amazing team here in the district.

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So many of you were at the convocation, so we figured what we would do is just hit the

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high points and then move on, Debbie.

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We just wanted to say we're honored to receive the award and we couldn't have achieved it

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without the incredible support of Doug Kutcher, Scott Matchett, Steven Albrecht, and the entire

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IT department.

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I'm going to reuse the speech I did at Communication because it was great.

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I mean, wholeheartedly, we're very proud to be part of a district that values collaboration,

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innovation, and being on the cutting edge.

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At the end of the day, technology isn't about the devices or the platforms.

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It's about the people willing to try something new and take a risk.

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So this award doesn't celebrate just us but every teacher that clicked that unfamiliar

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your link. Every teammate who said, let's figure it out and every leader who said, go for it.

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If this is what we can accomplish together today, imagine what we'll build tomorrow.

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Thank you.

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It is now my pleasure to introduce this year's support staff employee of the year,

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OBS Van Al. OBS is an EIP parent educator at Eli Terry School. Every day she demonstrates her

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extraordinary ability to respond with patience and grace, helping students regulate, rebound,

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and return to learning.

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Her support has been transformative,

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allowing students to succeed in education settings

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where they once struggled.

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OB is deeply respected by teachers,

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administrators, and her peers,

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for her knowledge, consistency, and dependability.

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Most importantly, students light up

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when she walks into the room.

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They know she cares for them,

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and that sense of safety and trust

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is what sets her apart.

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Tonight, we proudly recognize OB Espanol

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for her skill, dedication, and the warmth

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She brings to South Windsor Public Schools.

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It is my pleasure to invite OB to the podium.

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I know how this works.

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Good evening, everyone.

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I want to sincerely thank the Board for this incredible recognition.

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Being named support staff of the year is such an honor, and I am truly humbled, working

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in the special education intensive program at Eli Terry has been deeply rewarding and

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a great experience.

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Every day brings new challenges and even greater joys, and I am proud to be part of a team that's so committed to making a difference in the lives of our students.

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Thank you for your support, your trust, and for valuing the work we do.

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Thank you.

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Finally, it is my pleasure to introduce this year's South Windsor Teacher of the Year, our most prestigious award, to Mrs. April Davis, science teacher at South Windsor High School.

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April is known for being deeply student focused and a true team player.

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She consistently supports, encourages, and motivates her students while also dedicating

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her energy to the success of all learners in her district.

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Beyond the classroom, she advises several student organizations, including the Black Student

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Alliance, Science Bowl, and Science Honor Society.

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She also contributes her time and expertise as a member of both the High School and District

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Equity Committees.

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April's commitment extends well beyond the school day.

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There are few days when she is not offering her time after school to support students and colleagues alike.

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We are proud to name April Davis as our teacher of the year and is my pleasure to welcome April to the podium.

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Good afternoon.

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It feels like convocation again. I said I was not going to cry and I'm getting tears already.

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But I am honored to be the teacher of the year

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to represent all of the amazing teachers that we do have here.

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I'm at the high school, but I represent all of the teachers in the district.

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And the common thing that I've seen for everyone that has come before me is the support

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and collaboration that we have within our district.

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And I know that I would not be able to do all the things that I'm able to do without the support

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of the people that are actually here today.

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Our principal, associate principal,

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you know, Arnica, Tracy, Dr. Carter, everyone, your support.

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It really means a lot and it's great to be in a district where you feel

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hurt and you know that if there is a problem with anything, people are

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listening and they will do what they can to make sure that there's

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change. And so I'm going to say what I said at a

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communication. Keep speaking up if you feel that you're not

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getting a support you need. Please talk to the people that

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you need to talk to because I do that and they always support

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me. So I feel that if you need help speak up. And I'm just

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very honored. And I suppose they also thank you everyone who

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has been reminding me to tell everybody. I'm not sure if you

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But I find out, we found out that you went over to summer, and so I spent the whole summer not saying anything.

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And so I've kind of got used to not telling people that I'm teacher of the year.

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So thank you to those who constantly are saying congratulations and saying you need to speak up literally by you know, so thank you.

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And then just finally tonight, in front of board members, you have a handout that was sent out to all families yesterday.

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We're really excited having an event at the high school on October 22nd, it's something

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I'm very passionate about and that is promoting the trades as a career path.

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What I was not expecting is the incredible excitement that I'm already hearing from families,

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parents, kids, certainly.

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There are so many folks coming from the industry that evening and lending their time and

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And the list keeps growing, we're getting calls today saying, how can we be a part of this?

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Can we join, can we be a part of it?

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So we're really excited not only about all the members in the community, in the skilled trades community,

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who are going to be there that evening, and the list keeps going.

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But I'm also really excited about just the response that we've gotten from families.

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It's clearly this is a conversation that is needed and maybe isn't always front and

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center, and so I am very proud and enthusiastic about what might be our first annual event to promote careers in the skilled trades.

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So your flyer is here, it went out to all families, and like I said, we're already getting calls from people outside of the school district asking if they can be a part of it.

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Thank you.

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Thank you, Dr. Carter.

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Thank you, staff, the Southlands are.

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Next we have a student representatives for the good news from schools.

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Thank you.

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Eli Terry, fifth grade classes participated in a week-long field trip to Starbase in Windsor

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Locks.

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Starbase is a hands-on STEM learning experience where students explore science, technology,

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engineering, and math in creative new ways.

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Orgid Hill welcomed 40 new families to their community and hosted their open house on September

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11th.

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Pleasant Valley celebrated Vidita Vatsa, who won the top innovator award on the national

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level for her project, the Intel trash bot.

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Fifth-grader, Ria Muthakrishan, had her letter to Poet Joey Landon selected out of more

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than 2,100 entries from around the world to be published in the Academy of American Poets

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Dear Poet 2025 booklet.

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Timothy Edwards Middle School, so the sixth grade ice cream social, this helps students

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Adjust the middle school, they're quickly adapting to middle school life, navigating the buildings and new friends. Next, we have week and next Wednesdays. PTO's new family engagement initiative begins September 24th with a bingo fundraiser for the South Windsor Food Bank. Then we have salsa lessons. On September 25th, they celebrated Hispanic Heritage Month with a community event for students and staff. And South Windsor High School, for the opening week, they focus on building connections and allowing with our elevate vision

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for 2025 to 2026.

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We had our open house on September 4th,

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and over 300 athletes are participating

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in false boards programs.

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We have the college fair on October 9th,

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welcoming representatives from over 100 colleges

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and universities.

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PSATs are scheduled for October 16th and Homecoming Week,

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is from October 20th to October 24th,

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and we have our football game on October 23rd,

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and our homecoming dance on October 24th.

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Thank you. Well done. Next, we have board members. Anyone from the board want to have communication?

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Mr. Mackie, sir. Thank you, Chairwoman Manila. As many of you know, Dr. Carter has been a

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constant presence in our schools for many years. In fact, it's been 15 years of her strong leadership.

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In most professions, people hope that as the years go by, the work gets a little easier,

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a little more comfortable, maybe even a little bit more at vacation days.

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I think it's safe to say that that is not in the case for Dr. Carter.

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The daily challenges she faces are anything but easy or comfortable.

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And it is very tough to take a vacation when you might need to squeeze in a quick meeting or an interview.

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Yeah, throughout her time here she has overseen the building of new schools.

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She continues to guide us through an unprecedented enrollment challenges,

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provides mentorship to our employees as education changes dramatically and most importantly she stays focused on fostering a culture of positivity and excellence for both our staff and our students.

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It is rare in education for a district to have the same superintendent for more than a handful of years let alone 15.

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That kind of longevity speaks volumes about both her dedication to South Windsor and the experience she brings to the table every single day.

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A good leader is someone who inspires and motivates those around them to want to be their best.

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And I think everyone here would agree that the adults you lead are more motivated than

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ever to do what's best for our kids because of the example and expectations you set.

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People rarely get the chance while they are in the middle of it to reflect on the value

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they bring.

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Dr. Carter, we hope you are as proud of yourself and your accomplishments over the past 15

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years as all of we are.

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Normally, this is where Dr. Carter would give all the credit to the rest of her team.

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But tonight, we're not interested in hearing any of your, sorry, this

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is your moment.

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And honestly, the Yankees are on, and we've got to get this meeting going a little fast.

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Be careful, this one, we've got to look for a new one over here.

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Sorry.

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On behalf of the entire Board of Education, past and present, over the past 15 years, we thank

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you.

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Thank you for not just your dedication and service, but for your time, energy, and genuine

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care to put the put to put make sure ensuring that our students are supported and our staff understand

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their value. We have a small plaque somewhere here. Turn to if he's going to help me. I did not tell

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her that so right now.

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We have a small plaque to mark your milestone and just to be clear it's not a

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retirement plaque. In fact some of us are looking forward to presenting your 30-year plaque maybe under

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the lights.

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We

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don't care.

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So don't say anything.

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Just kidding.

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We do care.

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I'm kidding.

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I'm kidding.

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I'm kidding.

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Mrs. Amy.

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Oh, certain.

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Oh.

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Okay.

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Well, that was certainly unexpected and a lovely, lovely surprise.

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And I can't be happier that it is in front of the team that I would be getting

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credited if I was allowed to do that.

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I was not expecting this and I can't think of a better audience to have also my mom and dad are watching from home.

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So they're watching too. They're probably very happy right now.

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But I will say, you know, just quickly because I'm a little bit, this is unexpected, but I moved to this town 25 years ago,

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and I could not have imagined 25 years ago that today I'd be looking back on having been your superintendent for 15 years.

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There is not a day that goes by that I don't feel grateful for being in this position,

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for working with such an amazing board and all the boards that I've worked with over the years.

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It is such an amazing community. People care about one another. They champion public education.

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They want the best for their children. They want to support the schools. They are truly, truly partners with us.

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And I just every day, I still feel lucky and fortunate that I ended up with the opportunity to lead such an amazing, amazing school district with so many unbelievable teachers and all of our support staff and all of our buildings.

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So I am caught off guard by this and I am aware that the average length of time in Connecticut for a school superintendent to be in the same district as four years.

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So here I am entering year 16, so I am beating the odds, but I would not want to do this job anywhere else.

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I feel incredibly fortunate to be an educational leader and a colleague in South Windsor.

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So thank you, and this was very, very kind of you and unexpected.

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Thank you, Mr. Ziming.

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Yeah, thank you, Chairwoman Manila.

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So one of the things you learn really quick, I see some people running for the board.

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If you don't want to follow Dr. Carter, but now I guess we have to add Mr. Mackey to that group that you don't want to follow

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I'm glad I wasn't the first person to point out that there's not a Yankee game. There's actually a Red Suck game

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And I'm hoping that maybe the athletic director in the back can give us a little signal that that's positive

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And I did love the reference to lights, but for anybody concerned, that's not on the referendum so we didn't just break the rules.

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It's all good.

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Dr. Carter, could you, first of all, that this trades event, which I think is phenomenal.

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Could you just point out to people what this picture is?

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So the picture that we've used is a picture of Taylor Kraus, who's a senior project manager at Gilbane Building Company, and we had a program, this is actually back for the Orchard Hill Project, although we did it for multiple projects over the 10 years.

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And Gilbane did a mentoring program to expose students who were interested in going to an actual construction site and seeing the work that gets done.

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So that is Taylor, who worked with us from Gilbane for many, many years throughout the entire 10-year plan.

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And we're pleased to have her be a part of this messaging that we're sending out.

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Yeah, thank you.

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And I assume former Board of Ed members will be invited.

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Oh, it's October.

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Oh, that's good, all right, I'm already looking forward.

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So the last thing is I just wanted to take a minute.

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that groups like this kind of both in South Windsor and nationally, it's really rare to have boards of ed and I think that get along and have gotten along and have been as productive as we have obviously over the 15 years but for the people I want to talk to over the last few years, I'm not saying what goes on in other parts of the town but nationally this doesn't happen.

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If you watched our meetings, this isn't what normally happens.

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So I want to thank everybody, but I specifically want to just put a shout out to DePaulie and Kenna that this board will not be the same.

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I want Beth, but I got Beth, geez.

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I want to thank Kenna and DePaulie, because this board will not be the same come November.

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Obviously, there's some really good people running on both sides, and the next will be a little bit different.

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but you both offered something to this board that I think was really special and unique.

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And that's why I think the board worked so well, is everybody brought a different talent and interest, so I want to thank you.

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I clearly want to thank Beth and Mrs. Estman for what I just said, also for taking a leadership position.

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And for those of you who didn't know, I mean, I would be here a mess a few years ago.

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She was one of two board members who helped save my life.

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So I think we have a little bit of a special bond, and well, I think all three won't be running in November.

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Hopefully, at some point in the future, all three will make a reappearance helping the town,

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whether it's in a pointed position or an elected position, because I think the town will be better for that.

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So obviously, I wish you guys all well, all right?

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I see that.

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Thank you.

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I'm telling you, I'm not going to fall about the car or Mr. Mackey.

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Next, we have hearing your visitors.

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Is there anyone in the room with that would like to speak to the board tonight?

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When it's your turn, please speak.

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At least start by giving us your name and address.

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Just a reminder that the board does not respond to public comment.

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Each person should limit their comments to three minutes.

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I told them that a public comment will be limited to 15 minutes unless extended by the board.

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Just a reminder that there will be a second opportunity for the public comment near the end of the meeting.

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Most importantly, this is your opportunity to be heard by the boy and the boy's time to just listen.

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Mrs. Walsh will keep track of time and she and I will let you know when it's time to quickly wrap up your comments.

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And so is there anybody who would like to come up?

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Okay, seeing none, moving on.

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Next, consent calendar.

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Move the consent calendar.

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Okay, second.

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All in favor?

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Hi.

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Congratulations.

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Move to approve the following donations.

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$10,500 from first to the South Windsor High School Robotics.

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$800 from the Russian School of Mathematics

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to South Windsor High School Science and Limpiad.

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00:26:37,890 --> 00:26:41,050
$3,571 from Ingenie, Whitney.

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In June, in time, NE, gas ink to Southlands or high school, robotics, $542.76 from the Eli Terry PTO to Eli Terry School, and $12,987.46 from Philip R. Smith PTO to Philip R. Smith School.

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Any comments?

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One favor?

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Chair.

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Chair.

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Opposed?

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Motion carries.

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Thank you.

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That's a car.

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Superintendent School Reports.

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At this time, I turn things over to Mrs. Peterson.

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All right.

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Good evening, Chairwoman Manila and Board Members.

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Tonight, I will share with you the results of our spring state assessments.

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The state assessment system is one measure of our overall academic performance.

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It is best used as an opportunity to examine district level instructional expectations

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and practices, identify areas of strength that can be scaled up in other areas as well

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as identify curriculum and potentially future staffing needs.

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Tonight's results will be broken into three content areas, literacy, mathematics, and science.

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In order to measure achievement in literacy and mathematics, students in grades 3 through 8 take an assessment named Smarter Balance.

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11th graders take what is called the Connecticut School Day SAT as the measure of literacy in math achievement in high school.

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And science is measured in grades 5, 8 and 11 by an assessment called the next generation science standards.

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So let's start with literacy.

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When looking at data, we typically look at achievement over time.

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Data over time paints a more accurate picture.

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Are we moving in the right direction?

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Is there a problem or a challenge with our curriculum?

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Are our instructional strategies having their intended impact, etc.?

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And it's better than only one year's worth of data that really only tells us how one group of students did at that one moment in time.

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That being said, this slide reflects three years of what we call unmatched cohort literacy achievement in grades three through eight.

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An unmatched cohort simply refers to the fact that these numbers reflect different students

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in the same greed and different

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We will look at March cohorts. What is clear on this slide is that we consistently year-over-year outperform the state. What's remarkable, as reflected by the last group of bars, is that despite significant increases in enrollment, fluidity of teacher assignments and shifting curricular priorities, about 70% of South Windsor students continue to score a three or four on this particular

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assessment of literacy skills.

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The information presented here is achievement in literacy for matched cohorts. In other words, how did the same third graders perform in fourth grade and then again in fifth grade?

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To best understand this chart, you can follow the color coding as a guide.

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The best case scenario of matched cohort data is what we see in gray.

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67% of third graders in 2223 achieved the benchmark as fourth graders, 73% hit the benchmark and last year as fifth graders, 75% successfully met the benchmark, reflecting increased numbers of students meeting benchmarks year over year.

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I'd also highlight with the exception of last year's six graders performance from 2023-24 to 2024-25 increased in each grade.

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The information presented here adds some context to our achievement within the dirt at the elementary level.

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Across the three tested grades represented here, our performance is either in the top third as represented by our third graders,

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or solidly in the middle of our DERG.

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This data is our middle school grades

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as fact performance within the DERG,

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and here you can see our middle school performance

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places us at the lower end of our DERG,

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something that we are aware of and monitoring.

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The data here is just the combined literacy performance

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in grades three through eight within the DERG.

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As I mentioned earlier, high school performance

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and literacy in math is measured by the SAT.

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This information is the average score obtained by South Windsor students as compared to the state.

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While consistently outperforming the state, we can also see a slight uptick in SAT literacy performance.

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Our biggest jump was from 2023 to 2024, with a slight uptick in 2425, which we hope is indicative of a positive trend.

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The

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data in this slide shows the percentage of students who are meeting or exceeding the

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benchmark.

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What's remarkable about this data point is not only the significant number of students

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who are meeting the benchmark, but last year's 11th graders who represent that 77% and 2425.

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As eighth graders, only 68% met the benchmark in literacy on SBAC.

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And although these are different assessments, we can infer through the work of our high school staff,

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that they were able to increase achievement from 8th to 11th grade by almost 10%,

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which is significant at the secondary level.

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Again, here we have our literacy performance is measured by the SAT in the context of our DERG.

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As evidenced by the previous slide, we're making progress toward improving performance,

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but continue to refine our curriculum and instructional strategies to move the needle forward,

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cast a wider net on both the percent meeting the benchmark, as well as the average score earned.

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Now on to mathematics.

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And because the slides are exactly different, I won't go into the same explanation of them.

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So like you saw with literacy, the slide represents the three years of achievement in grades three through eight in math.

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Like our literacy performance, we continue to outperform the state, and on average in these grades, we've been able to maintain almost 70% of students meeting the benchmark over the last three years.

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I would also like to highlight performance in grades three and eight, both showing steady improvement over time.

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In grade 3, I also think it's important to note that that improvement includes the high

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quality instruction students receive in our non-tested grades K through 2.

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So you can see 74 is 73, 80 is our third grade trajectory over the last three years.

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In grade 8, a significant amount of work has been done around curriculum and

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improving tier 1 instructional practices.

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We believe this has also resulted in increased achievement over the last three years,

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which was more in alignment with the other grades at the middle school.

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So you can see three years ago, our eighth grade performance was at about 56% of students meeting benchmarks.

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And over time, they've increased that to 64%, which is more aligned with six and seventh grade performance.

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Here again, we have math cohort data and math.

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Admittedly, we do not experience the type of growth from year to year we've seen in literacy.

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Two factors we are examining and continue to pay close attention to our one,

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ensuring that there's vertical alignment within the curriculum from year to year.

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And two, we're looking at how is content spiraled and

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revisited through the various grade levels to support student retention from year to year.

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Again, here we're looking at elementary math performance in the context of the DERG.

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Not only is our third grade strong overall, but also clearly showing strong performance in the DERG.

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Fourth grade, someone in the middle and some slippage in the fifth grade.

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Similarly,

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to literacy, our middle school math performance does dip when compared to our dirt partners.

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While some of the differences between the levels can reflect small numbers,

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here I would also note that the configurations of middle schools vary greatly within the dirt and can have an impact on achievement.

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For example, some of our dirt partners have five, six middle schools, some have seven, eight,

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some even have five, six, seven, eight.

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We are also the largest single middle school in the DERG,

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and have demographics that are very different,

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and the demographics across the DERG are also very different

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from district to district.

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I only mention this to say that sometimes DERG comparison,

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especially at the middle school level,

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are not exactly Apple's Tapples.

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This again shows our aggregate math performance

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and grades 3 through 8 within our DERG, and overall performing about in the middle of DERG B.

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SAT, performance in math as reflected in this slide shows South Windsor High School

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performance as compared to the state.

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It is clear that our performance is well above the state average and has remained consistent

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over the last three years.

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When examining this data from the lens of the percentage of students meeting the benchmark,

448
00:38:33,460 --> 00:38:36,860
Our district performance is, again, well above the state.

449
00:38:37,840 --> 00:38:45,620
The high school's performance has also been consistent over the last three years with about half of 11th graders meeting or exceeding the benchmark.

450
00:38:46,360 --> 00:38:56,800
However, we are working to increase that percentage of students who are reaching the math benchmark closer to the number of students who are meeting the benchmark in literacy.

451
00:38:56,800 --> 00:38:57,880
When

452
00:39:01,520 --> 00:39:07,260
looking at both the percentage of students meeting the benchmark and the average scored earned,

453
00:39:07,820 --> 00:39:12,960
you can see we perform solidly in the middle of our DERG when it comes to mathematics.

454
00:39:16,540 --> 00:39:19,480
Last but not least, let's look at science.

455
00:39:21,440 --> 00:39:29,000
Three years of science performance in grades 5, 8, and 11 reflects the district's consistent outperformance of the state.

456
00:39:29,000 --> 00:39:36,940
Like in our other tested content areas, we are averaging about 70% of students meeting benchmarks.

457
00:39:41,340 --> 00:39:47,570
While last year's fifth and eighth graders did not perform as well as compared to the DERG,

458
00:39:47,950 --> 00:39:52,610
our 11th graders performed better landing about in the middle of the DERG.

459
00:39:53,700 --> 00:40:00,490
Again, I do think it's worth mentioning that the small percentage points that at times separates districts in the DERG.

460
00:40:00,490 --> 00:40:06,550
The difference, for example, of our fifth graders performing where they are in the

461
00:40:06,550 --> 00:40:13,450
DERG at 71% meeting the benchmarks and say if 74% had met the benchmark, say

462
00:40:13,450 --> 00:40:20,970
someone there in the middle is about 9 to 10 students out of the 417 who were tested.

463
00:40:25,790 --> 00:40:30,390
This slide shows our aggregate performance and science relative to our DERG.

464
00:40:30,390 --> 00:40:31,290
So,

465
00:40:34,640 --> 00:40:39,000
before I conclude tonight's presentation, I want to recognize the hard work that goes

466
00:40:39,000 --> 00:40:41,340
into preparing students for these assessments.

467
00:40:41,920 --> 00:40:48,220
I'll reiterate that we examine this data through a variety of lenses at every level to ensure

468
00:40:48,220 --> 00:40:52,900
we are working to meet the needs of our students in the expectations of our community.

469
00:40:53,540 --> 00:40:59,460
Our teachers work tirelessly as do the people who are sitting behind me to ensure we are providing

470
00:40:59,460 --> 00:41:02,400
a high quality educational experience for students.

471
00:41:02,400 --> 00:41:05,540
That being said, here are some of our next steps.

472
00:41:06,320 --> 00:41:12,120
Last year, Districtwide K-8, we implemented a new assessment system called I-Ready, I-Ready,

473
00:41:12,200 --> 00:41:16,180
to monitor progress in mapping literacy to replace the STAR assessment.

474
00:41:16,680 --> 00:41:22,920
This assessment provides more specific information about student performance and comes with

475
00:41:22,920 --> 00:41:26,380
a companion product that we have also purchased called MyPath.

476
00:41:26,380 --> 00:41:32,120
My path helps create lessons that are targeted towards specific student strengths and needs.

477
00:41:32,920 --> 00:41:37,080
And in our second year of implementation, we are confident that now that we have a better

478
00:41:37,080 --> 00:41:42,260
understanding of the tool, that this will also help us to identify areas of strength and

479
00:41:42,260 --> 00:41:43,500
opportunities to grow.

480
00:41:44,220 --> 00:41:50,080
In the same vein, we have adjusted our testing window for grades 3-3-8 so that the eye-ready

481
00:41:50,080 --> 00:41:54,440
assessment can be used in a more timely fashion to impact incomes.

482
00:41:54,440 --> 00:41:59,580
So typically what we've done, and those of you who have students have received letters about improvement,

483
00:41:59,900 --> 00:42:03,640
students have been tested in September, January, and May.

484
00:42:04,340 --> 00:42:06,900
We've shifted that to two testing windows.

485
00:42:07,420 --> 00:42:10,080
September and February in grades three through eight.

486
00:42:10,700 --> 00:42:15,340
This allows teachers to use information from the February assessment to help

487
00:42:15,340 --> 00:42:19,540
personalize instruction for students prior to our state assessments.

488
00:42:19,540 --> 00:42:26,200
At all levels, we continue to examine our professional learning community practices, ensuring

489
00:42:26,200 --> 00:42:31,820
that this time is used to examine student work, analyze assessment data, and plan instruction

490
00:42:31,820 --> 00:42:35,800
appropriately using the most efficacious teaching practices.

491
00:42:36,780 --> 00:42:44,700
We continue to employ and refine our MTSS practices, ensuring consistency in executing interventions

492
00:42:44,700 --> 00:42:54,400
and progress monitoring, better communication between levels, and providing additional supports at the high school levels for students who require this.

493
00:42:55,560 --> 00:43:02,000
In ELA at the elementary level, we will continue to focus on the science of reading professional development K-5.

494
00:43:03,000 --> 00:43:10,700
At TAMS, we're creating common formative assessment for every unit in our core areas of destruction.

495
00:43:10,700 --> 00:43:17,720
These assessment should provide increased clarity to staff about what students already know.

496
00:43:18,340 --> 00:43:22,720
And ensure that what we are teaching is aligned with their prior knowledge,

497
00:43:23,180 --> 00:43:29,560
fills in necessary prerequisite knowledge, that might be missing and is delivered at the appropriate challenge level.

498
00:43:30,760 --> 00:43:37,980
Also at Tim's, we are continuing to create a common understanding of what it means to have high and challenging expectations for all students.

499
00:43:37,980 --> 00:43:53,860
We use this language in place of rigor because often people can't actually tell you what rigorous means in the context of education or an education task and it usually gets interpreted as we do more or we do or we make it harder.

500
00:43:53,860 --> 00:43:59,100
Neither of which actually accomplish is accomplished by when discussing rigor.

501
00:43:59,560 --> 00:44:06,060
In this way, we're working with tech coaches to create an AI chatbot that can analyze tasks for

502
00:44:06,060 --> 00:44:14,120
their complexity, their challenge, and their cognitive demand to ensure that students are being challenged appropriately at the middle school.

503
00:44:14,760 --> 00:44:20,000
Middle school math teachers are examining the intentional inclusion of spiraling content.

504
00:44:20,000 --> 00:44:24,100
As I mentioned earlier, all year long to help with the retention and

505
00:44:24,100 --> 00:44:27,100
calibrating what it means to communicate reasoning and math.

506
00:44:27,920 --> 00:44:31,520
Also at the middle school, we've been working on social studies and

507
00:44:31,520 --> 00:44:35,720
science teachers to ensure that while students are learning content,

508
00:44:35,940 --> 00:44:38,100
they are experiencing grade level texts.

509
00:44:38,800 --> 00:44:44,340
This supports informational reading done in ESFAC, in GSS, and on the SAT.

510
00:44:45,420 --> 00:44:48,620
At the high school, as you know, this will be our first year,

511
00:44:48,620 --> 00:44:53,960
our new mass glancing will go into effect, where students will now take algebra, followed

512
00:44:53,960 --> 00:44:59,460
by algebra 2 and then geometry, because there is more algebra 2 on the SAT.

513
00:45:00,180 --> 00:45:29,800
And last year, the High School of the Math Department spent an entire year re-aligning all math courses with the introduction of the pre-calculus AP course. This allowed us to ensure vertical alignment with standards, avoid overlap and intentionally integrate SAT-like questions and tools into each course. At the high school level, also this summer we spent a great deal of time also aligning the English curriculum, also intentionally embedding SAT-like questions into the curriculum.

514
00:45:29,800 --> 00:45:36,000
Integrating more grammar, and like in math, ensuring vertical alignment of standards.

515
00:45:36,660 --> 00:45:52,940
And then lastly, in this year's budget, I will be requesting a math coach at both middle and high school to help facilitate and grow achievement, because we know that this type of embedded PD is extremely effective and has produced positive outcomes for students.

516
00:45:53,500 --> 00:45:56,580
And thank you, that ends my report, and I will take you in questions.

517
00:45:56,580 --> 00:45:57,380
Mr.

518
00:46:14,360 --> 00:46:14,800
Zimmerman.

519
00:46:15,140 --> 00:46:16,400
Thank you, Chairwoman Manila.

520
00:46:17,940 --> 00:46:23,660
I'm not sure who to direct the question to, but can somebody just maybe walk us through

521
00:46:23,660 --> 00:46:30,200
really high level since we're compared to people in our dirt, kind of what that means.

522
00:46:30,540 --> 00:46:34,840
And for those of you that are sports fans, I always refer to it as we're like in the biggest

523
00:46:35,580 --> 00:46:36,460
for basketball.

524
00:46:36,820 --> 00:46:38,360
And that's who we get compared against.

525
00:46:38,500 --> 00:46:40,880
But can somebody just give us a little bit of?

526
00:46:41,900 --> 00:46:51,220
Sure, so many years ago, I couldn't even tell you when the dergs were created by the state.

527
00:46:51,980 --> 00:46:57,940
And typically, they're supposed to look at towns with similar economics, demographic,

528
00:46:58,600 --> 00:47:00,580
size, all of those types of things.

529
00:47:01,260 --> 00:47:04,920
And as a result, we have ended up in Dergby.

530
00:47:04,920 --> 00:47:10,580
I will tell you, in 2016, the state did reshuffle some of those

531
00:47:10,580 --> 00:47:13,440
dergs, no one embraced it, but they were reshuffled.

532
00:47:14,100 --> 00:47:20,720
But that is how it's determined to which derg we belong.

533
00:47:21,080 --> 00:47:26,300
But all of the towns in those dergs have shifting demographics size.

534
00:47:26,300 --> 00:47:29,740
They are very different when you look at them.

535
00:47:30,280 --> 00:47:39,700
Okay, thank you, and I should have really started with, you know, thanking everybody in the audience and all the teachers that are at home and the people that are in our classrooms every day.

536
00:47:40,000 --> 00:47:54,620
I can't imagine how hard their jobs are and how complicated it is to both teach the curriculum and also, you know, try to have us do as well as possible and, you know, things like this where we're comparing.

537
00:47:55,660 --> 00:48:01,040
I know you talked about, and this is Peterson, a little bit about how close some of the scores are.

538
00:48:01,640 --> 00:48:05,080
I mean, in a perfect world, I think we'd all like to see us at the top of every column.

539
00:48:05,640 --> 00:48:09,060
That would be really easy, and as a board member, that would feel pretty good.

540
00:48:11,040 --> 00:48:16,940
And I know that's certainly the goal, but again, I'm not sure, Mrs. Peterson, you are Dr. Carter.

541
00:48:17,380 --> 00:48:23,200
I'm assuming this is, and I was sitting next to somebody with some experience, this is really complicated.

542
00:48:23,200 --> 00:48:30,740
for us, this isn't our job, but the class size, spending, knowledge, test taking abilities.

543
00:48:31,560 --> 00:48:35,240
How many percentage of your kids actually, the students actually take the test?

544
00:48:36,880 --> 00:48:38,740
What ELL percentage?

545
00:48:39,280 --> 00:48:45,320
I mean, there's a whole bunch of factors, so if somebody were to look at this quickly and

546
00:48:45,320 --> 00:48:51,200
say, I'm looking at a chart where we're, so on page five,

547
00:48:51,200 --> 00:48:56,620
that we're, I don't know, seventh from the top, pretty good, seems various, a couple spots ahead of us.

548
00:48:57,000 --> 00:49:05,600
Looks good, without knowing everything else, I'm not sure you actually get the story that we should be getting.

549
00:49:06,020 --> 00:49:12,460
And I just want to throw out something because to me, one of the things that I would fall back on,

550
00:49:13,340 --> 00:49:21,060
because I did do a little quick review, we're spending $1,000 to $4,000 less per child.

551
00:49:21,060 --> 00:49:23,780
than every school district in our DERG.

552
00:49:24,080 --> 00:49:28,300
And just to take those numbers and put them in perspective for anybody watching,

553
00:49:29,360 --> 00:49:33,320
that's $5 to $20 million added to our to budget.

554
00:49:33,520 --> 00:49:39,360
Not that if we spend $5 million or $20 million automatically, we would rise because nobody's making that statement.

555
00:49:39,780 --> 00:49:41,920
But I'm guessing it wouldn't hurt us.

556
00:49:42,320 --> 00:49:46,060
We wouldn't be doing any worse, we might be doing a little bit better.

557
00:49:46,060 --> 00:49:53,760
I'm assuming, you know, I tried to teach a first aid, first visit class for one day, way back in the day.

558
00:49:53,960 --> 00:49:59,600
I think class size, if I had to look at all the things, if we could miraculously change class size,

559
00:49:59,700 --> 00:50:02,120
I would think that would have, you know, something to do.

560
00:50:02,580 --> 00:50:09,560
But before other people ask questions and sort of take us to the weeds, which is fun, that's what we're here for tonight.

561
00:50:09,560 --> 00:50:16,120
Can you just talk about money, classes, test-taking ability, EOL?

562
00:50:16,500 --> 00:50:18,940
I mean, did I leave something off the list?

563
00:50:19,740 --> 00:50:24,480
No, I don't think you've left something off the list, and I think what you've highlighted

564
00:50:24,480 --> 00:50:28,520
here is something that I can tell you that research would support 100 percent.

565
00:50:29,700 --> 00:50:35,440
I do not state lightly that the fact that we've been able to maintain achievement

566
00:50:35,440 --> 00:50:39,960
been over time with our type of increase enrollment is significant.

567
00:50:40,560 --> 00:50:45,500
What research would tell you is that when schools and school districts grow as quickly

568
00:50:45,500 --> 00:50:50,860
as we have, in order for the district to adapt to that kind of growth, you just typically tend

569
00:50:50,860 --> 00:50:58,420
to see dips as people are learning, as people are embracing new things in those types of factors.

570
00:50:58,920 --> 00:51:03,240
So the fact that across the level that we've been able to maintain this level of achievement,

571
00:51:03,240 --> 00:51:29,600
Well, yes, I understand that when you just quickly glance at the dirt, you might say, well, where are we in the dirt, but no other district in our dirt can claim that kind of enrollment increase and then our response to it, and I think that as a testament to the high quality teaching staff and administrators that are sitting behind us that continue to ensure that we're providing the best with what we have.

572
00:51:30,380 --> 00:51:36,240
And so, yes, when you have a number of English language learners or multilingual learners,

573
00:51:36,500 --> 00:51:41,660
when you have large class sizes, you know, some of our kindergarten classes in the past

574
00:51:41,660 --> 00:51:48,040
have had 22, 23 kiddos, and so when you think about a kindergarten class that might have 20 kiddos,

575
00:51:48,460 --> 00:51:52,540
some of those kiddos will come to the table ready to read, others will not know the difference

576
00:51:52,540 --> 00:51:57,580
between letters and numbers. And all of those things have an impact on learning

577
00:51:57,580 --> 00:52:06,500
as well as demographics, so everything that you mentioned all plays into success, as well as spending.

578
00:52:07,000 --> 00:52:22,200
When you can, I have sat in meetings before where I have heard the board talk about that many of the budgets that we've passed in the past have simply kept the wheels moving forward, not allowed us to expand our reach.

579
00:52:22,200 --> 00:52:28,520
And so those things absolutely will impact our ability to increase our numbers and

580
00:52:28,520 --> 00:52:31,640
increase the numbers of students who are meeting benchmarks for certain.

581
00:52:31,960 --> 00:52:33,740
Okay, and just one more, and then I'm done.

582
00:52:34,640 --> 00:52:40,420
Again, before I get misquoted, I do understand that we would like to be as high as possible.

583
00:52:40,620 --> 00:52:41,740
That certainly is the goal.

584
00:52:43,140 --> 00:52:44,400
Actually, I did have two quick ones.

585
00:52:45,000 --> 00:52:50,460
I did notice, and I talked to Dr. Carter yesterday, I just picked out one school district because I have a few friends who work there.

586
00:52:50,460 --> 00:52:55,160
And it looked like Simsbury was doing pretty well, and I've used them as an example.

587
00:52:55,400 --> 00:53:01,300
I'm assuming that every year you kind of look at how various other school districts are doing.

588
00:53:01,820 --> 00:53:08,540
And then, you know, whether it's the listserv or in some other way communicate to try to figure out, are they doing something that we're not?

589
00:53:09,320 --> 00:53:14,380
Or, you know, or is it, or are they in a different position than we are, but is that something that's part of the process?

590
00:53:14,380 --> 00:53:20,860
Sure, I actually have a colleague-like group that we meet twice a month and we talk about

591
00:53:20,860 --> 00:53:21,900
all of these things.

592
00:53:22,560 --> 00:53:24,060
And we share strategies.

593
00:53:24,360 --> 00:53:30,500
So for example, the idea of sequencing our math courses came from a conversation with

594
00:53:30,500 --> 00:53:34,200
our colleagues in West Hartford who had been doing that for several years.

595
00:53:34,660 --> 00:53:37,580
Many of us were like, oh my goodness, that makes perfect sense.

596
00:53:37,800 --> 00:53:40,400
And so several of us followed suit.

597
00:53:40,400 --> 00:53:46,780
So we constantly have those kind of conversations to compare strategies.

598
00:53:47,200 --> 00:53:51,760
We are certainly not trying to gatekeep, we want all children to be successful.

599
00:53:52,020 --> 00:54:00,980
So if one of us finds an assessment system, a strategy, a tool that's working, we definitely try to embrace it.

600
00:54:01,240 --> 00:54:06,860
So that's how we transferred from using the STAR assessment to using IREDI.

601
00:54:06,860 --> 00:54:17,220
the other districts in our Doug were using IWeddy, they were touting its success, the amount of information it was giving staff that allowed them to better meet student needs.

602
00:54:17,720 --> 00:54:25,680
And so I worked with Doug and some of our building administrators, and so we made that transition to a new platform as well.

603
00:54:25,980 --> 00:54:34,000
Okay, and definitely my last question, so I think we all understand that the administration gives the board a budget, the board deliberates.

604
00:54:34,000 --> 00:54:40,400
the board decides what to spend, send up to the council, ultimately the council gets to figure out the bottom line.

605
00:54:40,660 --> 00:54:45,960
I'm really kind of challenging the next council when they get the budget from the board.

606
00:54:47,500 --> 00:54:57,560
While they can't determine what stays and what doesn't stay, hopefully they'll look at the list of things where there's going to be a story.

607
00:54:58,020 --> 00:55:01,920
And then that we're going to say, hey, we need whether it's math coaches or whatever.

608
00:55:01,920 --> 00:55:31,900
Because we think we need to catch up a little bit, we need to move forward a little bit, and understand that things are different than when I went to school across the street, actually went to school here, things have changed, and to kind of understand the background of why certain things are asked for, and some of the things that we haven't been able to fund over the last few years, probably have had some effect on what we're seeing here, and we need to give the people in the audience what they need to

609
00:55:31,900 --> 00:55:39,500
need to do their job as best they can, and it's not about test scores, but it's about the kids leaving the school system in the best possible place that they can be.

610
00:55:39,780 --> 00:55:40,360
So, thank you.

611
00:55:42,610 --> 00:55:43,630
Thank you very much.

612
00:55:43,870 --> 00:55:44,110
Ms. Proya.

613
00:55:45,490 --> 00:55:46,390
Thank you very much.

614
00:55:46,770 --> 00:55:47,830
Thank you, Mrs. Peterson.

615
00:55:49,130 --> 00:55:50,670
I have a couple of questions.

616
00:55:51,130 --> 00:56:03,610
Before I get into that, I, you know, as we're about six weeks into the new school year, I just want to give credit to the administration and to the schools as we prepare for

617
00:56:03,610 --> 00:56:10,050
the new batch of testing, and into successfully navigating the beginning of the school year,

618
00:56:10,910 --> 00:56:17,570
especially with the number of kids that we have in our district, and the number of challenges that that poses, and the logistics.

619
00:56:18,090 --> 00:56:22,430
So, I just want to give credit to our schools and our administration and

620
00:56:22,430 --> 00:56:28,990
our administrators for navigating all that successfully, this beginning of the school year, shout out to PV and

621
00:56:28,990 --> 00:56:38,130
to do in an awesome job at that, but my question on page 4 and 13 when we talk about the match

622
00:56:38,130 --> 00:56:41,790
cohorts, is there a particular outlier?

623
00:56:42,030 --> 00:56:51,230
When we look at page 4, for example, the grade 5 transition between 23 and 24 and 24, 25,

624
00:56:51,430 --> 00:56:57,350
there's a significant decrease in that number from 82 to 69 percent.

625
00:56:57,350 --> 00:56:59,610
That's the first part of my question.

626
00:57:00,150 --> 00:57:09,190
And then on page 13, in comparison, especially to the ELA, the ELA scores,

627
00:57:10,250 --> 00:57:15,770
the math scores are so much more, they decrease so much more significantly

628
00:57:15,770 --> 00:57:17,870
from, over the past three years.

629
00:57:18,210 --> 00:57:23,610
Is there a particular outlier that explains those decreases in math?

630
00:57:23,610 --> 00:57:28,490
and then that particular 5th grade class into the 6th grade class on ELA.

631
00:57:29,230 --> 00:57:37,450
Sure, so I could not identify any one thing, but I'll tell you some of the things that do change from 5th grade to 6th grade.

632
00:57:38,010 --> 00:57:40,810
So here's a logistical change.

633
00:57:41,130 --> 00:57:49,730
So when 5th graders are in ELA, they have 120 instructional minutes at the Ellizmentary School for ELA in about 90 minutes of math.

634
00:57:49,730 --> 00:57:58,990
When they go to the middle school that is cut in half for ELA, they have about 60 minutes of ELA instruction and about 60 minutes of math.

635
00:57:59,390 --> 00:58:07,010
Well, we don't know 100% whether or not that is impacting those numbers, why that fifth to sixth grade dip happened.

636
00:58:07,390 --> 00:58:13,110
But it is a significant change in the amount of instructional time that students receive.

637
00:58:13,110 --> 00:58:23,850
You know, one of the things that I thought about when I did see that dip, I thought, you know, one of the things maybe we should try to employ is a fifth to sixth grade transition meeting.

638
00:58:24,130 --> 00:58:43,030
And while sixth grade teachers do receive the paper data, their principals, their curriculum people share with them, the data, I thought it might be more powerful if the actual fifth grade teachers sat in front of the sixth grade teachers and talked to them about the strengths of this class.

639
00:58:43,030 --> 00:58:47,350
that they are sending, there's very little communication between the levels.

640
00:58:47,690 --> 00:58:52,170
So while the sixth, seventh, and eighth grade teams have communication, fifth grade teachers

641
00:58:52,170 --> 00:58:54,810
almost never talked to the sixth grade team.

642
00:58:55,050 --> 00:58:59,970
And so I thought maybe we'll put in and I didn't talk about it the next steps because I think

643
00:58:59,970 --> 00:59:02,630
the principals are just hearing that idea for the first time.

644
00:59:07,070 --> 00:59:11,350
But you know, it's one of the ways in which we could use one of our early release Wednesdays

645
00:59:11,350 --> 00:59:16,030
in our fifth grade team to the middle school and engage in a collegial conversation about the

646
00:59:16,030 --> 00:59:23,390
students that they are receiving. But no, we are looking at that. It was a surprise to us,

647
00:59:23,610 --> 00:59:32,030
but we are definitely examining why that kind of shift may have happened. In terms of math,

648
00:59:32,390 --> 00:59:38,170
there are a couple of things that we're looking into in terms of what you might call the up-and-down

649
00:59:38,170 --> 00:59:44,350
nature of the math achievement. So one of the things that happens at the math in the middle

650
00:59:44,350 --> 00:59:49,170
school is we have three levels at almost every grade level. We have an accelerated two

651
00:59:49,170 --> 00:59:53,930
in sixth grade. We have accelerated one and then we have grade six of math. And we have

652
00:59:53,930 --> 00:59:59,970
lots of families and kiddos who want to be in accelerated classes, which sometimes can

653
01:00:00,000 --> 01:00:29,380
We can cause an imbalance of student placement in the classes. So if you're teaching grade 6 math, your continuum of learners is far greater than someone who is teaching accelerated too. And the greater the difference is in ability levels interest curiosity, the more challenging it is to meet the needs of students in those types of classes. So that's one thing. The other thing that we've noticed is that

654
01:00:29,380 --> 01:00:32,980
As I mentioned, the spiraling of content.

655
01:00:33,500 --> 01:00:40,940
A lot of times our math teachers will say some of our students have a difficult time remembering content from year to year.

656
01:00:41,640 --> 01:00:50,920
And so that's why we're looking at putting an intentionally spiraling content because as all of you are aware, math builds one on the other.

657
01:00:51,100 --> 01:00:56,820
And so if you can't remember how to do specific content or strategies in one year,

658
01:00:56,820 --> 01:01:01,940
then it can make it difficult to build on that in the next year.

659
01:01:02,760 --> 01:01:03,740
Thank you, Mrs. Peterson.

660
01:01:03,960 --> 01:01:04,400
You're welcome.

661
01:01:07,390 --> 01:01:08,030
Mrs. Smith?

662
01:01:08,330 --> 01:01:08,810
Thank you.

663
01:01:09,310 --> 01:01:11,830
So I appreciate this conversation tonight.

664
01:01:12,050 --> 01:01:18,110
I feel like a lot lately in public education are discussions about what is considered

665
01:01:18,110 --> 01:01:21,710
traditionally academic where we're having less and less of those conversations.

666
01:01:22,050 --> 01:01:25,570
So I appreciate this and I feel like there is a lot to unpack here.

667
01:01:25,570 --> 01:01:32,290
And clearly, one test score doesn't measure the success of a student or define a student,

668
01:01:32,450 --> 01:01:35,290
but the reality is they are important for opportunities.

669
01:01:35,610 --> 01:01:40,610
And we know we, as a district, the majority of our students go into college.

670
01:01:40,790 --> 01:01:43,990
I know there's fun new initiatives out there and things happening.

671
01:01:44,130 --> 01:01:46,250
But the reality is the majority are going to college.

672
01:01:47,130 --> 01:01:54,030
And even with many colleges being test optional, now we know SAT scores can have a huge impact on opportunity.

673
01:01:54,030 --> 01:01:58,390
It's not only the school that children are going to, but also scholarship opportunities.

674
01:01:58,850 --> 01:02:06,550
So I think it is an important discussion and I appreciate you sort of navigating all the different nuances here.

675
01:02:07,350 --> 01:02:11,190
And I think you touched on it, right, that the budget is a big deal.

676
01:02:11,450 --> 01:02:22,370
It's been a lot of years since we were able to what I feel like is really invest significantly into what we would consider traditional academics, right?

677
01:02:22,370 --> 01:02:26,530
And a lot of that is the enrollment and we're getting budget cuts and we have to keep the

678
01:02:26,530 --> 01:02:28,730
lights on and do the basics because of the enrollment.

679
01:02:29,870 --> 01:02:31,350
So there's a lot happening here.

680
01:02:32,330 --> 01:02:37,510
I know you've made a lot of very strategic moves to try to improve these scores and I really

681
01:02:37,510 --> 01:02:42,030
appreciate that and you touched on a lot of them tonight with the change in the curriculum

682
01:02:42,030 --> 01:02:44,850
shifts and the SAT questions embedded into classes.

683
01:02:45,730 --> 01:02:50,090
We do have that SAT prep class that's embedded into the high school and I know we've had

684
01:02:50,090 --> 01:02:54,390
some conversations about that and trying to improve that and I think it is an important

685
01:02:54,390 --> 01:02:59,730
piece, right? We have a lot of students who are athletes or who are working or have responsibilities

686
01:02:59,730 --> 01:03:05,710
after school or financial barriers where they can't participate in some of these SAT prep courses.

687
01:03:06,010 --> 01:03:11,230
So if you could just touch a little bit on are we doing anything to sort of improve what we're

688
01:03:11,230 --> 01:03:15,390
offering during the school day and just any other comments because I know you've made a lot of

689
01:03:15,390 --> 01:03:17,010
changes over the past to improve that?

690
01:03:17,390 --> 01:03:26,090
Sure, so with board support, we invested in some new resources to better resource those courses.

691
01:03:26,290 --> 01:03:31,070
We've looked at splitting it up so it wasn't just a combination course, right?

692
01:03:31,210 --> 01:03:39,810
So if you really needed math support and not ELA, we didn't want to force kids to sit through the ELA pieces and not the math pieces.

693
01:03:40,310 --> 01:03:44,650
So that's one of the pieces that we've really looked at in terms of investment.

694
01:03:44,650 --> 01:04:00,330
The challenge with the course sometimes can be the schedule and where it fits in a kiddo's schedule and how they make those choices and as you know, it's not a weighted course, so it doesn't contribute to a student's GPA.

695
01:04:01,190 --> 01:04:14,590
So really the work is with our school counselors and with our families and really increasing their understanding and the value around the course and how it supports their ability to be successful.

696
01:04:15,230 --> 01:04:32,270
Because really, Mr. Ryan, I talk about this all the time, if we were just looking at the number of our kiddos who get perfect scores or score at the top end of any of these assessments, even if you went back to third, fourth and fifth grade, it says performance this year.

697
01:04:32,270 --> 01:04:50,250
Over 40%, almost 50% of our students are scoring at the highest level, where we need more attention which things like our SAT courses are, not necessarily our highest achievers, but sometimes those kiddos who we call are on the bubble.

698
01:04:50,710 --> 01:04:53,530
Sometimes they hit the benchmark, sometimes they don't.

699
01:04:53,530 --> 01:04:58,410
And often they just need more time and support in order to do so.

700
01:04:58,970 --> 01:05:03,990
And so really being able to focus our efforts there would also help us.

701
01:05:04,090 --> 01:05:13,490
So I can tell you over many years in math, about 28 to 30 percent of our kiddos end up being level two.

702
01:05:14,270 --> 01:05:14,370
Right?

703
01:05:14,530 --> 01:05:18,390
So they're right below where we need them to be in that level three.

704
01:05:18,390 --> 01:05:24,590
And that requires more support in order to improve their outcomes.

705
01:05:25,210 --> 01:05:28,930
I'll mention something else that becomes a challenge.

706
01:05:29,190 --> 01:05:33,910
So for example, many high schools in our DERC have an academic support resource center.

707
01:05:34,710 --> 01:05:37,690
And I've talked about this with our high school principals.

708
01:05:38,130 --> 01:05:43,010
The challenge there isn't that we don't believe in it, it's where do we put it?

709
01:05:43,010 --> 01:06:03,310
And so there are a variety, and we're trying to be creative and think of novel ways to maybe use study halls differently and to use that as a place where we can provide support for students when things don't nicely fit into their schedule like the SAT course might, but the space is a challenge.

710
01:06:03,310 --> 01:06:07,270
We already are maxed out, as you know, at the high schools.

711
01:06:07,270 --> 01:06:13,230
So looking for a way to support students within the school day can be challenging.

712
01:06:13,530 --> 01:06:17,070
But we are definitely exploring ways in which to do that.

713
01:06:21,310 --> 01:06:23,670
Ms. Kimber, just a couple of questions.

714
01:06:24,310 --> 01:06:29,090
So going off, well at first I'd like to thank you so much for your presentation.

715
01:06:29,390 --> 01:06:29,930
Thank you.

716
01:06:30,790 --> 01:06:41,530
But going off of Mrs. Espin's question on SAT, could you let us know and let parents know what is offered during the school day?

717
01:06:41,630 --> 01:06:54,050
There's one class that's offered or a couple of classes or can you tell us, like if I'm to come in as a parent and want to have that resource for my student, what grade is it offered and just tell a little bit about that?

718
01:06:54,050 --> 01:06:57,270
So, then if I get it wrong, you can correct me.

719
01:06:57,870 --> 01:07:03,290
So, 10th grade is the target year where we like to target this piece.

720
01:07:04,070 --> 01:07:07,850
And what we try to offer are three different versions of a course.

721
01:07:08,190 --> 01:07:13,850
One is a combo course, and that's for kiddos who need support in both the literacy side

722
01:07:13,850 --> 01:07:15,390
of the SAT and the math.

723
01:07:15,890 --> 01:07:20,550
And then the other two courses are ones that are specifically focused on students who need

724
01:07:20,550 --> 01:07:25,170
math support, and then the other one is for students who need literacy support.

725
01:07:25,570 --> 01:07:29,030
Are these classes filling up when you're offering them?

726
01:07:29,170 --> 01:07:31,770
I would not say no, they are not at capacity.

727
01:07:32,230 --> 01:07:32,410
Okay.

728
01:07:32,930 --> 01:07:42,590
And I'd also like to know about if, so are there after school courses available for students that want to study after school?

729
01:07:43,130 --> 01:07:49,790
I believe there is an after school course, but I don't want to misspeak, but I believe it's for a fee.

730
01:07:49,790 --> 01:07:50,910
If I'm not mistaken.

731
01:07:51,290 --> 01:07:55,490
Okay. And then are there any other supports throughout the school day that are offered?

732
01:07:55,750 --> 01:07:58,190
Or do they just work with counselors and teachers?

733
01:07:58,190 --> 01:07:59,990
Work with counselors, work with teachers.

734
01:08:00,290 --> 01:08:03,330
I mean, the assessment and I talk about this all the time, right?

735
01:08:03,430 --> 01:08:08,470
The best way in which to support SAT growth is not necessarily through these courses.

736
01:08:09,030 --> 01:08:13,370
These are kind of courses to help you with test taking skills, to make you familiarized with the tools.

737
01:08:13,870 --> 01:08:19,670
So it is a completely different assessment than what students have taken since they were in third grade.

738
01:08:19,670 --> 01:08:25,250
So it's really a way of kind of preparing those little pieces.

739
01:08:25,750 --> 01:08:30,490
What we really want to do is ensure that our curriculum across the grade.

740
01:08:30,810 --> 01:08:37,310
So for example, one of the things that we know impacts our student scores I talked about this last year is grammar.

741
01:08:37,650 --> 01:08:39,150
We went and looked back in the curriculum.

742
01:08:39,430 --> 01:08:44,750
We were not doing as well as we could specifically teaching grammar.

743
01:08:45,170 --> 01:08:47,630
But we can't start that in ninth grade, right?

744
01:08:47,630 --> 01:08:56,350
So that means going back and looking at what's happening, K5, 678, so that when students get to the high school,

745
01:08:56,590 --> 01:09:04,250
they might be looking and applying more advanced grammar skills, but it has to be continuously taught and

746
01:09:04,250 --> 01:09:12,190
reinforced throughout the grade levels, and it takes time to see the impact of that work.

747
01:09:13,290 --> 01:09:18,310
Thank you. And then one other question, as far as the rollout goes of changing the course

748
01:09:18,310 --> 01:09:23,910
surround from algebra to geometry, are you fine? Well, this is the year you're doing that, right?

749
01:09:24,310 --> 01:09:28,910
So how are you doing that with teachers? Are they teaching, they're just teaching different grades?

750
01:09:29,030 --> 01:09:31,090
Or could you just explain how that rollout is working?

751
01:09:31,270 --> 01:09:35,850
Yeah, no. So people are typically, I mean, every year there is some movement in what people teach.

752
01:09:35,850 --> 01:09:38,270
It's really just how we offer core sequencing.

753
01:09:38,770 --> 01:09:46,990
So let's say if you leave TE and you've already taken algebra, typically what you would

754
01:09:46,990 --> 01:09:52,590
have taken in 9th grade would have been geometry and in 10th grade you would have taken algebra

755
01:09:52,590 --> 01:09:52,970
2.

756
01:09:53,590 --> 01:09:59,670
But what we've discovered is that there is more algebra 2 on the SAT than there is geometry.

757
01:09:59,910 --> 01:10:04,870
Geometry is probably the smallest portion of the SAT math side.

758
01:10:04,870 --> 01:10:09,410
And so students in 11th grade take the SAT in March.

759
01:10:09,790 --> 01:10:15,070
So if you're taking Algebra 2 in March, when you're taking the SAT,

760
01:10:15,670 --> 01:10:21,470
it means there's almost a third of the curriculum you have not yet even been exposed to.

761
01:10:21,710 --> 01:10:25,690
And so it would make it very difficult for you to be successful.

762
01:10:26,150 --> 01:10:34,750
Unless you were in an accelerated path, which is what we see that our accelerated students are doing much better on these assessments.

763
01:10:34,750 --> 01:10:39,150
But they've had exposure to all of the content prior to the assessment.

764
01:10:39,550 --> 01:10:43,350
So it's really just in the way in which we recommend what your next course sequence will be.

765
01:10:44,410 --> 01:10:45,650
Thank you very much for that.

766
01:10:45,890 --> 01:10:46,150
Of course,

767
01:10:50,360 --> 01:10:51,600
Mr. Mackie, sir.

768
01:10:52,280 --> 01:11:02,660
Yeah, I just wanted to say with all due respect, I think Greg and Tracy forgot one thing that has to go into the testing scores.

769
01:11:02,660 --> 01:11:06,880
is we're kind of forgetting that the student's behavior goes into it.

770
01:11:07,140 --> 01:11:09,600
In addition to teacher burnout goes into it.

771
01:11:09,900 --> 01:11:14,320
In addition to the culture and the environment that the kids are actually learning in.

772
01:11:14,820 --> 01:11:18,600
As much as we want to say, it's just about the work and school and all that.

773
01:11:18,860 --> 01:11:22,940
Kids aren't learning if they aren't enjoying the class or the teacher's not doing a good job.

774
01:11:22,940 --> 01:11:24,940
The teacher's not happy and those things aren't happening.

775
01:11:25,280 --> 01:11:27,860
So I'm not saying that that affects our scores here.

776
01:11:27,860 --> 01:11:32,400
But I think there is something to be said about the environment that the school has.

777
01:11:32,980 --> 01:11:35,940
And in addition to that, the way the kids act these days.

778
01:11:36,240 --> 01:11:42,000
And it is a little bit different than maybe it was when Dr. Carter first got here 15 years ago.

779
01:11:42,420 --> 01:11:47,900
So I think that's something that can be part of an intangible into our scores.

780
01:11:48,200 --> 01:11:51,740
I would not disagree with that statement at all.

781
01:11:52,020 --> 01:11:56,180
So for example, when I talked about shifting priorities several years ago,

782
01:11:56,180 --> 01:12:01,860
So, as you know, we brought in a social and emotional learning curriculum called ruler.

783
01:12:02,300 --> 01:12:08,320
Because, post-pandemic, it was very clear, it was probably happening even before the pandemic,

784
01:12:08,320 --> 01:12:23,620
but I think the pandemic probably exacerbated the problem that students were not coming to school with school appropriate behaviors at all time where they were having difficult time regulating their emotions or they didn't know how to solve problems or work with each other.

785
01:12:23,620 --> 01:12:27,220
So part of our work always starts with the learning environment.

786
01:12:27,680 --> 01:12:33,240
We always talk about have we created the conditions that require learning to occur.

787
01:12:33,480 --> 01:12:40,560
And while that doesn't come up maybe in this conversation, it underlies everything that we do.

788
01:12:40,780 --> 01:12:46,260
So every single one of our buildings, they have goals around creating a learning environment that

789
01:12:46,260 --> 01:12:51,200
is conducive to student achievement, along with school climate work that they've been partnered

790
01:12:51,200 --> 01:13:21,080
with Dr. Sands of this year as a result of the state legislation to ensure, so we agree 100% that the environment student behaviors are ability staff wellness, so even in our plans this year we were really focused on student wellness and how we were helping students, but we expanded that to ensure that we were also paying attention to staff wellness, Dr. Carter always says that if the adults are in a good place,

791
01:13:21,080 --> 01:13:34,520
than the students won't be in a good place, and so we've really made it a priority to balance both of those things so that we can make the kind of academic achievement and progress that we'd like to make.

792
01:13:35,000 --> 01:13:37,540
And I just think that that's, it goes back to our budget conversation.

793
01:13:37,800 --> 01:13:42,220
All of this kind of comes back to, exactly what Mrs. Smith is saying about having small class sizes.

794
01:13:42,600 --> 01:13:46,560
That's not going to happen if we continue to cut the budget.

795
01:13:46,560 --> 01:13:52,740
All those things aren't going to happen if we don't continue to support fully support education, which our own town did not do.

796
01:13:53,380 --> 01:13:59,420
So as the conversation I know in my district, we are starting to give our people our budgets and our requests.

797
01:13:59,820 --> 01:14:02,400
So I know Chris's favorite time of year is starting up soon.

798
01:14:03,820 --> 01:14:15,080
So as this, and we need to keep this conversation going so that it's not a surprise when we come to January and we're having this conversation and saying we can't cut the budget, we can't cut the budget, we can't cut the budget, we can't cut the, well, here's why.

799
01:14:15,080 --> 01:14:19,980
And if you want test scores to be good, we can't only fund the things that are fun.

800
01:14:20,440 --> 01:14:24,960
We have to also put in the work and fund the programs and the teachers and

801
01:14:24,960 --> 01:14:28,180
all those extra support things so that we can have smaller class sizes.

802
01:14:28,500 --> 01:14:32,900
So we can have the resources that actually are benefiting the students and all that.

803
01:14:33,180 --> 01:14:34,020
So, thank you.

804
01:14:36,210 --> 01:14:37,090
Ms. Kaya.

805
01:14:38,430 --> 01:14:39,690
Thank you, Mrs. Peterson.

806
01:14:39,690 --> 01:14:48,870
I recently came across a study conducted by MIT, if I correctly believe, it clearly showed

807
01:14:48,870 --> 01:14:57,770
demonstrated the correlation between participation in competitive math and high SIT math scores.

808
01:14:58,890 --> 01:14:59,950
and it is not

809
01:15:00,000 --> 01:15:07,100
What about the, you know, kids who are stronger in math, take competitions, but, you know, the study

810
01:15:07,100 --> 01:15:12,580
was, it took a random sample of tools and put them, you know, in the, on the math team,

811
01:15:12,940 --> 01:15:23,520
and eventually saw increased SIT scores. Do we know, like, why, or if we can use? It's so

812
01:15:23,520 --> 01:15:30,080
So interesting that I have not seen that study, but most recently Ms. Anglia, our math curriculum

813
01:15:30,080 --> 01:15:35,300
specialist has just created, or we've talked about, I'm not sure if she's implemented yet,

814
01:15:35,620 --> 01:15:42,080
but a survey to find out what other things do our students do, not just in the school but

815
01:15:42,080 --> 01:15:43,280
outside of the classroom.

816
01:15:43,560 --> 01:15:46,300
So are they on the competitive math teams?

817
01:15:46,820 --> 01:15:48,600
Do they take outside math courses?

818
01:15:48,600 --> 01:15:54,040
We really want to have a better understanding of who is the student and

819
01:15:54,040 --> 01:16:00,380
what kind of experiences does that student have in order to allow them to achieve at high levels.

820
01:16:00,740 --> 01:16:07,520
And then our goal becomes, how do we replicate that within our schools for as many of our students as possible?

821
01:16:14,360 --> 01:16:14,940
That's a car.

822
01:16:15,500 --> 01:16:21,940
I just wanted to touch on a few things because there's been a theme here about investing in our schools and

823
01:16:21,940 --> 01:16:41,700
And the outcomes that we might see in not just academics, but programming in ways that we support kids in lots of ways and I'm proud to be part of a district that really does commit to the whole child, not just the test scores, but all the ways that we support kids so that they can go on to have fulfilling careers and be successful in college career in the workplace.

824
01:16:42,780 --> 01:16:57,180
And since we keep referring to my 15 years, I will say in my 15 years, you will not find a tape of a meeting where I have said that South Windsor is underfunded or under resourced.

825
01:16:57,360 --> 01:16:58,260
I've never said it.

826
01:16:59,240 --> 01:17:03,200
I have always felt that we were supported and had the resources we need.

827
01:17:03,680 --> 01:17:07,360
Would more resources have always been better all along, of course, right?

828
01:17:07,360 --> 01:17:13,040
But you've never heard me say that we were underfunded or under resourced as a school district.

829
01:17:13,480 --> 01:17:17,580
Which is why when I am sounding the alarm bell this evening, as many of you have,

830
01:17:18,680 --> 01:17:23,340
I say it as someone who has not sounded that alarm bell in the past, not even once in 15 years.

831
01:17:23,880 --> 01:17:29,860
And I am very worried about the trajectory that we're on because if we're not keeping pace with enrollment,

832
01:17:30,200 --> 01:17:35,420
which is the bare minimum, if we're not keeping pace with enrollment, we're really going backwards.

833
01:17:35,420 --> 01:17:47,480
We're removing programs, we're removing resources, which is not something I've seen happen in South Windsor over my period here, but I am worried about the trajectory last year.

834
01:17:47,680 --> 01:17:53,160
We did not, the budget itself did not keep pace with enrollment, but we were able to supplement it with reserves.

835
01:17:53,700 --> 01:17:57,280
That is not a long-term strategy, that is not a physically responsible strategy.

836
01:17:57,740 --> 01:18:11,060
So, I am sounding the alarm bell, I am very concerned about our trajectory because more kids are coming and if we can't pay for the kids we have, I don't know what we're going to do when 400 more kids come to our high school.

837
01:18:12,200 --> 01:18:24,660
And I will say, again, having never sounded the alarm before, I will piggyback on some of the things that have been alluded to this evening and that is, we've looked at a lot of dirt rankings in this.

838
01:18:25,460 --> 01:18:34,840
There's only one dirt ranking, only one, where we are dead last, dead last, and that is investments in our per-people spending.

839
01:18:35,400 --> 01:18:52,280
That's where we are dead last. And we have been dead last for multiple years. And so I just want to put that out there as someone who has never sounded the alarm bell, but I am now because I'm just very worried that it's very hard to catch up.

840
01:18:52,280 --> 01:18:59,380
As you know in your own household budgets, if you don't keep pace and you let the bills stack up it becomes very overwhelming.

841
01:19:00,120 --> 01:19:12,220
And so I'm just wanting to say that I'm hearing all the things that board members, I've heard many of you say you want the district to move forward, you want to make investments in new programs above and beyond what we're doing now.

842
01:19:12,760 --> 01:19:22,160
And at this point, I am worried about just maintaining what we have now, let alone make investments to improve things for our students and families.

843
01:19:22,160 --> 01:19:30,080
So, I just, I think it is telling that there's only one drug ranking where we're dead last and I think that's something we have to remember.

844
01:19:34,550 --> 01:19:35,370
Anybody else?

845
01:19:36,330 --> 01:19:37,890
We want to follow Dr. Kara on that one.

846
01:19:38,910 --> 01:19:40,250
Okay, all right, that's her.

847
01:19:40,410 --> 01:19:41,950
Next on your report.

848
01:19:43,210 --> 01:19:44,490
Yes, so much happier topic.

849
01:19:45,970 --> 01:19:53,970
We are in front of you is the memo from Mr. Leroy regarding the graduation date at Dunkin' Donuts Park.

850
01:19:53,970 --> 01:20:10,470
As a reminder, there's a reason why we adopt the graduation date this early, and that is due to statute that says once you've established your date, regardless of how many snow days or things that may happen in the year, you can keep that date if you've already approved the date.

851
01:20:10,970 --> 01:20:21,450
It can't be any earlier than 180, but if we should have snow days and it were to happen before 180, as long as we had approved the board had approved the date, then you're allowed to maintain that date.

852
01:20:21,450 --> 01:20:28,330
And that is much more important for districts like ourselves that are too large to be able to host their own graduation.

853
01:20:29,710 --> 01:20:32,170
If you have it, if you're hosting it, we can move things around.

854
01:20:32,570 --> 01:20:39,910
If you're booking a date with Duncan Donuts Park, well, if the team's back in town, that's going to take priority over our graduation.

855
01:20:40,390 --> 01:20:50,870
So we book the dates in now so that we can secure that, so that families can plan and that we can align our date with the week when the yard goats are away and

856
01:20:50,870 --> 01:20:52,090
not playing in Hartford.

857
01:20:52,450 --> 01:21:00,530
So the date that's being proposed to you is Tuesday, June 16th, with a rain day of Wednesday, June 17th.

858
01:21:01,870 --> 01:21:03,010
Mr. Mackie, sir.

859
01:21:04,490 --> 01:21:15,270
I move to approve the Southlands or high school class of 2026 graduation date as Tuesday, June 16th, 2026, with the rain date of Wednesday, June 17th, 2026.

860
01:21:15,570 --> 01:21:16,130
Seconded.

861
01:21:23,690 --> 01:21:35,170
There's a lot of things that we do well in this school district, but I've got to tell you that as somebody who was here when we tasked the administration with, you know, go out and review what's possible.

862
01:21:35,170 --> 01:21:51,170
So they actually came back to us and did a full review of every facility I'm guessing within an hour of South Windsor and they looked at all the pros and cons and I got to tell you I think we've hit I'm not going to do the sports thing.

863
01:21:51,790 --> 01:21:59,010
I think we found the place I'm really glad that we plan early. I'm really glad that we have a great relationship with the people at Duncan.

864
01:21:59,510 --> 01:22:11,670
So, you know, we're probably the first to commit and get the choice spot, but of all the things we do as a way to kind of honor the seniors, I can't imagine a better place.

865
01:22:12,370 --> 01:22:18,810
So, thank you again to Dr. Carter and Mr. Leroy and the whole administration for getting this buttoned up so early.

866
01:22:19,250 --> 01:22:19,530
Thank you.

867
01:22:20,710 --> 01:22:21,850
A.V.S. Will comments?

868
01:22:23,410 --> 01:22:24,270
All in favor?

869
01:22:24,870 --> 01:22:25,270
All right.

870
01:22:25,750 --> 01:22:26,110
Post.

871
01:22:27,010 --> 01:22:27,850
We have a date.

872
01:22:30,240 --> 01:22:30,580
Next.

873
01:22:31,940 --> 01:22:33,000
Oh, you're leaving?

874
01:22:33,280 --> 01:22:34,700
Poor Dr. Sanzo.

875
01:22:35,080 --> 01:22:36,680
It's Dr. Sanzo's moment.

876
01:22:37,180 --> 01:22:38,840
This happens every year, by the way.

877
01:22:39,120 --> 01:22:39,600
Administrators.

878
01:22:45,490 --> 01:22:46,670
Dr. Curry, next I hear this.

879
01:22:49,680 --> 01:22:52,220
At this time, I turn things over to Dr. Sanzo.

880
01:22:52,800 --> 01:22:56,440
I was going to thank them for all their involvement in the hiring process.

881
01:22:56,440 --> 01:23:04,640
But thank you, Mr. Lee Roy, thank you, Dr. Carter, and good evening, Chairwoman Manila, members of the board.

882
01:23:05,040 --> 01:23:07,580
In your packet this evening, you'll find three reports.

883
01:23:07,940 --> 01:23:13,480
Two hiring status reports highlighting our newly hired, certified and

884
01:23:13,480 --> 01:23:19,840
non-certified staff for this school year, as well as a personnel report summarizing a handful of

885
01:23:19,840 --> 01:23:21,880
resignations that occurred over the summer.

886
01:23:21,880 --> 01:23:29,700
As the report showed, South Windsor continues to be a district that attracts high quality and experience educators.

887
01:23:30,300 --> 01:23:35,640
This year we're proud to welcome two new administrators, 40 new teachers and

888
01:23:35,640 --> 01:23:41,140
27 new non-certified staff members who are serving in a wide range of roles,

889
01:23:41,140 --> 01:23:47,860
including parent educators, safety officers, LPNs and behavior and family engagement specialists.

890
01:23:47,860 --> 01:23:52,640
Each of these individuals brings a unique set of skills, experiences and

891
01:23:52,640 --> 01:23:57,400
perspectives that are already strengthening our schools and benefiting our students.

892
01:23:58,100 --> 01:24:02,620
As I conclude, I wanted to thank Mr. Leroy, the only remaining administrator.

893
01:24:03,660 --> 01:24:14,840
And the other administrators, teachers, support staff, and we even have students as part of our process that play a role in hiring and onboarding our staff this year.

894
01:24:14,840 --> 01:24:20,160
From recruitment events to interview committees, mentorship, feedback on sample demo lessons,

895
01:24:20,640 --> 01:24:22,660
their contributions do make a difference.

896
01:24:23,100 --> 01:24:27,460
Attracting and retaining outstanding educators is truly a collective effort.

897
01:24:27,900 --> 01:24:32,960
And I'm grateful for all, including this board, who continue to support this important work.

898
01:24:33,260 --> 01:24:36,800
And that'll conclude my personal and hiring reports for this event.

899
01:24:36,820 --> 01:24:37,960
You're a nice job, Mr. Sanzo.

900
01:24:37,980 --> 01:24:39,540
Thank you very much, Sherwin, and Mary.

901
01:24:40,380 --> 01:24:41,500
Even if nobody's listening.

902
01:24:41,500 --> 01:24:43,800
All right.

903
01:24:44,200 --> 01:24:46,980
Next, we have a personal report.

904
01:24:47,740 --> 01:24:52,320
Dr. Carter, I think you did well, and before I turn, this goes back to Dr. Sanzo.

905
01:24:52,380 --> 01:24:57,000
But I just want to recognize Dr. Sanzo, as you can imagine, hiring 40 teachers and

906
01:24:57,000 --> 01:24:59,500
administrators and non-certified staff.

907
01:24:59,960 --> 01:25:06,100
All of those things fall under his umbrella on top of all the other things that he does,

908
01:25:06,100 --> 01:25:07,440
which is quite extensive.

909
01:25:07,440 --> 01:25:16,200
So he makes it look easy, but it is quite a heavy lift to be bringing on that many new staff members into a district.

910
01:25:16,840 --> 01:25:19,180
So I thank you for all your hard work with that.

911
01:25:20,040 --> 01:25:22,700
And now I will turn things over to you for your personal report.

912
01:25:23,160 --> 01:25:24,400
Can we say anything?

913
01:25:24,400 --> 01:25:24,920
Yes, is it a minute?

914
01:25:25,000 --> 01:25:31,540
Dr. Carter, could you just talk to about how many people we hired, but can we just, and again, I'm not looking for exact figures.

915
01:25:32,140 --> 01:25:37,060
But I don't want the public to think that we added a net of 40 something.

916
01:25:37,060 --> 01:25:39,920
It's even more complicated than that because, but can you?

917
01:25:40,420 --> 01:25:40,600
Yes.

918
01:25:40,940 --> 01:25:46,220
So, new staff can be replacing people who moved, resignations, retirements.

919
01:25:46,600 --> 01:25:49,140
So, those aren't additional positions, some are.

920
01:25:49,540 --> 01:25:54,860
But, mostly that is replacing people that have moved on either through resignation or through retirements.

921
01:25:56,320 --> 01:25:57,620
Okay, now Mrs. Hanzo.

922
01:25:58,020 --> 01:25:58,620
Thank you.

923
01:25:58,760 --> 01:26:01,600
So, for example, there were six resignations over the summer.

924
01:26:01,600 --> 01:26:06,340
some of those were new hires that I just spoke to were replacements for those positions.

925
01:26:07,860 --> 01:26:09,720
And that will conclude my personal report.

926
01:26:11,340 --> 01:26:16,200
Thank you, all right, next under, I'm finishing new business, Mr. Marks.

927
01:26:18,620 --> 01:26:23,520
Thank you, I moved to approve the Board of Education in 2026 meeting calendar as presented.

928
01:26:24,020 --> 01:26:24,380
How second?

929
01:26:25,500 --> 01:26:26,440
Any questions?

930
01:26:27,440 --> 01:26:28,180
All in favor?

931
01:26:29,100 --> 01:26:29,680
Opposed?

932
01:26:30,480 --> 01:26:31,260
Motion carries.

933
01:26:32,560 --> 01:26:33,400
Ms. Brown.

934
01:26:36,820 --> 01:26:41,240
Move to approve the FY-2027 budget guidelines that's presented.

935
01:26:42,060 --> 01:26:42,380
Second.

936
01:26:44,320 --> 01:26:45,300
Mrs. O'Meane.

937
01:26:45,520 --> 01:26:47,040
Yep, last time I'm going to talk today.

938
01:26:47,980 --> 01:26:53,560
I think this is a really important document, and maybe, Dr. Carter, you can, if you could maybe just,

939
01:26:53,820 --> 01:26:58,620
I love when you explain that you only ask for what you think.

940
01:26:59,740 --> 01:27:12,580
You know, what we need, and there's some, there's some review of what you think the community might be able to afford, but if people look at this document, this is what the Board's job is.

941
01:27:13,300 --> 01:27:19,340
Right, your job and the Board's job, and it's to provide the Board with the correct budget for what our needs are.

942
01:27:20,440 --> 01:27:26,100
That's the Board's job. The Council's job is totally separate, sometimes not everybody fully understands.

943
01:27:27,100 --> 01:27:32,400
Council can do what the Council wants to do, but your job and the Board's job is to send to the Council.

944
01:27:33,060 --> 01:27:41,360
You know, what you legitimately think we need. And if it has an effect on spending or it has an effect on taxes,

945
01:27:43,100 --> 01:27:47,840
you know, you need to do your job and the Board needs to do its job. But do I have that reasonably

946
01:27:47,840 --> 01:28:01,200
I would say that we would never put forth a budget that contains all the things that we think would be helpful.

947
01:28:03,300 --> 01:28:12,920
I'm a realist in what we put forward, so I never put forth a budget that doesn't also contemplate the impact on the taxpayer.

948
01:28:12,920 --> 01:28:15,220
That is not something I would do in a vacuum.

949
01:28:15,480 --> 01:28:17,920
I consider that one of my major responsibilities.

950
01:28:18,480 --> 01:28:24,800
But I also know we owe it to the taxpayer to be direct and honest with them about what the needs are and what the costs are.

951
01:28:25,680 --> 01:28:37,520
And we also owe it to our property owners to help maintain their property values which are very high right now in large part because people are coming to South Windsor for the schools.

952
01:28:38,080 --> 01:28:44,960
And, you know, for those taxpayers that are paying in hefty taxes, there's no question about that.

953
01:28:45,460 --> 01:28:51,420
It's also an investment in their property and the worst thing that could happen is for

954
01:28:51,420 --> 01:28:57,500
our taxpayers who have been dutifully paying higher taxes in light of the increased enrollment.

955
01:28:57,940 --> 01:29:03,100
Only for them when they come time to sell their home, that we've allowed the school district to erode.

956
01:29:03,100 --> 01:29:07,380
And then they're not getting the return on the investment that they've made.

957
01:29:07,640 --> 01:29:21,900
And hopefully, many of our taxpayers understand that their taxes are an investment in their property that hopefully one day they will be able to sell at a price that helps support their next chapter, whatever that may be.

958
01:29:22,740 --> 01:29:30,360
So I would never present, my view isn't, I'm here to advocate and don't worry about the consequences to that.

959
01:29:30,360 --> 01:29:38,040
It is a very thoughtful process, in fact, last year especially, but in previous years board members have said they wished I came in higher.

960
01:29:38,620 --> 01:29:49,120
They wish that I would put forth what the true needs are versus what I might think is practical, and I try to strike that balance every year.

961
01:29:49,120 --> 01:29:50,000
Mr.

962
01:29:55,200 --> 01:29:55,720
Marks.

963
01:29:55,820 --> 01:29:56,300
Thank you.

964
01:30:00,000 --> 01:30:23,580
I guess this is an election around the corner and in general. You may talk about the $1.35 million cut that we had to our budget and kind of how it would next year we're already starting in a whole. And how we have to backfill that. So I guess we're kind of out of the magic route of the bag of tracks in the future. We might have to unfortunately start making some programmatic or other cuts that no one wants to see. I know especially this board and a future board.

965
01:30:26,000 --> 01:30:29,660
Yes. I mean, certainly when we put together the budget,

966
01:30:29,660 --> 01:30:34,900
this year, we will also have information about what's been asked for and has not yet been funded.

967
01:30:35,280 --> 01:30:40,360
So sort of like what is stacking up and waiting for their opportunity?

968
01:30:42,060 --> 01:30:50,280
You know, I've had educators say to me, gee, we haven't been able to get this resource for three or four years, should we just not ask for it?

969
01:30:50,660 --> 01:30:58,300
And my message is no, if this is a legitimate need that we can defend that is important for our students and families, then you should request it.

970
01:30:58,300 --> 01:31:08,120
It doesn't mean that I'm going to even present it to the board, or that the board wouldn't even adopt it, but we really should make sure everyone has all the information about the needs.

971
01:31:08,820 --> 01:31:19,340
You are correct that last year we were able to use reserves to make up for the $1.3 million reduction, but that is not something that we can sustain every year.

972
01:31:19,340 --> 01:31:25,480
We were very fortunate, this board in previous boards have been excellent stewards of our reserve accounts.

973
01:31:25,980 --> 01:31:32,640
And because of that, we were able to close the gap last year to just maintain our current level of service.

974
01:31:33,320 --> 01:31:39,540
Many of you recall, I remember board members expressing their disappointment in that when you looked at the budget last year.

975
01:31:40,120 --> 01:31:43,960
It didn't move things forward, there weren't new programs, there weren't new investments.

976
01:31:43,960 --> 01:31:48,540
We're really just trying to protect the services that we currently have.

977
01:31:49,400 --> 01:31:54,340
So we will certainly, many of those things that you saw last year,

978
01:31:54,480 --> 01:32:02,800
that the things that didn't even make my proposal, and then the things that we had to take out will certainly be part of the presentation this year.

979
01:32:03,280 --> 01:32:03,840
Thank you.

980
01:32:09,100 --> 01:32:09,820
Mr. Zeman,

981
01:32:13,160 --> 01:32:13,880
the budget review.

982
01:32:14,220 --> 01:32:14,860
Thank you.

983
01:32:17,510 --> 01:32:19,150
Oh, all in favor?

984
01:32:19,690 --> 01:32:19,870
Hi.

985
01:32:20,530 --> 01:32:21,010
Opposed?

986
01:32:25,220 --> 01:32:26,100
Motion passes.

987
01:32:27,460 --> 01:32:28,060
Okay.

988
01:32:28,240 --> 01:32:33,200
I'd like to move to approve the fiscal year 2027 budget review schedule is presented.

989
01:32:33,680 --> 01:32:33,920
Okay.

990
01:32:34,360 --> 01:32:36,580
Any questions?

991
01:32:37,600 --> 01:32:38,180
Comments?

992
01:32:39,620 --> 01:32:40,600
All in favor?

993
01:32:40,980 --> 01:32:41,280
Aye.

994
01:32:41,600 --> 01:32:42,160
Opposed?

995
01:32:43,180 --> 01:32:43,680
Okay.

996
01:32:43,680 --> 01:32:44,640
That motion carries, sir.

997
01:32:46,000 --> 01:32:46,600
Next.

998
01:32:46,800 --> 01:32:47,560
Community post.

999
01:32:47,980 --> 01:32:51,400
I don't know early for that, but does anybody have anything from the committee?

1000
01:32:53,860 --> 01:32:57,040
I have a report from Capital Projects.

1001
01:32:57,040 --> 01:33:05,260
I just wanted to let you know what we met on Wednesday, September 17th to discuss the completed projects and possible future projects.

1002
01:33:05,620 --> 01:33:09,080
The completed projects were from the fiscal year 2025,

1003
01:33:09,780 --> 01:33:13,800
include veterans, memorial park covers, they came in under budget.

1004
01:33:14,440 --> 01:33:19,700
Buckland Road pavement, police department elevator, which also completed under budget.

1005
01:33:19,700 --> 01:33:28,880
and the PRS Elementary School Portables that were under budget, and there were two classrooms made for 125 more students.

1006
01:33:29,380 --> 01:33:34,060
Expecting grant reimbursements for the TMS school roof.

1007
01:33:34,780 --> 01:33:37,980
And Ellsworth School Elevator is that correct, that?

1008
01:33:38,580 --> 01:33:45,780
And child grants submitted, were submitted in May, and local pay being circa 2019, Kelly Road.

1009
01:33:45,780 --> 01:33:53,060
And we are planning to ask for, this is Tremorca, you could let me know if this is correct.

1010
01:33:53,440 --> 01:33:57,880
But Auditorium lighting upgrade, high school front sidewalk replacement,

1011
01:33:58,100 --> 01:34:01,160
now is worth Jim Roof replacement for the next year.

1012
01:34:02,280 --> 01:34:06,440
Those were the items that we asked for for this year's budget, two of them were approved.

1013
01:34:07,200 --> 01:34:10,540
So those projects will be done in this current fiscal year, which is the,

1014
01:34:10,680 --> 01:34:13,760
now is worth Jim Roof and the sidewalk paving.

1015
01:34:13,760 --> 01:34:15,420
Perfect, thank you so much.

1016
01:34:16,900 --> 01:34:17,820
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

1017
01:34:18,940 --> 01:34:20,940
Next, we have hearing visitors.

1018
01:34:22,600 --> 01:34:23,800
Anybody like to come and talk?

1019
01:34:24,520 --> 01:34:24,720
Okay.

1020
01:34:25,480 --> 01:34:25,880
Next.

1021
01:34:29,440 --> 01:34:31,380
I'd love to hear you if you wanted to talk.

1022
01:34:32,880 --> 01:34:34,740
Next, we have an I answer future agendas.

1023
01:34:38,220 --> 01:34:39,240
Next, we have a German.

1024
01:34:39,500 --> 01:34:40,020
I have a motion.

1025
01:34:41,080 --> 01:34:41,720
I have a second.

1026
01:34:42,720 --> 01:34:43,300
All in favor.

1027
01:34:44,040 --> 01:34:45,000
We are adjourned.

1028
01:34:45,200 --> 01:34:45,560
Thank you.