[0:15] I declare the September 9th
[0:16] Board of Education meeting
[0:19] open at 7:13
[0:20] Kentucky time. Please
[0:21] stand for the
[0:22] flag salute. The
[0:27] flag of the United
[0:28] States of America and
[0:29] the republic it
[0:30] serves, one nation
[0:35] and justice for
[0:36] all. Good. It looks like
[0:42] we don't have
[0:43] any announcements today.
[0:45] True.
[0:46] Are
[0:47] there any additions
[0:48] to the agenda? I
[0:51] don't see any hands raised. We are currently awaiting
[0:55] approval of the minutes
[0:56] of
[0:57] August 26. I accept
[0:58] the offer.
[1:00] Yes, agreed.
[1:05] Are there any discussions?
[1:07] No. Good. Okay,
[1:08] I'll take a quick
[1:09] roll call vote
[1:10] . Jaden,
[1:11] for.
[1:12] Bill,
[1:12] for.
[1:13] JP,
[1:14] for.
[1:14] Mackenzie,
[1:19] and I'm in favor too. The protocol
[1:21] was approved.
[1:25] Let's move on to
[1:26] public participation. Members of the
[1:28] Teland Education Board invite
[1:29] members of
[1:30] the public
[1:30] to share their
[1:31] thoughts and ideas.
[1:32] If appropriate,
[1:33] board members and
[1:34] administration may
[1:35] respond to
[1:36] comments during
[1:36] briefings.
[1:38] However, out of respect for those
[1:39] present and to
[1:40] comply with the time
[1:41] frame, further
[1:42] discussions may be
[1:43] held outside the
[1:44] meeting.
[1:48] You have two minutes. Does
[1:49] anyone in the audience wish
[1:51] to speak? 63 Wooden
[2:00] Drive? Um, I saw
[2:02] this on
[2:02] the internet today,
[2:03] offered by
[2:05] Mansfield Youth Services. It's kind of like a
[2:07] new
[2:08] leadership program
[2:09] for quiet
[2:10] high school students. And as
[2:13] the mother of a quiet
[2:14] high school student who is
[2:15] also interested in
[2:16] the National
[2:17] Honor Society,
[2:18] I wondered if
[2:19] Teland offered something
[2:21] similar. I've never
[2:25] seen anything like this before. But I know this is
[2:27] my first
[2:28] child, which is actually — here
[2:30] I have a few
[2:31] copies if
[2:32] you want to give them away. Um,
[2:35] my first child is
[2:36] more interested in
[2:37] National
[2:38] Honor Society.
[2:40] So, um, yeah, I
[2:41] was just wondering
[2:43] if we offer something
[2:44] like that, and if so,
[2:45] could you let me
[2:46] know. If not, is there a
[2:52] way to
[2:53] work with
[2:54] Mansfield to
[2:55] offer this to
[2:56] our students who
[2:57] may also want to
[2:58] join the
[2:58] National
[2:59] Honor Society
[3:00] but are very quiet,
[3:02] reserved, and may
[3:03] not have that
[3:03] formal
[3:04] leadership experience.
[3:10] And I guess that would
[3:12] count as a
[3:13] leadership skill
[3:14] for the National
[3:15] Honor Society.
[3:17] I think this should have been
[3:18] brought to your
[3:19] attention. I would be grateful.
[3:21] Doctor, do you want
[3:23] to respond to
[3:24] this somehow?
[3:24] Of course. Um, yes, I'd be
[3:26] happy to explore this
[3:27] issue. I've actually never
[3:28] heard of this
[3:29] program for quiet
[3:30] high school students. So
[3:31] this will be useful. I
[3:33] will present this to our
[3:34] leadership group. I
[3:35] also noticed that it
[3:36] looks like it is
[3:37] sponsored by
[3:40] Ashford Youth and Social Services. So it's
[3:42] like our city
[3:43] social services with
[3:44] Teresa Kristoff, and
[3:45] the city has grants for
[3:47] these kinds of activities that are happening
[3:48] in the city and in the schools. So
[3:51] this could be a great
[3:52] opportunity for us to
[3:53] leverage some of
[3:54] that funding
[3:55] into one of those
[3:56] programs.
[3:57] Yes. Yes. I think it would be
[3:58] very...I know
[3:59] my child
[4:01] would most likely
[4:02] benefit from something
[4:03] like this with this
[4:04] application.
[4:06] Yes. So is this a city
[4:08] collaboration? This is
[4:09] actually a
[4:10] youth
[4:11] services talent program. Good. Yes.
[4:13] No. No. Do you know
[4:14] anyone in town?
[4:15] But there's a lot...a lot of
[4:17] overlap in,
[4:20] you know, like in these
[4:21] cities, we do
[4:23] a lot of property deals
[4:24] , so, you know, one of these
[4:25] days I'll tell
[4:27] her about it too.
[4:28] Good. I appreciate it.
[4:29] Maybe you want
[4:30] to send this to her too,
[4:31] Shane?
[4:32] Yes.
[4:32] As a city council member,
[4:33] Dr. Willett could
[4:34] work with her.
[4:35] Yes, do that too,
[4:37] anyway. They are
[4:38] both working on this
[4:39] together.
[4:39] Yes, of course. But thank you
[4:41] . This...this is great.
[4:42] Thank you very much.
[4:43] Yes. And I said, "Yeah,
[4:44] no problem." I wasn't
[4:45] sure if we already
[4:46] had something like that. So,
[4:47] we run
[4:48] programs in collaboration
[4:49] with our youth
[4:50] services. But...but this
[4:52] particular one, "The Silent
[4:53] Disciple," I have
[4:54] n't actually heard of it. So,
[4:55] yeah, I hadn't heard of it either until
[4:57] today, but it
[4:58] somehow came up.
[4:59] Of course. It is certainly
[5:00] worth studying this
[5:01] issue. Of course. And these are the
[5:02] kinds of programs that
[5:03] they consistently
[5:04] support and
[5:04] sponsor. So, that's
[5:06] right. That's right.
[5:07] Good. Thank you.
[5:09] Of course. Does
[5:09] anyone else want to
[5:10] speak now?
[5:12] I don't think we have
[5:14] anyone online.
[5:15] No. Okay, we can
[5:17] close the public
[5:18] discussion.
[5:21] Okay, that brings
[5:23] us to the
[5:23] correspondence.
[5:24] Jayden, you're
[5:25] filling in for Dana today.
[5:26] Yes. Um...And also, I have
[5:27] a lot of thoughts on where this
[5:29] could lead, but
[5:30] I like that
[5:31] you brought it to
[5:32] our attention. So thank you.
[5:34] Of course. Um, we had
[5:36] four between the last
[5:36] meeting and this one, we
[5:37] received four
[5:38] different
[5:39] emails. If I
[5:40] missed anything, feel
[5:40] free to correct
[5:41] me. One concerns the
[5:42] bus stop.
[5:44] The father of a
[5:44] high school student
[5:45] asked the council
[5:46] to reinstate the bus stop
[5:47] near his house. Their
[5:48] son now waits alone
[5:49] on the side of the road, and
[5:50] late combined flights
[5:51] often raise
[5:52] safety concerns, especially
[5:53] in winter. We have
[5:54] correspondence regarding
[5:55] the size of the
[5:56] first-year class
[5:57] at Birch Grove
[5:58] . Parents reasonably
[6:00] objected to the fact
[6:01] that 24 first-graders are studying in one
[6:02] classroom at Birch Grove
[6:04] and
[6:05] asked the district
[6:06] to explain this decision
[6:08] and refer to the
[6:09] relevant rules.
[6:11] They asked
[6:12] for a written
[6:13] response and, possibly,
[6:14] to discuss the
[6:15] issue at a
[6:16] council or city
[6:17] administration meeting.
[6:18] Teacher Appreciation Day. I
[6:20] believe this was about
[6:21] last
[6:22] week. One
[6:23] community member noted that
[6:25] Teacher Appreciation Day was at
[6:27] Talon Green Market and asked
[6:28] where they could send
[6:29] a card. I believe
[6:31] this again
[6:32] referred to last
[6:33] week, not this one.
[6:34] Maybe I'm wrong.
[6:36] And the last one is the
[6:37] 4x4 block schedule in
[6:39] high school.
[6:40] Parents of sixth-
[6:41] and second-graders are
[6:42] concerned that the
[6:43] 4x4 block schedule in
[6:44] middle school could
[6:45] disrupt the
[6:45] sequence of
[6:46] math learning
[6:47] for students who
[6:47] have studied advanced
[6:48] math in
[6:49] high school. So
[6:50] they asked the board
[6:51] to consider an
[6:52] AB schedule or another type of
[6:53] schedule that better
[6:55] supports such
[6:56] sequential courses and
[6:57] so on. These were four
[6:59] issues that I
[7:00] noticed and
[7:01] analyzed. That's
[7:03] all.
[7:04] Thank you, Dr. Will. I've
[7:06] seen answers to, it
[7:07] seems, every one of
[7:08] them. So, okay,
[7:10] now let's move on to
[7:12] informational issues
[7:13] . Does any
[7:15] council member wish to
[7:15] speak now?
[7:18] This is actually
[7:19] related to my
[7:20] question. I'm really
[7:21] glad you
[7:22] brought this up because it's
[7:22] related to something
[7:24] I wanted to ask
[7:25] the doctor about before we started
[7:26] . So now is the
[7:27] right time.
[7:28] There are programs that
[7:29] operate directly
[7:30] through Tallinn schools,
[7:31] such as an
[7:32] after-school program
[7:33] like DECA, right? I
[7:34] will always
[7:35] remember DECA. This is a
[7:36] very open
[7:37] club for communication. You
[7:38] are there
[7:39] with many
[7:40] other children or
[7:40] students, and there is a
[7:41] lot
[7:42] going on around you. You know,
[7:43] there's
[7:45] really no way to
[7:46] be in a quiet place
[7:47] during events like this
[7:48] . However, there are many
[7:50] different paths you
[7:51] can take. You can
[7:53] choose a leadership
[7:54] path, a competitive path,
[7:56] or other paths that
[7:57] determine how
[7:58] much chaos or
[7:59] interaction you will have to
[8:00] deal with
[8:01] each week. So I
[8:03] will always
[8:04] recommend DECA
[8:05] simply because that's what
[8:06] I promoted too.
[8:08] That's the thing. And, and
[8:09] , and I have no doubt that
[8:11] you did. This, this, is hard. It's hard to
[8:14] take a step and step
[8:16] outside of your
[8:17] comfort zone, especially in something
[8:18] you're not
[8:19] quite used to. So,
[8:21] um, well, at this
[8:22] point, I don't even
[8:24] know what the status is
[8:25] with DECA. So I want to
[8:27] draw attention and, as an
[8:28] informational request,
[8:29] ask something about
[8:30] general clubs at
[8:31] the beginning of the year.
[8:35] general club, uh, uh
[8:38] , leaders, do we have them
[8:39] for clubs
[8:41] and all that?
[8:42] Generally speaking,
[8:44] yes. Yes, we are having a
[8:45] meeting to
[8:46] update
[8:47] club information and
[8:47] communications
[8:48] next week. But
[8:49] yes, we are currently in the
[8:50] process of raising funds
[8:51] to start the
[8:53] clubs on
[8:54] September 28th.
[8:56] Of course.
[8:57] But we are in the fundraising phase
[8:59] .
[9:00] Of course.
[9:00] So
[9:01] we also have an online
[9:02] system.
[9:03] We have an online
[9:03] system called “my school books,”
[9:05] similar to the one
[9:06] parents
[9:06] use for
[9:07] sports clubs.
[9:08] Do we think it's
[9:09] better than last
[9:11] time? I guess, given that
[9:12] I haven't heard
[9:13] many dissatisfied
[9:15] people, it seems like it is
[9:16] . I think I've
[9:17] only heard of some
[9:18] people getting confused about how to
[9:19] use it,
[9:21] but that usually
[9:21] happens when they
[9:23] first
[9:23] use it
[9:24] for sports or
[9:25] anything else. But
[9:27] the payments are coming in;
[9:28] people register;
[9:29] People are using the
[9:30] online payment method,
[9:31] although it costs
[9:33] a little extra,
[9:34] but as far as I can
[9:35] tell, it's going
[9:36] pretty well.
[9:37] okay so
[9:38] I won't
[9:39] ask about the
[9:39] details but the other
[9:40] part of my question
[9:41] was are there
[9:42] enough managers
[9:43] for these clubs? Because
[9:44] obviously
[9:45] retirement can affect
[9:46] who does what
[9:47] and all
[9:48] these things.
[9:49] Yes, we do not currently
[9:50] expect a shortage of
[9:51] managers.
[9:51] Perfectly.
[9:52] I think Jane wants
[9:53] to ask if there is a
[9:54] designated leader
[9:56] for DECA yet?
[9:56] Oh, yes, there is a person who
[9:58] we hope
[9:59] will take on this.
[10:02] Yes, that answered
[10:03] my question.
[10:05] You can be
[10:05] specific about
[10:06] things like that.
[10:07] Yes. Yes.
[10:08] We hope so.
[10:10] Yes. Yes. But the chances are
[10:11] high.
[10:12] OK.
[10:12] But don't forget that
[10:14] we have to raise
[10:14] funds before
[10:15] we can appoint a
[10:16] leader. So
[10:17] this applies to everyone,
[10:19] this is a
[10:19] small
[10:20] part too.
[10:21] Yes. Yes. OK. I'll
[10:23] ask you again
[10:24] in two weeks.
[10:25] Would you like to, would
[10:25] you like to be a
[10:26] manager for
[10:27] believe me, I've been
[10:28] through, I get
[10:29] paid
[10:29] I've been through the stages of how
[10:30] I can
[10:31] make this possible and unfortunately
[10:32] it's just not possible.
[10:33] But then again, there
[10:34] is a lot of personal
[10:35] investment in DECA. That's why I
[10:36] always recommend it.
[10:38] That's why I always
[10:39] ask about it, and, um,
[10:40] yes.
[10:43] Good. Of course.
[10:45] Thank you.
[10:47] Anyone else?
[10:48] Um, can I
[10:49] ask, we have
[10:51] Peter Savo with us tonight. So I
[10:52] just wanted
[10:53] to know if
[10:54] we could address the
[10:55] new issues first.
[10:57] With pleasure.
[10:58] And we will move on to
[10:59] new issues after the
[11:00] chairman's report. We
[11:01] can skip
[11:02] the superintendent's question and
[11:03] go straight to
[11:03] the capital ones to
[11:04] talk to him, and
[11:05] then...
[11:05] Glad to do that. Do
[11:06] I need to
[11:07] put this to a
[11:08] vote? I
[11:08] don't think so, I
[11:09] mean, we can
[11:10] just go ahead and
[11:11] say we're
[11:12] going to go to L1 and
[11:14] backtrack a little bit.
[11:14] OK.
[11:15] And so we can,
[11:16] you know, let them
[11:17] leave here at some
[11:19] point. That
[11:19] sounds good. Um,
[11:21] okay. So, as for my
[11:23] information
[11:24] points, I was just
[11:25] going to, you know what?
[11:26] Yes. So, just
[11:28] welcome
[11:29] back to school. I
[11:30] look forward to the
[11:31] report from our
[11:32] student representative. Although without
[11:34] pressure. Um, but so far
[11:37] so good. I
[11:39] mean, it's weird to
[11:40] only have one student
[11:42] in the city's public schools right now
[11:43] , but um,
[11:44] everything seems to be going
[11:45] great from what
[11:47] I've heard. So thank you for a
[11:48] great start to the
[11:49] school year.
[11:51] Dr. Willie,
[11:52] we will now move on to the
[11:54] student representative's report. Are
[11:55] you going to
[11:56] paint the
[11:57] parking space? Uh
[11:58] , yes. We saw
[12:00] some photos.
[12:01] They are amazing just the way
[12:02] they are. on Friday. Uh,
[12:10] this week,
[12:11] Friday, September 11,
[12:13] 2026, we're having our
[12:14] first Nest, where we're
[12:15] doing a
[12:16] basketball
[12:17] knockout, as well as a
[12:18] hula hoop challenge
[12:20] and a Houston challenge,
[12:21] which has a drum beat and a
[12:23] part of a poem. and
[12:29] we will also have WFSB
[12:33] covering
[12:35] our football
[12:36] team as the football
[12:38] game of the week, and "Mog tall" and
[12:40] "mock child"
[12:41] will also start on
[12:42] September 14, 2026.
[12:45] This is great. Thank you. Uh,
[12:48] moving on to
[12:49] the committee and communications.
[12:51] We had a policy that
[12:52] dated back to when
[12:53] we
[12:53] last met.
[12:55] Um, and I actually, oh,
[12:56] yeah. Jay, can you
[12:57] provide a final
[12:58] update on this?
[12:59] OK. Um, Bill, do you
[13:02] want to talk about
[13:04] negotiations?
[13:05] Yes, we are still in the
[13:06] process with
[13:06] assistants and
[13:07] teachers.
[13:11] Um, Dana is gone. Uh,
[13:12] but we didn't have
[13:13] enough FFC, right? It's
[13:15] September.
[13:15] Yes. FFC didn't exist yet.
[13:17] And Joel is not here, but
[13:18] he provided an update
[13:19] on the
[13:19] curriculum last
[13:20] time. And Brian is away,
[13:21] but I believe the
[13:22] communications meeting
[13:23] you just mentioned
[13:24] is
[13:25] next week, right
[13:26] , Dr. Willett?
[13:27] Yes, that's right.
[13:28] Good. So, that
[13:29] concludes the
[13:30] public reports. Um, the
[13:31] chairman's report. I just
[13:33] wanted to say hello to everyone
[13:34] at school. I already
[13:36] did it. And now we'll
[13:37] move on to L1, new
[13:39] issues, and talk
[13:40] about the August
[13:41] capital expenditure report.
[13:43] Good. As you may
[13:44] recall, around
[13:45] this time of year we
[13:46] conduct our first
[13:47] round of
[13:48] capital investment reviews.
[13:51] The capital budget
[13:52] has two readings at the
[13:53] board of
[13:54] education level, and then the board
[13:55] traditionally
[13:56] authorizes
[13:56] the superintendent
[13:57] to forward the
[13:59] capital investment request from the
[14:00] board to the city. From this
[14:03] point on, the city
[14:04] is considering it among
[14:05] other
[14:06] capital investment requests
[14:07] within the process that
[14:08] you are familiar with. Normally
[14:10] this time of year—I
[14:11] called it
[14:12] August because we
[14:13] usually have an
[14:14] August meeting where
[14:15] we discuss this, but
[14:16] this year the schedule is
[14:18] different. Therefore, this
[14:19] issue
[14:19] is being considered at
[14:20] two September
[14:21] council meetings and
[14:23] one FFC meeting.
[14:24] So, you have this
[14:25] meeting to
[14:25] learn about
[14:26] capital investments.
[14:28] Then there will be an FFC meeting
[14:29] where we will discuss this in a
[14:31] more narrow circle
[14:32] and then come back
[14:33] to it at the second
[14:34] council meeting in
[14:35] September. At that point
[14:38] we will have to
[14:39] push this further. This is a
[14:42] list of facilities, and
[14:43] traditionally every year—and the
[14:45] capital investment plan is
[14:46] usually
[14:46] designed for five
[14:48] years—there are many projects happening within this
[14:49] plan
[14:51] over a period of
[14:52] time. We must
[14:55] logically align these
[14:57] projects with the
[14:57] financial
[14:58] capabilities of
[14:59] the bonds, as well as with the
[15:01] implementation timeframe. As you
[15:02] know, we have an
[15:03] extremely
[15:03] hardworking Director
[15:04] of
[15:05] Infrastructure, but
[15:06] he can't be
[15:07] everywhere at once. So
[15:08] even
[15:09] project management
[15:10] requires certain boundaries,
[15:11] consistency, and a
[15:12] schedule. You will notice
[15:15] that new requests are added each year
[15:16] , but they
[15:18] are part of an
[15:18] overall
[15:19] five-year plan. The
[15:25] yellow sheet here is the
[15:26] general
[15:27] five-year plan, and that's
[15:28] all that was asked.
[15:32] Then, in a color that
[15:33] , I don't know, is somehow
[15:34] greenish-blue
[15:35] . These are the requests from the
[15:39] September 8th Board of Education meeting that we are
[15:40] talking about now. And there's also
[15:41] WOAS, which stands for "
[15:45] when opportunity arises." These are the ones that
[15:46] have been postponed indefinitely
[15:48] .
[15:49] They were once asked,
[15:51] but the city council
[15:52] never allocated funds for them
[15:53] through
[15:54] bonds. Therefore, they
[15:55] were placed in
[15:56] the "when
[15:57] the opportunity arises
[15:58] " category. So, in this
[15:59] document, there are a number of
[16:00] links and
[16:01] information about what the
[16:03] five-year plan is
[16:03] now, as well as what is
[16:05] recommended for
[16:06] this year. One last thing I
[16:08] want to point out
[16:09] : if you
[16:11] go to the website,
[16:12] go to the
[16:13] superintendent section,
[16:14] click on
[16:15] Superintendent
[16:16] Will's page, and go to the
[16:18] capital
[16:19] investment plan, you will see
[16:20] all the documents from
[16:21] previous years. So you
[16:24] can see how
[16:25] this five-year plan
[16:27] evolved over
[16:28] several iterations.
[16:30] OK. Also, keep
[16:33] in mind that what
[16:34] lies before you
[16:35] tonight is
[16:36] not yet posted here,
[16:37] as we do not
[16:38] publish it until
[16:39] the board approves
[16:40] the document. Once
[16:45] you say it's
[16:46] okay, I'll update it with the
[16:47] approval date, and
[16:48] then this five-year
[16:50] "yellow sheet," so
[16:51] to speak... you can
[16:52] just call it that
[16:53] , will appear
[16:54] here, and all the
[16:55] capital plan documents
[16:57] that make up the request for
[16:58] that year will be
[16:59] added to this page
[17:00] . If you scroll
[17:03] down, you will see all the
[17:04] documents from many, years ago. And,
[17:06] you know, Mr. Zava
[17:07] does a great
[17:08] job. I'll just
[17:10] click on any one at
[17:11] random. You can
[17:13] see that there is
[17:14] information here about
[17:15] priority,
[17:17] project type, year, details,
[17:18] cost—all of that.
[17:21] Moreover, with
[17:22] images. This is
[17:23] just an example
[17:25] I chose. If you
[17:26] want to see
[17:27] something from the past, that's
[17:28] one thing, but if you're
[17:29] looking for what's before
[17:31] us today, what
[17:32] we're being presented with and what
[17:33] we hope to
[17:34] convey to the city, this is
[17:36] it. So, Mr. Stav is
[17:38] here. I'll just quickly
[17:39] read this list.
[17:40] These are all links that
[17:42] can be activated and
[17:43] opened so you
[17:44] can see them too
[17:44] . They
[17:46] will also be on the
[17:46] dashboard
[17:48] . They can also
[17:49] be accessed via the
[17:50] link below. And
[17:52] this is also in the package of
[17:53] documents for the council.
[17:55] I hope if you have it
[17:56] you can
[17:57] access it. So
[17:58] , we have projects for
[17:59] laying the coating in
[18:01] TMS in phases. These are phases one,
[18:03] two and three,
[18:05] council office roof replacement, kitchen stove,
[18:07] replacement of external
[18:08] benches at THS, replacement of
[18:09] external doors at THS,
[18:11] energy
[18:12] and technology,
[18:14] ramp railing along
[18:15] front loading
[18:17] platform, internal
[18:18] Wi-Fi
[18:19] clock system at TIS,
[18:20] replacement of
[18:21] public address system at TIS and
[18:22] replacement of
[18:23] public address system at TMS. And
[18:26] they are also accompanied by
[18:27] corresponding sheets with
[18:28] descriptions. So, I am
[18:30] ready to answer
[18:31] any questions
[18:32] , and Mr. Stav is also here
[18:34] to help with
[18:35] explanations. You will also
[18:36] see on the right the
[18:37] year the
[18:38] project is scheduled for
[18:39] and its cost in
[18:40] this table. This gives
[18:42] you a general
[18:43] idea, and details
[18:44] can be found in the
[18:45] links.
[18:48] I will intervene because there
[18:50] may be
[18:51] questions about what
[18:52] exactly I am proposing. I would
[18:55] like to add, um...
[18:59] our one-
[19:00] to-one program and any
[19:01] other
[19:02] technological
[19:05] equipment to the
[19:06] capital plan.
[19:09] In short, we
[19:10] have discussed this
[19:11] over the last
[19:12] few years during
[19:14] budget periods.
[19:15] Um, our...our
[19:20] policy is outdated
[19:21] because it deals with
[19:23] time slots,
[19:24] not specific
[19:25] equipment.
[19:28] Technology
[19:29] equipment has always
[19:30] been a capital
[19:31] expense, but we
[19:32] used it
[19:33] mostly in
[19:34] computer classes and
[19:35] so on. It is obvious that
[19:37] we now
[19:38] use
[19:39] portable devices
[19:40] for many of our
[19:41] needs and the needs of
[19:42] our students. So,
[19:44] I hope our board
[19:45] will consider
[19:46] updating this
[19:47] policy. But to
[19:50] be specific, at the
[19:51] budget meeting
[19:53] last year, the
[19:54] minutes state
[19:55] that Mr. Foley explained:
[19:57] even though the technology doesn't
[19:58] last 8-10 years, it's still a
[19:59] capital
[20:00] expense. The city
[20:02] is incorporating technology
[20:03] into the capital
[20:04] plan, and it is ready to
[20:05] do the same for the
[20:06] Department of Education. The
[20:07] superintendent
[20:08] already has the technology in the
[20:09] capital plan.
[20:10] Mr. Foley noted.
[20:11] The plan is flexible and
[20:12] items in it can
[20:13] be changed. Mr. Naran
[20:14] reviewed the
[20:16] Office of the State
[20:17] Comptroller's Property Control Guide for
[20:18] large-scale
[20:19] technology purchases. These are
[20:20] acceptable expenses.
[20:22] However, he noted
[20:22] that the council may
[20:23] have to
[20:23] consider
[20:24] extending the life of
[20:25] some
[20:26] technologies if
[20:26] the city agrees to
[20:27] include them in the
[20:27] capital plan.
[20:28] As Bill reminded me
[20:29] earlier, we've already
[20:30] postponed upgrading
[20:31] our Chromebooks for a year. We
[20:33] could certainly
[20:34] discuss whether it's possible to
[20:35] postpone
[20:36] laptop upgrades for a year. But
[20:38] I think, aside from the
[20:39] lifespan issue
[20:41] , it's appropriate.
[20:43] So I would like to see that
[20:45] added. I would also
[20:48] like, as we
[20:49] discussed publicly during the
[20:50] budget debate
[20:51] a couple of years ago, I
[20:52] actually requested a
[20:54] second joint
[20:54] meeting with the last
[20:55] city council after a
[20:57] failed
[20:57] referendum, or
[20:58] maybe even two
[20:59] failed
[21:00] referendums, when we
[21:01] found ourselves in a difficult
[21:02] situation, forced
[21:03] to cut even
[21:04] more staff. So
[21:07] we met with the
[21:08] city council to
[21:09] see if
[21:11] they could help us with
[21:12] funding. We
[21:14] thought that asking to
[21:15] make the technical
[21:16] costs capitalized
[21:17] at that time might be an
[21:18] acceptable option
[21:20] , and also taking on
[21:21] security would be
[21:22] acceptable, as
[21:23] both of these options
[21:24] are practiced in
[21:25] many other
[21:26] counties and businesses.
[21:28] This was not possible,
[21:31] probably due to the deadlines
[21:32] at that time. Then we
[21:33] asked if
[21:34] we could get help
[21:36] from the general fund,
[21:37] but we were denied.
[21:40] So, we agreed that
[21:41] we had a
[21:43] capital cost
[21:44] for repairs, to replace the
[21:46] seats in the
[21:47] TMS auditorium for $188,000. We
[21:52] said we would take it
[21:53] upon ourselves. We will
[21:56] put this in our ERF,
[21:57] that is, our reserve
[21:59] fund, and take it
[22:00] from there as soon as that
[22:01] fund is available
[22:04] as soon as it
[22:04] happens. Yes.
[22:07] Once this fund
[22:08] is renewed, and it
[22:09] is formed from the annual
[22:11] surplus, and if
[22:12] the city allocates 188
[22:13] thousand for technology,
[22:15] then this is what they
[22:16] agreed to. However,
[22:19] given that we
[22:20] had a deeper discussion
[22:22] about technology
[22:23] being in the
[22:24] capital plan, and
[22:25] we have a city
[22:26] council record saying
[22:28] it should be...I
[22:28] really think that this
[22:30] should not have been
[22:31] an agreement
[22:36] that was agreed to in the first
[22:37] place. We
[22:38] did it as a council
[22:40] because we had to,
[22:41] it was the only thing the council
[22:42] was willing to give us.
[22:44] It was the best
[22:44] decision we could have
[22:46] made at the time. I
[22:47] wish...we couldn't
[22:48] do the seating
[22:49] this summer because
[22:50] the company couldn't
[22:51] do it. We didn't
[22:53] spend this money. I would
[22:54] like the city to
[22:55] consider
[22:56] putting this back into the
[22:57] capital plan.
[22:58] These are capital
[22:59] expenditures. I believe
[23:00] both of these items
[23:00] should be
[23:01] capital
[23:02] expenditures. So, I would
[23:03] like them to be
[23:04] added to the
[23:07] capital plan request.
[23:08] So you want to
[23:09] include
[23:10] TMS auditorium seating and
[23:11] technology positions
[23:12] , specifically educational
[23:13] technology positions
[23:14] , like phones and
[23:15] laptops, as well as,
[23:16] you know,
[23:17] desktops that are
[23:18] needed, any
[23:19] equipment; I understand
[23:20] that software is
[23:21] not typically
[23:22] considered
[23:23] capital
[23:23] expenditure, but
[23:24] technology
[23:25] equipment
[23:26] is considered
[23:26] educational
[23:27] technology
[23:28] initiative devices, like
[23:29] phones
[23:30] yes, but also, but
[23:31] not like, like I mean
[23:35] , these are
[23:36] not typically educational things
[23:38] . Of course. But we
[23:39] had a
[23:40] desktop replacement that we
[23:41] also had to
[23:42] do. Right.
[23:44] Yes. There aren't many of
[23:45] them. No, these are much
[23:46] higher costs.
[23:48] I understand.
[23:49] But anything that is an
[23:50] equipment expense that might
[23:52] fall under that
[23:54] definition should be
[23:55] there for the
[23:56] city council to consider.
[23:58] Good.
[24:01] So, we are
[24:02] any technical
[24:04] equipment
[24:06] that falls under this
[24:07] definition. Uh,
[24:10] this will be considered in the
[24:12] FFC, and then we will also
[24:13] have another
[24:14] final reading in the
[24:15] council. We are actually
[24:16] voting to
[24:17] refer this request to the
[24:19] city council. So in the meantime,
[24:20] I'll try to
[24:21] gather more
[24:21] information. You know
[24:23] , I have some
[24:24] information, I think
[24:25] Bristol schools
[24:26] have included this in 2025.
[24:27] Norwalk Schools
[24:28] included this in 2025, uh
[24:29] , in
[24:30] last year's budget. I
[24:31] gave examples of
[24:32] several cities that have
[24:33] incorporated technology
[24:34] and safety. So, I'll
[24:36] go back to that and
[24:37] try, you know, it's
[24:38] not easy data to
[24:39] get from other
[24:40] areas. Not everyone has their
[24:41] capital budget
[24:42] laid out perfectly
[24:44] for viewing online,
[24:45] but I will try to gather
[24:46] more information
[24:47] for discussion
[24:48] before the vote
[24:49] in a couple of weeks.
[24:51] But that's all I have
[24:52] prepared
[24:53] for this meeting at this time.
[24:55] Good. So, having said
[24:57] that, do you have any
[24:58] questions about the
[24:59] capital
[25:00] expenditure request for Dr.
[25:02] Willett, Mr. Stava,
[25:03] or anyone else?
[25:05] And these links
[25:06] are also on your
[25:07] dashboard
[25:08] . Question.
[25:10] It seems like, uh,
[25:14] every time I
[25:15] look at it every year,
[25:17] TMS is always a year
[25:18] ahead. I wonder
[25:22] why
[25:24] Mantra is ready. The main trap
[25:25] is ready,
[25:26] except for some
[25:27] furniture that is a little
[25:28] late but
[25:29] should arrive.
[25:30] So, there is a main trap.
[25:31] It's done.
[25:32] Yes.
[25:33] So it really should be
[25:34] removed
[25:35] from fiscal year 2027
[25:36] .
[25:38] Uh, there is one
[25:39] unpaid invoice
[25:40] that the contractor hasn't
[25:42] submitted yet.
[25:43] So this is it this
[25:46] year.
[25:47] Good.
[25:48] Yes.
[25:48] So it's essentially
[25:49] done.
[25:50] We are in this. That's
[25:51] right.
[25:52] Yes. Because you are already 27
[25:54] now. Yes, on the
[25:55] 26th I leave the past
[25:56] there just so
[25:57] you can see it.
[25:59] But we, the technology,
[26:00] you know, everything you
[26:01] see in the 27th is
[26:02] happening
[26:03] or is being
[26:04] completed now.
[26:06] Good.
[26:07] So then if that's the case
[26:10] , what's the
[26:11] delay with the
[26:13] high school roof? Because
[26:14] it hasn't been
[26:15] done yet.
[26:16] Referendum question
[26:20] .
[26:20] I believe there are city
[26:21] hearings on this
[26:22] . Was that last
[26:24] night?
[26:24] No, that's not true.
[26:26] That was about
[26:27] a week ago. They
[26:28] had hearings there about
[26:29] this.
[26:30] Yes, they should
[26:31] do that before
[26:32] putting it to a
[26:33] referendum. That's
[26:34] all. I'm done.
[26:36] Good. Anyone else? Oh,
[26:37] Mackenzie, I'm sorry.
[26:41] Yes, thank you, Jen. Uh, I
[26:46] just wanted to, uh,
[26:47] say that I think
[26:48] that, uh, it's really
[26:50] after our conversations
[26:51] during budget
[26:52] season that we
[26:53] make sure that all the
[26:54] technical equipment
[26:56] is on that list. Me, I
[27:01] also support
[27:02] the need
[27:02] to include this here so that
[27:04] it doesn't go
[27:05] beyond our
[27:06] operating budget
[27:07] . Um, and I also agree
[27:11] about the
[27:12] high school audience. I, I
[27:15] know I wasn't
[27:17] on the council when
[27:18] some of
[27:19] these deals were made. Um, I think
[27:24] the situation with this and the
[27:25] transition to another
[27:26] budget year gives
[27:27] us an opportunity
[27:28] to discuss this with the
[27:29] city council, and I would
[27:30] like to bring it up for
[27:31] their consideration.
[27:37] Mackenzie, does anyone else
[27:39] want to speak? J.
[27:41] Hmm, I think I agree with
[27:43] you. Hmm, this
[27:44] feels very
[27:45] fresh. It's like this
[27:46] conversation feels
[27:47] very fresh. And
[27:48] maybe it's because
[27:49] it was when, in
[27:50] April, or when we were
[27:51] talking about...
[27:52] Yes, it was in April.
[27:53] Yes. My position on
[27:56] this has not changed in
[27:57] either respect. If
[28:02] we can, firstly, from the
[28:03] perspective of
[28:03] precedents, when this
[28:05] was capital
[28:06] expenditures by the
[28:07] city in other districts
[28:08] , other regions, etc.
[28:12] There is such an aspect. If
[28:15] there is a precedent and it makes sense for us
[28:16] to move to
[28:17] this model, I see no
[28:18] reason why we
[28:19] shouldn't do it.
[28:22] Um, a big burden
[28:23] all the time, I was talking
[28:24] about unscheduled
[28:25] maintenance before the
[28:26] meeting. It's like a
[28:28] domino effect: what the
[28:29] city council doesn't do,
[28:31] we have to do. And who, who
[28:33] gets blamed
[28:34] for rising costs and
[28:36] all that? I
[28:37] mean, it's constant. And that's why
[28:38] , you know, the
[28:39] board of
[28:41] education budget is so high
[28:42] because, well, if you
[28:43] cut seats,
[28:44] cut technology
[28:46] , a lot of things are going to be
[28:47] cut. So the
[28:49] overall impact, I
[28:50] think, would be
[28:52] less if the city
[28:53] somehow
[28:54] mathematically
[28:54] coordinated the way it
[28:56] did what
[28:57] I think is the
[28:58] city's responsibility. Um,
[29:00] so there's that aspect, but
[29:02] there's also the safety aspect,
[29:03] right, combined
[29:04] with technical safety,
[29:06] keeping
[29:07] our children safe, and
[29:08] so on. It
[29:09] seems so
[29:10] obvious to me that I don't
[29:11] understand why the city
[29:12] doesn't want to take it on
[29:13] . This is obvious to me
[29:16] , and it is something the
[29:17] council should
[29:17] address to the city
[29:19] year after year until it
[29:20] becomes a reality.
[29:22] The same goes for
[29:23] technology. I work
[29:25] with fifth and
[29:26] sixth grade students.
[29:27] As I gain more
[29:28] experience in this area, I am
[29:29] beginning to understand
[29:30] people's positions on the
[29:31] need for
[29:32] less technology. I
[29:33] understand where
[29:34] such
[29:35] views come from. At the same time, I'm
[29:37] putting my
[29:38] students or
[29:39] any of these kids at a
[29:40] huge
[29:41] disadvantage if I don't
[29:42] offer at least
[29:43] some of the resources to keep up
[29:46] with Coventry,
[29:47] Ellington, you know,
[29:48] Hartford, or
[29:49] whoever is right next to
[29:50] us. So, again
[29:52] , there are two
[29:54] factors at play here. First,
[29:55] there is precedent, and I
[29:56] know I've said this a
[29:57] million times,
[29:58] precedent for
[29:59] cities covering these
[30:00] costs. Then there's the
[30:02] other aspect: "Why do
[30:03] n't we do this for
[30:05] kids in the 21st century?"
[30:06] Especially in 2026,
[30:08] when they
[30:09] question everything—whether
[30:10] it's worth doing is
[30:11] another story—but
[30:13] they
[30:14] question everything, they
[30:15] want to know more, they
[30:16] want to be able to
[30:17] do more, etc.
[30:19] So I think I agree
[30:20] with you, Jim, my
[30:22] position on this
[30:22] hasn't changed
[30:24] since April, and I don't see
[30:25] it necessarily
[30:26] changing, but I'm
[30:27] open to new
[30:29] information. I am
[30:29] open to
[30:30] additional
[30:31] information from
[30:32] anyone who can
[30:33] provide it to us. I will be happy to
[30:36] listen. But
[30:38] okay, thank you.
[30:39] That's what I was saying,
[30:40] you're welcome, JP,
[30:42] if you have any
[30:42] questions before I
[30:44] go to round two.
[30:47] Okay, Mackenzie,
[30:48] your hand is still
[30:49] up. Is this the second
[30:50] question or is it
[30:51] left over from the
[30:51] previous one?
[30:52] No, it's because of not knowing how
[30:54] to use Zoom.
[30:56] You're
[30:56] doing great,
[30:57] Mackenzie. You are here.
[31:00] OK. Uh, does
[31:01] anyone have anything else?
[31:06] I know when Jen
[31:07] does it,
[31:08] God. Just
[31:10] remember,
[31:12] we're not voting on any of
[31:13] this. No.
[31:14] So, you know, it will be
[31:15] at the next
[31:16] meeting or so
[31:17] when we
[31:18] discuss and
[31:18] vote.
[31:19] Right. So, this is not the
[31:21] only opportunity
[31:22] to discuss anything on
[31:23] this list.
[31:24] No. And I think that's
[31:25] helpful because there are
[31:26] a lot of points here that
[31:27] you think, I
[31:28] feel, we've already
[31:29] seen
[31:31] rehashed. But to
[31:33] Mr. Sava's words about us
[31:35] now being in
[31:36] fiscal year 27, right
[31:37] ? So I'm trying to
[31:38] adapt, even
[31:40] in my job, I'm still
[31:41] trying
[31:42] to adjust to
[31:43] this new
[31:43] fiscal year, and
[31:45] everything is new. So I
[31:46] just need to get my
[31:47] bearings,
[31:48] look at it again,
[31:49] and better understand
[31:50] where my position is on
[31:52] this. Yes, Nick,
[31:54] I have another question
[31:55] while Pete is here. Yes.
[31:57] You know, I know
[31:59] we'll get
[31:59] an update on
[32:00] solar energy later in the meeting. Um,
[32:01] but one of the things in the
[32:03] solar plan was
[32:04] consoles in high
[32:05] school. And I see that
[32:07] the asphalting of the
[32:08] high school is
[32:10] scheduled for 29, 30, and
[32:12] 31. If these
[32:14] consoles are
[32:15] installed, will they
[32:16] have to be done
[32:17] earlier, before
[32:18] paving? So, the
[32:22] second phase, I think
[32:24] your fiscal
[32:25] year 30—that's the period that
[32:27] these
[32:28] consoles are about, sorry.
[32:31] I made a note to the
[32:33] request that we will
[32:33] probably have to
[32:35] come back to this
[32:36] next year when
[32:37] we
[32:38] look at
[32:39] capital expenditures again
[32:40] to see where
[32:41] this
[32:42] solar project fits in, because
[32:43] they may eventually
[32:44] pave
[32:45] some of this area.
[32:47] In any case, we
[32:48] may be forced to
[32:49] asphalt the rest,
[32:50] as it may be
[32:51] necessary to patch the
[32:52] holes rather than
[32:53] resurfacing the entire
[32:54] surface. So you'll
[32:59] have to
[32:59] review that, but
[33:00] it falls under
[33:02] phase two, as we
[33:02] planned, because we still
[33:04] have to consider
[33:05] things like summer
[33:06] school. You still
[33:09] need to have
[33:10] parking spaces and
[33:11] provide access. And
[33:14] I just want to add
[33:15] to what
[33:16] Jaden said, we share
[33:17] a lot of things with the
[33:18] city. So if
[33:22] you look at the first
[33:23] phase of paving,
[33:25] this is the access road to the
[33:26] high school, Eagle
[33:28] Hill, 1. Technically, it's a
[33:31] city road. I'm
[33:32] just pointing that out.
[33:35] Okay, this falls
[33:36] under our budget for
[33:37] repairing the city
[33:38] road, essentially,
[33:39] because it
[33:40] provides us with
[33:40] access to the school. There are
[33:44] things we
[33:45] encounter every day, such as
[33:46] artificial
[33:47] turf fields, sports
[33:49] equipment, and
[33:50] fields and territory in general.
[33:53] So, whether it's
[33:54] on our side of the
[33:55] fence or
[33:56] theirs, it still
[33:58] has to be done at
[33:59] some point.
[34:03] Thank you very much for that, Pete.
[34:05] After all, this is one
[34:06] city, and it's one
[34:07] big budget of
[34:08] taxpayer money
[34:09] .
[34:12] I also wanted to
[34:13] note, looking
[34:14] at this,
[34:16] that apart from the 188 thousand that
[34:18] we have set for 2026, there is
[34:20] nothing on this list
[34:22] related to
[34:23] technology. And I
[34:25] remember when we
[34:26] were looking at city
[34:27] plans, there were
[34:28] technology facilities
[34:29] for the city in their
[34:30] capital budget
[34:31] . It seems the fire
[34:32] department had
[34:33] technology costs
[34:34] in their
[34:34] capital budget
[34:35] . We have
[34:36] nothing in ours. I see
[34:39] that on occasion we have
[34:40] upgrades to the
[34:41] computer
[34:42] lab,
[34:43] art and music labs,
[34:45] science labs
[34:46] ,
[34:47] technical education lab,
[34:49] TIS computer lab,
[34:51] TIS keyboard lab, and
[34:52] TIS library. So
[34:56] it seems that even with
[34:56] the updating of our
[34:57] labs, the
[34:58] small number
[35:00] that still exist in schools are
[35:01] also not being updated.
[35:02] They fall into
[35:03] the "if
[35:04] possible
[35:05] " category. So I think
[35:07] our request for
[35:08] technology is quite
[35:09] fair,
[35:10] given what's
[35:11] not here yet.
[35:15] What happened, you know,
[35:16] when councils made
[35:17] such requests, that's where they
[35:18] ended up.
[35:21] Yes. So they can't be
[35:22] in the
[35:24] "if
[35:24] possible
[35:26] " category if we want
[35:27] our students to be able to
[35:28] perform the way
[35:29] Jayden pointed out, the way
[35:30] other districts
[35:31] around us are performing,
[35:32] competing for the
[35:33] same colleges
[35:34] and the same
[35:35] jobs.
[35:36] What did you say?
[35:37] It is said that this is the place
[35:39] where inquiries go to die.
[35:40] You know when it's like
[35:41] Yes. We cannot
[35:42] let these
[35:43] requests die.
[35:45] I won't do it
[35:46] this year.
[35:47] OK. Ahem.
[35:48] inappropriate
[35:49] requests.
[35:50] Yes. Right. There is
[35:51] no island of
[35:52] irrelevant
[35:53] queries. Um, okay,
[35:53] Pete, I want to
[35:54] let you go, but also
[35:55] thank you very much for
[35:56] coming.
[35:57] Ask as many
[35:58] questions as you
[35:58] need. I am here. Is there
[36:00] anything you
[36:01] would like to bring to our
[36:02] attention? Is there anything
[36:03] you think we
[36:04] should know or that
[36:05] you think should have a
[36:06] different priority here?
[36:07] I mean, is there
[36:08] anything the board should
[36:09] know based on your
[36:10] experience? No, I
[36:12] tried to be
[36:13] honest about some of the
[36:14] years where I put
[36:16] certain things in because,
[36:17] you know, obviously
[36:18] over the next
[36:19] two or three years, you're going
[36:20] to spend a lot of
[36:22] money from a
[36:23] city perspective. Well, while a roof on a
[36:26] high school, an
[36:28] artificial turf field, a
[36:29] running track—these are
[36:30] big, big
[36:31] expense items, right? Yes.
[36:33] That's right. You'll
[36:35] spend over
[36:36] $6.5 million on
[36:38] all of this together,
[36:39] probably, uh, or
[36:40] thereabouts. Um,
[36:44] you have, you know, there's
[36:46] still debt, obviously,
[36:47] for Birch Grove and
[36:49] some other properties.
[36:53] So, um, I was trying
[36:54] to look at years where the
[36:55] paving would be
[36:56] phased in so that we wouldn't
[36:58] exhaust ourselves in
[36:59] one year. So you
[37:02] still have access to the
[37:04] school board roof.
[37:06] Um, the last time this
[37:07] was done was around 2000
[37:09] . So, we're
[37:11] looking at, you know, 30
[37:12] years ago for that
[37:14] roof, plus more.
[37:15] this does not
[37:16] affect
[37:17] insurance in any way.
[37:17] What? does
[37:18] this in no way
[37:19] affect
[37:19] insurance, as in the
[37:20] case of a
[37:21] house roof?
[37:22] No. Eh, that shouldn't
[37:23] have any impact
[37:24] on it. The flat part of
[37:27] the roof is the main
[37:28] cost factor,
[37:29] as the flat
[37:30] part is the smallest
[37:31] section of the roof and also the
[37:32] cheapest compared
[37:34] to the covered tiles.
[37:38] But it is impossible to
[37:39] effectively remodel
[37:40] this roof to be
[37:41] completely covered in
[37:42] tiles without adding
[37:43] huge costs,
[37:45] as the
[37:46] air conditioning units
[37:47] serving the school
[37:48] are located right on the
[37:49] roof. Besides, there is
[37:52] limited space on the ground there
[37:54] , as you
[37:55] understand, in these
[37:56] conditions. Some things we
[37:58] do ourselves,
[37:59] for example, we can install the benches for the
[38:00] high school
[38:03] ourselves, but they
[38:04] have to be bought. And
[38:06] my budget is very
[38:07] limited. Many
[38:10] of you probably don't
[38:11] know, but my budget
[38:13] that I submitted to Dr.
[38:14] Willett and that was
[38:15] approved for
[38:17] FY2027,
[38:19] excluding HR salaries and
[38:21] insurance, was
[38:23] actually 3.5%
[38:24] less than the first
[38:26] budget I put together in
[38:28] 2017. This is
[38:32] taking into account inflation
[38:33] , so...I congratulate my
[38:38] team and...We
[38:39] did everything
[38:40] as
[38:41] efficiently as
[38:42] possible. So, without a
[38:47] doubt,
[38:48] when we consider the
[38:49] same benches, the main
[38:51] question is their
[38:51] purchase, because we
[38:52] no longer see
[38:53] the balance of funds at
[38:54] the end of the year. Um...regarding
[39:00] ...the issue of the
[39:08] notification system is related
[39:09] to the fact that the company Bogan,
[39:10] which manufactured the systems
[39:12] for TIS and the high
[39:13] school—both
[39:14] Multicom 2000 models...
[39:15] starting this
[39:17] year, they are stopping
[39:18] any
[39:19] repair or
[39:20] spare parts support
[39:22] for 5 years. So
[39:28] , with that in mind, I
[39:29] scheduled the replacement for
[39:31] fiscal years '31 and '30,
[39:32] because if we find ourselves
[39:33] in a situation where we can't
[39:35] get
[39:36] parts, our
[39:37] alert system will
[39:38] simply fail.
[39:39] Sounds like our
[39:41] situation with Microsoft. So
[39:43] , these are just things to take
[39:44] into consideration.
[39:47] Well, actually, I don't have
[39:49] anything else to add. For
[39:53] many of you who
[39:54] were in high school:
[39:55] we are seeing
[39:56] a problem from the
[39:57] energy and
[39:58] technology side with
[39:59] exterior doors—
[40:00] they are
[40:01] rusting badly, the door
[40:02] frames and the bottoms of the
[40:03] doors are rotting.
[40:08] Unlike the rest of
[40:09] the school, where the doors to the
[40:10] loading dock
[40:11] on the right are
[40:12] aluminum, the doors
[40:13] to the left, in the
[40:14] energy and
[40:15] technology section, are all
[40:16] steel. So they didn't
[40:21] withstand the
[40:22] effects of salt and other
[40:23] similar factors as well. We've
[40:28] actually
[40:28] repainted these
[40:30] doors, sanded them, and
[40:31] caulked some of
[40:32] them several times in the 11
[40:33] years I've been here
[40:35] , but we're getting to the point where
[40:36] they're becoming difficult
[40:37] to open and close.
[40:39] They have to be
[40:40] hammered in.
[40:41] They have to be
[40:42] undermined. You should
[40:43] do everything possible to ensure that
[40:44] exterior doors
[40:45] open and
[40:46] close. This becomes a
[40:47] security issue;
[40:49] of course, this affects
[40:50] the environment,
[40:50] energy efficiency,
[40:52] rodents,
[40:53] pest control—the list goes
[40:54] on.
[40:57] So this is something to
[40:58] look out for at
[40:59] some point. That's
[41:02] why I added them to
[41:03] this list, because we're
[41:04] running out of paint,
[41:05] putty, and other
[41:07] things needed to
[41:08] work on these doors
[41:09] . We do
[41:12] scheduled
[41:12] maintenance
[41:13] as much as we can, but
[41:14] if you look at the
[41:15] time frame. You
[41:17] have 25 years of
[41:18] use for this
[41:20] door. I mean,
[41:21] for steel
[41:22] doors, that's not bad.
[41:24] Well, your other doors
[41:26] should last 40–50
[41:28] years. Here, in fact, is the
[41:31] whole list. If
[41:34] you have any other
[41:35] questions, don't
[41:36] hesitate to ask
[41:38] . Are
[41:39] there any more questions for
[41:40] Pete?
[41:41] Quite a bit.
[41:42] Let's go back a moment
[41:44] . The fact that the
[41:45] budget you just
[41:46] submitted was what?
[41:47] Say it again.
[41:48] The budget you just
[41:49] submitted was less than the
[41:50] first budget
[41:50] you... by
[41:51] more than 3%
[41:52] that I ever
[41:53] wrote. Yes.
[41:54] 10 years ago.
[41:55] More than 3%
[41:56] that I've
[41:57] been working on for months to...
[41:58] and Dr. Willett
[41:59] probably still remembers
[42:01] my comment. I
[42:02] said I would spend
[42:03] a lot of time and create a
[42:05] budget so that you
[42:06] could keep that
[42:07] figure for many, many
[42:08] years.
[42:08] Yes. Did
[42:09] n't I say that,
[42:10] Doctor? Yes. Yes.
[42:12] So I did everything I could
[42:13] . It's just that some of the
[42:15] things there are, you know,
[42:16] completely crazy.
[42:17] And my opinion on this
[42:18] matter is—you did a
[42:19] great job. And that's
[42:20] my argument,
[42:21] going back to what
[42:22] we just
[42:23] talked about. I am not
[42:24] ashamed to ask to include
[42:25] some of these
[42:26] items in the city
[42:27] budget. Yes. I
[42:28] look forward to
[42:29] this discussion
[42:31] because I find what we
[42:32] put people
[42:33] through year after year
[42:34] absurd. And
[42:35] this whole security
[42:37] aspect is
[42:38] just about the door, right?
[42:39] Rusty door, you can
[42:41] barely...what is it?
[42:43] Steel toe,
[42:44] you know, if you dig
[42:45] hard enough,
[42:46] God knows what could
[42:47] happen to the safety of
[42:49] the buildings and, more
[42:50] importantly, the students. And
[42:51] yes, a lot of what
[42:52] you just said
[42:54] concerns me that
[42:55] this shouldn't be
[42:56] delayed until 2031
[42:58] , even though the service life
[42:59] is until then, so it
[43:00] makes sense and we can
[43:01] hold out while
[43:03] we address this
[43:03] pressing issue. So
[43:05] yes, this, this, this, this is
[43:07] needed. Yes.
[43:10] Well, while that budget
[43:11] is being cut, we've
[43:12] also taken on
[43:14] more of the things that the
[43:15] city used to do,
[43:16] more
[43:17] building maintenance, more
[43:18] field meetings, and
[43:19] so on.
[43:22] Yes.
[43:22] We have taken on
[43:23] more than has ever
[43:24] been done in the past.
[43:26] Yes. So it's, you know,
[43:28] less money and even
[43:29] more work.
[43:30] Well, there is a certain
[43:31] trend. It's a trend,
[43:34] and one of my
[43:36] firefighter friends won't
[43:37] approve of me saying this
[43:38] , but other
[43:39] departments
[43:39] get so much
[43:41] attention that the units
[43:42] within the Board of
[43:43] Education get, to
[43:44] my mind, zero attention from the
[43:46] city. And I'm not
[43:50] talking about our city
[43:51] councils, I didn't...I
[43:52] made it clear what I was talking about
[43:53] , so, um...yeah,
[44:01] I...That's it. This puts
[44:03] me in such a situation,
[44:04] you know, I'm
[44:05] speechless, because to me it's
[44:07] common sense that we
[44:08] have to address these
[44:09] issues. And if there is an
[44:10] opportunity in
[44:11] the discussion to approach the
[44:12] city council and
[44:13] say, "Let's
[44:14] take this off the
[44:16] agenda of the Board of
[44:17] Education so it can be
[44:18] done separately."
[44:20] Not to mention that
[44:21] it will free up
[44:21] the budget so we can
[44:22] retain staff and
[44:24] provide students with the
[44:25] resources they need. This is a
[44:26] multifaceted conversation
[44:27] that I think we
[44:28] need to have
[44:29] urgently, and I
[44:30] look forward to having
[44:31] it not only with the council, but
[44:32] hopefully with the
[44:33] city council, because it's a
[44:34] profound discussion.
[44:36] So, and I appreciate
[44:37] both of you being here
[44:38] to hear this.
[44:40] Yes. And I think, you
[44:43] know, even though we're not
[44:44] enemies, we
[44:44] discuss it on the
[44:45] city council and the board of
[44:47] education, but
[44:48] really we're one
[44:49] city. this, this, this district
[44:55] , the school district is
[44:56] part of the city. Um,
[44:58] hey, that's why, you know,
[44:59] our city worked so hard
[45:00] to
[45:01] get an
[45:03] AAA credit rating. This is so that
[45:05] , you know, we
[45:06] can cover such
[45:07] capital costs.
[45:11] Moreover, it seems,
[45:12] if I recall, the city is
[45:13] now so
[45:14] financially stable
[45:15] that you even
[45:16] make payments on the
[45:18] spot instead of
[45:19] issuing
[45:20] bonds. So, I think
[45:24] we're doing very
[45:25] well, and at the end of the day, this is
[45:26] also a kind of business
[45:28] , and different
[45:29] spending baskets exist for a reason
[45:30] . There are
[45:33] capital expenditures, there are
[45:35] operating expenditures, and
[45:36] , you know, when Jaden
[45:37] talks about the Board of
[45:38] Education, I
[45:39] think he's
[45:40] referring to the
[45:42] Board's operating budget, and
[45:42] allocating things to the
[45:43] appropriate
[45:44] budget lines
[45:45] during planning—
[45:47] that's what we have to
[45:48] do.
[45:49] Ahem. So yes.
[45:53] I just want to mention
[45:55] something about the roof of the Board of
[45:56] Education.
[45:57] This is not usually
[45:58] considered a school
[45:59] building. So you
[46:01] will not be eligible for
[46:02] any
[46:03] grants for this. The only time
[46:04] they
[46:05] usually cover
[46:07] the cost of office
[46:08] space with
[46:09] roof repairs is
[46:10] if your office is
[46:11] part of a school. But
[46:12] this is not our case. You
[46:15] have a separate,
[46:16] independent building where
[46:17] no
[46:18] training is conducted. If that
[46:19] building, excuse me,
[46:20] if that building was
[46:22] part of this one,
[46:23] for example, right? So
[46:24] if, if, if.
[46:25] This is a low grant.
[46:26] No, but if it were
[46:28] part of BGP,
[46:28] for example. Yes.
[46:29] Got it. But I'm
[46:30] more talking about the fact that
[46:32] if the school, if the
[46:33] Board of Education office
[46:34] was in this building,
[46:35] then the Board wouldn't have to
[46:36] worry about
[46:37] replacing the roof for that
[46:39] , and that...
[46:39] could be a
[46:40] shared expense
[46:41] or something like that,
[46:42] right? Okay. So,
[46:43] okay. Good. So,
[46:45] this
[46:46] has been studied in the past,
[46:48] right? But the staff didn't
[46:51] want to—not our
[46:52] staff, and to
[46:53] do that, the probate court would have to
[46:55] move into that
[46:56] building, and they
[46:57] looked at it and showed no
[46:58] interest.
[47:02] And there's not that much
[47:03] money per year that
[47:04] you're
[47:05] giving up.
[47:06] Yes. I just think
[47:09] it opens up
[47:10] a lot of new avenues
[47:11] for discussion, so
[47:12] thank you, my brain is already
[47:13] melting. I
[47:16] guess I'll just add
[47:17] something that I couldn't
[47:19] find the words for before, because
[47:20] I feel like as a member of the
[47:21] Board of Education,
[47:22] we work with the
[47:23] city council, and I'm not
[47:24] necessarily here to
[47:25] criticize other people's
[47:27] budgets or anything
[47:28] like that. But I think it's
[47:34] important for people
[47:35] to remember and understand
[47:36] how well, in
[47:37] terms of the
[47:39] funds remaining at the end of
[47:40] the year,
[47:41] our budgets were managed in the
[47:42] Board of Education.
[47:47] and there simply is not. And,
[47:49] frankly, I don't
[47:50] think there should be a bunch of unclaimed money left at the end of the
[47:51] year
[47:53] . I think
[47:55] part of our job is to make sure
[47:56] that we
[47:57] spend
[47:58] our Board of Education funds
[47:59] on what we planned
[48:01] and stated. Is
[48:02] n't that right? So, we
[48:05] come to the question of
[48:06] whether we have
[48:07] precedents in other
[48:08] cities? Do we have
[48:12] the financial, uh, right to
[48:13] legally, uh,
[48:14] go to the
[48:15] city council and
[48:16] say, "Look, we're
[48:17] doing our, we're
[48:19] doing our
[48:20] job. We think
[48:22] we're doing a very good job
[48:23] of
[48:23] managing the funds
[48:25] that we've been allocated. These are
[48:26] things that we
[48:27] think are necessary, that are
[48:29] not getting
[48:29] funded, and that are
[48:30] legally part of the
[48:32] capital
[48:33] expenditure regime." I fully
[48:37] support, uh,
[48:38] having this
[48:39] conversation with the city
[48:40] council and pushing
[48:41] you in that direction
[48:42] as much as we can.
[48:44] Very aptly said.
[48:45] I really
[48:46] like the phrase that
[48:47] we are doing a great
[48:48] job with the
[48:49] funds allocated to us. Yes, that was
[48:51] really apt. Thank you
[48:52] .
[48:52] And I think, I think
[48:53] people are losing
[48:54] sight of that. It's easy to
[48:55] lose sight of that
[48:56] because we have
[48:57] so many issues
[48:57] that we're trying
[48:58] to cover, and I think we do
[48:59] n't, which is why I wanted to
[49:00] make this comment
[49:01] here. I think it's
[49:02] worth voicing,
[49:03] you know.
[49:03] Yes. And when we
[49:04] look at, you know, the
[49:05] surplus at the end of
[49:05] the year, sometimes people
[49:06] just look at the
[49:07] dollar amounts
[49:08] instead of
[49:08] understanding that it's
[49:09] less than 1%, which is the
[49:09] best indicator
[49:10] . I mean, the
[49:12] business is targeting
[49:13] 5%.
[49:14] And we, we have less than 1%.
[49:16] So, yes. Thank you.
[49:19] Anyone else? Well, Mr.
[49:20] Sta, thank you for
[49:21] joining us tonight
[49:23] .
[49:24] Thank you for everything you
[49:25] do on Saturday. I
[49:28] think every
[49:29] time I'm in
[49:30] any of these schools I
[49:31] see you walking around and
[49:32] looking at some
[49:33] wall or something like that
[49:35] , like this morning at
[49:36] Bergshire Grove,
[49:37] doing some wiring
[49:38] .
[49:41] And we know that you and
[49:42] your staff are doing a
[49:44] lot to
[49:45] really reduce
[49:46] costs for us. So
[49:48] please know how
[49:49] much we appreciate this
[49:50] and your hard
[49:51] work.
[49:52] No, thank you.
[49:54] I appreciate it. OK. So
[49:58] , we'll go back, I
[50:00] think, to
[50:00] the superintendent.
[50:06] Hey, Jay. Okay,
[50:07] back to K,
[50:09] the superintendent's report. K1
[50:10] is a monthly
[50:11] financial
[50:16] report. He spoke just in
[50:20] time. So, the
[50:24] first one here doesn't
[50:30] load, wait
[50:31] a second. OK.
[50:34] Actually, you could
[50:35] provide an update
[50:36] on
[50:36] solar while this is
[50:37] loading if
[50:38] you want. I don't know,
[50:39] forever.
[50:40] No, it doesn't matter.
[50:41] So, I'll do that
[50:42] while I figure it out. So
[50:46] , the report on solar
[50:48] projects is currently
[50:49] under
[50:50] evaluation by the utility
[50:51] company. So, the
[50:54] official process for
[50:56] this is called the
[50:58] interconnection verification process. And
[51:01] if you think about it, that
[51:02] means connecting
[51:03] to the network. This is a
[51:06] formal process where the
[51:07] local
[51:08] utility
[51:09] company evaluates a
[51:10] solar
[51:11] power system in
[51:12] preparation for
[51:14] grid connection, as they
[51:15] want to check whether
[51:17] such a
[51:18] surge in power will cause
[51:19] problems, or whether
[51:20] something will explode,
[51:21] damage
[51:22] transformers, etc.
[51:25] So, when this
[51:26] IIA process is completed, an
[51:27] IIA implementation agreement is put in place
[51:29] , and it's a
[51:30] tripartite agreement
[51:31] between the TRA, the city,
[51:32] Green Skies, the company that
[51:34] implements it, and the
[51:36] utility. And for now,
[51:40] engineering
[51:41] work is ongoing while they
[51:43] receive final
[51:44] IIA approvals.
[51:45] IA approval is a
[51:46] bureaucratic affair.
[51:48] It just takes
[51:49] some time. The
[51:50] utility company
[51:51] has a queue of such
[51:52] cases. They are doing
[51:54] everything they can, and this is where
[51:55] we
[51:57] are now. But
[51:59] once this part
[52:00] is complete, we
[52:01] can move on to the
[52:03] implementation phase. It's
[52:05] not interesting in Thailand
[52:07] really, some
[52:08] interesting electric
[52:11] dynamics. There is an area with
[52:16] unstable
[52:17] power supply there that
[52:18] may
[52:19] need to be addressed at some point.
[52:24] OK. Do you have any
[52:25] questions for Dr.
[52:26] Willett regarding the
[52:27] solar
[52:28] project update? Is
[52:30] there any time
[52:31] frame
[52:33] for IAS? I would say
[52:35] we probably
[52:36] measure in months. I
[52:39] don't think anyone
[52:40] can say
[52:41] how quickly
[52:42] they'll do it, but
[52:43] I don't see it
[52:44] taking a year or anything
[52:46] like that. I think we're
[52:47] talking about months.
[52:51] So, what...because I
[52:52] think the savings
[52:54] that were presented to us
[52:55] when the
[52:56] solar plan came in
[52:57] was about
[52:58] $100,000 a year
[52:59] combined with all the
[53:00] solar
[53:01] generation.
[53:05] Ahem. Do
[53:08] you anticipate that we
[53:10] could potentially get those
[53:12] savings in
[53:14] fiscal year '27-28 or
[53:17] '28-29? I mean, if
[53:18] I'm being careful, I'd
[53:19] say 28-29, just
[53:20] because I think if
[53:21] I say something, if I'm
[53:22] wrong and it
[53:23] happens sooner, everyone
[53:24] will be happy. If
[53:26] I'm wrong and
[53:27] I hear you.
[53:28] So, I think that,
[53:29] especially with the
[53:30] cost of fuel and
[53:31] everything else that's
[53:32] going on right now, we'll
[53:33] at least get
[53:35] that benefit. There are
[53:36] a lot of "buts" here,
[53:37] but I would
[53:38] focus on 20,
[53:40] you know, maybe 29 years
[53:41] .
[53:42] installation and everything
[53:43] else.
[53:43] Yes. But I think it will at least
[53:46] partially come true for them
[53:48] . Cantilever
[53:51] structures are
[53:52] more complex, you know, and
[53:53] they don't leave
[53:54] chaos behind.
[53:55] That is, if they
[53:56] install them, they also
[53:57] perform
[53:57] asphalting and
[53:58] similar work. We
[53:59] just need to
[54:00] connect to it.
[54:03] I think most of the
[54:04] work
[54:04] will take place
[54:05] during the summer, you know
[54:07] , next summer, the
[54:09] summer of '27. This will be a
[54:14] very busy
[54:15] place if we
[54:16] plan to repair the roof
[54:18] and install an
[54:19] artificial turf field
[54:20] that same summer.
[54:22] Well, remember, yes, it's
[54:23] true.
[54:24] Perhaps.
[54:25] We do not install
[54:26] solar panels on the
[54:27] roof.
[54:28] Yes.
[54:30] But it's going to take a
[54:31] lot of coordination, and that's why
[54:32] , you know, it
[54:34] might happen in
[54:35] pieces. I don't
[54:39] expect, you know, I
[54:41] don't have a crystal
[54:42] ball, but I don't think
[54:43] it's going to last forever
[54:45] . And
[54:47] will the
[54:48] cantilever
[54:48] structures reduce
[54:49] the number of
[54:51] student parking spaces behind? They
[54:52] shouldn't. Usually
[54:54] not. You might
[54:58] only lose a few
[54:59] spots here and there, but there are
[55:00] areas with islands where
[55:02] you can place
[55:03] support structures.
[55:09] Also, you know, with the
[55:10] number of
[55:11] students in the high school
[55:12] now, there's
[55:13] a lot of parking out back
[55:14] . You know, even
[55:18] compared to
[55:20] when my
[55:21] oldest daughter, who is
[55:22] now 22, was studying there, that
[55:23] playground in the back was
[55:24] almost full. But
[55:29] I don't expect, you know,
[55:30] the project will be
[55:31] aimed at
[55:32] preserving as
[55:33] many places as possible
[55:34] while ensuring
[55:35] traffic flow.
[55:39] By the way, there is a
[55:41] high school in Stafford: if
[55:42] you go up the hill and
[55:43] go behind the building, there
[55:45] are cantilevered
[55:46] canopies there too. You can
[55:47] get an idea
[55:48] of ​​what it looks like
[55:50] in the parking lot. Just like
[55:50] Genie Tech.
[55:52] Yes. I don't think they
[55:54] will eliminate a large
[55:55] number of places.
[55:56] Some of them you will simply
[55:58] mark as spaces
[55:59] for compact cars.
[56:01] You know, if there's a
[56:03] supporting structure there,
[56:05] then yes.
[56:05] we always
[56:08] I expect
[56:09] it will take Ever Source two or three
[56:10] months, you know,
[56:11] probably by Thanksgiving
[56:13] they will have their
[56:14] part completed. And then we will
[56:18] need to
[56:18] consider the
[56:19] architectural and
[56:20] structural aspects of
[56:21] the issue. But they
[56:25] need to do some
[56:26] calculations on
[56:27] our projects, which
[56:28] include solar
[56:29] panels in almost all of
[56:30] our schools, on
[56:31] the amount of generation and
[56:33] what
[56:35] the grid can actually handle.
[56:38] And so as not to blow up
[56:39] the transformer, but,
[56:44] you know, it shouldn't
[56:45] last forever. We
[56:47] expect it will be
[56:48] several months before
[56:49] we pass this
[56:50] stage.
[56:51] Yes. Most of them
[56:54] will try not to
[56:55] install
[56:56] solar panels on their
[56:57] roofs in December, January,
[56:58] and February because of the
[56:59] threat of snow,
[57:00] weather conditions, and so on
[57:01] .
[57:06] So you'll probably see them
[57:07] closer to
[57:08] April.
[57:13] Thank you.
[57:13] Sorry, I
[57:14] only stayed here for the
[57:15] part about solar
[57:16] panels.
[57:17] Yes, that's great.
[57:18] Thank you very much. Not surprised.
[57:20] Thank you
[57:21] Doctor, do you want to
[57:22] go back to the
[57:23] financial report?
[57:24] Of course. Thank you.
[57:26] So, this is your
[57:27] standard
[57:27] monthly
[57:28] financial report. As
[57:30] we know, we
[57:30] get it once a
[57:32] month. It is in the
[57:33] board document package
[57:35] on the control panel.
[57:42] So, we ended
[57:43] last month with an
[57:45] indicator of 1.85, 85, and
[57:51] salaries under article
[57:53] 110 exceed the budget
[57:54] by 232, but this is typical
[57:56] for this time of year. IT
[57:59] staff is working until
[58:01] September. Teacher positions
[58:05] are being filled at the
[58:06] highest level,
[58:07] the six-grade
[58:07] teacher positions
[58:08] are being retained,
[58:10] after they have received
[58:11] some adjustments,
[58:12] as
[58:13] we had
[58:14] higher levels at the time of filling than
[58:15] before. ESY budget, not
[58:18] before, but as people
[58:19] leave, sometimes
[58:20] retire or
[58:21] get fired, those
[58:22] who are hired can
[58:24] be at a higher level.
[58:26] ESY staff budget,
[58:28] this program
[58:29] mainly covers
[58:30] special needs students and
[58:31] special education. And
[58:34] so there was an overspend this year
[58:36] because the IEP required
[58:37] us
[58:38] to invest more in some
[58:40] elements of the program.
[58:41] So, we had to
[58:42] spend more on it
[58:43] than we
[58:44] expected.
[58:45] Overtime under
[58:46] Article 130 is currently
[58:47] over
[58:48] budget by approximately
[58:50] 871 due to a 10-month
[58:51] administrator who
[58:53] worked
[58:54] additional hours.
[58:55] Again, this is also
[58:56] a burden as
[58:58] we factor them in to
[58:59] make sure
[59:00] we have enough funds
[59:01] for the end of the year. We
[59:02] do this at the very
[59:03] beginning so we don't
[59:05] run out of money.
[59:07] But sometimes, if
[59:08] expenses are slightly
[59:09] higher than projected
[59:10] , it results in a
[59:11] small
[59:11] budget overrun.
[59:15] um, the 150 scholarships
[59:16] are over budget by
[59:18] about 38,000, but
[59:19] that's because we haven't
[59:21] received most of
[59:22] those
[59:23] scholarships yet. You'll
[59:25] notice that this
[59:26] happens, and it
[59:27] did last year
[59:29] almost right up until the end
[59:30] , because some of
[59:31] the scholarships are tied
[59:32] to classes and
[59:34] things, and that usually gets
[59:35] resolved sometime
[59:36] towards the end of the year, when
[59:37] we ended last
[59:39] year, I think, at 10,000.
[59:43] Um, legal services
[59:44] has been involved in
[59:46] a number of issues, as
[59:47] Mr. Bode mentioned, with
[59:48] regard to educators
[59:49] and teachers, and
[59:51] other actions. So, we
[59:54] really spend
[59:55] a lot on legal
[59:56] fees. We expect a
[59:58] budget overrun
[59:59] for this item.
[1:00:00] TE negotiations may be
[1:00:02] going into
[1:00:03] mediation,
[1:00:04] hopefully not,
[1:00:05] but it could happen, and
[1:00:07] PAR education is already
[1:00:09] in mediation. So this
[1:00:11] may increase
[1:00:12] costs somewhat. 350 technical
[1:00:14] services
[1:00:14] are underutilized, but
[1:00:16] you understand that
[1:00:17] this is to be expected
[1:00:18] at this time of year. We are
[1:00:20] not yet at the stage where we
[1:00:21] have purchased everything you
[1:00:22] could buy with
[1:00:23] that money. Um, and some
[1:00:26] purchase orders are for
[1:00:28] online services
[1:00:29] that are due at a
[1:00:30] certain time. Ahem. 350,
[1:00:33] sorry, 610
[1:00:34] educational office
[1:00:35] supplies
[1:00:36] are underused, but that's
[1:00:37] logical because we did
[1:00:39] n't spend all of it.
[1:00:40] Last year,
[1:00:41] sorry, last
[1:00:42] month it was 85,000.
[1:00:43] This month—68.
[1:00:45] Um, 690 student
[1:00:47] activities and
[1:00:48] miscellaneous
[1:00:49] materials
[1:00:50] underutilized at 43.
[1:00:52] That makes sense too. You have
[1:00:54] n't spent it all yet
[1:00:55] . Um, last
[1:00:57] month it was 71. And now
[1:01:00] it's obviously
[1:01:01] going to continue
[1:01:02] to decline, but we
[1:01:03] expect that
[1:01:04] balance
[1:01:05] to continue to
[1:01:06] decline
[1:01:06] throughout the year. So,
[1:01:08] those are just a few
[1:01:09] highlights.
[1:01:10] Obviously there's a lot going on here
[1:01:12] , and the FC meeting is
[1:01:13] next week. We will
[1:01:15] also
[1:01:16] cover this in detail in a
[1:01:17] multi-page
[1:01:18] report. So, at
[1:01:21] the beginning of the year, we
[1:01:22] are where
[1:01:23] you would expect to
[1:01:24] see us, about 62% of
[1:01:26] the budget remaining
[1:01:27] at this point. And so it's
[1:01:30] sometimes funny when
[1:01:32] people ask, what's
[1:01:33] your forecast for the end of the
[1:01:34] year? Technically,
[1:01:35] you
[1:01:35] get a
[1:01:37] year-end forecast every month. Now,
[1:01:38] if we had to
[1:01:39] predict, it would be the same
[1:01:41] 62%. Here's what we
[1:01:42] have. Um, but it
[1:01:45] changes a lot
[1:01:47] throughout the year, because
[1:01:48] when
[1:01:49] grants come in and through field
[1:01:50] placements, you
[1:01:51] noticed that it
[1:01:52] fluctuates all the time
[1:01:53] . So, we are where we
[1:01:58] expected to be at this
[1:01:59] point in the year.
[1:02:01] Good. Thank you. Are there any
[1:02:03] questions for Dr.
[1:02:04] Willett about the
[1:02:05] financial report?
[1:02:08] Good. No questions
[1:02:10] . Doctor, I was wondering
[1:02:13] if you would like to
[1:02:14] briefly talk
[1:02:15] about SRO since we have
[1:02:16] made some
[1:02:17] progress. Well, we almost
[1:02:20] made progress
[1:02:22] last week.
[1:02:24] It seems...I
[1:02:25] mean, how
[1:02:26] detailed do you want it?
[1:02:28] appears the city plans
[1:02:30] to partner with the SRO in FY27
[1:02:31] .
[1:02:34] Yes. We are working on
[1:02:35] finalizing the
[1:02:37] contract.
[1:02:37] Yes. So I am now making
[1:02:39] the changes that were
[1:02:41] finally agreed upon,
[1:02:42] namely: there will be no
[1:02:44] provisions for
[1:02:45] the future 28th or 29th
[1:02:46] fiscal years, only
[1:02:48] for the 27th.
[1:02:50] Yes.
[1:02:52] And this part...there are
[1:02:53] about five or six
[1:02:54] clauses in the contract
[1:02:56] that we have to
[1:02:57] remove. So we are
[1:03:00] now completing the
[1:03:01] process of removing them.
[1:03:03] So, the agreement allows the
[1:03:06] SRO to stay at
[1:03:07] the school for a
[1:03:09] certain amount of time. However,
[1:03:11] it only applies to
[1:03:13] funding for this
[1:03:14] year.
[1:03:15] But the deal will still be,
[1:03:16] well, the city, it's
[1:03:17] about
[1:03:18] funding going forward,
[1:03:19] because you know, the council is
[1:03:20] paying for it. Yes.
[1:03:23] But this year, these are
[1:03:24] separate formulations
[1:03:25] that relate specifically to
[1:03:27] city funding this year,
[1:03:28] and in the future, to
[1:03:29] funding by the council.
[1:03:31] Well, the city council
[1:03:32] will have a chance
[1:03:33] to discuss this during the
[1:03:34] budget,
[1:03:35] right?
[1:03:37] But the text would be
[1:03:39] that the council
[1:03:39] transfers the funds for
[1:03:41] SRO funding purposes,
[1:03:42] and if the city council
[1:03:43] says, “Hey, don’t
[1:03:44] worry about
[1:03:45] paying this year,”
[1:03:46] that’s the city
[1:03:48] council’s decision,
[1:03:50] right?
[1:03:51] And then we wouldn't pay
[1:03:52] . But this part of
[1:03:53] the contract—it's just what
[1:03:55] we do if
[1:03:56] ...and there's nothing that
[1:03:57] the city council is
[1:03:58] obligated or not
[1:04:00] obligated to do, other than
[1:04:01] that one year. So
[1:04:02] you know, after
[1:04:03] that they could
[1:04:04] if they wanted to, but it's
[1:04:06] not hidden in the text
[1:04:07] that they're going to.
[1:04:08] But
[1:04:08] this contract, I guess
[1:04:10] I meant to say,
[1:04:11] was a double one. This
[1:04:12] was a renewed
[1:04:13] contract for the SRO to be
[1:04:14] at the school
[1:04:15] per the city
[1:04:16] -council agreement, and it also
[1:04:17] addresses
[1:04:18] funding for this
[1:04:19] year from the city.
[1:04:20] Yes. Yes. What is
[1:04:23] delaying the process a bit is the
[1:04:24] financial part.
[1:04:27] Yes. It was because of the
[1:04:28] financial part that it all
[1:04:30] dragged on a bit.
[1:04:34] But we have created, as you
[1:04:36] know, a great
[1:04:36] system in the agreement that
[1:04:38] has parallel
[1:04:39] evaluation processes
[1:04:40] and things like that. This is a
[1:04:44] very, very thorough
[1:04:45] and excellent document.
[1:04:48] So, getting that
[1:04:50] last element, uh,
[1:04:51] you know, uh,
[1:04:53] funding stream—that's the
[1:04:57] last part of it.
[1:05:01] But uh, we should
[1:05:02] get a redaction
[1:05:04] from Shipwin on this in
[1:05:05] the next few
[1:05:06] days, and I'll pass that
[1:05:07] redaction on, and if
[1:05:08] all goes well, we can
[1:05:10] proceed.
[1:05:13] Perfectly. Thank you. Any
[1:05:14] questions, Dave? This is
[1:05:17] more of a general
[1:05:18] observation, but I would
[1:05:19] like to get
[1:05:20] more information on
[1:05:21] this. I don't
[1:05:23] understand, and I also
[1:05:24] remember conversations
[1:05:25] that took place a long time ago
[1:05:26] . Uh,
[1:05:29] that's how long it's been
[1:05:30] going on.
[1:05:32] Well, I know, but if we
[1:05:34] support the idea of
[1:05:35] covering
[1:05:36] security costs in 2027,
[1:05:38] why did we, why did we, why did
[1:05:39] we agree to only
[1:05:41] one year of
[1:05:41] security for
[1:05:43] our school? I don't
[1:05:46] understand this
[1:05:47] aspect. The
[1:05:48] city administration
[1:05:49] was unsure. Uh, the
[1:05:51] reason they
[1:05:52] agreed to provide this,
[1:05:54] if "agreed"
[1:05:55] is the right word,
[1:05:56] uh, to provide it for one
[1:05:57] year is because
[1:05:59] they had, you know, a
[1:06:00] salary difference
[1:06:01] when the officer
[1:06:02] retired.
[1:06:03] That's right.
[1:06:04] So, they had this, you
[1:06:06] know, surplus,
[1:06:08] I think, 84-86 thousand
[1:06:09] because of this, which they, uh
[1:06:11] , were willing to
[1:06:13] put towards this.
[1:06:16] However, uh, I think
[1:06:18] they're, you know, not thrilled about
[1:06:21] including it in
[1:06:22] their budget. However,
[1:06:25] uh, it will all depend
[1:06:27] on the city council. It
[1:06:28] will all depend on
[1:06:30] which city council is
[1:06:31] in power each year
[1:06:32] during the budget
[1:06:33] period whether
[1:06:34] they want to do this. Yes, there
[1:06:35] is no policy
[1:06:37] that would obligate the
[1:06:38] city to provide
[1:06:39] this. It was a request
[1:06:41] and we got approval
[1:06:42] for one year, but that's
[1:06:44] all we have at the
[1:06:45] moment. But we
[1:06:46] also needed to
[1:06:47] renew that contract
[1:06:48] so, you know, it was a
[1:06:49] long process with
[1:06:50] converting our
[1:06:51] two part-time positions
[1:06:53] to full-time and
[1:06:54] negotiating the current
[1:06:55] city agreement. So
[1:06:56] we needed
[1:06:57] this part too.
[1:06:58] So, we got
[1:06:59] what Dr.
[1:07:00] Willett said, he spent
[1:07:01] a lot of time. There are legal
[1:07:02] costs that the
[1:07:03] board of
[1:07:04] education has borne. Dr. Willet
[1:07:05] worked with lawyers.
[1:07:06] He worked with the city
[1:07:07] . He worked with, uh,
[1:07:09] city employees
[1:07:10] ,
[1:07:10] city employees
[1:07:11] . He worked with the
[1:07:12] council members. He
[1:07:13] worked with, uh, the
[1:07:14] police, you know, the
[1:07:16] Connecticut State Police. Uh,
[1:07:17] so we thank you
[1:07:18] for that, Dr. Willett.
[1:07:19] But yeah, this, this is what
[1:07:21] we stopped at.
[1:07:22] So we are still
[1:07:23] trying to
[1:07:24] dot the
[1:07:25] i's and close all the
[1:07:26] questions.
[1:07:27] Good. So, 2028 will
[1:07:29] just pass, you know,
[1:07:31] but I will do it. Yes.
[1:07:33] Perhaps.
[1:07:34] I don't want to devalue
[1:07:35] , okay? This shouldn't
[1:07:36] devalue all the work
[1:07:37] you just
[1:07:38] asked for, right? It's
[1:07:39] more of a one-off
[1:07:40] ,
[1:07:41] believe me, if it were
[1:07:42] up to us, we would have
[1:07:43] included it, but at
[1:07:44] some point we
[1:07:45] needed to
[1:07:46] sign a deal. So
[1:07:47] ,
[1:07:47] we will decide this
[1:07:48] year by year with our
[1:07:49] city council.
[1:07:50] When does the
[1:07:51] next discussion
[1:07:52] about
[1:07:52] 2028, 2029 begin? You
[1:07:55] know, that's what it
[1:07:56] means for
[1:07:57] financing.
[1:07:58] Yes. Yes. There will
[1:08:00] be no further discussion on how it will be written.
[1:08:02] It's just going to be, well
[1:08:03] , it's not that I don't have it
[1:08:05] in the
[1:08:06] contract to
[1:08:07] discuss,
[1:08:09] but the contract doesn't
[1:08:10] prohibit the city
[1:08:11] council,
[1:08:12] I mean from a
[1:08:13] contract perspective,
[1:08:15] Jayden is just
[1:08:16] asking when should we
[1:08:17] approach the
[1:08:18] city council about
[1:08:19] paying for next
[1:08:20] year, do we wait, does
[1:08:21] it have to happen during the
[1:08:23] budget
[1:08:23] process,
[1:08:26] your budget has to be
[1:08:27] created and
[1:08:28] submitted by February 14th,
[1:08:29] so you should probably
[1:08:30] approach at
[1:08:31] that point because you
[1:08:33] need to know whether it's
[1:08:34] budgeted or not.
[1:08:37] Okay.
[1:08:37] Yes.
[1:08:39] So we can
[1:08:40] do it.
[1:08:41] I can make the request
[1:08:42] again.
[1:08:43] Yes.
[1:08:43] But, uh, this
[1:08:44] budget cycle, and
[1:08:45] after that it
[1:08:46] will be up to the
[1:08:47] council.
[1:08:47] Well, no, it will be up
[1:08:48] to the board of
[1:08:49] education whether
[1:08:49] to proceed with this
[1:08:50] request to the board.
[1:08:51] Got it. Got it.
[1:08:52] Thank you.
[1:08:53] But I would happily
[1:08:54] do it again this year
[1:08:55] .
[1:08:56] Are there any more questions? OK.
[1:09:02] Then
[1:09:03] we move on to
[1:09:08] uh, council action No. 1:
[1:09:09] obsolete and
[1:09:10] redundant
[1:09:11] equipment.
[1:09:13] Everyone's favorite spot. Outdated
[1:09:15] surplus
[1:09:16] equipment. We have an
[1:09:20] old-fashioned
[1:09:20] portable projector
[1:09:22] , and please. He is already on his way
[1:09:25] to you.
[1:09:27] Yes. We declare
[1:09:28] it obsolete and
[1:09:29] then hand it over to
[1:09:30] the city. A
[1:09:32] Canon portable mini scanner that
[1:09:33] doesn't work. Sharp tape recorder
[1:09:36] . You can
[1:09:37] see here,
[1:09:38] the antenna is missing.
[1:09:41] Three pairs of portable
[1:09:42] desktop speakers
[1:09:43] that don't work very
[1:09:45] well. The Woodcock-
[1:09:47] Johnson tests that
[1:09:48] no one wants to take.
[1:09:51] They are old,
[1:09:52] no one
[1:09:52] uses them, we have
[1:09:53] updated replacements. So that's it
[1:09:56] . But under
[1:09:58] policy protocol
[1:09:59] 3040, everything we're
[1:10:00] going to
[1:10:00] recycle, we don't
[1:10:02] just throw it in
[1:10:03] the trash because people
[1:10:04] see it, look
[1:10:05] in the trash, and say, "
[1:10:07] Look, it works,
[1:10:08] this great
[1:10:09] Sharp tape recorder from 1983.
[1:10:15] You could probably
[1:10:16] replace the antenna."
[1:10:18] Yes. Uh
[1:10:20] , yes. So, it looks like
[1:10:22] we have a proposed
[1:10:23] solution. To
[1:10:25] resolve to declare
[1:10:26] all items
[1:10:27] included in this
[1:10:28] report obsolete and
[1:10:29] /or unusable, and
[1:10:30] to transfer the
[1:10:31] identified items to
[1:10:33] the city in accordance with
[1:10:33] Council Policy 3040.
[1:10:35] I support.
[1:10:36] Are there any discussions?
[1:10:39] Jaden.
[1:10:40] By.
[1:10:41] Bill.
[1:10:41] By.
[1:10:42] JP.
[1:10:42] By.
[1:10:43] Mackenzie.
[1:10:46] By.
[1:10:48] I see that it is accepted.
[1:10:50] Please. added to
[1:10:54] our
[1:10:55] And I think he can
[1:10:56] take the tape. So,
[1:10:59] this was definitely
[1:10:59] used in the
[1:11:00] classroom. It was, it was
[1:11:02] wonderful.
[1:11:03] This is strange.
[1:11:04] And a TV on a
[1:11:05] trolley. You ever,
[1:11:07] okay, fine. I'm glad I'm
[1:11:08] not liquidating with a
[1:11:10] clear conscience.
[1:11:11] I feel like I'm in
[1:11:12] fourth grade. No,
[1:11:13] but yes.
[1:11:14] Oh my God.
[1:11:15] OK. Thank you,
[1:11:16] Jayden.
[1:11:17] OK. Let's move on to
[1:11:18] public participation
[1:11:19] .
[1:11:19] Smart board. You
[1:11:22] will have two minutes. Does
[1:11:23] anyone in the audience want
[1:11:24] to speak now? Does
[1:11:27] anyone want to
[1:11:28] speak online now?
[1:11:33] Okay. Since there are
[1:11:34] no applicants, and given
[1:11:35] our very small
[1:11:36] audience, I will move on
[1:11:37] to references. Does
[1:11:39] anyone from the council want
[1:11:39] to speak now?
[1:11:40] College and
[1:11:41] high school football this
[1:11:42] Friday. Be there.
[1:11:44] Very cool.
[1:11:44] Be there at 9:11. So, a
[1:11:46] pretty cool
[1:11:47] opportunity for a
[1:11:48] football team.
[1:11:49] Game of the week. Game of the week.
[1:11:52] Saw this in
[1:11:52] today's
[1:11:53] bulletin. OK.
[1:11:54] Anyone else?
[1:11:55] Go, Jets.
[1:11:58] OK. I accept
[1:12:00] the motion to
[1:12:00] close the meeting.
[1:12:02] Yes, we are moving. Second.
[1:12:03] Is there a discussion?
[1:12:05] Jaden.
[1:12:05] By.
[1:12:06] Bill.
[1:12:06] By.
[1:12:07] JP.
[1:12:08] By.
[1:12:08] Mackenzie.
[1:12:09] By. I'm in favor
[1:12:09] . We
[1:12:10] are closing the meeting
[1:12:11] . Thank you. Yes.