[0:18] Good evening everyone. Welcome to the
Winchester Public Schools Board of
[0:21] Education regular meeting May 12th of
2026.
[0:25] I'd like to call to order the Pledge of
Allegiance.
[0:31] » I pledge allegiance to the flag of the
United States of America and to the
[0:37] republic for which it stands, one nation
under God, indivisible, with liberty and
[0:44] justice for all.
[0:49] » Okay, roll call.
>> Joseph Sandoro
[0:53] » Chrissy Rylander
>> Shane Centrello
[0:56] » Kurt Warner
>> Julie Luby
[0:58] » Nora McCarsky
>> Jonathan Morhardt
[0:59] » Carol Keia
>> Allie
[1:03] » Allie Bishop
>> And we have Allie Bishop on the phone.
[1:06] Thank you. Um on to item two, approval
of the agenda. Does anyone have any uh
[1:12] questions, additions?
[1:18] Everyone's good?
Okay, on to item three, student
[1:22] participation,
student showcase.
[1:26] » We have a big group of third graders
here.
[1:31] And I'm just going to let them tell you
everything. I don't want to say a word.
[1:34] » Did we approve the minutes? I don't
think we approved them.
[1:37] We just went over them.
>> That's item five.
[1:41] » Oh.
>> Yeah, done that.
[1:42] » Oh, the agenda, sorry. Did we approve
those?
[1:45] » I did.
>> You would only have to vote if you were
[1:46] making changes.
>> Oh, okay. Okay.
[1:51] » Otherwise it is You know what, sometimes
we do, so you're not wrong. But
[1:55] technically it's it is the agenda, so.
Wow, look at everybody.
[2:02] » Good evening, Board of Education
members, and all of our families. So
[2:08] nice to see all of you here.
Today, I have the pleasure of
[2:13] introducing
third grade students. They're actually
[2:18] going to introduce themselves, and
they're going to tell you a little bit
[2:22] about what they've been learning in
their reading and social studies classes
[2:26] around the Norse and Viking gods.
So, I'm going to ask Luna to start us
[2:33] off.
>> Hi, my name is Luna. And
[2:37] one thing I've
learned in Norse myths mythology is I
[2:43] um that Loki cut off Sif's hair, and
Thor had fire in his eyes.
[2:50] » Thank you.
>> Can I just say something I did?
[2:53] » You want to tell them a little bit about
the group work that you did?
[2:56] » Yeah. It's where we made a chart of who,
where, and questions, and what do you
[3:01] think? And it's kind of telling you
about like we read a chapter, and then
[3:07] we wrote about what we heard from the
chapter.
[3:10] » And how is that helping you as a reader?
>> It helps me remember and kind of like
[3:16] put my ideas on paper to try to like
um like look back at it and see if I can
[3:25] » Hi, my name is Emma, and I'm
[3:30] » We're in a different order than we
practiced, so
[3:34] go ahead, Adrian.
>> Good morning. Um
[3:37] good evening. My name's Adrian, and
I wrote about
[3:43] the Viking
[3:47] the Viking
One thing that I would like to tell you
[3:53] is that Thrym
stole
[3:57] Thor's hammer and buried it 6 mi
underground. And this is a picture that
[4:01] I would like to show you about Thrym.
>> All right.
[4:06] Okay, now your turn.
>> Hi, my name is Emmett and I'm in Miss
[4:11] Corrado's third grade class.
One thing that I learned about the Norse
[4:16] gods is Odin drank from the fountain of
wisdom and traded his one of his eyes to
[4:23] get more wisdom, so he is very smart.
>> My name is Sammy. I am in Miss Corrado's
[4:32] third grade class. One thing I learned
about the Viking gods is that Loki is
[4:39] not actually a god. He was invited to
live with the gods by Odin. He's a
[4:45] giant.
[4:49] » Good evening. My name is Audrey and I'm
from Miss Wickham's third grade class.
[4:56] One thing I learned about the Viking
gods is that Thrym
[5:01] is
Thrym stole Thor's hammer and won't give
[5:05] it back until he marries Freya.
[5:11] » Hi, my name is Naomi. I'm from Mrs.
Camacho's third grade class and one
[5:14] thing that I learned about Viking gods
is
[5:19] Balder, the son of Frigga and Odin,
actually was killed by Loki.
[5:27] » Hi, my name is Olivia.
Um I'm from Mrs. Camacho's third grade
[5:32] class. One thing about the Viking gods
were
[5:37] Lo-
Loki cut off his hair and Loki made Thor
[5:43] dressed up as a girl because
because
[5:47] a a giant stole his hammer
and won't give it back until he gets
[5:52] Freya.
>> And do you want to tell them about what
[5:56] you guys have made?
>> We made some drawings about
[6:00] what we learned about it.
[6:04] » And Naomi, do you want to tell them
about your
[6:07] » So, we made Viking hats to kind of see
what like the Viking gods wore.
[6:15] And kind of
[6:19] having fun designing our own kind of
Viking hats.
[6:23] » [snorts]
>> Great. Excellent job.
[6:27] » [applause]
[6:31] [applause]
>> Thank you guys. Wonderful. Who
[6:35] Adrian, who is your teacher?
>> Miss Rigdon.
[6:38] » Miss Rigdon and Luna?
>> Miss
[6:40] » Miss
>> Okay, thank you. Awesome job.
[6:44] » All third grade represented.
>> Great. Thank you for coming out. I know
[6:48] it's a school night.
So, you get you can get to go home and
[6:53] get a good night's sleep.
>> You guys did a great job. Thank you.
[7:01] » [applause]
[7:06] » Oh.
That's awesome.
[7:11] Okay. Thank you guys. Um
Let's move on to item B, student
[7:18] representative report.
>> I think it's better than it was.
[7:23] » Yeah, close it if you want.
[7:31] It's the same thing. That's what you're
going to be
[7:33] » And I just have the one because it was
really fast.
[7:38] » All right, we're going to be nice and
loud.
[7:41] Okay?
>> And is there a microphone?
[7:43] » This is a microphone.
So, I'm going to like talk in that.
[7:47] » Well, you're going to sit normally.
It'll pick you up, okay? Go ahead.
[7:50] » Hello, my name is Autumn and I'm in
second grade. This month in second
[7:57] grade, we are learning about voting for
a cause
[8:00] and the war of 1812. This is when people
work together to make where they live a
[8:05] better place. We've also been working on
spelling
[8:09] hard words like sad and swirling. Math
is really fun. We are our
[8:14] We are learning about 2D and 3D shapes.
We are also connecting the dots to make
[8:20] shapes inside of figure shapes. Like we
can make like a triangle inside a square
[8:26] or rectangle.
Now that the weather is nicer, we are
[8:31] enjoying recess and gym outside.
Pre-K has been learning about plants and
[8:38] how they grow with water,
sunlight, and soil. They
[8:43] They also learned that plants
do an important job by making seeds and
[8:49] fruits that help
grow new plants and provide food for
[8:56] people and animal
animals, I mean.
[9:00] Kindergarteners are getting ready to
learn about taking care of the earth.
[9:06] They will be learning about rescuing
items, recycling items,
[9:11] re- re-
>> reducing
[9:13] » reducing how much trash we make.
In grade one, they just finished reading
[9:20] fairy tales. They are working on hard
reading and can now read two-syllable
[9:26] words e-
which uh
[9:29] they're makes their
reading more fluent.
[9:34] In math, they're working
on adding two-digit and
[9:40] two-digit and two-digit numbers.
One thing I'd like to see happen at
[9:46] Hansel Playground is adding monkey bars,
maybe two so more friends can play.
[9:52] Thank you for having me.
>> Thank you, Autumn.
[9:56] Autumn,
who's your teacher?
[9:58] » Miss Farrell.
>> Miss Farrell?
[10:01] Thank you.
>> I don't know. Miss Farrell just had a
[10:03] baby.
>> Oh. Okay.
[10:06] All right.
>> I think it was I believe.
[10:20] » Good evening, board members. My name is
Reed Waters and I'm in fifth grade at
[10:24] Pearson.
For school activities and events, all
[10:28] students are working hard on smarter
balanced assessments for ELA and math.
[10:33] The fifth grade will be taking the NWEA
S science assessment after we are done
[10:37] with smarter balanced.
We showed our appreciation for staff
[10:41] during teacher appreciation week last
week.
[10:45] The teachers got lots of treats.
For our academy highlights, something
[10:49] neat that students have been learning.
Third grade, in math and science,
[10:53] students are designing and building
their own model bridges.
[10:57] In ELA, third graders are learning about
early explorers in America.
[11:02] Fourth grade, in math, students are
learning about area, perimeter, and
[11:06] geometry. In language arts, students are
learning about the American Revolution
[11:11] and writing historical fiction.
In science, students are learning about
[11:16] geology, the his- the history of land
forms of the earth, including Pangea.
[11:23] Fifth grade, in math, students finished
the unit on geometry, including
[11:27] coordinate graphing, identifying
triangles and quadrilaterals, computing
[11:32] volume, and making and reading line plot
graphs.
[11:35] In language arts, students are learning
about chemical matter and the different
[11:39] states of matter. We will be reading and
solving a mystery relating to chemical
[11:44] matter as well. In science, students
have been studying astronomy and the
[11:48] Earth's place.
[11:52] Sixth grade, in math, students are
studying basic algebra using variables
[11:57] and equations and using the distributive
property. In language arts, students are
[12:03] starting a unit on the Titanic and are
studying information literacy, learning
[12:08] the difference between primary and
secondary and tertiary resources,
[12:13] determining if sources are reliable, and
understanding the ethical use of
[12:18] resources.
In science, students are learning about
[12:21] Earth's resources and human impact. The
driving question is, "How do changes in
[12:26] the Earth's system impact our
communities and what can we do about
[12:30] it?"
School improvements are needs. One thing
[12:34] that would make our school better is
some ideas shared by fifth graders. In
[12:38] ELA, we studied Martin Luther. He didn't
agree with the teachings of the church
[12:42] and came up with 95 objections. Fifth
graders are working hard on 95 theses
[12:48] about how to make our school better.
Here are some theses, like after-school
[12:52] advanced classes, sports teams after
school, and a garden or greenhouse.
[12:58] Third graders are writing op- opinions
and shared some opinions with Miss
[13:02] Aurelio.
One great thing about Pearson. I really
[13:05] like this school because of the vibe.
When I walk down a hallway, every
[13:08] teacher says, "Hi." Thank you for
inviting me to share Pearson School's
[13:12] happenings with you this evening.
>> [applause]
[13:19] » So,
Rita's a record holder in school?
[13:23] For?
>> The a test.
[13:26] » And how many?
>> 77
[13:27] » 77, he set the record last year or did
you beat it again this year?
[13:31] » it again this year.
>> you did.
[13:33] » [laughter]
>> And you're you're a national BMXer?
[13:36] » Mhm.
>> So, he's on the national team for BMX.
[13:38] » International or national?
>> Um
[13:40] » International.
>> Yeah, I raced in Denmark last year, so.
[13:47] » Awesome.
>> Would you like to share the opinion
[13:50] writing from third grade? You can give
it to one of the board members. This is
[13:53] the opinion writing that the third
graders all signed and delivered to Mrs.
[13:58] Silverio.
[14:01] » On the 95 theses?
>> No, that was the fifth grade.
[14:04] » Oh, okay.
>> The fifth graders dressed up as monks
[14:07] and they had their hoods on
[clears throat] and they all came down
[14:09] silently
and hung up their 95 theses
[14:13] » all over
>> Was it really silent?
[14:16] » They were silent. They did a good job.
>> Good job.
[14:19] » That takes some doing.
>> Until I started disputing some of their
[14:24] bedtime three-hour delays more often,
early dismissals, and nap time. We can
[14:29] talk about three-hour delays.
>> How about nap time?
[14:32] » I'm all in for nap time.
>> [laughter]
[14:35] » Thank you, Rita.
>> You're welcome. Awesome job, Nora.
[14:41] » [applause]
[14:44] » Okay, as we pass it around. Okay, we're
going to move on to item four.
[14:49] Uh this is the time for public comment.
Uh the Winchester Board of Education
[14:54] welcomes you to its business meeting.
There are two opportunities
[14:58] set aside to hear comments from the
public. We welcome and encourage public
[15:02] participation as a valued part of
communicating input with the Winchester
[15:06] Board of Education. We appreciate your
adherence to the following. Complete the
[15:11] requested information on the sign-in
sheet if you wish to speak. State your
[15:15] name and address when called upon to
speak and you will be allotted three
[15:20] minutes to share your comments.
Please be advised that this is not the
[15:24] practice of the Board of Education to
engage in dialogue regarding commentary.
[15:28] The Superintendent of Schools will be
directed by the chairperson to prepare
[15:33] an appropriate response in a timely
manner. We appreciate your time and
[15:37] thoughtful commentary. Does anyone wish
to speak?
[15:43] Does anyone wish to speak?
[15:48] Does anyone wish to speak?
Okay. Seeing none, move on to
[15:55] Moving on to item five, approval of the
minutes, minutes of the regular board
[15:59] meeting April 7th, 2026. Does anyone
have any
[16:04] questions?
>> I make a motion to approve the regular
[16:08] Board of Ed meeting minutes April 7th,
2026.
[16:10] » Okay. We have a motion to approve. Do we
have a second?
[16:13] » Second.
>> Second. Jonathan, all in favor?
[16:19] And then Two abstain, two abstentions.
Okay.
[16:25] And
>> Ellie.
[16:26] » Ellie? Forgot about her.
[16:30] » What'd you say, Ellie? Sorry.
>> I'm in favor.
[16:34] » Okay.
Perfect.
[16:41] » Correct.
>> All right. On to item B, minutes of
[16:44] committee meeting April 28th, budget and
finance committee.
[16:51] Motion to approve?
>> Motion to approve.
[16:54] » Chris, you?
Second?
[16:56] » I'll second that.
>> All in favor?
[17:01] So, 1 2 3 4 5, Ellie?
>> I'm in favor.
[17:07] » Six.
Nora,
[17:10] Carolyn, Nora, abstention.
Okay.
[17:13] Item two,
approval of the policy and bylaw
[17:18] committee.
>> Make a motion to approve.
[17:22] » Tracy.
>> Second.
[17:23] » Jonathan, were there anyone else there?
>> Uh Frank.
[17:27] » Frank, but he is not there, so
two zero.
[17:33] Okay.
Uh
[17:36] minutes of special meeting on April
28th, 2026.
[17:43] » Yeah.
>> Shane.
[17:44] » Motion to approve.
>> Okay.
[17:46] Second.
[17:49] » I don't know what meeting
>> Uh second. It's It was the same night as
[17:52] the committee.
>> The special meeting?
[17:55] » Yeah.
>> Second.
[17:56] » Nora second. All in favor?
Yeah, one, two, three, four, five.
[18:01] » Was it the one that I wasn't here for or
was it
[18:03] » you were there.
>> Oh, I was there then.
[18:04] » Six, Ellie.
>> I approve, too.
[18:07] » Seven.
Um Carol abstains.
[18:11] Okay.
All right.
[18:15] Okay.
On to item six,
[18:19] communications, chairperson's comments.
Uh
[18:24] for those of
you who were not able to attend last
[18:28] night's um
public meeting at the Gilbert School,
[18:32] the budget did move on.
Um
[18:36] and the referendum is set for May 30th,
which is a Saturday.
[18:42] Um so I hope everyone goes out and
votes. Um I hope we all vote yes on the
[18:48] budget. Um obviously, you can do what
you want, but it's very important that
[18:52] we've gone through a long
laborious process for both our Board of
[18:57] Ed, our Board of Selectmen,
um and we have a budget presented that
[19:03] we hope everyone is in approval of, um
so we can get to work um for the next
[19:09] upcoming school year.
Um so
[19:13] that's what I have to say for that.
Uh, superintendent's report.
[19:18] » Good evening, everyone. Nice to see you
all.
[19:21] Um
you have my written report, so I'll just
[19:25] highlight a few things from it.
Um
[19:29] I will tell you I attended um the
Hinsdale Unified Arts teacher hosted
[19:34] such a fun evening.
Um each special area teacher, PE, art,
[19:39] music, and innovation had activities set
up um
[19:44] all the way pre-K through second grade,
and kids came with their families. Um
[19:49] Tiffany, are there some pictures of that
on Facebook?
[19:52] It was spectacular. Every room was just
the kids were running around with joy um
[19:58] doing neat things, and uh underlying it
was a scavenger hunt idea that they
[20:02] would go and look at artwork and find
the answers to questions to be in a
[20:06] raffle for a basket. It was great.
Um
[20:10] as uh the students mentioned, Smarter
Balanced is underway, and I should also
[20:15] highlight that, and I know many of you
saw Beauty and the Beast. It was
[20:19] awesome.
>> Amazing.
[20:20] » Fantastic.
>> I'm blown away every year by the quality
[20:25] of a production that we're able to put
on with fifth and sixth graders. You
[20:28] would expect that to be
little kid level, and it's just not.
[20:33] It's really, really great. Um so we're
very grateful to Teresa Payton and oh
[20:38] god um
>> The music teacher.
[20:41] » Jackie.
>> Jackie, thank you. And Jackie for doing
[20:44] such a great job again.
Um
[20:47] under operations, I will tell you that
we began and concluded food service
[20:52] union negotiations. Um
we'll have that to you for the next
[20:55] meeting.
Um and I think that's our last union
[20:59] contract for the year, hopefully.
>> Yes.
[21:01] » We had like four, I think, that we did
this year.
[21:05] Um
>> Mhm.
[21:07] and the building committee has been
formed and voted on by Board of
[21:10] Selectmen for the Pearson roof.
Um and I believe that they have their
[21:15] first meeting right now, actually, as
we're meeting.
[21:19] Um
so that's a great thing.
[21:22] Um I did invite uh Mrs. Marquardt to
join us again this evening because we
[21:27] approved her and introduced her at a
committee meeting in Hinsdale school
[21:32] where we weren't um sharing with the
full community. So, Sherry is here with
[21:36] us.
Um
[21:39] as you know, we ran an extensive search.
Um
[21:43] we looked high, we looked low, and we
really, I think Sherry will concur, put
[21:47] her through the paces. We had our
candidates back multiple times. We had
[21:51] them interact with staff and with
students and data and committees and do
[21:56] teacher observations and everything we
could think of to be sure we found the
[22:00] right person, and we really [snorts]
say, I say with great confidence that we
[22:04] did find the right person in Sherry.
Congratulations.
[22:08] » I'm honored and excited to work with
staff.
[22:12] They're amazing. I've met so many of
them already.
[22:15] Miss Silverio has been amazing in
helping me understand the building and
[22:21] the
the flow of the building. I'm looking
[22:24] forward to working with the community,
building partnerships.
[22:29] And the
students have been
[22:31] so personable that I've
met, so
[22:34] I'm looking forward to it.
>> Welcome.
[22:36] » Thank you very much.
>> Sherry
[22:38] » [applause]
>> was in town
[22:39] yesterday. She attended our uh grade two
to three transition ice cream social,
[22:45] and I know she's coming back to meet the
faculty on a different day and spend a
[22:48] day shadowing Barb, so
she is graciously taking time from her
[22:53] current position to get to know us so
that come July 1, she'll hit the ground
[22:57] running when she begins.
Um Sherry, you're going to do a lot of
[23:01] board meetings when you're officially
the principal. I would welcome you and
[23:05] encourage you to run
right out the door and have a nice
[23:08] evening while you can.
[23:12] » Thank you.
[23:16] » Bye, Sherry. Thank you.
Um I'll just highlight a couple of other
[23:20] things. Um we did send to all certified
staff um the opportunity to take us up
[23:27] on an increased uh waiver for um hopping
off our benefits. Uh Nancy and I
[23:32] affectionately call it the get off our
benefits plan. Um
[23:37] we did the math until we figured out um
how many people would need to take it if
[23:43] we offered this to make it
um a benefit to the district because we
[23:48] have people who already receive a
waiver, so theirs would go up. So, if
[23:52] not enough people took it, we wouldn't
even cover it. It would cost us more.
[23:56] So, um we should know by the end of this
week if um we raised it enough that it
[24:02] encouraged people to hop off. Um
the other thing I'll just briefly
[24:08] mention and um
Kathy Gabrielson is going to tell you
[24:11] more about in a little bit is that we've
been working on developing um a
[24:15] transition program for our
18-to-22-year-old population.
[24:20] Um the impetus really was that the
program that we currently send our
[24:24] students to, which was here in Winsted,
is moving out of town.
[24:28] And so, there are two things about that
we didn't love. One is our
[24:32] transportation bill was going to go up
$50,000, which would be unbudgeted
[24:36] because we only just found it out about
2 months ago.
[24:40] And we feel strongly that our students
are best served in their own community,
[24:44] where they're learning to use public
transportation, where they're making
[24:48] connections, where they're working in
businesses in town.
[24:51] So, we are um
working quickly to get a program
[24:56] developed, staffed, and um programmed
for our students. So, Cathy's going to
[25:01] tell you a little more of the details.
Um and then the other thing I wanted to
[25:05] just highlight for you, and I'll send
around I brought you a copy of the
[25:08] beautiful flyer that Barb and Rosie sent
out. Um one of the things that we um
[25:14] worked on this year was making sure that
the transition between second grade and
[25:18] third grade was a smooth one. We know
that when students um move between
[25:23] buildings, it can be a time of stress
for them and for their parents, and we
[25:27] really wanted to make it seamless.
So,
[25:32] um
in addition to the things that we
[25:34] already did, which were wonderful, like
having the entire grade level come over
[25:38] and having smaller groups of students
come more than once.
[25:41] Um
Pearson School third-grade teachers
[25:44] scooped ice cream yesterday at an ice
cream social for the second graders and
[25:48] their families,
which was a great way to be able to put
[25:51] names and faces for the kids to actually
see who the teachers were, and uh we had
[25:56] paraeducators participating.
Um so, that was a huge hit. And then
[26:00] Barb will be hosting walking tours um
for parents who sign up to come in
[26:05] during the school day and just get a
walking tour through the school.
[26:09] Um I imagine if you have lots of older
kids, that might not feel necessary, but
[26:13] if it's your first child coming to
Pearson School, it'll be a great way for
[26:16] families to walk the building,
sort of just put aside any butterflies
[26:21] they may have. So, we're really excited
about all of that.
[26:25] And then the one other thing I'll add to
my superintendent's report is that um
[26:29] when this went to press, there was not a
date set yet for the vote, but May 30th
[26:34] um would fall right in this very full
list. May is um
[26:38] a very, very busy time for us, and May
30th now will be the vote. Um and my
[26:44] understanding is that at the end of this
week, by Friday, absentee voting will be
[26:48] available um and can be accomplished by
simply going into the town clerk
[26:54] um during regular town clerk hours and
attesting that you don't anticipate
[26:59] being available on um the Saturday of
the vote and you can
[27:04] vote right there and then. So.
>> Do you know what the hours are on
[27:07] Saturday?
So everybody knows.
[27:09] » For the voting, um I believe 8 to 8.
>> And the town clerk's hours are Monday,
[27:14] Tuesday, Wednesday 8 to 4, Thursday 8 to
6, and Friday 8 to 12.
[27:22] That was your last opportunity to speak.
>> Great.
[27:28] » And I think that's about [clears throat]
it for me.
[27:30] » All right.
>> For now.
[27:32] We have a nice full agenda, there's
plenty more.
[27:34] » Absolutely.
Okay. On to committee reports. Finance
[27:41] Committee. Um
when we met uh
[27:45] we basically went over uh some of the
scenarios we might have been looking at
[27:51] um
as far as
[27:55] cuts within the budget um with a million
dollar cut that we received from the
[27:59] Board of Selectmen. Um
so we went over that and uh that
[28:05] basically took the content of that
committee.
[28:10] Um
All right. Uh teaching and learning.
[28:17] » We actually did not have a committee
meeting.
[28:20] » Mhm.
>> Um
[28:22] nothing [crying]
[28:25] We got the minutes.
>> Got it.
[28:27] » We got it.
>> [laughter]
[28:29] » So there was no meeting. Um so there's
nothing to report. Um Policy Committee.
[28:36] » We sent the following policies uh to the
full board for deletion, concepts and
[28:40] rules and instruction, COVID-19
emergency measures, extra class
[28:44] activities, and offsite computer use. We
sent uh the uh following policies to be
[28:50] under review for adoption. Parent family
engagement policy title one, parental
[28:55] access to instructional materials,
parent teacher communication, and
[28:58] promotion and retention.
>> Thank you, Jonathan.
[29:02] And the Gilbert School Committee did not
meet again.
[29:05] Uh so there's nothing to report.
Uh
[29:08] item D, liaison report, Gilbert School
Court.
[29:11] » Gilbert recently cut $300,000 from its
budget subsequent to this budget cut.
[29:16] Policies titled code of ethics,
confidentiality, code of ethics
[29:19] development, distribution and
maintenance of manual policies,
[29:22] regulations, bylaws,
policy adoption, revision, affirmation,
[29:25] amendments to bylaws, uh formulation,
adoption, uh amendment of administrative
[29:30] regulations, suspension of policies,
bylaws, and regulations, public
[29:33] meetings, time, place, and notification
of meetings,
[29:36] public and executive sessions, and
construction of the agenda were all
[29:39] approved by the Gilbert Court.
>> Okay.
[29:43] Thank you.
[29:46] Okay, on to item seven, information
[clears throat] items. Uh we have the
[29:51] enrollment reports.
>> Excuse me, Mr.
[29:55] Um enrollment data,
most current enrollment, on the over
[30:00] under, the Winchester Public Schools are
up six students.
[30:05] I will tell you that it isn't as simple
as like which grade went up or down
[30:09] because every grade goes up and down one
here and there, and so the net balance
[30:13] is six, and Gilbert is down eight since
the beginning of the year.
[30:18] » Okay.
[30:23] On to
>> Julie, some of you may have heard about
[30:28] St. Anthony's opening.
So St. An- St. Anthony's um is
[30:34] uh
sending out I don't know the word I want
[30:37] to say, announcing, I guess, if you
will. I don't know if they're formally
[30:39] announcing, but um
sending out information and saying that
[30:43] they will be opening
not in the coming fall which is fall 26
[30:47] but in fall 27 for pre-K to grade two.
>> You think that will affect us in any way
[30:53] or we don't know yet?
>> I don't know yet. I would first be
[30:57] curious to know what the tuition will
be.
[31:00] You know, if it's inexpensive I would
imagine it might have greater impact
[31:03] than if it's more expensive. So I think
it's too soon to say.
[31:12] » Attendance report.
>> [clears throat]
[31:15] » Attendance report. I am pleased to say
that we are trending well. Our average
[31:21] daily student attendance is up
just a little bit over last year and up
[31:26] since last month.
And similarly our chronic absenteeism is
[31:32] down a little bit
um
[31:35] compared to last year at this time.
And when you look at the year to date we
[31:40] are trending a little bit better in both
areas than we ended the year.
[31:46] So I would say that our
work is making a difference.
[31:52] But we are nowhere near satisfied. We're
going to
[31:55] keep going on that one till we really
get those numbers
[31:59] We're well ahead of state's expectations
but not where we want to be yet.
[32:03] » April looks great. It really looks
great. Congratulations to the teacher
[32:07] and admin for putting in those efforts
to get everyone there. Takes a lot of
[32:11] work.
>> There's all kinds of fun things going
[32:13] on. Maybe I'll ask next month for the
principals to do a little update but
[32:17] they're doing things like random
Wednesday. If you're in school we're
[32:21] pulling a raffle and just all kinds of
I'll say silly things to encourage
[32:25] school attendance and then also
meaningful things like family outreach.
[32:30] We believe things like the innovation
station change that we made and just our
[32:35] reasons for kids to come to school.
We're really trying to make sure that
[32:38] they are engaged and excited about their
learning.
[32:41] » How about the morning program, you know,
where you get kids together? Do you
[32:44] think that's coming into this?
>> Absolutely. I think morning meeting
[32:48] makes for a very strong
and safe transition into the school day.
[32:53] So, I think it minimizes morning fears
and worries.
[32:56] » Mhm.
Great.
[32:59] Thank you.
[33:03] » Um to personnel report.
>> Um
[33:07] I'll highlight just a couple of quick
things for you. Under the current
[33:10] vacancy list,
I'm 99% sure I sent you all an email,
[33:15] but
I did, right about Nancy?
[33:17] Um let me formally say, look at the face
already. Um after, I don't know, 111
[33:25] years of service to this district, Nancy
um
[33:28] has finally made the decision to retire
[clears throat] at the end of June.
[33:33] Um I have no words. It will be a huge
loss for us. Um
[33:38] we're underway with a search. We have
applicants coming in and
[33:42] you know, we'll be okay. But, we
will sorely miss Nancy, and so we are
[33:47] working on trying to have someone in
place by July 1st. Nancy has already um
[33:52] pulled back that retirement idea a
little bit and said, "Well, you know, if
[33:55] you don't find any good candidates."
So, I I'm not too worried that we'll
[33:59] have a gap because I think her arm is
twistable if need be, and I know she'll
[34:03] make for a smooth transition.
Um
[34:06] » How many years
in our district?
[34:09] » Um 11 11 plus.
>> Thank you.
[34:13] » Nancy came in in the midst of um the
receivership.
[34:17] Uh
to a million dollar in the red hole and
[34:21] was told figure it out, and it took the
better part of a year to get the books
[34:25] from the prior [clears throat] year
straightened out.
[34:29] » Things were on yellow notepad, I think,
if I recall.
[34:32] » It was Yeah, it was remarkable.
>> Yeah.
[34:34] » Yeah.
Yeah.
[34:38] Yeah.
Thank you for all your time, energy, and
[34:40] stress, and
willingness to work with it.
[34:44] Persistence. Yeah.
Great.
[34:48] Thank you.
[34:51] Um and the other thing I'll just point
out is that under vacancies, I believe I
[34:56] still have to do a finalist interview,
but I believe we have a special
[34:59] education teacher in hand for um the
position of the Gilbert schools. So,
[35:05] we're closing in on at least one of
those.
[35:10] » Okay, folks.
On to item D, monthly budget summary.
[35:20] » Uh let's see.
Um
[35:25] So, that front page, you'll notice
the grant money, I think I've explained
[35:30] previously, but it always bears
repeating that the way we manage our
[35:34] federal grants,
um because they're allowed to span 2
[35:38] years, is that as a safety net, we spend
like
[35:43] part of it this year and part of it next
year, and we do that every year. So,
[35:46] every year we're spending the full grant
amount, but we're spending half of the
[35:50] old one, half of the new one. It's not
actually half, but you get the idea.
[35:54] Um
so, it will There will always be um a
[35:58] grant balance at the bottom there. It
doesn't mean we're suddenly wealthy. It
[36:01] just means that we're
being careful, and
[36:07] if the world were ever coming to an end,
theoretically, we could spend both years
[36:12] of the grant, the old one and the new
one, fully, what was left in the old one
[36:16] and all of the new one, and then really
be without a paddle the following year,
[36:20] but
that's why we do it that way, so that
[36:24] there would be a safety net if something
really unimaginable happened.
[36:28] Um
On the second page, page 20 of your
[36:32] packet,
um
[36:35] you're going to hear from Nancy and
perhaps Kathy as well about pupil
[36:40] transportation and special ed out of
district tuition. At the last meeting,
[36:44] Nora, I think it was you who asked
for a better understanding of why we're
[36:50] trending
spending more than we anticipated.
[36:53] [clears throat]
Um
[36:55] And then fortunately, I'll point out
that 5XX line, um
[37:00] after we had a budget put together last
year, um there was a change made at the
[37:05] state level about the amount of tuition
for the Vo-Ag program. So, we have a
[37:10] little bit of a surplus in that line,
which is helping us mitigate some of the
[37:14] overage.
And our supply line, um
[37:19] I won't [clears throat] say we've done a
freeze. I think it just
[37:22] This is one said where we're not used to
really having any money, so we naturally
[37:26] freeze ourselves and we have money left
in instructional supplies and
[37:30] instructional software.
Um
[37:33] it won't go to waste because again,
we're
[37:36] out of pocket in the other areas, so
um
[37:41] What was the one other thing I was going
to point out?
[37:45] That's good enough.
>> Approximately, how many people go to the
[37:47] Vo-Ag program?
>> 30-ish, I think, right?
[37:51] » I'm sorry.
>> About 30 students go to Region 7 Vo-Ag
[37:55] program.
>> Okay. Thank you.
[37:58] » And on the last page, I'll just point
out that um
[38:03] in this month's um plan, Nancy has
been able to really look more closely at
[38:09] what's encumbered. Um early in the year,
we encumber funds based on what we
[38:13] expect to spend, and then at this time
of year, we go back and and say, "Oh,
[38:17] okay, well, this was encumbered for a
tuition for a student who's moved away,
[38:21] or this was encumbered for something
that we bought and it turns out it was
[38:25] less money. So, we clean up any
encumbrances
[38:29] and um based on all of the work that
Nancy's done to figure out where we are,
[38:33] we are back to the full 440
um being available for next year.
[38:39] That could still change. The year's not
over, but as we sit here tonight, that's
[38:42] better. There's one new grant on here,
the quality enhancement LGP grant. It's
[38:48] just shy of $10,000.
We literally were just awarded it. Um we
[38:53] haven't even gotten the money yet, and
it can be carried over into next year,
[38:57] and it has to do with the local
governance partner.
[39:00] Our Families and Futures Futures and
Families Collaborative. I'm butchering
[39:05] it, but those are some of the words,
right?
[39:07] » Yes.
>> [laughter]
[39:09] » And um
the other thing I'll point out is um
[39:13] DRIP was something new this year. It
wasn't probably until about February
[39:17] that the state actually sort of figured
out what the amounts were per town, but
[39:21] that stands for District Repair and
Improvement Program.
[39:25] And um one of the things that we are
looking into, I don't know if we'd be
[39:30] able to, but um when Kathy talks about
the transition program,
[39:34] we may need to do a little work on a
space to make it really fabulous, and
[39:40] so the DRIP money can be used for um
school buildings,
[39:45] and so arguably, we're not sure if that
means you have to own the building or if
[39:50] it's simply enough that you're educating
students in that setting.
[39:53] So, because the places that we're
looking for, we're trying not to do our
[39:58] transition program like in Pearson
School, cuz that's really not where your
[40:01] 18-year-old
22-year-olds want to be. So, if we have
[40:05] to do some modest
work, we would be able to use DRIP money
[40:08] towards it. We hope. We're going to
do the research.
[40:12] » But worst case scenario, I mean, they
have their separate entrance at Pearson.
[40:17] If we're to have a
>> If it went there, we would figure out
[40:21] how to make it work, but
>> The worry there would be
[40:23] within the population of the
>> How many students are we talking? 18,
[40:26] 22?
>> Five to six.
[40:28] » Okay.
>> If every student who's currently in our
[40:31] program
>> Sure.
[40:32] » stays
comes over, which of course is a PPT
[40:35] decision.
>> Yeah.
[40:36] » But we think we're developing something
spectacular.
[40:38] » Mhm.
>> And Cathy's going to tell you all about
[40:41] it in a few minutes.
>> Okay.
[40:43] Perfect.
[40:46] Quarterly food service financial
summary.
[41:00] » So, this is the food service report that
goes through March 30th.
[41:04] » And the reason that you're getting it
now is because of the lag time of
[41:07] getting all the information in.
And what the uh revenues are like
[41:12] through the third quarter that are
anticipated to come in. Um but there's
[41:17] there's a two or three-month lag of the
state
[41:19] paying the uh the lunch revenues
into our budget.
[41:24] So, it's very tight.
Um
[41:27] the lunch receipts have been tracking
quite well.
[41:31] The reimbursement
seems to be tracking well as well to the
[41:36] the budget.
Head Start is
[41:40] also tracking. I mean, everything seems
to be tracking quite well.
[41:44] If I look at the expense side of this
report,
[41:48] that's where things get a little bit uh
more concerning, and the cost of
[41:52] supplies and food, of course, has gone
up.
[41:55] So, we're looking at being a little bit
over there. But um
[42:00] we're also looking at
um
[42:04] the anticipated revenue just being
enough to cover that we would come in
[42:10] at $400 balance at the end of the school
year. So, we'll see how it goes from
[42:16] here.
Um but it's it's tough and it's it's
[42:20] very tight and
the uh food service managers have been
[42:24] working hard to not run up their hours
and sending their folks home and trying
[42:30] to look for sales when they're buying
stuff and
[42:33] so
Thank you for paying attention to that.
[42:35] I know it's always been tight tight.
Last year it was tight.
[42:39] » Two years ago it was terrible.
>> That's right. So, I'm glad it's not
[42:44] we're not back to that.
>> No, yeah. I mean that two years ago was
[42:47] $40,000 in the red. It was horrible.
And we've never been in the red before.
[42:52] So, that was
>> Yeah.
[42:54] » Yeah.
So.
[42:57] » Thank you.
[43:02] » Um
[43:05] So, that's up next if you want to
>> Go for it.
[43:08] » So, next up is the
>> Um
[43:10] » in response to your question, Nora.
>> Mhm.
[43:13] » We are over budget for out of district
um transportation and tuition and
[43:18] Nancy's going to tell you why.
[43:22] That's a big question.
>> Matthew, do you have the Can you put
[43:24] that up, please?
[43:32] » Thank you.
>> And maybe refresh cuz Nancy was working
[43:36] on it late into the afternoon.
>> was.
[43:43] Yes. Okay, good. Good. Good.
So,
[43:48] the
>> And you may not need to look at that so
[43:50] much, but I asked Nancy to have a visual
for you cuz it's a lot of information.
[43:54] » Yeah.
>> I'll take you through it, but uh right
[43:57] now if I we look at just the out of
district transportation and the out of
[44:01] district tuition,
we're looking at a deficit of over for
[44:07] And there are a few primary drivers to
that. Specifically, we've had uh new
[44:13] outplacements that have uh cost us
money.
[44:18] We have uh
folks who have moved into the district
[44:23] with placements that have already been
made that have put us over 350 plus
[44:28] thousand dollars.
And then we have had uh higher than
[44:33] planned for transportation and tuition
costs. When we put together the budget
[44:40] many months ago
we did not have that information and gas
[44:44] prices had not gone crazy. Uh not to
mention the shortage of drivers. So
[44:49] um those are the primary reasons that
we've
[44:53] gone so far over. And we have a few
students, three students who changed
[44:57] schools since they were placed. And so
that
[45:01] ran their uh their costs up to over what
had been budgeted for those specific
[45:05] students.
So we've had some come in, some go out.
[45:10] And it's
it's over.
[45:13] » Will this hit like account Tell us how
that affects like the excess cost shares
[45:19] formula? Can you walk us through that?
>> is figured into this. Is it? Yes, it is.
[45:23] So the excess cost that we're getting
this year
[45:26] is
over uh
[45:30] million dollars.
So it's it's helped us a lot. Or we'd be
[45:35] in
>> deeper water.
[45:37] » Deep deep doohickey. Yes.
[45:41] » Some districts um in the budget process
but you know, we build based on actual
[45:46] students. We obviously don't share their
names or publish them in a booklet
[45:49] anywhere, but we know like line one is
student JL and line two is student SC.
[45:56] And it we build the budget based on
students. Many districts put a blank
[46:01] line for um contingency student one,
contingency
[46:06] contingency student two, contingency
student three even
[46:10] um based on their ability to do that.
We, in an effort to keep a budget number
[46:16] that's
going to get through um scrutiny,
[46:20] have zero padding for that, which all of
us feel a little bit is like jumping out
[46:24] the plane without a parachute. But, we
don't feel that our budget process
[46:29] supports I'll say, you know, imaginary
placeholder students. But, the reality
[46:34] is, as you see, kids move in, kids move
out. I mean, it is a moving target. And
[46:39] so, it is really complex. You know, may
the odds be ever in your favor that more
[46:44] kids move out than move in.
Um
[46:48] but, it is fairly typical to budget
placeholder students, and we don't do
[46:52] that because we try so hard to get our
percent down to something that will be
[46:57] considered um livable in the town.
>> I think that's why the the 440 400 440,
[47:04] whatever that fund is, is very important
because of this variable that could
[47:07] shift at any moment.
That could put us underwater.
[47:10] Um
can you walk me through the various
[47:12] parent choice programs? What does that
mean?
[47:15] » So, the various parent choice programs
would be things like Explorations,
[47:20] um
AgriScience magnet. And if you go there
[47:25] and have an IEP, we have to pay for your
special education services, which is
[47:31] often as much as about I think grade
seven is $28,000
[47:36] that we pay for the special education
costs for someone who's attending there
[47:40] for AgriScience.
>> This is the the so-called upcharge
[47:43] special upcharge.
>> the one way to say that, for sure.
[47:47] » The
crack we have 13 kids at crack magnet
[47:50] schools, for example.
Um and then we also have kids at uh
[47:55] at Advance and Highlander Transition
Academy.
[47:59] » Those are Those are special education
placements.
[48:01] » Sorry, I picked the wrong one.
[48:05] I know it's has notes here.
>> Which Highlander will
[48:08] » No,
that's right.
[48:12] Those are part of the placements, too.
>> Those are choice placements, though.
[48:16] You were right the first time when you
said Explorations, Region 7, the correct
[48:20] magnet schools are choice placements.
>> Yes. Yes. So, these are largely
[48:27] » Largely. We have one or two students in
the district. I don't even know if they
[48:31] have IEPs, but we have only one or two
students who attend magnet school that
[48:35] are elementary school aged.
[48:39] » Okay.
[48:41] So, if they're elementary, they're
staying with us. If they're secondary,
[48:45] they're largely leaving us.
>> There's a lot more options for secondary
[48:49] students than there are elementary
between the AgriScience, um
[48:53] which is our tech school, Abbott Tech.
>> Wilcox, Oliver Wolcott Tech.
[48:57] » Oliver Wolcott Tech. Um
so, there are definitely more
[49:01] explorations and
>> Pratt.
[49:04] » Okay.
[49:09] Hm.
[49:13] » So, our
for the budget for the upcoming year,
[49:17] we've kind of
prepared.
[49:22] » So, we cut it close again.
>> We cut it close.
[49:24] » We We budgeted based on the actual
students we know about now.
[49:28] Um and we did put in
uh I think 7% increase or something for
[49:33] the tuition. Last year, Kathy started at
like 7 or 8, and
[49:38] Nancy and I pooh-poohed her, and we were
like, "You put in 10." And we were like,
[49:41] "Ridiculous. We can't go out with this
budget." And we took her numbers down to
[49:45] maybe 5%. We wanted to go to three. Um
because
[49:51] the things that you're guessing on
we're saying we need to
[49:56] gamble because we can't go forward with
a 10% increase on the budget.
[50:00] » I mean we're over 712,000
>> in the hole.
[50:05] » So how does that get paid?
>> Uh because we didn't spend all the
[50:09] supply money, because
>> have money to cover it.
[50:12] » Yes.
>> It's not going to be carried over into
[50:14] the next budget.
>> no, no, no. It can't.
[50:16] » No, no, but I mean it it has to be paid
though, right?
[50:19] » If we try Well, so at one point Nancy
had us using about $100,000 of the 440
[50:25] line
break even.
[50:28] » [laughter]
>> Because we have to get even. If we were,
[50:32] let's say at midyear and we were like,
"Wow, we are really upside down." We'd
[50:38] be putting a budget freeze. We would
stop buying the things we need.
[50:41] Theoretically, we would have to lay
people off.
[50:44] » and you make it up in other ways.
>> Right.
[50:47] » Pull it from other places.
>> Okay, got it. There have been instances
[50:50] where, um, I think it was Shelton a few
years back had to let go tons of
[50:56] employees in April because they weren't
going to meet their budget. You Like,
[51:00] you don't get to not meet your budget.
So you have to make midcourse
[51:02] corrections if your costs go haywire.
>> With all the money.
[51:06] » Yeah, but the other alternative is to go
back to the town for a supplemental
[51:11] appropriation, which is not a popular
thing to do.
[51:14] » That'd be like this town.
>> I I'd be scared to.
[51:17] » [laughter]
[51:21] » I haven't slept in 2 years
for exactly this reason.
[51:24] » How much can this be mitigated by tier
two and tier three intervention
[51:27] programs?
>> I think that's a question for Kathy.
[51:31] » Okay.
[51:36] But when they go to Region 7, I mean,
that's just people going to school
[51:40] there. It's not per
>> Right. The Region 7 program
[51:45] » They have the options to do that. Or
well, or well try, right? But they have
[51:48] the option they could just say I want to
go to that school.
[51:50] » Well, they have
>> They have to apply.
[51:52] » With region seven, they have to apply.
Same with Oliver Wolcott, I'm sure. They
[51:54] have to be accepted, but whether or not
they have a special education program
[51:58] can't be a factor in whether or not we
send them and whether or not they're
[52:02] admitted.
If they're admitted and they go, then we
[52:05] have to pay the special education piece
of it in addition to the
[52:09] » tuition, but the tuition is
below 5,000.
[52:13] » Can they choose region 20 as well?
>> Yeah, Ag Sci program? No, because we
[52:17] have region seven.
>> So,
[52:20] unless this has changed, cuz I was an Ag
principal back in the day, you must go
[52:24] to the Ag school that
>> is
[52:27] » It's not necessarily the closest, but
the one that you're connected with. Your
[52:30] district has to declare one. The one
exception is that if your
[52:35] Ag program that your district is
associated with doesn't offer the
[52:38] strand, you can get special exception to
go to a different one.
[52:44] » Gotcha.
>> For example, um, Trumbull High School
[52:46] had the large animals and
someone else didn't, you could go there.
[52:52] » It's called Nexus, isn't it?
>> Um, you could use it that way, but
[52:57] that's
a little bit different for the Ag
[53:00] program.
[53:04] So,
>> Are we ready for
[53:06] » Well, I just had a question
>> tier two, three
[53:08] » Tier two and tier three were designed to
help
[53:11] reduce the number of referrals that you
put through to special education?
[53:15] » Yeah.
>> Um,
[53:18] depends on your fidelity your fidelity
of instruction and the consistency of
[53:22] it,
whether or not you're able to provide
[53:25] the supports that students need in the
areas that they need it.
[53:28] » What's that?
>> The staffing.
[53:29] » Mhm.
>> Bottom line.
[53:31] » And the staffing and and material
resources.
[53:34] » And the professional development for the
regular ed teacher to be able to bring
[53:37] in the student
into the classroom for for instruction,
[53:42] full instruction.
>> That's me.
[53:45] Don't have that, but
you go to where the help is.
[53:49] » Mhm.
Mhm.
[53:53] » We'll get there.
[53:56] » Yes, we will.
>> One day.
[53:59] » Okay. Thank you.
>> Thank you.
[54:01] » Kathy's sitting in there, maybe you want
to just step over and go to transition
[54:04] program?
>> Um
[54:06] » [sighs and gasps]
>> yeah, so we're going to we're going to
[54:09] swap out G for H, H for G right now.
Um and we'll have
[54:16] Kathy talk about the transition program.
>> Nancy, thank you for the research.
[54:22] And Kathy, [clears throat] that was
definitely a joint effort on their part.
[54:25] » We spent some good hours together.
>> Mhm.
[54:28] Um so, I just I want to say thank you
for having me in tonight to share with
[54:33] you the exciting news that we are
launching or trying to launch the
[54:37] Winchester Transition Academy.
Uh we did look at the students that we
[54:41] have going out into transition academies
and while we have more than five or six,
[54:47] the students, the young adults that we
think that we
[54:50] can focus on are largely going to our
the in-district program that we have
[54:54] now, Highlander Transition Academy by uh
we did shared services.
[54:59] Um
we are in the process right now, the
[55:01] very beginning stages of it. We are
looking at locations, and when I say we,
[55:05] I, Julie, myself, Sarah Shackner, my
assistant director, have been out to
[55:09] look at numerous locations between the
college and some local entities here in
[55:14] town.
Um we have met with transportation
[55:18] companies to talk about whether or not
what they could provide to us would be
[55:22] financially viable in the footprint that
we budgeted for for next year,
[55:26] and looking at we you know, we've made
some postings and some job descriptions
[55:30] for a special education transition
teacher,
[55:33] a stipend for a transition coordinator
position, and job coaches.
[55:38] Um all of the young adults that we have
going out to work sites right now
[55:42] um do have job coaches that go out with
them so that they can be supervised,
[55:47] managed, trained, modeled, and directed
when they're on the work site.
[55:53] So, that's what we're excited to be
working on right now.
[55:55] » How many kids do you think you'd have in
that program?
[55:59] » We're looking at five to six potential.
And as Julie shared earlier, these are
[56:03] all PPT decisions. They're not
automatics just because we have it
[56:09] we're going to have them, but we would
be going to PPT probably over the summer
[56:13] with families.
>> Now, um when this is built out, is there
[56:16] an opportunity to, you know, expand
other towns and offer this
[56:20] as like a service that we provide or is
>> So, that would be a very long-range
[56:24] plan, in my opinion, but yes, it could
develop into that.
[56:27] » Okay.
That's a a revenue stream.
[56:30] » One of the things that I was just going
to add to is so, we're not adding
[56:34] positions into the budget freely. What
we've done is said, "Well, this is how
[56:39] much we budgeted for the tuition, so
that's our footprint. We can take the
[56:44] tuition money that we had budgeted to
pay for the teacher and the assistants
[56:49] and have it pay for itself."
>> So, the Highlander program
[56:54] chose not to continue. They were going
to move it to Torrington.
[56:58] » They are moving to Torrington.
>> They are moving to Torrington. Oh, so
[57:01] the program's still moving.
>> Yes.
[57:03] » And but we're deciding to to try and
create a program to keep our own
[57:07] students here. So, yes, there is
potential down the road to
[57:12] to potentially Can you talk a little bit
about
[57:16] the everyday of the students?
>> Yes, so um
[57:20] one of the things that Julie was
mentioning earlier is doing a little bit
[57:22] of renovation wherever we go.
As a core portion of a transition
[57:27] program is working on independence and
daily living skills, and that
[57:31] incorporates doing laundry,
um um, preparing, planning, and prepping
[57:36] meals, and making meals. So, most of the
young adults
[57:39] will have breakfast or make breakfast at
the academy. They'll make their lunch to
[57:44] take to their work site, and they'll go
out on work sites.
[57:49] Generally speaking, they're out on work
sites 5 days a week.
[57:52] There are times when we might say, "Hey,
you know what? This isn't This is going
[57:55] to be a week where we only go out two or
three days a week because we're planning
[57:59] for a holiday, and we want to make a big
holiday meal, and so we need time to do
[58:03] that here on site." Um, a transition
program can include looking at, um,
[58:09] training people and and practicing
role-playing job interviewing skills,
[58:13] completing resumes, how do you search
online for a job that looks feasible for
[58:19] you.
Um,
[58:21] working with young adults to help
determine what is feasible for them,
[58:26] bringing, um, outside agencies in to
meet with young adults and their
[58:30] families, like the Bureau of
Rehabilitation Services and the
[58:33] Department of Developmental Services to
say, "Here's what we can offer you
[58:38] once you're done
with this."
[58:41] Because what we don't want is for kid
for young adults to get to the edge of
[58:44] 22 and then fall off a cliff and not
have something to go into.
[58:50] So, that's that's the
big
[58:53] orchestra
mezzanine view. So, you work on on
[58:56] placing them when they hit like 20 We
don't We don't place them. We work on
[59:00] helping to develop job skills. We
connect them with outside agencies,
[59:05] adult agencies that may be able to place
them.
[59:09] » You mentioned college. Excuse me,
[clears throat] are you talking about
[59:12] maybe Northwestern type?
>> Yes.
[59:13] » Yep. Okay.
>> Yep.
[59:15] » They've been very open to the
possibility of hosting us on campus. In
[59:18] fact, I learned that our we had a
transition program back in the day, and
[59:22] it was in fact housed at the college.
>> Yeah.
[59:26] » So, there's precedence for it, and we
think that that would be um potentially
[59:30] a really nice connection and feel really
um
[59:34] positive for our [clears throat]
students
[59:36] who would be graduating or leaving high
school and
[59:39] heading out to a college setting just
feels right.
[59:43] » Does Edvance do any of this at all?
Would you be competing with them?
[59:47] » No, we'd be competing with Shared
Services.
[59:49] » Shared Services.
>> Okay.
[59:51] » [clears throat]
>> Okay.
[59:53] » So, as Dr. Levine had mentioned, um
since it was transitioning to Tor- to
[59:59] Torrington,
a lot of the students from Winsted still
[1:00:03] had placement jobs in Winsted. So, the
transportation costs from Torrington to
[1:00:08] Winsted
would be a little bit more than
[1:00:12] than it was when it was here in Winsted.
So, um building out this program
[1:00:18] seemed
a better idea.
[1:00:21] So, thank you.
>> To the point Nora about competition, I
[1:00:24] will say just as an example because one
of our upcoming topics is preschool. Um
[1:00:29] as an example, Shared Services does host
a preschool program for the towns that
[1:00:34] they serve, but some of the towns that
they serve have their own in-house
[1:00:39] preschool programs. So, I don't think
it's I don't They're you know, they're
[1:00:43] not [clears throat] a for-profit
industry. They're here to serve and so I
[1:00:46] don't see it as
conflict-inducing
[1:00:50] to
I don't see it as competition. I see it
[1:00:53] as good on us if we can do this for
ourselves.
[1:00:56] » And then in an effort to maintain
positive relations and the fact that I
[1:01:00] do see myself as a colleague of the
administration of Shared Services, I did
[1:01:04] have a conversation with them and shared
with them that we were undertaking this
[1:01:08] and looking to try and have something
open for the fall.
[1:01:11] » Okay.
>> And this would be more convenient for
[1:01:14] for our parents as well.
>> And some of our young adults are not
[1:01:17] crazy about being transported all the
way to Torrington. Some of them walk to
[1:01:21] St. Anthony's where HTA is currently
located because they don't want to be
[1:01:24] transported.
So,
[1:01:27] there's there's a lot of ups
to doing this.
[1:01:31] » We see potentially um learning to use
the local bus system that runs through
[1:01:36] and around Winsted as being part of the
program because again we are hoping that
[1:01:42] our young adults will become
as independent as they possibly can be
[1:01:46] here in our community. Meeting people,
finding work.
[1:01:51] The work that they do, I'll just point
out um their job sites
[1:01:54] are job training. They are not being
paid for their time there. They are um
[1:01:58] using it as a learning environment and
that So, the job coach goes with and
[1:02:02] works with them there.
Um and I think in time some students
[1:02:07] develop um
that as a future employment, but they're
[1:02:11] learning employability skills
through that.
[1:02:14] » How consistent is the number 5-6, you
know, in the program? Would that be
[1:02:18] probably what you would anticipate for
10 years, 2 years? We don't know yet.
[1:02:23] » In in the year and a half that I've been
here,
[1:02:25] » [laughter]
>> we've had five young adults both years
[1:02:28] and we've had people graduate and new
people enter both years.
[1:02:32] » Okay.
[1:02:37] What's the average tuition cost? Just
just curious.
[1:02:40] » For HTA?
>> Uh yeah, for
[1:02:43] yeah, just curious.
>> For the transition program, I believe
[1:02:46] this year it's about $51,000
in change. And next year it's about 54
[1:02:51] in change, 50 in change.
>> or is that for all five?
[1:02:54] » per student.
That's low.
[1:02:56] » Really?
>> Yeah.
[1:02:58] » It's probably the least expensive out of
all the places we have.
[1:03:00] » tuition that we pay for any student out
of district other than parent choice
[1:03:05] programs.
If you're placed by PPT, you're paying
[1:03:08] quite a bit of money for tuition.
>> Well, I'm encouraged that it's in
[1:03:12] district. Chances are we can try to save
some money as we bring programs in.
[1:03:17] Yeah, that's important.
>> Okay.
[1:03:19] » I think in this case and certainly we
hope that it will lead to savings, but
[1:03:23] that wasn't our goal. Our goal really
was um a strong belief that our students
[1:03:27] would be best served within our own
community.
[1:03:29] » Mhm.
>> Which is why we weren't
[1:03:32] running down this road when it was at
St. Anthony's because
[1:03:35] » Mhm.
>> it was in our community, it was perfect.
[1:03:37] But if it's leaving town, it felt like
now's the moment we should do this.
[1:03:42] » And you literally just found out what?
Month and a month
[1:03:46] » Found out in March.
>> Month and a half.
[1:03:48] Yeah.
>> Kathy looked at me when I walked in the
[1:03:52] and I was like, "Okay, we got to" She's
like, "What?" [laughter]
[1:03:54] » I I've never had morning sickness before
that day.
[1:04:00] » And I'm quoting her.
She asked me about that, otherwise I
[1:04:04] would never have said that.
>> How's your sense of humor today, Kathy?
[1:04:06] » Guess what we're doing.
>> And she's like, "What? For now?" And I'm
[1:04:09] like, "No, no, for for the fall."
>> It took me about 10 minutes to figure
[1:04:13] out what she was actually saying to me
because I just sort of
[1:04:17] was like
>> Well, you're in the midst of the budget,
[1:04:20] too, so all that.
>> Oh, yeah, it's fun.
[1:04:22] » Credit to um
we met with Paul Harrington and talked
[1:04:26] about ideas around town. He was um
excited to tell us he was negotiating
[1:04:31] improvements to the bus line so that it
wasn't constantly just going to
[1:04:34] Torrington that but that it was actually
doing loops through Winchester. And he
[1:04:38] also put us in touch with someone who
owns a lot of properties here in town um
[1:04:43] who has graciously met first with me and
then with Kathy and Sarah and is one of
[1:04:49] our potential locations.
Um we're hoping to find something that's
[1:04:54] either no rent or very little rent. Um
[1:04:59] So, we really the community has been
very helpful.
[1:05:03] » Yes.
>> Mhm. Well, thanks for pivoting.
[1:05:06] » I'm the director of student services,
it's what we do best.
[1:05:08] » It's your middle name.
Best trait, right?
[1:05:11] » That's it.
>> Patience and flexibility.
[1:05:14] » We work on both of those on a daily
basis.
[1:05:16] » [laughter]
[1:05:18] » Thank you.
>> You're welcome. Thank you, Jenny.
[1:05:21] » And I'll ask Cathy next month when we
know so much more.
[1:05:25] Um by next month, hopefully we will have
settled on a location and have a little
[1:05:30] more information.
Which case maybe [clears throat] we'll
[1:05:33] draw up some pictures of where we're
going and
[1:05:36] all the cool things we're doing to get
it ready for our students.
[1:05:39] » Great.
>> The more she talks about it, the more I
[1:05:41] just want to be part of the program. I
mean, it just sounds amazing.
[1:05:45] I'm like, I'll get my special ed
certification and just do that instead
[1:05:48] of this.
[1:05:52] » All right.
Moving on to the long-term study update.
[1:05:58] » Yes.
Um I'll reiterate a couple of things I
[1:06:01] shared on committee night because again
we were at committee, but we have
[1:06:06] identified and
onboarded uh two consultants that are
[1:06:11] working as a team.
Jack Zamary and Tom McMoran. Both are
[1:06:17] former superintendents. Jack actually is
still a practicing superintendent
[1:06:22] um
in retirement because you can do that
[1:06:25] just under half time.
Um
[1:06:28] Jack, in addition to being a former
superintendent
[1:06:31] and a former director of finance and
operations,
[1:06:35] is also currently serving as a
superintendent in a district that
[1:06:39] successfully has an arrangement with an
endowed academy.
[1:06:42] So,
he brings that background knowledge of
[1:06:45] what an endowed academy is and what that
relationship works like.
[1:06:49] Um Tom was a regional district
superintendent, so he brings that. He
[1:06:54] also has construct um
experience working with DAS on
[1:07:00] construction projects and is currently a
student at
[1:07:04] Yale Divinity School.
Um so, we're going I'm thinking he's
[1:07:08] probably a very honest man.
>> [laughter]
[1:07:12] » Um, and to be doing a program like that
after retirement is just really cool.
[1:07:17] Um,
so we've had one initial meeting um, and
[1:07:20] have a second meeting um, day after
tomorrow.
[1:07:24] And after that they will leave me with
um, their marching orders to start going
[1:07:30] and having conversations. I will make
introductions for them um, with Mike
[1:07:35] Soucy.
Um, and they'll reach out to him to try
[1:07:38] and get a meeting with him.
>> [clears throat]
[1:07:40] » Um,
I'm going to suggest to them that they
[1:07:43] offer a couple of opportunities for a
Zoom with any board members who want to
[1:07:48] share ideas they have for possible
outcomes.
[1:07:51] Um,
I'll probably have them talk with Paul.
[1:07:55] Um,
in order to keep the price of this
[1:07:58] reasonable, I'm trying to keep them very
focused on the future.
[1:08:02] So that they are really looking at where
we are today and what the options are.
[1:08:07] Um, and only looking backwards to the
extent that it's necessary to inform the
[1:08:12] options.
Because if they start looking into For
[1:08:15] example, they said, "Well, do you want
us to do a study of sort of like all
[1:08:18] school districts this size?" And I said,
"Thank you, no thank you." Because we
[1:08:22] are at this point looking at a cost
that's under $20,000 and I'm really
[1:08:27] trying to keep it that way. Um,
I'm also going to try and talk Paul into
[1:08:31] paying for it with town funds, but if
not um, this would be a 440 type
[1:08:36] one-time-only expense we would have to
come up with.
[1:08:40] Um, so that's where we are with that.
Oh, and the other thing I'm wanted to
[1:08:43] point out is that um, we are Originally
we had asked them to get me something in
[1:08:49] August so that I could
make sure it looked nice and nice for
[1:08:52] presentation um, at the September board
meeting. We're going to try and um, have
[1:08:57] it to the board in August. I I know that
it's realistic to have it to the board.
[1:09:02] The August board meeting is like August
11th or something really early. We may
[1:09:06] need to add a meeting a little bit later
in the month, but we're going to try and
[1:09:09] get that out of the way before school
starts and things get
[1:09:12] amped up. So, they they know that that's
a timeline we're hoping to achieve.
[1:09:16] » And there was a request that we get the
report before it's presented to us so we
[1:09:21] can digest it before it's presented to
us. So,
[1:09:24] » Will they also meet with us as a board?
We talked about that once before.
[1:09:27] Interviewing us, speaking with us. Can
>> That was what I had just mentioned, but
[1:09:31] I won't have them We're not going to
plan a special board meeting for it.
[1:09:34] They'll create opportunities for
a couple of board members at a time.
[1:09:39] » So, it's not a meeting.
>> In other words, they could talk to four
[1:09:42] of you at once and it's not a meeting.
So, if they say we're going to do a zoom
[1:09:46] with
>> groups, if you will.
[1:09:47] » Yeah.
>> Of sorts.
[1:09:49] » Right. So, that if any board members
wish to speak with them, there's an
[1:09:51] opportunity, but it's not a board
meeting.
[1:09:54] In the spirit of easy.
>> Okay.
[1:09:56] Um you mentioned that you're going to do
the introductions of the two people to
[1:10:00] the head of schools. Um Zach's been
involved in academies. Do they know each
[1:10:05] other at all
academy routes and conversations?
[1:10:09] » I don't think so.
>> Okay.
[1:10:12] » I'm almost certain I would have asked
both Zach and Tom, I'm sure we went over
[1:10:16] a sort of the list of
who the people in the our community were
[1:10:19] and they did not know people here.
>> Okay.
[1:10:21] » Which I think is good.
>> Yeah.
[1:10:23] Okay. Thank you.
>> They were recommended by um actually a
[1:10:26] couple of different people. So,
they know Connecticut. Between them, I
[1:10:30] think they know all the right pieces.
>> Okay.
[1:10:35] » Good.
Good.
[1:10:38] Any other questions?
[1:10:42] Ellie, you still with us?
[1:10:47] » Yeah, I'm here.
>> Okay. All right, perfect. Just checking.
[1:10:50] All right,
uh on to item I, policies for first
[1:10:54] read.
Hopefully everyone had a chance to
[1:10:58] take a
read of these beforehand.
[1:11:12] » I see yours is all written up.
Jonathan, are you going to present them
[1:11:16] or
I'd be willing to do that.
[1:11:21] » You have a few?
>> I'd be happy to do them for you.
[1:11:24] » Yeah, you want to
>> give us two in the meantime.
[1:11:26] » Okay.
>> Just patience.
[1:11:30] » So, starting off with the parent and
family engagement policy.
[1:11:34] » So, Title 1 for us, you know, I think
there are probably large districts where
[1:11:40] like one school is a Title 1 school. We
are Title 1 as a district, so some of
[1:11:46] this is a little bit different. Like our
school climate committee fulfills
[1:11:50] aspects of this. Our
Just say it. Futures
[1:11:55] » Winchester Futures and Families
>> F and F, Futures and Families. Like
[1:12:00] those groups fulfill a lot of the
aspects of this.
[1:12:04] Um
this policy has a lot in here about
[1:12:07] things we're supposed to do. I think
that um
[1:12:11] we really do do these things, but we
need to do a little bit of a crosswalk
[1:12:14] to make sure that we're hitting all of
the points because it is about family
[1:12:18] engagement.
And I think we're doing a great job with
[1:12:21] family engagement, but this policy is
very prescriptive. And I do think we've
[1:12:26] nailed it, but when I read it, it made
me twitch a little just at all the
[1:12:29] specificity to make sure we're hitting
everything.
[1:12:31] » You got a number of meetings that you
need to meet. Like you know, it seems
[1:12:35] like to me that you're going to look at
120 meetings a day. Like if you got to
[1:12:39] keep up that rate with the families. I
mean, we got 20% of families involved in
[1:12:43] special ed.
Right? It calls for a certain number of
[1:12:47] meetings a year.
So, that's about a
[1:12:52] » Where are you looking, Nora?
Uh Title I facilitate parental
[1:12:57] communication. It talks about Let me see
if I can give you the right specific
[1:13:00] paragraph.
That conduct a meeting at the bottom of
[1:13:04] that last page underneath three
strategies to support successful school
[1:13:07] and family interactions each year within
the district involved in Title I, we
[1:13:12] shall conduct a meeting at convenient
time to involve parents planning,
[1:13:16] review, improve programs funded by Title
>> Right. So, those aren't like PPTs for
[1:13:21] individual students. That would be like
our school climate committee meeting
[1:13:24] where we're bringing in
families
[1:13:26] » Okay. So, we'll hit it that way.
>> Right.
[1:13:29] » Cuz you got to present curriculum, forms
of assessments, academic achievement
[1:13:33] levels, standards, importance of
parental involvements. In addition to
[1:13:37] the required annual meeting,
right? So,
[1:13:42] um
shall opportunities for regular meetings
[1:13:46] at flexible times during the day. I
mean, I'm just looking at this and I'm
[1:13:49] thinking This screams of time needed for
>> And yet it's a required policy.
[1:13:55] » to me, you know, I get it it's it's
required, but I'm looking and I'm
[1:13:58] playing some a little bit of math. I
mean, if we've got 20% of our population
[1:14:02] involved in Title I funds
>> Oh, no. We have the entire district
[1:14:05] involved in Title I.
>> Okay.
[1:14:07] » Nancy, how much Title I money do we get?
>> About 200,000
[1:14:14] » So, for $200,000
>> $284,000 carryover and $300,000 Title I.
[1:14:20] Right?
So, that's our district. I mean, I just
[1:14:23] looked at the budget.
>> Right. So, we get about 200 a year. So,
[1:14:27] for $200,000 we will stand on our head
and spit nickels if that's what they
[1:14:30] need us to do.
Um
[1:14:34] But yes, to your point, we are reviewing
this closely to see what we do that
[1:14:38] fulfills it and what we would need to
add because yikes.
[1:14:41] » This is new as of when? 20
>> No, after you. I just have a quick
[1:14:46] question.
>> I mean, it's
[1:14:47] copy written 2020 but this is new as of
right?
[1:14:50] Like this
>> Um
[1:14:52] So we are just getting to the 6000
series that are switch over.
[1:14:57] Um
All right.
[1:15:03] » Wow.
>> I'm just I'm just um
[1:15:05] » Yeah.
>> I empathize is what I'm trying to say is
[1:15:07] I simply empathize the amount of
workload that this puts on people to be
[1:15:11] able to meet this
>> Yep.
[1:15:13] » series 6000 instruction given how
prescribed this is and the number of
[1:15:18] prescribed meetings that you've got and
what you have to convey at those
[1:15:21] meetings. I mean it's not just like
you know, having a meeting to talk about
[1:15:24] open house. It seems like you got to
share curriculum assessment standards.
[1:15:31] Um and and wow. That's all I have to say
is just simply wow.
[1:15:35] When we need special ed teachers we're
struggling to find them to employ them.
[1:15:41] I mean I I I think the initiative is is
good and all but the prescription of
[1:15:45] this is just wow.
>> Well, and it's separate from special
[1:15:48] education.
>> Yeah.
[1:15:50] » I mean it actually has theoretically no
overlap with it.
[1:15:53] » So yeah.
Wow.
[1:15:59] » Go for it.
>> It does say um all parents participating
[1:16:03] children must be invited and encouraged
to attend. Um there's no stipulation
[1:16:07] that says we have to have a certain
amount of parent involvement to fulfill
[1:16:09] this or is it they just have to be
invited?
[1:16:12] » Right.
>> Okay.
[1:16:18] » And then you have to like if they're
unhappy with the Title 1 program
[1:16:21] opportunities to make comments for
review for the district level, you have
[1:16:24] to to figure out who's going to handle
that.
[1:16:27] » We'll just reach out to the Title 1
coordinator and put them right on it.
[1:16:30] » Okay.
>> Oh wait, we don't have one of them.
[1:16:32] » Right. I was just saying who would be in
charge of this sort of bit?
[1:16:37] Given the number of meetings and the
prescription.
[1:16:39] » Be ever nice.
>> Um
[1:16:43] » It's okay. We'll figure it out.
It's what we do.
[1:16:47] » Okay.
>> It It hurts. Don't read it. Just
[1:16:49] » All right. All right.
>> Just
[1:16:52] It hurts. When I first read it, I put it
back down on the table. It's like I'm
[1:16:55] not even bringing this one to the board.
>> Wow.
[1:16:57] Wow.
>> Yeah, there's a lot in there.
[1:17:01] » All right.
>> And it's a federal S is the federal,
[1:17:04] right? Every student succeeds act?
>> Yep.
[1:17:08] » Okay.
[1:17:10] Thank you.
>> Let's move on to parental access to
[1:17:14] instructional material.
>> Yeah, this one's another doozy.
[1:17:20] Do you Do you want to um a motion for I
know it says policy is first read. Do
[1:17:25] you want to motion to accept? It seems
like our hands are tied. It's federal
[1:17:28] mandate.
>> Well, they're not on as an action item.
[1:17:31] » Okay. So, it's a different part of the
Got you.
[1:17:34] » the four policies next month for
adoption.
[1:17:37] » Sure.
Okay.
[1:17:40] » For what it's worth, we're in the sixes.
We are so close to done. Just so you
[1:17:44] know.
>> Just a little bit of a heart attack
[1:17:46] along the way.
So, okay. This is
[1:17:49] » And then there'll be a whole bunch of
them coming right back.
[1:17:51] » this.
>> Okay.
[1:17:53] » Jonathan's [laughter] having way too
much fun with this.
[1:17:55] » It was It was fun though.
>> Yep.
[1:17:57] » He loves this.
>> Yeah.
[1:17:59] » He's really good at it, too.
>> Jonathan?
[1:18:02] » Absolutely.
All right. Parental access to
[1:18:04] instructional materials.
>> Again, required. We have to get things
[1:18:09] up on the website. Some of them don't
exist, but as we create them, we'll be
[1:18:13] putting them on there.
>> Okay.
[1:18:16] » Make the July 1 deadline.
>> Right?
[1:18:19] » No. There's no way. I mean, if we don't
have a written math curriculum, then
[1:18:24] what I mean, we can put on there the
resource that we use and call that a
[1:18:27] curriculum, but
um
[1:18:30] we can't do what we can't do. I mean,
what we have, we will make accessible to
[1:18:34] people immediately.
>> Okay.
[1:18:36] » Um we'll create a section of the
website. There is a section already that
[1:18:40] has some
>> How far are we to be completed then?
[1:18:44] What percent can you give a ballpark
percent? Like we're at 37% there?
[1:18:47] » For written curriculum for everything we
did?
[1:18:51] » Yeah, that's I don't think there is a
lot of written curriculum here.
[1:18:55] We have science.
>> you approve it and have curriculum you
[1:18:56] have to put it on. You haven't approved
it yet.
[1:18:58] So I can't put
>> Right.
[1:19:00] We got nothing.
Yeah.
[1:19:04] » It says it says means any instructional
materials any instructional content
[1:19:08] that's provided to a student that's
that's like classroom assignments and
[1:19:11] homework assignments. Is that part of
that?
[1:19:13] » So that's not what needs to be on the
website. The curriculum scope and
[1:19:17] sequence has to be on the website. The
other stuff
[1:19:21] it means if a parent says, you know, I
want to see this book they're reading,
[1:19:26] we have to make it accessible. I want to
see this homework assignment my child
[1:19:30] did or I want The only thing that we
wouldn't share would be
[1:19:35] tests and assessments.
But you know, a lot of these policies
[1:19:39] come out of things where school
districts just made bad decisions. You
[1:19:43] know, a parent said, well, I want to see
that thing and they said, no, you can't
[1:19:46] see that thing. And then next thing you
know, we're in court over it.
[1:19:50] So we passed the policy, but the reality
is we would not have turned parents away
[1:19:54] anyway if they wanted to see something
we do.
[1:19:58] We welcome that. We encourage family
involvement. So
[1:20:01] » But we have CKLA?
>> We do for language arts.
[1:20:04] » isn't that something that could be
posted pretty quickly like an overview
[1:20:08] page with general objectives?
>> So that's not a curriculum, it's a
[1:20:11] resource, but in the absence of a
written curriculum that is what we'll
[1:20:15] put on the website because we're
following it. So
[1:20:18] » It's a de facto curriculum I guess you'd
say.
[1:20:21] » Okay.
>> Okay.
[1:20:24] Parent teacher communication.
>> Um, we do this and we do this well. We
[1:20:28] do conferences twice a year. We get 95%
of our parents in. We dog parents to
[1:20:34] make sure they come. Our principals keep
track. They ask the teachers to report.
[1:20:39] They go after anybody who didn't come
and try and reschedule them.
[1:20:43] Um
again, we love parent involvement, so
[1:20:47] this is a required policy, but we're in
this one
[1:20:52] was an easy one for us.
>> Good.
[1:20:56] Promotion and retention.
>> Um and this too, I would say to you
[1:20:59] again, required policy, but we um go a
little further than this policy. They
[1:21:03] talk about um
So, the research on retention is that on
[1:21:07] the over under, it's not a good idea.
The research says that um
[1:21:13] retention does not typically get you
where you meant to be.
[1:21:18] Um that said, every child is an
individual, and I'll tell you even
[1:21:22] though I've read all the research, I did
retain one of my children. It's not that
[1:21:25] we're going to say you never retain, but
you don't do it casually. It it's a big
[1:21:30] decision. It has ripple effects, and so
um if we're making decisions about
[1:21:35] retention,
um this policy says that it's the
[1:21:38] principal, the teachers, the guidance
counselor, and other support personnel.
[1:21:42] We include parents in that decision,
because if you are considering
[1:21:45] retention, it won't be successful if the
parents don't agree with that decision.
[1:21:49] Um
so, we view that as a team decision, and
[1:21:53] one that we don't take lightly, and one
that we go into
[1:21:57] knowing we're not huge fans, but also
open to the possibility that sometimes
[1:22:01] it just makes sense.
[1:22:04] » Can we Can we just uh quickly go back to
page 29, the previous policy,
[1:22:08] parent-teacher communication?
Just so [clears throat] I understand it.
[1:22:12] For
conducting a parent-teacher conference,
[1:22:15] that last paragraph.
>> [snorts]
[1:22:17] » Um to provide a copy of the document
developed by the Department of Education
[1:22:21] private information, la la la, available
for students and their families prior to
[1:22:25] the parent-teacher conference. Do we
Do we normally do that or is that going
[1:22:29] to have to be a shift in practice?
[1:22:48] That last paragraph.
[1:23:01] It's
>> Section B.
[1:23:03] » Yeah, it's the same thing.
>> Section B is for remote when we If we're
[1:23:06] in a closure.
Section B is if schools close you do
[1:23:11] remote learning.
>> talking about the paragraph at the very
[1:23:13] end underneath Section
>> No, but it refers to
[1:23:16] remote learning in Section B.
>> Okay.
[1:23:19] I got you.
>> So, it's a reference to B above to
[1:23:22] provide by the
>> Which the state does not
[1:23:24] » Okay.
>> want us to do, so.
[1:23:26] » Okay. Thank you.
>> That's
[1:23:28] » Yeah.
>> Right?
[1:23:30] » You're thinking about yourself.
>> I was thinking like, okay, another one
[1:23:33] of those added on duties.
>> Okay, that's great. Thank you.
[1:23:38] Okay.
>> Moving on. Action items uh in May,
[1:23:42] policies for possible deletion, concepts
and roles and instruction.
[1:23:47] » So, as you know in our policy cleanup,
we are pulling any policies um if they
[1:23:53] are just naturally replaced by a new
one, we just do that. But, if they're
[1:23:56] not necessarily clearly replaced by
something else, we're bringing it to you
[1:24:00] to officially delete.
Each section in our old policy manual
[1:24:04] had a concepts and roles
fluffy statement that doesn't really say
[1:24:09] anything, and the one that we have now
is from 1996, and it's my recommendation
[1:24:14] that we let that go.
>> So, we're going to
[1:24:17] have her review all these, and then
we'll vote on a grouping.
[1:24:22] And and we need to pull one out if
somebody has we'll do it that way so we
[1:24:25] don't vote on any any good ones.
>> Okay.
[1:24:28] » All right.
All right. COVID-19 emergency measures.
[1:24:33] » So, um
we're advised by council that they and
[1:24:38] everyone else have made COVID policies
um
[1:24:41] defunct at this stage. Someone who has
COVID would interact with the world the
[1:24:47] same way they would do if they had the
flu or strep throat or anything else.
[1:24:51] Um this is not a required policy.
Um
[1:24:59] You're being facetious. Sorry, I got
you.
[1:25:02] I wasn't looking.
Um so, we're not expected to maintain a
[1:25:06] COVID policy any longer.
>> After class activities.
[1:25:14] » I don't have a lot of words for this
one, but it's from 1996.
[1:25:17] Um
>> In here.
[1:25:20] » Well, here you go.
>> No, that's what I need in here.
[1:25:23] » Oh, well, the way
>> I'm coming up on my 30th reunion.
[1:25:26] » Oh, okay.
[1:25:29] No, I knew that. That was just bad math
on my part. Just the way he said it.
[1:25:33] Um
So, this is very secondary. We don't
[1:25:37] have student officers. Um we definitely
don't have extracurricular secret clubs.
[1:25:42] Um this
There are million different ways that we
[1:25:46] have other policies that would keep us
from
[1:25:49] having clubs overtake the
Yeah.
[1:25:52] » And this is K through 6.
>> Yes.
[1:25:54] » We're not talking high school.
>> Right. Our policies only apply
[1:25:57] » what I'm saying. Like, I mean, I can I
can just see this something in high
[1:26:00] school, but
not in elementary.
[1:26:02] » And in fact, there are policies um
for extracurricular activities and
[1:26:09] » Yeah, so we already have them.
>> This is
[1:26:12] not where we want to be.
Um
[1:26:15] » Outside computer use. Is is this
something that we hold
[1:26:19] » [clears throat]
>> Hold that.
[1:26:20] Is anyone Okay.
>> There was one that
[1:26:23] » That was kind of a
>> It had something to do with like loaning
[1:26:25] out or something. This That was in the
financial policies, I think, actually.
[1:26:29] So, this policy is 28 years old and it's
about computers.
[1:26:32] » Which were brand new in those days.
>> So, and rare.
[1:26:35] » Hopefully, you don't need me to say much
more except that like back then nobody
[1:26:39] took computers home. Now,
[clears throat] not only do we allow it,
[1:26:42] we encourage it. Like, that's how we
operate. So, this is
[1:26:46] as outdated as a policy can possibly be.
[1:26:51] » Okay.
>> Okay. Any questions on that one?
[1:26:53] » Mhm.
>> All right. So, let's um
[1:26:57] Let's see. We vote
policies for possible deletions for
[1:27:02] concepts and roles and instruction,
COVID-19 emergency measures, extra class
[1:27:07] activities, offset computer use. Would
Anyone like to make make a motion
[1:27:12] for deletion?
>> Make a motion for deletion.
[1:27:14] » Second.
Jonathan second. All in favor?
[1:27:18] Ellie?
>> I'm in favor, too.
[1:27:21] » All right.
So, 8-0.
[1:27:25] Perfect.
On to item B, policies for adoption.
[1:27:30] Meal charging.
>> So, if it feels like this feels out of
[1:27:34] the blue, I apologize. Um we're in May.
So, in March, these were on for first
[1:27:39] read and because I am a horrible
executive assistant, they didn't get on
[1:27:44] to the April
agenda. Um but these were on for first
[1:27:49] read in March. They should have been on
for
[1:27:52] adoption in April.
You've already seen them at committee,
[1:27:56] seen them for first read, reviewed them
closely.
[1:28:00] Um we just missed a month. So, that's
how they've floated back to you now for
[1:28:05] adoption.
Um [clears throat]
[1:28:07] but you have already spent time with
these previously.
[1:28:10] » Make a motion to accept the
fuel charging policy.
[1:28:15] » All right.
Jonathan second. All in favor?
[1:28:19] Ellie?
>> Me, too.
[1:28:21] » Okay.
All right. Purchasing.
[1:28:28] Same thing.
>> Oh, yes. I'm sorry. I was speaking of
[1:28:31] both of them. They were traveling
together and I just
[1:28:34] » I'd like a motion
to accept purchasing.
[1:28:38] Jonathan?
>> Second.
[1:28:40] » Jonathan Sorry. Joseph, Jonathan. All in
favor?
[1:28:46] Ellie?
>> Um yep, me, too.
[1:28:48] » Okay.
8-0.
[1:28:51] All right.
On to item C, approval of the Board of
[1:28:55] Education revised budget.
>> Okay.
[1:29:00] So, you if you hearken back to many
moons ago, I presented a budget to you.
[1:29:06] You then worked with it. You um
tinkered. You made a reduction and
[1:29:10] ultimately
someone of you made a motion to approve
[1:29:14] the Board of Education budget in the
amount of I guess it would have been
[1:29:17] 26,550,000
blah blah blah, you know, something like
[1:29:21] that.
Um it then left your hands, went to the
[1:29:25] Board of Selectmen. Since the amount has
moved, I wanted to just remind us
[1:29:30] what has changed in the budget since you
approved it. Um and then ask you to just
[1:29:35] approve it as the Board of Education's
revised budget and I have the number
[1:29:39] here for whomever wants to make that
motion.
[1:29:42] » Are we moving any money out of
>> So, why don't you explain
[1:29:46] » Right. So, I'm going to tell you
without [clears throat] We are actually
[1:29:51] working on um updating the budget book.
Um
[1:29:56] because we should have an accurate book,
but that takes a little longer, as you
[1:30:00] might imagine, than
the pace of things and how they're
[1:30:03] moving. So, in the short term, we've
updated, you know, the cover sheet and
[1:30:07] we know where everything is coming and
going from, but
[1:30:10] um when it let since it left your hands
it has been reduced by a million
[1:30:13] dollars.
So, to mitigate that, um we had
[1:30:19] a reduction in our tuition bill from
Gilbert for $285,714
[1:30:25] and we have received the good news that
we will get $320,998
[1:30:30] in state aid.
Um the information I'm reviewing is the
[1:30:34] same information that I handed you at
the special meeting last week.
[1:30:38] Um
the long and short of what's no longer
[1:30:42] in the budget that
was in the budget when you last approved
[1:30:46] it is that we have eliminated the
position special education assistant
[1:30:50] director.
We've eliminated a grade two teacher.
[1:30:54] We've eliminated two interventionists.
We've eliminated the position of
[1:30:58] director of data and information.
>> [clears throat]
[1:31:01] » We've eliminated one preschool teacher
and one corresponding paraeducator.
[1:31:07] Those are things that are no longer in
the budget that were there when you last
[1:31:10] approved it.
Um
[1:31:15] we are maintaining the school safety
officers by
[1:31:21] utilizing the 440 account funds.
The way we've done that is I asked Nancy
[1:31:27] to leave just a couple of thousand
dollars in the budget so that when we're
[1:31:31] looking like at a list of who works here
they still appear, but they are largely
[1:31:35] being funded
through the 440 account. But, just like
[1:31:40] for example our reading teachers are
funded through grants, but we have like
[1:31:43] $3,000 in the budget for each of them.
So, again, they just appear so that
[1:31:48] they're not
invisible.
[1:31:51] Um
we have um
[1:31:56] also in that work with the million
dollars fixed some things that have
[1:32:00] changed since the time that you saw the
budget just in terms of things that went
[1:32:06] up and down.
Um
[1:32:09] there is a line in the budget called
unawarded reserve. We use that um
[1:32:14] because we're in contract negotiations.
Those are raises for positions that we
[1:32:18] don't know what those raises will be cuz
we haven't negotiated the contract. It's
[1:32:22] for people whose jobs are not in a
union, so there is no set raise for
[1:32:27] them.
So, we decrease the amount in that line
[1:32:30] because there's
nine less people work seven less nine
[1:32:35] less one seven less people working here
now that we put back the SSOs.
[1:32:40] Um
what else?
[1:32:44] Um
[1:32:47] one of uh what else can I tell you? So,
we know our federal grants went down.
[1:32:51] So, we've made the adjustments, but the
things that are changed the significant
[1:32:56] changes in the budget are the reduction
of those positions. The one offset to
[1:33:00] the director of data and information is
that work doesn't go away. So, we are
[1:33:05] contracting with Twin Lakes, which is a
company that does remote servicing of
[1:33:11] all of your student data and state
reporting.
[1:33:13] There are other aspects of that position
that we'll lose and some of us will
[1:33:18] absorb the work of
um because that's what we do.
[1:33:22] So, if someone were willing to motion to
approve the Board of Ed revised budget
[1:33:27] in the amount of 25 million 50,562
[1:33:33] then it would be official that that was
the Board of Ed's budget.
[1:33:36] » I have a question about the elimination
of the special ed assistant director's
[1:33:40] position. I mentioned before that's an
administrative position. And our bylaws
[1:33:44] say that we should be
making a motion to approve or not
[1:33:48] approve administrative positions.
I To my thinking, that's So,
[1:33:53] » you're approving the budget that
knowingly does not include that
[1:33:56] position. If you wish to motion it
separately. You
[1:33:59] » I think the bylaws reference if it was a
termination
[1:34:05] if it was more of a termination aspect
and not
[1:34:09] a cut a cut aspect.
Um
[1:34:13] it it does reference that the board
um
[1:34:18] could vote on when it deals with
administrator but I I feel like and
[1:34:23] maybe we should look at that language.
>> Which section is that?
[1:34:28] » The bylaws are on our webpage
>> Yeah, but what section?
[1:34:30] » under bylaws of the board
November 12th, 2024.
[1:34:35] » Yep.
>> Okay, and if you go to
[1:34:39] » [clears throat]
>> Yeah.
[1:34:43] » So I think the language needs to be
clarified for future.
[1:34:46] » It's under
>> cuz it can be interpreted.
[1:34:53] » Well, that's a whole 'nother
conversation about
[1:34:55] » Yep.
>> Superintendent will also make
[1:34:57] recommendations for termination
administrator
[1:35:00] the board will also have the right to
approve any hiring and the terms and
[1:35:04] conditions
of such administrator's contract. The
[1:35:07] board shall have the right of approval
of any involuntary termination. Is this
[1:35:11] an involuntary termination?
>> This is not a termination.
[1:35:13] » of an administrator's employment.
>> Not a termination.
[1:35:16] » It's not a termination.
[1:35:20] Such personnel shall have the aids
duties of such other duties
[1:35:23] superintendent shall prescribe.
>> Maybe the language needs to add
[1:35:27] that it doesn't deal with budget cuts.
>> So what is involuntary termination?
[1:35:32] Firing?
>> Yeah.
[1:35:33] » Termination is definitely a specific
>> That is when the board has to
[1:35:38] » [cough]
>> So this would be classified as a layoff
[1:35:40] then, correct?
>> Mhm.
[1:35:41] » Reduction in force, yes.
>> So what does that mean her position is
[1:35:44] held for
[1:35:48] future for future or is it Uh, in that
sense?
[1:35:51] » So if she were say a teacher in the
teachers union, there's language in her
[1:35:54] contract that would say, um, if we
reduce our force and you're laid off,
[1:36:00] there's a recall list. Because this
position is not a union position,
[1:36:04] technically there probably isn't any
language that says she needs to be
[1:36:09] brought back if we bring back the
position. The reality is, more than
[1:36:13] anything, we don't want to lose this
position.
[1:36:16] Um, and we
don't want to lose the person either.
[1:36:20] Why am I not getting this to load?
Um,
[1:36:24] so if, you know,
Santa Claus drops off
[1:36:28] » [snorts]
>> a hundred thousand dollars, we would put
[1:36:31] the position back and put the same
person in it, for sure.
[1:36:34] » You've given up on the uncle?
>> Um, yeah, the rich uncle, I'll take
[1:36:40] really any source at this point, sure.
Um, you know, should [clears throat]
[1:36:44] something change in grants and there's
more money than we're aware of, um,
[1:36:48] that's probably the next thing I would
put back. I mean, it's a huge loss.
[1:36:52] » How How about notice in the
contract in the state law? I mean, these
[1:36:56] persons have been noticed, like May 1st
was notice by the state law. That's
[1:37:01] different.
>> May 1st is for non-renewal of contract,
[1:37:05] meaning, um, Nora, you're in your first
four years, you're not tenured, and
[1:37:11] you're lovely, but you don't meet the
standards of the district, and we are
[1:37:13] not going to offer you a contract next
year.
[1:37:15] » Okay.
>> That's the May 1st.
[1:37:17] » All right.
>> Reduction in force can happen at any
[1:37:19] time that your budget can't support a
position.
[1:37:22] » And you don't need to notice that. Or do
you have notice?
[1:37:24] » have to pink slip it, but it's not a May
1st thing. It's a
[1:37:27] » Okay. And there's nothing in the admin
contract that speaks of anything like
[1:37:32] » This position is not in the admin
contract.
[1:37:35] » Oh.
>> It's a individual contract. It's an
[1:37:38] at-will employee contract.
I don't know what's going on with the
[1:37:41] Wi-Fi.
>> Okay.
[1:37:46] Okay. Any other questions or concerns on
that?
[1:37:49] » Um I will make the motion to approve the
Board of Education revised budget of 25
[1:37:56] million
$50,562.
[1:38:00] Do we have a second?
>> Second.
[1:38:02] » Carol.
Uh all in favor?
[1:38:07] Ellie?
>> I'm in favor.
[1:38:09] » Okay.
8 to 0.
[1:38:11] » With Carol the second on that.
>> Yes.
[1:38:14] » Okay.
>> Okay. On to adoption of a preschool
[1:38:20] tuition rate.
>> Okay.
[1:38:22] I
Um
[1:38:25] so, let me give you a little background
first.
[1:38:27] Um
we have been
[1:38:31] talking about um our preschool program.
We charge no tuition for any students,
[1:38:36] and that's something that's been brought
up um
[1:38:39] a few different times, I think, with the
board.
[1:38:42] We did the research to see what other
people charge. It does seem that most
[1:38:47] districts do charge.
Um so, I'm going to share with you, and
[1:38:52] I think Matthew, you have a chart as
well. Um
[1:38:54] what our research showed us, you know,
we could go [clears throat] broader, but
[1:38:58] we felt the most relevant would be the
towns sort of around us.
[1:39:02] Um
so, preschool programs can
[1:39:07] um look different in different
communities.
[1:39:10] Sometimes they are half day only,
sometimes they're 4 days a week,
[1:39:15] sometimes they're full day only,
sometimes you have both options,
[1:39:18] sometimes it's 3-year-olds are half day,
4-year-olds are full day.
[1:39:23] So, if it doesn't say anything, you can
assume it is full day, well, not full
[1:39:28] day, cuz I've separated full day and
half day, but you can assume it's 5 days
[1:39:31] a week.
For the ones that are regions, I've
[1:39:34] listed for you the participating towns,
so that you can sort of
[1:39:38] see comparables.
Um
[1:39:43] so, Region one [clears throat] is a
four-day a week program and it's only
[1:39:46] half days. Region 10 is a five-day a
week, but it's only half days.
[1:39:52] Region 20
>> No, preschool.
[1:39:55] Go ahead.
>> It is a half-day program. Shared
[1:40:00] services hosts
um
[1:40:02] the full-day program is five days a
week, the half-day program is four days
[1:40:06] a week.
Um Torrington's is a five-day full day.
[1:40:13] So,
because we are um eliminating a
[1:40:18] preschool teacher and paraeducator,
instead of having three teachers and
[1:40:21] three classrooms, we have two teachers,
two classrooms. Our intention for next
[1:40:27] year will be to have one full-day class
and two half-day classes.
[1:40:32] We don't really have a choice about that
because
[1:40:35] one of the purposes of hosting a
preschool program is that allows us to
[1:40:39] deliver special education services to
three-year-olds and four-year-olds
[1:40:44] um in an integrated setting. Based on
the number of students
[1:40:49] who will need spots in that program,
we need three places because you can't
[1:40:55] have more than a 50% ratio. So, there
will be three classes, one full day, two
[1:41:00] half days. The team at the school will
look, along with Kathy, closely at the
[1:41:05] ages of the kids and decide if they are
specifically age-driven or um
[1:41:12] skill-driven or who knows what, but
we'll navigate that.
[1:41:18] Um because there are less spots, it
feels like it, you know, supply and
[1:41:21] demand. It might be a good moment to um
test pilot having a modest tuition.
[1:41:28] Um students who are placed in the
program because their IEP needs a place
[1:41:33] to be um achieved will not pay, and that
is
[1:41:38] similar across districts.
Um because they're there because we
[1:41:43] placed them there in order to meet their
IEP goals.
[1:41:47] Um but for the half of the students or
more than half the students who are
[1:41:51] there
um
[1:41:53] because it's a great preschool
experience, they would be charged
[1:41:56] tuition.
Um
[1:41:58] » So, this is we already have a lottery,
correct?
[1:42:02] » So, we ask people to sign up and request
a spot. And
[1:42:06] » So, this is now shrunk because we're
pulling my attention.
[1:42:10] » less spots to offer.
>> Right.
[1:42:12] » And when we did that, we did not say
we'd be charging tuition. So, what we
[1:42:16] would likely do rather than have people
re-sign up is start with
[1:42:22] um the full-day spots because that's
typically well, I shouldn't say that.
[1:42:26] There's some people who ask for a
half-day spot, but we would start with
[1:42:29] what, you know,
run a lottery, pull the numbers for the
[1:42:32] first,
you know, eight people for the full-day
[1:42:35] section, saving spots for the kids who
are identified, and um
[1:42:40] eight spots in each of the half-day
classes or 10 in each of the half-days.
[1:42:44] Um
and offer them to people and say,
[1:42:47] "You've
you're you got lucky. You've gotten a
[1:42:51] spot in this um but there is a tuition
due. Accept or not accept." And then if
[1:42:55] they don't accept, move on to the next
and
[1:42:58] um
>> Wait, this is a change from the past. We
[1:43:01] haven't
>> charged tuition. We have as far as I
[1:43:05] know, never charged tuition. Um
something I think is wonderful.
[1:43:10] » Yeah, everybody else is doing it,
though.
[1:43:11] » But
>> because
[1:43:14] one of the things that I'm worried about
is when you start charging tuition, you
[1:43:18] start to you know, you're talking about
resource-rich families versus
[1:43:22] resource-not-rich families.
And that perpetuates who gets access to
[1:43:26] a program, and often persons that are
not resource-rich really needs this
[1:43:31] program. That's what I'm worried about.
>> Um so our thoughts were also I would say
[1:43:36] does anybody remember from our
conversation like when Sedaria child
[1:43:39] care costs
$8,000
[1:43:44] for the year?
I a lot more money.
[1:43:48] Um
So compared to
[1:43:52] » And there's
>> child care programs
[1:43:54] » There's sliding scale.
>> That's the other thing. So um
[1:43:59] You're talking with a couple of people
in other districts what I would
[1:44:02] recommend is rather than
if you're doing this with federal funds,
[1:44:08] you have to use the sliding scale which
is just a little bit complicated and it
[1:44:12] puts us in a position of having to
determine who's eligible for what.
[1:44:16] Um in speaking with a business director
from another district, since we don't
[1:44:20] accept federal funds, we could do what
they do which is you say if you're Husky
[1:44:25] part A um
I'm going to say this backwards. I
[1:44:28] forget
which is a higher level of need but if
[1:44:31] you qualify for Husky A then you get
free tuition. If you're Husky B, you get
[1:44:35] half price tuition and if you're
neither, you pay the full boat.
[1:44:39] What's different about that is it puts
the state in the position of figuring
[1:44:42] out who qualifies for the reduced rather
than us and again
[1:44:46] you're looking at our business office,
the entire department sitting there. So
[1:44:50] the thought of also now taking on the
role of determining
[1:44:54] » administrator of that
>> Right, the finances of each family and
[1:44:58] who qualifies for what. So using
something where the state makes those
[1:45:01] decisions keeps us out of conflict with
our families.
[1:45:06] Which I think is important. So if we
adopt a tuition, I would suggest that we
[1:45:11] also adopt
>> that
[1:45:13] » that the Husky determinant for reducing
the tuition. I also So if you think
[1:45:19] about it um
just to pick a number, if we did say
[1:45:23] $2,000 a year
that's roughly $200 a month or $50 a
[1:45:28] week.
>> So, we currently don't
[1:45:31] um
>> We charge zero.
[1:45:32] » And if we do charge, then it's a net
benefit, correct?
[1:45:37] Because we're generating income.
>> We would be generating a benefit to the
[1:45:39] district, not to the family.
>> Well, and but if
[1:45:43] let's say nobody
um signs up because of financial
[1:45:46] constraints, what's the financial
impact?
[1:45:51] » I guess if we couldn't fit Well, so
right now we didn't budget based on this
[1:45:55] income, and I would not recommend that
we suddenly weave it into our financial
[1:46:00] plan cuz we really uh we didn't know
this until today that we're thinking of
[1:46:05] it, right?
Um I see this is sort of a test case,
[1:46:08] and if it generates some income, then we
could look at going forward, we'd be
[1:46:13] able to predict if we're able to fill
sections
[1:46:17] um
with a tuition rate attached to it, and
[1:46:19] then we could build that into defraying
the cost of the preschool teachers.
[1:46:24] » Um so, are we able to like make a motion
at any point or
[1:46:27] » I'd like to suggest [clears throat] that
before you make a motion
[1:46:30] that you discuss A, your appetite to do
it at all, and B, if you're going to do
[1:46:35] it at all, what you feel um a reasonable
rate.
[1:46:39] And again, my thought would be that
we're sort of piloting right now, see
[1:46:42] how it goes. Um you know, it also puts
us in the position of charging money,
[1:46:48] collecting money. Um we do that
currently for the Champs program, and
[1:46:52] that's no little job um at all. So,
there's a lot that goes with it that as
[1:46:58] a very um
thinly resourced district in terms of
[1:47:01] staffing, we want to make sure that we
can handle it appropriately and well,
[1:47:05] and you know, you end up having to
um follow up and pursue families that
[1:47:10] haven't made payments, and that's not a
great dynamic. So, there's a whole bunch
[1:47:14] about it that I think
will require us to make a decision
[1:47:18] tonight, try it out, and then revisit
whether or not it was successful.
[1:47:22] » All right, listen.
>> Nancy, how long have we not charged for
[1:47:26] for preschool?
>> No.
[1:47:28] » As long as
>> 11 years at least, right?
[1:47:30] » Yeah.
>> Um I think that this direction
[1:47:36] is
not acceptable.
[1:47:39] I think that in a in a community such as
ours, we've long held the value of
[1:47:45] ensuring that there's access for every
kid and that finances are absolutely not
[1:47:50] a barrier, nor are finances
it could lead it to it even a chilling
[1:47:55] effect for a family
who who would be worried about even
[1:47:59] applying for it because they are not
sure about next month's bill.
[1:48:03] And I think that this would be and I'm
not sure how much you would actually
[1:48:07] generate in revenue and I don't think we
should be a revenue-based
[1:48:10] decision-making here on this about
whether it's going to help us. I don't
[1:48:12] think it will help us much.
>> We're cutting our budget by a million
[1:48:15] dollars, so
we have to figure something out.
[1:48:18] » But it's peanuts. It's peanuts and when
we're talking about this age group,
[1:48:22] we're talking little ones, babies, who
absolutely need to have the services in
[1:48:29] such a a needy community as ours,
changing a policy that we've had for 11
[1:48:34] years to me is abhorrent.
[1:48:40] I will not support this.
[1:48:44] » Um
do we have
[1:48:47] an estimated number of of students for
pre-K 3 and 4 right now?
[1:48:54] » So we have we will have
16 16 16. We will have 48 seats and we
[1:49:00] have
like people we could put names to for
[1:49:04] special education, if that's what you're
asking, for 16. We anticipate that that
[1:49:08] number
>> asking like do we have an idea of what
[1:49:11] the estimated enrollment would have been
for the upcoming year?
[1:49:16] Cuz we were anticipating four sections.
>> Right. So, we
[1:49:21] » So, there there is an overflow, right?
>> We filled the the full day sections.
[1:49:26] There is no question about it. The full
day section will fill. The unknown for
[1:49:30] me is our half day sections are not at
16. People don't love half day.
[1:49:36] » Right.
>> But, when we eliminate 16 full day
[1:49:40] sections, I think it's more likely that
we will fill the half days because there
[1:49:43] are some people who got full day who
will accept half day now that there are
[1:49:48] less full day spots.
>> So, not only are there fewer spots for
[1:49:53] our community. I mean, have we filled in
these spots in the past?
[1:49:57] » Again, we fill the full day spots
always.
[1:49:59] » 100%
and we've had four sections and we've
[1:50:03] 100% filled them with tuition free kids.
>> No.
[1:50:07] No, we don't fill the half day sections
fully. We fill full day sections. I
[1:50:11] think if we offered four full days, we
would fill those.
[1:50:14] » Okay.
>> But, the half we've done two Recently,
[1:50:17] we have done two full days and two half
days with three teachers.
[1:50:22] And we fill the full days. The half days
get to maybe nine or 10 in a class, not
[1:50:28] the full 16.
>> Okay. So,
[1:50:31] reducing it down to one full day, two
half days most likely will fill.
[1:50:36] I think is what you're saying.
>> I'm speculating because we'll have 16
[1:50:40] less full day spots.
>> What's the percentage of students in
[1:50:44] like that
So, there's 16 in the full day class.
[1:50:47] Our eight would be tuition free because
they're special ed.
[1:50:51] Place students.
>> wouldn't place more than eight
[1:50:54] identified students, right?
>> Okay. So, then we're looking at eight
[1:50:59] eligible tuition students.
>> 48
[1:51:03] seats.
>> So, then you'd be half.
[1:51:06] » We would fill theoretically if we have
enough kiddos, we would fill at At 24 of
[1:51:11] them with tuition paying students.
>> And then we have the Husky A and the
[1:51:14] Husky B. So, some of those might not be
eligible.
[1:51:17] » For the state takeover?
>> They would
[1:51:20] If they are offered a spot and accept
it, and then they are reduced tuition,
[1:51:25] they
>> I'm just saying $24,000 isn't going to
[1:51:28] put it down in the million and a half,
but it's going
[1:51:32] » No, 16 is the absolutely most. In a
perfect world, I would cap it at 14, but
[1:51:38] The other thing I'll Something you said
reminded me. There's something else the
[1:51:41] state offers called Care for Kids, which
we're in the process of enrolling for.
[1:51:46] What Care for Kids is is families
directly contact with the state, and if
[1:51:51] their finances make them eligible, the
state says, "I've got you. You pay this
[1:51:57] piece, and we'll pay the rest of it."
And so, we get the full tuition, but the
[1:52:00] state makes up the difference that they
feel the parents can't.
[1:52:03] » And we don't have to do the
administrative side of that. That's all
[1:52:06] on
>> We just have to do the setup, and I
[1:52:08] imagine we probably have some billing
work with that with the state as well,
[1:52:12] but but the state pays part of the
family's tuition in that case.
[1:52:17] » So, if you did, all right, 16 kids
half day at $2,000 a kid, it would be
[1:52:22] $32,000.
If you did the eight full day, I'm just
[1:52:27] running
>> Yeah, we want to do a 2,000 for half
[1:52:29] day, right?
>> It'd be 1,000 for the half day.
[1:52:32] » for half day. How much? 1,000 for half
day.
[1:52:34] » Okay, so then cut that in half. Cuz I
would if you go up with the 2,000, which
[1:52:37] is basically here, and then if you go up
with the 5,000 for the full day, that's
[1:52:41] another 40,000. So, if you did 2,000 and
5,000
[1:52:45] for eight kids and 16 kids, it comes to
$72,000.
[1:52:49] » We want to do 5,000 for full
>> just saying that would replace one of
[1:52:53] the positions we're eliminating.
>> Yeah, we would be We'd do 2,000 for full
[1:52:56] day, 1,000 for half day.
>> But
[1:52:58] I would cover
with my
[1:53:01] » It could a paraprofessional.
>> a good position we're eliminating cuz we
[1:53:05] don't have to fund
>> Two players.
[1:53:07] » And and again,
we I mean, I feel like I know I mean,
[1:53:11] nobody Everybody else charges. Like, why
are we not charging?
[1:53:14] » So, I didn't have I didn't have a pot to
piss in when my kids were babies, and my
[1:53:18] kids still went to nursing school. I
paid for it out of my pocket, actually.
[1:53:21] » So,
>> And I didn't have a pot to piss in. I
[1:53:24] spent $20 a week on groceries, okay?
>> So, Nora, I have a question for you, cuz
[1:53:28] you brought issue with it. What Why
would you if they could be funded from
[1:53:34] the state, why would you then have an
issue?
[1:53:37] Because it would be funded from the
>> state, it's a different story, cuz
[1:53:41] that's how sometimes we've we've paid
for this in some other ways. And Care
[1:53:45] for Kids is totally different story. But
I'm talking about out of the parents'
[1:53:49] pocket.
>> I agree with you.
[1:53:50] » You're going to find parents saying,
"Sorry, I'm not even going to apply."
[1:53:54] And so then you don't know how much
their Husky would be. And And will they
[1:53:57] know that they can kind of get a reduced
cost for Husky? Great. Fine, it might
[1:54:02] reduce some cost, but the point is
you're sending a message that is not
[1:54:05] going to be clear to parents, and they
don't know where they're going to see it
[1:54:09] stand in the summer fiscally.
And how it's going to roll out for
[1:54:14] budgetary purposes, you're going to
dissuade people.
[1:54:19] And in this community, remember, we're
an alliance district for a reason, or
[1:54:22] we've been and we still are. Um we're
absolutely We've been talking about the
[1:54:27] needs for a budget and passing our
budget and needy families and fixed
[1:54:30] incomes.
Um this is the most vulnerable group of
[1:54:34] people
that we need to invest in the most.
[1:54:38] And as I said, we've done it for 11
years.
[1:54:42] And so we can raise $70,000,
but I think the cost in the long term
[1:54:48] and tier two and tier three needs are
are going to be in the long term more
[1:54:53] costly.
>> So, Nora, to your point, um
[1:54:57] just the public perception, I'm saying a
lot of parents are saying they need to
[1:55:00] raise the school budget, correct? You
know, for all this stuff. So, I would
[1:55:04] say, you know, parents, if they're
willing to raise the budget unilaterally
[1:55:08] for, you know, every
you know, town member that, you know,
[1:55:13] they'd be more than willing to pay for
their child's,
[1:55:16] you know, preschool.
>> If they can.
[1:55:19] » So, but you're saying with that,
you know, if they can't afford preschool
[1:55:23] now, how would they afford the proposed
increase in
[1:55:28] their taxes?
>> Well, they're going to be paying the
[1:55:29] increase in the taxes, and then if they
want their kids to go to this, they're
[1:55:32] also paying on top of that. And so,
that's a double burden on a family that
[1:55:37] is trying to feed their kids
in a household that I think that would
[1:55:43] going to get lost is the message is
that's going to cost family monies. And
[1:55:48] I think that's going to have a chilling
effect on families.
[1:55:51] And for 11 years, we've been managing
this.
[1:55:54] » So, before we get lost in the weeds on
that, I think one of the things is, just
[1:55:58] like we would advocate for a budget, we
should then advocate for the proper
[1:56:04] information to the families to know that
those that are not in a financial
[1:56:08] position where they can, and those that
are in a financial position where they
[1:56:12] right? Where they can't afford, have
options, and those who can
[1:56:18] do have options as well, and they would
pay a tuition. So, you're you're going
[1:56:23] to advocate for and provide information
for. So, from my standpoint, as long as
[1:56:30] there is the proper information
disseminated to the parents to be able
[1:56:34] to have the option,
uh if they cannot afford, that they do
[1:56:38] have an option to have their children in
that program just the same.
[1:56:42] » Yeah, I like your I like your if they're
on Husky A and Husky B.
[1:56:46] I like that, cuz one is family, one is
one is complete family, one is just the
[1:56:50] kids, right?
Um I don't know I think Husky has you
[1:56:54] would make it a funny, so you are on it,
like on it.
[1:56:57] And the other one is you make enough
money, but your kids can be on it.
[1:57:01] Right?
>> Right. So, that sets your two levels.
[1:57:03] » So, it's A and B, whichever which is
which.
[1:57:06] So, there is a level there. I like that
with you. What you're saying is like
[1:57:10] okay, if you have Husky A and your Husky
B, you know, please contact us for it's
[1:57:14] going to be reduced or
whatever we decide.
[1:57:18] » If we look at the math of it though,
like so if we're charging $2,000
[1:57:23] for the full day, that's eight kids.
That's $16,000.
[1:57:28] And then we're charging $1,000
$1,000
[1:57:32] for eight kids twice for the two half
days, we're looking at $32,000.
[1:57:37] Assuming all of none of those students
qualify
[1:57:42] for any of the Husky programs. Like why
are we going to put the families through
[1:57:46] that additional stress
for $32,000? Like we're here to support
[1:57:54] the members of our community, in
particular the students of our
[1:57:57] community. Adding an additional burden
for at the most $32,000
[1:58:03] seems
I could see if it was going to be 80,
[1:58:07] 90,000 dollars, we'd think about it.
$32,000 doesn't seem like it's worth it.
[1:58:13] And all it a little bit seemed the
parents of this community have been
[1:58:17] slapped in the
slapped in the face through this entire
[1:58:20] budget process.
So, have the
[1:58:24] the members the staff members of all of
our schools.
[1:58:27] The board of of selectmen selectmen
referred to all of our our schools as
[1:58:32] failing.
Um which is incredibly disrespectful to
[1:58:36] our superintendent who has been
disrespected continually for the last
[1:58:42] two months, and that was a disrespectful
statement that was made towards every
[1:58:47] staff member in our schools.
Um our schools are not failing.
[1:58:53] The staff in our schools are not
failures. They're actually being failed.
[1:58:58] They are not failing, they are being
failed.
[1:59:01] The
parents of our community were also
[1:59:03] incredibly disrespected during that May
20th meeting when they were all their
[1:59:08] concerns were completely ignored. To
slap the community in the face again for
[1:59:13] maybe $32,000
is something I will not support.
[1:59:17] » I I agree with what you're saying, but I
also it's about it's about putting money
[1:59:22] back in the budget. And that's what this
whole craziness for the last 2 months
[1:59:26] » But $32,000, $1.5 million.
>> here and $20,000 there and $30,000
[1:59:31] there.
>> It adds up over time.
[1:59:32] » And and making income on I'm not dissing
you, Manzi. On our 440, I mean, there
[1:59:37] all these little things add up and
you're fighting over money all the time.
[1:59:42] Like, I literally just went this for 2
months of my life. And like, we're
[1:59:46] looking at an option where every other
town is doing it. It's not It's not just
[1:59:50] us coming up with this idea.
>> They're larger I'm assuming they're
[1:59:54] making more than $32,000, potentially
$32,000.
[1:59:59] » Well, I mean
>> That's per student. It's not telling us
[2:00:01] how many students are paying those
tuition.
[2:00:02] » You're talking me
These are two These are apples and
[2:00:07] oranges. Region 10 is a different DRG.
Region 20 is a different DRG. Region 1
[2:00:13] is a different DRG. New Hartford's a
different DRG. The one that I see that's
[2:00:17] comparable is Torrington.
>> to agree with you. I think we should
[2:00:20] have,
you know, prices comparable to
[2:00:22] Torrington. I mean, I always thinking,
you know, if we you know, maybe undercut
[2:00:26] Torrington a little bit because I don't
know what can we do with the money? Do
[2:00:29] we have to uh
appropriate that money towards something
[2:00:32] or can that go into a non-lapsing fund
or our 440 fund?
[2:00:36] » Uh, the income would be revenue, you
know, when we do our um
[2:00:42] budget book, there's a page there with
um uh,
[2:00:45] not revenue, resources. And amongst the
resources is revenue.
[2:00:50] So, for example, the Champs program
brings in money, and that money is used
[2:00:54] to pay for the Champs program, but
revenue [snorts] from the preschool
[2:00:58] arguably could be used to defray the
cost of preschool, but it's
[2:01:02] un- un- um,
unassigned money, if you will.
[2:01:07] » So, theoretically, we could put this
into the non-lapsing fund or the 440
[2:01:10] fund to to grow that. So,
we could even do, you know, maybe
[2:01:15] $600 for a half-day rate and $1,200 for
a the for a full-day rate, and just
[2:01:20] stock that money away
for, you know, issues that arise. We
[2:01:24] don't have to appropriate this money for
the special education, or not special
[2:01:28] education, sorry, the uh,
preschool, because we we haven't been
[2:01:32] paying, you know, tuition now, so for
the future,
[2:01:37] you know, we can just assume that
they're zero and stockpile that money
[2:01:40] away for a rainy day fund that actually
generate income.
[2:01:47] » And how would the billing go to the
families? Would it be monthly, weekly?
[2:01:51] » Probably monthly, just based on our
research with surrounding communities,
[2:01:55] they seem to do it monthly.
Some places do like by the semester, but
[2:01:59] I don't know that that's realistic for
people.
[2:02:01] » That Yeah, cuz it's there's big
difference between them having to pay
[2:02:05] the bill every month and them having to
pay
[2:02:08] and one large bill at the beginning.
>> Another caveat to this is, so like our
[2:02:12] preschool program, correct? Um, it's not
just for Windsor, we can open it up to
[2:02:17] other towns, correct?
>> So, we
[2:02:21] the board would need to adopt a policy
about out-of-town students, but with
[2:02:26] just two teachers, we will not be in a
position to do that, but if we, you
[2:02:31] know, we are working really hard on our
Naya accreditation and growing the
[2:02:34] program,
we have the physical space to have four
[2:02:39] preschool rooms. So, if we add sections
because we think there's demand, we can
[2:02:46] take out-of-town students after we've
accepted all of our own students.
[2:02:50] » Okay.
So, then
[2:02:51] » And we could charge an in-town rate and
an out-of-town rate, or we could charge
[2:02:54] the same rate.
>> Cuz my my feeling is, you know,
[2:02:57] Torrington would be our closest ally cuz
they're the closest. If we, you know,
[2:03:01] have our tuition rates lower than that,
that could potentially draw students
[2:03:04] from Torrington to us too, you know.
>> Families do the transportation, is that
[2:03:08] right?
>> Out-of-town families would absolutely.
[2:03:11] [clears throat]
In-town actually transport our kiddos on
[2:03:14] the same buses with our big kids.
>> Where does [clears throat] the slap in
[2:03:17] the face come from in the fact that it
would still be provided for those
[2:03:21] families [clears throat] that do not
have the financial means, and those that
[2:03:25] do could so that we could offset some of
these costs, and when you look at it and
[2:03:31] we
go back and forth and have long
[2:03:35] drawn-out meetings that go nowhere and
we're talking about budget cuts, which
[2:03:38] are very unfortunate, and we have a way
to offset or defray those
[2:03:43] budget cuts, we shouldn't be turning uh
our face to that and say, "How
[2:03:48] disrespectful." Even if we've done that,
we do not not ever want to go back, nor
[2:03:53] are you You mentioned this in the
special meeting, I believe. You said we
[2:03:56] had $18 in the account. Just because we
had it at one time means we never want
[2:04:00] to go back there. Let's not revisit the
past. Let's look to the future. How do
[2:04:04] we
not go back? I think this is great to
[2:04:07] think of, and it's not perfect, right?
It's There's going to be some people
[2:04:11] that are disgruntled, but we have to
look at all options.
[2:04:14] Um I think keeping
those in district, like was mentioned
[2:04:18] before, uh thank you, Kathy. I think
that that's another great thing, not
[2:04:23] just cost-wise, but just looking to keep
it in our district as much as possible,
[2:04:27] and how could we get back to having a
third uh
[2:04:33] uh teacher for, right? So, we we let go
of one of our pre-K teachers, Did we not
[2:04:38] do this?
>> We lost a staff.
[2:04:39] » So, if we do this, could we not at some
point bring back that teacher and now
[2:04:44] have more to offer? So, I think looking
at it from the standpoint of it's a slap
[2:04:48] in the face, I think is the wrong way to
look at it. I think it's trying to look
[2:04:52] and say, "Okay,
what we've done maybe has worked
[2:04:56] somewhat, but there might be a better
way."
[2:04:59] » So, 30,000 could be a paraprofessional.
It could be field trip experiences. It
[2:05:04] could be things that
we
[2:05:08] look to
eliminate
[2:05:12] when we come into budget season. So, it
could be something that could provide
[2:05:17] for
the entire student population to
[2:05:20] benefit.
Um we have very little opportunities to
[2:05:24] create revenue as a public school
um other than grants.
[2:05:29] Um and we all know
grants dry up, grants go away.
[2:05:35] Um
and
[2:05:38] as we saw this year, our district is not
the only district that's hurting.
[2:05:44] All districts in this state are hurting.
All districts are trying to find ways to
[2:05:49] um cut, ways to you know, maximize our
costs.
[2:05:55] And
I don't see that going away.
[2:05:59] So, we need to be creative. We need to
think outside the box. That's what we
[2:06:05] tasked
Julie to do.
[2:06:09] We need to start thinking outside the
box and
[2:06:12] this isn't out of the box.
Just because we haven't done it, doesn't
[2:06:16] mean that we shouldn't consider it.
>> I do appreciate the creativity and that
[2:06:21] was one of the charges is to try to
figure out some creative ways. Um but I
[2:06:24] think this is the most vulnerable part
of that. And I think that we're going to
[2:06:27] lose some kids in the process and our
families because it it it yeah, it's
[2:06:32] going to be you know, we got care for
kids, some families will qualify. We've
[2:06:35] got Husky A and B, some parents will
qualify. It's the marginal family that
[2:06:39] qualifies for neither one that I'm
afraid we will lose
[2:06:43] because all of our kids, you know, need
need help and support and this I'm
[2:06:47] afraid we'll lose that the third tier of
parent.
[2:06:52] And
um
[2:06:53] » So then why don't we
>> Yes, you can communicate and tell the
[2:06:56] parents if you qualify, but it's going
to it's
[2:06:59] kind of reminiscent of how some families
don't get financial aid, would love to
[2:07:03] have, but they're caught in that
financial zone in terms of income and
[2:07:07] they don't get any financial aid, but
they want to send their kid on to
[2:07:10] college. This is kind of I'm worried
about that kind of family who
[2:07:14] just needs to hit the groceries. And so
yeah, they don't qualify for Husky, they
[2:07:18] don't qualify for the care for kids and
would love to send my kid, but now I
[2:07:23] nope.
>> So then we eat it, we just accept them
[2:07:25] and don't charge them.
>> the long-term cuz I'm thinking penny
[2:07:28] wise, pound fuel foolish. Long-term
consequence of this
[2:07:32] if you if you talk about what cover, I
mean this is not about COVID, but
[2:07:36] when you're talking about learning at
this vulnerable age, the growth is
[2:07:40] tremendous and if they're not up with
their age level peers in each of the
[2:07:45] grades and matriculating in each of
those on level,
[2:07:49] it's going to show up in secondary
schools, middle school and that is one
[2:07:55] of the things that has helped this
community with about average or above
[2:08:00] average on our standardized tests year
in, year out is the investment in
[2:08:05] preschool.
>> But if we don't do this, who knows next
[2:08:07] year we could lose that preschool
teacher and then have nothing.
[2:08:10] » But I'd rather put maybe three more kids
in a teacher's room than to dissuade a
[2:08:15] family that absolutely needs to get kids
in those programs.
[2:08:19] » Three kids versus maybe 16 losing out on
the opportunity.
[2:08:22] » I would talk to the experts. I mean when
you talk about investment in education,
[2:08:26] the most vulnerable is in the elementary
levels.
[2:08:29] » Exactly. And we're giving we're
providing support financially for the
[2:08:33] people that can't pay.
>> If they qualify, but we like for as I
[2:08:36] said, 11 years this has been free for
everyone.
[2:08:40] » And we also cut a million dollars in our
budget.
[2:08:43] I don't I mean I'm just this is a way to
fix a potential problem long term.
[2:08:47] » I would rather find some other creative
way to find savings in sixth grade.
[2:08:51] » Hold on.
Am I
[2:08:53] wrong that we had the option
of going through our programs, I think
[2:09:00] they were called the owl or whatever.
>> Little owls.
[2:09:04] » Little owls or doing at advance and at
advance charged on a sliding scale. Am I
[2:09:10] right in that in that still was
within our building when at advance ran
[2:09:15] a preschool.
>> At advance has two preschool classrooms
[2:09:19] that are housed at Pearson.
>> And those are the front doors and one in
[2:09:23] the locker room. Those are paid.
>> One is head start, they accept a sliding
[2:09:27] scale and the other is
>> That's what we did.
[2:09:31] » Something. And they also are
>> We we chose
[2:09:35] early start.
>> Which were supported by
[2:09:40] Parents didn't have to pay.
>> No, they did.
[2:09:43] » Early start.
>> Sliding scale.
[2:09:45] » For a Husky B, a family of four, if you
make under $121,000
[2:09:51] a year, you qualify for Husky B for a
family of four, $121,000.
[2:09:58] So, most of the kids are going to
qualify.
[2:10:00] » $121,000?
>> Yeah, for a family of four, you qualify.
[2:10:04] That's the limit.
>> I see. That's it.
[2:10:06] » That's the That's what I'm saying.
>> And Husky A So, that's your
[2:10:11] » Husky A is a lot less. This is Husky B.
Husky B is just for the children. Husky
[2:10:15] A is for the entire
>> So, I'm saying the town has have
[2:10:19] programs like this that they've chosen
outside of the school program. So,
[2:10:25] families have had this choice.
And
[2:10:30] it's not like it's it
there is a concept to it already in this
[2:10:34] town.
[2:10:37] » Can I say something?
>> No.
[2:10:40] » [laughter]
>> Yeah, go for it.
[2:10:43] » Um
I think preschool, if you're just paying
[2:10:47] out of pocket, um is
you know, usually pretty expensive. I
[2:10:52] remember paying $1,000 a month and
making it work.
[2:10:57] Um
I think making sure that we're I think
[2:11:03] if we follow the MassHealth, so if we
follow HUSKY A, HUSKY B,
[2:11:08] um those recommendations, I think we
will
[2:11:12] catch a lot of the most vulnerable,
um members of
[2:11:20] you
know, that age group in our town.
[2:11:23] I think keeping the cost still low,
[2:11:29] I think
you know, also maybe even for the people
[2:11:33] that are not on HUSKY A, HUSKY B,
making it so that they can apply for
[2:11:39] financial aid or hardship or have some
sort of program for them, too.
[2:11:45] And
I mean, I I think that would
[2:11:49] I think probably the majority of our
kids are going to be on HUSKY A and
[2:11:53] HUSKY B, honestly.
And for the rest of them, I think
[2:11:59] keeping the cost low
is a wise choice.
[2:12:04] Um of course, we want to give all all
the young ones
[2:12:09] a chance at preschool because really it
sets such a foundation for them. You
[2:12:14] know, we've talked about
all of the the price that we pay further
[2:12:18] down the line. Um
Special education and IEPs and
[2:12:22] everything. If we can help make that
foundation for them at a reasonable
[2:12:28] cost,
I think that will greatly help us in the
[2:12:32] long run.
So, I I
[2:12:35] I don't think charging is a bad idea,
but I do think we need to be careful
[2:12:41] about the amount and provide
like a financial hardship kind of option
[2:12:47] for the people that are not caught in
um eligible for Husky A O B.
[2:12:53] The extra expenses.
[2:12:56] » Okay, so
if if we were to do this,
[2:13:01] let's let's discuss
a a reasonable rate. You you see the
[2:13:06] numbers there.
Um
[2:13:09] Torrington is at 1,600 for a year.
>> I think we would match Torrington and do
[2:13:14] half year.
We do N and do 800
[2:13:17] » I would say 1,200.
>> No, I would stick with stick with
[2:13:20] Torrington.
I mean, Torrington's not
[2:13:24] any better
>> any better
[2:13:25] » Right. They're as equal as we and their
taxes are super
[2:13:28] » So, let me let me ask you a question. Do
we know how many are enrolled in a class
[2:13:34] for Torrington? Like how many kids are
in a class?
[2:13:37] » I don't know, but I would speculate that
it's got to be give or take 16. Most
[2:13:41] districts cap either at 14 or 16. You
get to 16, people start looking at you
[2:13:46] sideways. It's a lot of 3-year-olds in
one place.
[2:13:49] » For sure. Well, I was just I I guess
mostly I was just wondering the amount
[2:13:53] of kids because I think the original
proposed cost like so if you're saying
[2:13:57] 2,000, 1,000, though it would be more
than Torrington, I know in
[2:14:02] I would assume in Torrington some of
their class sizes can be quite large.
[2:14:08] I don't know if they're more or less,
but
[2:14:10] No, you're shaking your head no.
>> I have no idea.
[2:14:13] We don't know that data.
>> So I'd be interested
[2:14:16] » than we do because they're just a bigger
community than we are.
[2:14:19] » Sure, and they have far more people,
right? Like it's five or six times.
[2:14:24] Yeah, much bigger.
>> The classes still could be 16, but we
[2:14:27] don't know.
>> Yeah.
[2:14:29] Um
Do we have to Can we like workshop this
[2:14:33] a little bit more and or now we have to
do it now because
[2:14:36] » We really need to tell families they're
in or not in
[2:14:40] » Got it.
>> because they need to make their Right
[2:14:41] now we're late in terms of like if
they're not getting a spot with us,
[2:14:46] » Sure.
>> they're behind the eight ball getting a
[2:14:47] spot somewhere else if they need child
care.
[2:14:50] » Yeah.
Got it.
[2:14:51] » So should we vote on it and then also
what if
[2:14:54] what would we charge? Cuz you're we
could do 2,000 1,000
[2:14:58] do 16 and eight.
>> I think we match Torrington's, you know,
[2:15:03] comparable.
>> I think Torrington's would be good.
[2:15:06] Okay, so they're 16 so and they don't
have a half day. So just half day now.
[2:15:11] So 16 and eight.
Right?
[2:15:13] » Torrington's mill rate is much higher
than ours. Also to take into account
[2:15:17] their tax their tax their tax base is a
lot more. So more people but
[2:15:22] » I mean negligible. I mean mill rate's a
variable that's [snorts]
[2:15:24] » So
okay,
[2:15:25] » Okay, but they pay more in taxes
>> in taxes plus they're paying
[2:15:28] » So so my point being
if those that are able
[2:15:34] and willing and if you if you uh
if you are in the
[2:15:40] uh
Husky A Husky B and you apply for that
[2:15:43] and you can get that, you're going to
have that financial aid.
[2:15:47] For those that are
able and willing, I mean
[2:15:52] again,
so what would that be over a monthly
[2:15:55] rate? Cuz I was looking at the
>> So you were saying 2,000 would be about
[2:15:58] $50 a month if you did the yearly.
>> Not quite.
[2:16:02] » 2,000 is $200 a month is $50 a week is
$10 a day.
[2:16:08] It's $10 a day.
>> Which is
[2:16:10] inexpensive for what that is. Now we
want preschool costs.
[2:16:15] And that's a that's a full day rate. I
know that for a two-day half-day rate,
[2:16:20] it
it's a lot more than
[2:16:23] » I would say what are you paying right
now?
[2:16:25] » So
>> It's got to be a ton.
[2:16:27] » So point being, those that
[clears throat] do not have the means to
[2:16:30] do so will have an opportunity. And
again, I appreciate the
[2:16:35] out of the box thinking.
And because again, those that do it
[2:16:41] because again, while we haven't done it
for 11 years, clearly
[2:16:45] what we have been doing from a financial
basis is not working. And
[2:16:51] the only thing that I would love to hear
is the parents have been very vocal. And
[2:16:56] I think that's a good thing because
you're invested in your children's
[2:17:00] education. And I would love to hear what
like
[2:17:06] what they would have to say. I know
we're out of time. I wish we had more
[2:17:09] time for this, but
personally, so if I was I would say
[2:17:12] 2,000 1,000 because I think that's still
a fantastic deal. It would be a big
[2:17:16] jump, but I would only vote yes on that
based upon the idea that we have
[2:17:24] we're really sure about the financial
aid for those that do not have the
[2:17:27] means. And that it is easy enough and
the information so that they're not
[2:17:32] dissuaded in any way. Because I do agree
with you, Nora.
[2:17:35] Uh this is a extremely important
developmental age and you're either
[2:17:40] setting yourself back
or you're jumping forward based upon how
[2:17:45] these ages are. So I agree, it's very
important.
[2:17:50] But also, we've heard a distinct amount
of parents come out and say
[2:17:54] I will pay for my kids' education like
in a tax increase. And that lack of a
[2:18:01] better term
[2:18:05] the those that are financially able can
put their money where their mouth is in
[2:18:09] this particular case and I would do so
as a parent in the town and I would I
[2:18:14] would back that because
even if it off offset one teacher's
[2:18:18] salary we're looking at advancement not
regression.
[2:18:23] » Care for kids would pay, right?
Care for kids has their own like sliding
[2:18:28] scale and they make up the difference.
So we would that would come into a
[2:18:31] pocket here. Right. And then Husky A B
would just be a reduced rate.
[2:18:34] » Correct.
>> So this community would still have to
[2:18:36] our taxes still have to pay for that one
student.
[2:18:38] » So Husky B is 121,000 and change for a
family of four.
[2:18:42] That's Husky B. Husky A is 44,000 for a
family of four.
[2:18:46] » So
>> So if they're not So if you're applying
[2:18:48] for for A I mean not your willing
poverty rate if you're getting Husky.
[2:18:52] » So Husky A would be a reduced rate.
Let's just say
[2:18:55] » No,
Husky A is free.
[2:18:58] » Free.
>> And then Husky B is
[2:19:00] » would have a reduced
So free does Husky A free does that
[2:19:06] revenue come from to us in any
>> Nope.
[2:19:08] » So we have to we have to comp that.
>> We need to comp that. I need to learn a
[2:19:13] little bit more about Care for Kids to
see if Care for Kids would kick in at
[2:19:17] all with that. I don't know.
>> If it's Husky B we're comping that.
[2:19:21] » Again, I don't know if we can get
families to apply for Care for Kids to
[2:19:26] make up any of the difference. Care for
Kids is a new concept for us. We're not
[2:19:29] up with them yet.
>> So we don't know what the reimbursement
[2:19:32] rate would be.
>> Assume that we're getting nothing for
[2:19:35] Husky A and Husky B we're getting half
price. And if we can recoup some of that
[2:19:40] through Care for Kids good on us.
>> So if we can recoup for Care for Kids as
[2:19:44] much as possible, we're still going to
have to comp Husky whatever that's going
[2:19:47] to be and then we're going to have
parents
[2:19:50] paying for
the those that don't qualify. Like in
[2:19:55] bucket three.
>> Yeah.
[2:19:57] » So the the savings of this program for
this community for the board of that is
[2:20:01] what do we say? $32,000?
Because we're going to have to pay the
[2:20:07] other half of whatever Husky doesn't
pay.
[2:20:10] We don't know what Care for Kids pays,
but we still have to pay for the other
[2:20:13] half to run the program. We have to pay
for the program.
[2:20:15] So, in the end, I really don't think the
cost is a mean it's not you know it's
[2:20:20] not amazing. And I think what's going to
happen is as I said, we're going to
[2:20:25] dissuade even it's $10 a day, but
there's some families that can't even do
[2:20:29] that.
>> The one thing I do is I I appreciate
[2:20:33] these discussions because there's
something Kurt said that actually really
[2:20:37] stuck out to me
is it's not going to bring us really
[2:20:42] back another staff member, but it can
bring back some experience for our
[2:20:46] students, which is not something I had
pre- previously thought about.
[2:20:51] Um so, even bringing something like that
back for our students could be valuable.
[2:20:58] And
>> Any money back in the budget.
[2:20:59] » And currently you
>> And you're also cutting I mean right now
[2:21:02] first of all, the money's already
allocated. We already have it in our
[2:21:04] budget. So, anything we make on top of
that is gravy, right? Okay. And we just
[2:21:10] cut a pre- a preschool class. So, all
those kids that were where are they
[2:21:14] going to go? I mean, you know, we got to
start thinking out I mean, you're
[2:21:18] worried about all the the little ones,
but you we just cut a pre-K class.
[2:21:22] » Listen, the the parents the kids are
going somewhere.
[2:21:25] » Right, they're going somewhere.
>> to be going somewhere.
[2:21:28] Um and it's whether it's at a reduced
rate with us
[2:21:33] or
they're they're going to have to find
[2:21:36] other especially if it's it's for child
care.
[2:21:39] Um let's let's
not all of it is academic for some of
[2:21:43] these parents. Some of these parents
they it's there for child care.
[2:21:48] Um and
it it's free child care now, but I mean
[2:21:53] it it's
it is what it is and they're going to
[2:21:56] have to find child care somewhere.
>> And we're currently paying for the full
[2:21:59] bill. Why not help reduce that cost a
little bit?
[2:22:02] » It's just going to defray. I mean it's
minuscule. I'm not saying it's going to
[2:22:06] it's minuscule, but again it could it
can create something good out of it.
[2:22:11] » also arguably make it easier to add the
teacher back next year if we know that
[2:22:16] we have
the cost of the para and only have to do
[2:22:20] the teacher or
>> Right.
[2:22:21] » I would have loved the idea of shifting
some of the burden onto the parents for
[2:22:27] our budget.
Um I understand
[2:22:31] and my heart breaks for those parents
who are going to be really, really hurt
[2:22:34] by this and their kids who are this is
going to
[2:22:37] they're going to struggle with this
because one of the I do before I moved
[2:22:42] to Winsted, one of the things was
free pre-K.
[2:22:45] » Yeah.
>> So it is something that parents in
[2:22:49] surrounding areas know about. Um taking
that away I don't think is awesome. I
[2:22:53] understand
other districts are doing it. Um I do
[2:22:57] see that it's it is less expensive than
other pre-K programs.
[2:23:02] Um again, I don't love it, but Kurt
something Kurt said really did stick out
[2:23:07] to me where we could give back some of
the things that our students lost in
[2:23:11] this catastrophic
cut in the last month and a half.
[2:23:16] » I would want to know what parents are
thinking. I'd want to know whether or
[2:23:20] not this affects the number of persons
enrolled and applying for it. I'd want
[2:23:24] to know what the numbers would be in the
last say, you know, 11 years and whether
[2:23:29] or not this makes it change.
The impact. I'd want to try to measure
[2:23:33] the impact
>> [snorts]
[2:23:35] » in some way.
Um I'm not in favor of it and so we
[2:23:38] could just move ahead on a vote because
um I think it's unfortunate that we're
[2:23:42] looking to the most vulnerable
population for moneys and savings when
[2:23:46] we should look to and we have been, the
state of Connecticut doing more with
[2:23:50] their ECS money.
Um other ways to just look at costs, uh
[2:23:54] charging for other things, uh maybe
after school programs as opposed to
[2:23:58] looking at the most vulnerable group of
kids.
[2:24:02] As a profit way or way to save money.
>> Well, we we have to take initiative.
[2:24:06] We have to take initiative as a district
and not rely on the state because
[2:24:11] the state's not reliable.
>> And you're talking you're talking 24
[2:24:14] kids, and half of those are are special,
right?
[2:24:20] » We're uh
we're looking at for the coming year 48
[2:24:23] seats, of which
>> 24, well.
[2:24:26] » Well, we probably wouldn't need to hold
all 24. We [snorts] probably would hold
[2:24:30] maybe 20 spots so we could theoretically
charge for 28 spots.
[2:24:35] » 28 spots. So, we're we're talking 28
kids. And don't forget, we just nixed
[2:24:39] made
a classroom of What's the average
[2:24:42] classroom for the pre-K?
>> 16.
[2:24:44] » 16.
>> You just nixed nixed made 16 kids that
[2:24:46] got cut from other stuff.
>> So.
[2:24:48] » So, it's not like we're
>> So, I'm going to move I'm going to move
[2:24:51] this I'm going to move this to a vote
I'm going to first move this to a vote
[2:24:56] on whether to proceed with it, and then
we can vote on how we want to set the
[2:25:01] tuition if if we approve
it.
[2:25:05] » I'll make a motion.
>> Go hold on. Go ahead. You I'll give you
[2:25:08] one more.
>> Just to the point that
[2:25:13] we cut the class, if this gives us any
opportunity of bringing it back, you
[2:25:18] talk about the most vulnerable, is that
not an opportunity to then work towards
[2:25:24] better, right, and bring back students?
Possibly?
[2:25:29] » Bringing them back to what? Like grade
three because you're hiring another para
[2:25:33] or
>> No, eventually getting that teacher that
[2:25:37] we lost
>> back.
[2:25:38] » Yes, 16 that we lost. So,
>> Due to the budget.
[2:25:43] » Okay. Anyways, so
>> All right. So, I'm going to move this to
[2:25:47] vote
on whether to adopt a pre-script pre-K
[2:25:52] school tuition rate.
Um
[2:25:55] Would anyone like to make a motion?
>> So moved.
[2:25:58] » Joseph?
>> So, Joseph is making a motion to adopt a
[2:26:02] tuition for preschool.
>> A tuition for preschool.
[2:26:05] » Second.
>> Anyone?
[2:26:06] Uh Shane second. All in favor?
[2:26:11] » I'm in favor.
>> Okay.
[2:26:13] Opposed?
Okay.
[2:26:16] All right. Uh being that that has been
approved, we now will s-
[2:26:21] We'd like to I Would anyone like to
So,
[2:26:26] I think we're settling on 1,600.
>> And half And half of that for
[2:26:30] » And 800 for half day.
>> Yeah, that sounds fair.
[2:26:33] » Up.
>> And then Husky A would get free
[2:26:37] » We I mean, that's not that's Yeah,
that's That's that's not that's not us.
[2:26:42] So, 1,600
>> But wouldn't that wouldn't be set
[2:26:45] » We're just setting We're just setting
>> Probably more operational, but I'm
[2:26:50] telling you that we would use Husky
>> Instead of No, not the sliding scale.
[2:26:54] The Husky
>> I know on the A and B.
[2:26:55] » Yes. Yes.
>> But we're not That's not our decision
[2:26:58] » And she'll also research the
>> Care for kids. We're already underway of
[2:27:02] figuring that out.
>> We're just We're setting what the cost
[2:27:04] » The tuition rate for the people that
will be paying.
[2:27:07] » Okay.
>> Um so, 1,600
[2:27:10] for
uh for full day and 800 for half day.
[2:27:15] Okay. Would anyone like to make a motion
to set a rate of 1,600 for full day,
[2:27:21] 800 for half day?
>> Motion to set the rate at 1,600, 800 for
[2:27:24] half day.
>> Jonathan?
[2:27:25] » I'll second.
>> Joseph second. All in favor?
[2:27:30] » I'm in favor.
>> Okay. All
[2:27:33] opposed?
Okay.
[2:27:35] So moved.
Okay.
[2:27:41] All right, on to item E of action items.
Superintendent evaluation. This will
[2:27:48] require executive session.
>> Yes, we'll require someone to make a
[2:27:51] motion to go.
>> So, would anyone like to make a motion
[2:27:54] to go to executive session?
>> a motion to go into executive session
[2:27:58] inviting Superintendent Judy Luby
at 9:28 p.m.
[2:28:04] » Would anyone like to second?
>> Second.
[2:28:07] » Jonathan.
All in favor?
[2:28:11] Al?
>> We can bring Ellie with us.
[2:28:13] » You good?
>> We can bring Ellie with us. Um you all
[2:28:16] should go home. Thank you.
I just want to say I can um it's safe to
[2:28:21] say there's not going to be any public
comment.
[2:28:24] I'll do the rest of this. You should go
home.
[2:28:27] Matthew,
you really you can thank you. I don't
[2:28:31] know how to get us out of this.
>> Good night.
[2:28:33] » Good night.
Good night.
[2:28:34] » Good night.
>> Good night.
[2:28:36] Thank you.
[2:28:40] Uh microphones off.
[2:28:47] Cap, uh this way.
>> Oh.
[2:28:49] See, I don't think Cathy even worked
out.
[2:28:52] But the taste?
>> Do you like the taste of it?
[2:28:54] » Yeah.
>> Well, let's say whoever makes it first.
[2:28:56] » Yeah.
[2:29:17] Yeah.
No, just one.
[2:29:20] Go to executive session.
Oh, yeah, that's it.
[2:29:28] Yeah, cuz she said there was no
[2:29:40] » Not the what?
>> I'll leave the name tags.
[2:29:42] » Yeah, I didn't follow the