[0:51] Schedule call, hold order, the April 9th, 2019 regular meeting of the common council of Carrie, could you please me the wrong.

[0:59] Mr. Barnes.

[1:01] Mr. Barnes.

[1:03] Mr. Barnes.

[1:04] Mr. Barnes.

[1:05] Mr. Sullivan.

[1:06] Mr. Bee.

[1:07] Mr. Riley.

[1:09] Mr. Miller.

[1:10] Well, now, observe a moment of silence and be led in the pledge of allegiance by Vice Mayor John Eil.

[1:43] This evening, we have before, so, minutes of the March 19th,

[1:46] 10, 2019, we're session and March 26, 2019, regular and work session meetings.

[1:54] Unless there are edits, changes, or deletions, I'll entertain a motion to approve the

[1:59] minutes for the March 19th, we're session, and the March 26, regular and work session

[2:04] meetings.

[2:05] Motion to approve.

[2:08] Color of favor?

[2:10] Aye.

[2:13] No, be part of the mayor tonight.

[2:16] Even, be part of the city, man.

[2:18] Yes, sir.

[2:19] Thank you, Mr. Mayor.

[2:19] A few items to bring to your attention this evening.

[2:22] Starting Thursday, April 11, the cruise will be striping harvest

[2:25] draw from jubal early draft to cedar creek grave.

[2:28] We do not anticipate these great closures or traffic-related congestion

[2:32] during these improvements.

[2:34] The portion of jubal early draft from the top of the bridge to

[2:37] loud and street will be repaved next week.

[2:40] This section of Jubilarly worsened over the winter and requires immediate attention.

[2:45] No road closures are expected, but we may anticipate some congestion in the areas.

[2:50] This week's House review podcast will focus on the city's public safety efforts during the Shenandoah

[2:55] Apple Blossom Festival. Several city staff will talk with host Barry Lee about safety measures and

[3:01] tips, road closures, downtown parking and more.

[3:04] listen this Thursday at 5 p.m. on soundcloud, iTunes or the city website, which

[3:10] has to park in recreation, summer activities guide is expected to be mailed to all

[3:15] 22601 addresses next week. The city's 275th anniversary coloring book has arrived with

[3:22] our logo which you see behind the mayor on the DSphere and they are available at City Hall

[3:28] and the Historical Society's Office near the Visitor Center and will be distributed at the

[3:33] town kids fest on May 18th. The Bison Terriquoise Quigenery, or the 270 quith, festivities

[3:40] continue, and the Chanadoa Conservatory Jazz Ensemble kicks off the 2019 Jazzathon, and

[3:46] celebrates the legacy of Winchester's own John Kirby during this year's 2019 Jazzathon event.

[3:53] This event is presented in partnership with the NAACP of Winchester and Old Town Winchester.

[3:58] The John Kirby Day Celebration honors the contributions of Winchester-born Jazz musician John Kirby, which is this weekend, that concludes my report.

[4:08] Thank you.

[4:10] Now moving on to public hearings.

[4:12] The first item is CUP-19-049.

[4:17] Because the Sean Murphy for conditional youth

[4:20] permit to allow single family use for zoning ordinance,

[4:24] 8-2-11 at 10-19, very well avenue,

[4:28] zone highway commercial, be too district required

[4:32] or enhancement and district overlay.

[4:35] Is there anyone here who will actually speak on this matter?

[4:42] If not, is there any discussion?

[4:47] I'll entertain the motion.

[5:01] All the favor?

[5:03] All right.

[5:04] All right.

[5:06] Okay.

[5:06] It's the move, so that carries.

[5:09] The next item is public comment.

[5:12] Now it's a time when our agenda for public comments.

[5:16] Is there anyone here who would like to speak to us on any manner?

[5:20] So, you have three minutes, please state your name and address for the record,

[5:28] so we have David

[5:32] Pratt.

[5:39] Hi, I'm David Pratt.

[5:40] I live at 700th Smithfield Lane, Barryville.

[5:44] I'm a leader of a group into his winchester, which son of you.

[5:48] Some of you know, we're an activeist group.

[5:51] We've done a lot in Winchester, we live and work and play here.

[5:55] We're concerned about the safety of all citizens.

[5:57] We wrote an open letter to the Mayor in the City Council, which I emailed all of you on Sunday.

[6:02] I phone one of you, thank you, Mayor, for your response to that email.

[6:08] And I'm going to focus my comments on one of two proposals that we are making, and that

[6:13] is to establish a Human Rights Commission for the City of Winchester.

[6:18] There are other cities that have done this, Charlottesville, Alexandria, County Barlington,

[6:24] their cities all over America that has done this idea.

[6:28] If you would consider a task force to look into it,

[6:30] I know these things take time.

[6:32] There may be legal things that you have to do,

[6:35] but such a commission would work towards

[6:38] eliminating discrimination of promote tolerance

[6:40] in our community, these groups evaluate interpret issues

[6:45] of human rights that are brought up with the city,

[6:47] their resource that people can come to.

[6:50] They are composed or comprised of people

[6:53] that are active in other groups, NAACP, aging groups, health care, a variety of issues that

[7:01] impact race, religion, ethnicity, ancestry, sex, age, sexual orientation, identity,

[7:10] handicaps.

[7:11] They can be appointed, they can meet regularly, it doesn't have to be expensive, it could

[7:17] be a volunteer situation, but I believe this would be healthy, it's signal to winch

[7:22] semester, the wider community that we do care about, all of these issues.

[7:28] The second issue, which I won't go into detail, because I only have three minutes, is in response

[7:33] to yet another incident affecting the students.

[7:38] There was an assault, some of you may have read about it in this paper, a handling high school,

[7:41] it's under investigation, so we don't have the details.

[7:44] This is following up the last year when I spoke and others spoke about the importance of

[7:48] safety in our schools for students, Title IX protections.

[7:54] We don't feel that the school board is responsive because they're pointed, there's only

[7:58] two.

[8:00] And I'm aware of, I could be wrong, two-pointed school boards in the whole state of the

[8:04] Commonwealth of Virginia.

[8:06] This was a matter that ACLU addressed years ago, and the whole trend in America has been

[8:13] to have elected school boards.

[8:15] So, we feel we should have an elected school board for our Winchester, and again, I don't know if it's in your power to just do this, but we know that we could petition it, and we're willing to work hard to do a public petition at some point.

[8:31] But we, I'm hoping that we, into his Winchester, can meet with City Council members to talk through these two ideas, two proposals that we have for community that we feel impact a lot of people.

[8:43] Thank you.

[8:44] Thank you.

[8:47] The next speaker is Jan O'Connor.

[8:52] Good evening.

[8:53] I'm Jan O'Connor.

[8:53] I live at 4.635 Hallow Road in Winchester.

[8:57] In 1992 Virginia became the last state in the nation to allow elected school boards.

[9:02] Within a few years, voters had moved in more than 80% of Virginia school districts to just trade their old appointed school boards for elected ones.

[9:09] A point of school boards are part of the legacy of Virginia's post-reconstruction period during which the states white leaders sought to limit the political influence of African Americans.

[9:20] It culminated in the infamous constitutional convention of 1901 which was devoted to codifying Jim Crow practices.

[9:27] At that gathering Virginia leader Virginia's leading statesmen amended the constitution to allow literacy tests and poll taxes and re-instituted fellow disenfranchisement.

[9:38] One of the leaders of that convention, Carter Blast, said in response to concerns that some of the proposed provisions would be struck down by federal reports as discriminatory, he said discrimination by that is exactly what we propose.

[9:52] That exactly is why this convention was elected to discriminate to the very extrimity of permissible action under the limitations of the federal constitution with the view to the elimination of every Negro who could be gotten rid of.

[10:06] legally without materially impairing the strength of the white electorate.

[10:10] We're now in 2019, and Winchester is one of only a handful of municipalities in the Commonwealth that still hasn't elected school board.

[10:19] What that does is it discriminates against the people in the different precincts who don't have an opportunity to say who they want,

[10:25] who don't have an opportunity to call their representatives to action, or to call them to the carpet if they're not doing the things that are in the best interest of their citizenry.

[10:34] And as a member of Indivisible Winchester, I'm here tonight to say that I feel like it's time for Winchester to join the 21st century and move to an elected school board.

[10:45] Thank you.

[10:46] Yes, O'Connor.

[10:48] I have a question.

[10:49] Is that a city address or is that a county address?

[10:51] It is a county address.

[10:52] Thank you.

[10:55] The next person I have is, is that Chris Nukum?

[11:11] It's a chip Nukum.

[11:14] I'm sorry, sorry.

[11:14] I know where he's now handwriting.

[11:17] I live at 2021 Brewstown Road that is a county address.

[11:21] Thank you.

[11:24] I really needed to know I learned in preschool.

[11:28] I learned to play well with others to appreciate differences in opinions.

[11:31] I didn't want to share my cars with my buddy Judd,

[11:34] but he wanted me to share my cars.

[11:37] We had a difference of opinion and consequently I learned to share.

[11:41] To keep my hands to myself to read, to do basic math, shapes, et cetera.

[11:45] Early childhood learning improves foundational skills, such as math and reading and foster

[11:50] self-esteem and better achievement test scores, it builds a confidence in learning

[11:54] in academic situations and benefits children from all socioeconomic groups.

[12:00] The benefits of preschool and summer specs are immeasurable, has one measure of self-confidence,

[12:06] how does one measure a student's academic self-confidence, how does one measure a student's

[12:09] willingness to learn?

[12:12] My name is Chip Nuke, and I am the English Department Chair at John Hanley High School.

[12:16] My job as education, my passion is education, but more importantly, my passion is literacy.

[12:23] And I'm the father of two beautiful children.

[12:25] They love to read, color, write, and learn.

[12:27] They are products of a preschool system.

[12:30] So I have a vested interest in the education of the kids in our community.

[12:34] The love of literacy begins at a young age.

[12:36] When I was a kid, I used to stash a flashlight under my bed and hot under my covers.

[12:40] will pass bedtime, reading books by Judy Bloom, Robert asks for Ontario Pratchett, Pears Anthony Tolkin,

[12:47] that took me far away with my far away from my little town in West Virginia to big cities,

[12:52] fantasy worlds and to the world of other kids that were experiencing many of the same things

[12:58] I was experiencing on a daily basis. And that is why I teach English. And why my passion is literacy.

[13:04] It is experience, it is humanizing, it is fundamental, it is hope. I love to read because

[13:10] people invested in me and in my future. These are the shoulders I stand on every day of

[13:15] walking to John Hanley High School. And just as people invested in me, we need to do the same

[13:19] for our kids. Students entering preschool next year, the future of Winchester. There are city council

[13:25] members, our Board of Education members, our community leaders, and perhaps there's some

[13:29] kid with a flashlight reading way past your beds on who will, and do course, be the English

[13:33] Department Chair John Hanley High School. Or perhaps she has her eyes set on something bigger,

[13:38] And maybe she wants to be the superintendent of Winchester Public Schools.

[13:43] An investment in the preschool system is an investment in the future of our community and

[13:47] investment in kids learning poetry and ethics and nursery rhymes and an investment in kids

[13:52] learning how to tell a story.

[13:54] These kids who have yet to find their voice need our voices to speak for them loud and clear

[13:58] and say that education is a fundamental right if you live in Winchester, Virginia.

[14:03] Their future is quite literally in your hands.

[14:05] funding preschool is not on option. It is an SSC. Thank you.

[14:10] Thank you, sir. Our next speaker is Michael Saragos.

[14:25] Good evening, Mr. Mayor. Members of the City Council, I speak to you today as the President of the Winchester Education Association.

[14:32] And I wanted to speak today on behalf of the teachers and other staff that I represent here in Winchester.

[14:39] And I'm simply asking that you consider these long hours and commitment that our school board

[14:48] and central office staff have put into creating a budget.

[14:51] And the fact that they have tried to be responsible stewards with that budget.

[14:56] But I do have a statistics since I know some of you love data.

[15:00] And it simply says this, finding qualified teachers and math, science and special education has been a particular challenge since the Great Recession, starting in 2007.

[15:12] This is from the Learning Policy Institute. All right, so they've said over the past several years, the teacher shortage is starting to reach critical levels.

[15:22] and it defines a shortage as the inability of staff to find teachers to put in schools that

[15:29] current wages with individuals qualified to teach in those required fields. And so when we look

[15:35] at Winchester Public Schools, we have a lot of really great things going on. But we also have a

[15:42] concern of is how do we attract and retain those teachers who come here. And one of the ways that you

[15:49] do that when you think about some of those first order issues is you make sure you have a

[15:53] payable, or excuse me, a living wage, payable to those teachers and other staff.

[15:58] It's not just teachers in the buildings, it's our support staff, it's our cafeteria workers,

[16:03] it's our custodians and maintenance and grounds keeping folks, it's everybody that makes

[16:07] a school run, and so when we look at the school boards budget that was presented to you

[16:11] that will be presented to you tonight, and the discussions that you have with school board

[16:15] over these things, I do ask please consider supporting the budget at its levels.

[16:21] Heck, I'd love it if you could go even further, but I know that you have a responsibility

[16:24] to your voters.

[16:26] But the reality is, when I talk about my status as the Winchester Education President,

[16:31] I think about one of my new teachers.

[16:33] Her housing budget is $750 a month.

[16:38] Between student loans, a car payment, other issues, she is $750 a month for housing.

[16:44] That's next to impossible to live on.

[16:47] So any little bit of extra for her wage and salary will go to keep a young good teacher

[16:52] like her in our system.

[16:55] So please, I know you'll do it, but take this budget with your deepest consideration.

[17:00] And as always, if you need questions, answer it, reach out to us, the WA is here to help

[17:05] us best to be kind.

[17:06] Thank you for your consideration.

[17:08] Thank you, Michael.

[17:12] The next speaker I have is Mr. Richard Brown.

[17:20] Let me in Richard Brown, I live in Manchester, Virginia, arms history, thank you for your time

[17:26] and indulging.

[17:27] Let me speak briefly.

[17:28] I'm going to speak currently about the upcoming tax increase.

[17:31] A lot of people do not realize that of the 100 percent property in the city of Winsha.

[17:35] For 25 percent, which is approximately, not 1 million, but 1 billion dollars.

[17:41] It tax exam.

[17:43] I would hope that y'all would try to find a way to make them pay something.

[17:46] Frank, to the moral and job of that fire sheet, we have a great police department, but every time they have a 911 call, that cost money.

[17:57] If I'm a 100% tax exempt, how do they pay for that?

[18:01] How do we pay for teachers salary?

[18:03] How do we pay for firemen?

[18:05] How do we pay for policemen?

[18:07] Public utilities.

[18:08] So you need to get back and try to find a way that they pay something.

[18:11] I said hypothetically, if my tax bill was $1,000, and 11% took up the fire and rescue, I need

[18:21] to pay $110, because I'm getting those services.

[18:25] Please take that in consideration.

[18:27] Also, when you look at the books, I think you rely on the cost of doing bills and look

[18:32] at every department.

[18:33] When somebody retired, please look at that job at the center if it not eliminated, consolidation

[18:39] of jobs.

[18:40] Also, maybe we could finally look at things with city and county collaboration that we could do

[18:47] think, the economy of scale, sometime you get bored of, you know, by or with your block and stuff like that.

[18:53] Also, if you look at the tax rate in city of Winchester, in 91 cents, maybe county is 61.

[19:00] That's 30 cents, which is roughly about 50 cents less.

[19:04] When you try to be competitive, we got a great community hospital, but no broken auditorium for school.

[19:09] Shranda changed what these are not terrible school. We no longer can just use

[19:15] Haley High School and is shining light on the hill to draw people to city and win

[19:20] Chester. We need competitive tax rate for the business and we have a vibrant downtown neighborhood

[19:26] But we have a wagon wouldn't admit her with all these retail shops going out in the county and the reason being

[19:35] She pretty do visit and a lot of people live in the county.

[19:38] We are losing tax dollar because of business or relocating out.

[19:43] And we need to draw business and then we'll order tax rate.

[19:45] The general just said a car payment.

[19:47] I know people have house payment car payments and everything.

[19:50] I think it's sometimes foolish people graduate in college.

[19:53] First thing they do to get by 30,000 or 40,500 or 600 of our house car payment.

[19:58] They're equivalent to most people's house payment in old days.

[20:01] So we all need to live with it out, but we have a lot of senior living out here.

[20:05] But we also have people on a low income.

[20:07] Winchester City is about $20,000 a rougher than a cost of living per capita income

[20:14] than in front of a county and yet a taxidant, 50% higher.

[20:17] Please take that in consideration.

[20:20] I want to commend this superintendent for moving now to make an old John Curse school

[20:25] again to a program and it's great job.

[20:29] Thank you all very much.

[20:30] Thank you very much.

[20:34] Mr.

[20:54] President, Mr. Vice President, members of Council.

[20:57] On Sunday March 31st, 2019, a little more than one week ago, when Chester Public School, I'm

[21:04] sorry, Alice in Pate, 453 North Braddock Street, T. T. T. T. T. T. T. T. T. T. T. T.

[21:07] So why? I currently have the privilege of serving as the Chairperson of the School Board.

[21:11] Can I start over? Mr. President, Mr. Vice President, members of Council.

[21:15] On Sunday, March 31st, 2019, a little more than one week ago, when Chester Public Schools

[21:23] was awarded the 2019 Magna Grand Prize for all school divisions in the United States

[21:30] with not more than 5,000 students.

[21:33] The Magna Award is sponsored by the American School Board Journal.

[21:37] 2019 was the 20th year that the Magna Award recognized school board in school district excellence.

[21:46] 2019 was the second consecutive year that the Magna Award focused on equity.

[21:53] Specifically, removing barriers for underserved students, children of color, children with disabilities, children from impoverished families, children with mental health issues,

[22:04] children who may be questioning or asserting their gender identity.

[22:10] Addressing equity is hard work. Thus, the title of the article in the American

[22:15] School Board Journal is the hard work of equity. Our hard work began with a very hard

[22:22] look at our data. We saw that a group of children were not working to their potential,

[22:27] so we did something about it. Our efforts and accomplishments were recognized in front of an

[22:33] of more than 6,000 school board members and superintendents

[22:37] from throughout the United States and territories.

[22:41] Winchester Public Schools was recognized by Kathleen Vale,

[22:45] the editor-in-chief of the American School Board Journal,

[22:48] who celebrated our work and in her own words,

[22:51] quote, being courageous in our recognition of the issue

[22:54] and our actions to row against the tide of complacency.

[22:59] In addition, the strategic plan that was adopted

[23:01] by the Winchester School Board, includes equity as one of several key components.

[23:07] The specific program recognized by the Magna Grand Prize Award is one example of putting

[23:14] mission into practice.

[23:16] The two and a half page article with photos in the journal describes and highlights the key elements

[23:21] of the Amped up program, accelerated math progressions for underrepresented potential housed

[23:27] Daniel Morgan School, our outcome data thus far is most impressive, but amped up is not just

[23:34] about math.

[23:35] Eric Cornish, a fifth-grade teacher at Daniel Morgan and remediate school, and one of

[23:39] the participating educators in the program, also emphasizes efforts to cultivate and build

[23:45] perseverance in the idea of productive struggle.

[23:49] Important aspects of the program purposefully incorporate community and team building.

[23:54] How

[23:59] much more did you have left?

[24:01] A paragraph.

[24:02] Go ahead and finish.

[24:05] I'm not going to repeat that.

[24:06] You're being very lenient.

[24:08] I appreciate it.

[24:09] This is, this is, this is good.

[24:11] Yep.

[24:13] Importance of expertise, purposefully incorporate community and team building, all resulting in a positive trajectory of self-efficacy.

[24:21] This is the plan.

[24:22] Look, it's ideal.

[24:24] This is a tangible record of one of the many efforts and successes of within

[24:28] Winchester Public Schools.

[24:30] This is one stop along the way as we achieve as we strive for excellence.

[24:35] And this program has not occurred within a silo.

[24:38] Rather it represents the combined contributions, efforts, and shared commitment of Winchester

[24:44] Public Schools in the common council of the City of Winchester.

[24:49] Thank you, I congratulate you on the skill.

[24:52] And I have brought for each of you and our city manager, a copy of the journal, which

[24:58] also has the picture on the front of the month of the April journal of two students from

[25:04] Daniel Morgan in the school.

[25:06] Fantastic.

[25:07] Thank you.

[25:18] Our next speaker, we have Bruce Colotten.

[25:30] I don't have any prepared remarks, but I did want to say to name an address.

[25:36] Yes.

[25:36] Bruce Colotten, 328, Ridge Avenue in the city of Winchester,

[25:44] and I didn't prepare anything,

[25:47] But I did want to come to support the idea of looking

[25:52] into and considering an elected school board as a means

[25:56] of making the school board more accountable

[25:59] to the constituency.

[26:02] And if I can change the subject just a little bit,

[26:06] I want to also, it was kind of fortuitous.

[26:10] There was a gentleman who spoke earlier about the tax situation.

[26:13] I happen to be a teacher in the county, and I live in the city, and so I went to a recent

[26:23] Board of Supervisors in the county, and it was very disappointing in which at 61 cents

[26:35] assessment. And then, yeah, the average income in the county was up there, some household income.

[26:46] And I don't mind. I'm in Winchester. I don't mind paying the 91, 2, 3, 4, not that I have the money, but it's important.

[26:55] It's important and I think our communities are as strong as our schools.

[27:04] My children went through the schools here and they got a good education and I just wanted

[27:11] to say that to kind of counterbalance the other that it's an investment and just continue

[27:19] looking at it that way.

[27:21] Thank you.

[27:22] Thank you so much.

[27:23] The next speaker is AGK.

[27:35] I'm AGK in 2649, Daniel Terrace, Winchester 22601.

[27:42] So I'm the preschool coordinator for Winchester Public Schools and it's my personal opinion

[27:48] that four-year-olds belong in preschool.

[27:51] It's also the consensus of psychologists, pediatricians, and researchers who've dedicated

[27:56] their careers to analyzing the costs and benefits of educating young children. There aren't

[28:03] a lot of government investments that both hire dividends and preschool. Numerous studies

[28:08] have demonstrated there's at least a twofold return on that investment. One of those studies

[28:14] was chaired by Professor James Hackman, Nobel Prize winner and economics. In his study he

[28:21] looked at the full picture of early education and what particular skills should be the focus

[28:26] He believed that there has been too much focus on cognitive skills rather than the development

[28:32] of social skills like attentiveness, persistence, working with others and self-regulation.

[28:39] He found that when those social skills are combined at an early age with cognitive skills,

[28:44] they help create more capable and productive citizens, and folks, that's exactly our

[28:51] chair in Winchester City. Every child needs effective early childhood development to be successful,

[28:58] but our disadvantaged children who we serve in our preschool program are the least likely to get it.

[29:05] Professor Heckman has proven that investing in early childhood development of

[29:10] disadvantaged children will produce great returns to individuals and society at large in

[29:18] education, health, economic and social outcomes, not only saving taxpayers money in the long run,

[29:27] but increasing our city's economic productivity. Everyone gains when we invest, develop,

[29:33] and sustain the early development of Winchester's greatest, excuse me, natural resource,

[29:40] its people, particularly our children. Research clearly shows that we must invest dollars,

[29:46] not dying, we have to implement a high-quality program which we have because quality does matter.

[29:57] We have to focus on the development of the whole child.

[30:00] File and nurture the initial investment in this early learning and align their education K to 12 to develop that cognition and character.

[30:11] When we do this, we get significant returns in better education, health, social and economic productivity that more than pay for the cost of a quality early childhood program.

[30:24] Yes, quality, early childhood education is expensive, but we pay a far higher cost if we ignore

[30:32] its value, or try to do it cheaply, it doesn't work.

[30:39] We might say it boils down to money.

[30:41] Can I finish?

[30:43] How much more do you have?

[30:45] Two sentence.

[30:46] Okay.

[30:48] You may say it boils down to money, but it actually boils down to commitment.

[30:51] money flows from commitment, and we spend money on the things that we care about.

[30:56] I'm hopeful that our encouraging results will reassure you that high-quality preschool

[31:00] is the first step in fulfilling the promise of Winchester's education system to our city.

[31:06] Thank you.

[31:09] The next speaker we have is Heather Lark Richard.

[31:13] Waker.

[31:15] Happy to have it.

[31:16] Happens all the time.

[31:18] Heather, our clerk, record 56, four-middle road.

[31:21] That is county address.

[31:23] Thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak tonight.

[31:25] I am a preschool teacher at Virginia Avenue, Charlotte, to Heart Elementary School.

[31:31] I will be four become in a preschool teacher through years ago.

[31:33] I was a kindergarten teacher at John Goral Elementary School.

[31:37] So I am in the unique position of knowing how vital preschool is for the development of children.

[31:43] And often when we talk about the students that we serve, I hear people talk about what

[31:49] these students are lacking.

[31:50] I prefer to look at it as where are the opportunities that we can help close this gap

[31:54] for these children.

[31:57] Obviously academics are an important part of what students learn at school, but before a student

[32:02] is prepared to learn academics, you need to develop their communication skills, their social

[32:07] emotional functioning, and their self-regulation.

[32:10] Today, when I was in my classroom, we have a time that we call our interest areas where students have free opportunities to play and learn and work together.

[32:19] And I was so happy to look out and see students, for your old children, saw me problems, exploring, choosing books over toys, being interested in the world around them.

[32:32] And that is because they've had a quality, a preschool education in Winchester Public Schools.

[32:38] It's easy to talk about. They know their alphabet or they can write their name, but for me, as a preschool teacher, I'm much more excited that they can identify and manage their feelings.

[32:50] They know kindness, they know compassion, they know empathy for their other kids in their class.

[32:56] They understand their diversity and they're just really wonderful children who deserve the opportunity to have the

[33:04] Pilling to the leapfield

[33:06] Leveled for them, so that when they do enter kindergarten, they are ready. They are ready to learn and they are ready to achieve and

[33:15] That is why to me

[33:17] It is so important that when just Republic schools continues the preschool program and offer that important important

[33:26] vital peace that will help all of these students achieve greatness.

[33:31] Winchester Public Schools motto is learning for all whatever it takes and what it takes

[33:37] is giving everybody the opportunity to achieve. Thank you for your time.

[33:42] Thank you. The next speaker is Tosala Maya.

[33:49] I hope I got that right.

[33:51] With that, you know, my name is Tarsila Maya.

[33:54] I live in 3.5A Curl Street, Winchester City.

[33:59] I am a mother of Brigade Boy, who is her student on Virginia Avenue.

[34:11] And so, I signed up my son for preschool, because before he was, he didn't like to talk with

[34:20] people he don't know before, but now if anybody told him, hello, how are you?

[34:25] He answered very quickly, he is blowing up a lot, he know the shapes, he's not a ABC, he can count

[34:38] to 50 with no help, and he learned how share is important with other kids, before he

[34:48] like share any toys with anybody even with his sister and now he's saying he's sharing

[34:57] his caring because he learned that sharing is good thing with other people so I hope

[35:07] we just need to keep the program for other kids because I know for my son is very very important

[35:15] Thank you very much. Thank you.

[35:19] Our next speaker is Wanda Gaierson.

[35:30] Hello, I'm Wanda Gaierson.

[35:32] I live at 1733 Brandenplace,

[35:36] and I teach kindergarten at John Curre Elementary School.

[35:41] I just want to start out with a little bit of information about the development of

[35:52] of what children need in order to come to kindergarten.

[35:56] So one of the earliest indicators of a child's future success

[36:00] is a number of words they hear prior to kindergarten.

[36:04] Language development begins with the interplay of words

[36:07] between the parent and the child and it helps to nurture her vocabulary,

[36:13] which is considered the building block of education.

[36:16] The frequency and richness of natural conversation

[36:19] in the child's first years, plays a key role in development.

[36:24] A five-year-old child at risk, who last blacks, these early interactions, often entered

[36:31] kindergarten with an 18-month vocabulary gap, as a child ages the gap wide and the child

[36:39] risk falling so far behind that it's difficult to catch up with their peers.

[36:43] And just imagine how much more difficult it is for our actress, English language learners who are also trying to learn English.

[36:55] Giving children the right start to their education has never been more relevant.

[36:59] A recent manpower study showed that 49% of the employers struggled to fill jobs because too many job seekers lack the right skills.

[37:08] In a world economy, increasingly fueled by a knowledge-based workforce, the solution is

[37:15] to help prepare at risk children for the challenges ahead, so they can enter kindergarten

[37:21] on par with a more economically secure peers.

[37:26] As a kindergarten teacher has received children who attended our preschool, this is what

[37:31] I've observed in my classroom.

[37:32] The rest students that were enrolled in our preschool have the academic and social skills along with the much need of vocabulary in place to enter kindergarten.

[37:44] The preschool experience is helped to bridge a gap with their language,

[37:48] development through the consistent conversations they received between adults and students.

[37:55] The advantage of having many books to read and creating a structured play time to converse with their peers.

[38:04] The at-risk children that I've had in my classroom the past three years and are kindergarten,

[38:09] but not only more language development, but the confidence and the ability to be successful with their learning.

[38:16] They are just as eager and ready to begin kindergarten as other students in our classroom.

[38:25] We can close the gap, but waiting until kindergarten is too late.

[38:30] We need to provide equal access for our at-risk children.

[38:34] Children always enjoy coming, just cool, not always struggling to catch up, one sentence.

[38:41] The pre-school class, like those of us for our at-risk children, because these children are the future of our city.

[38:52] Thank you.

[38:55] And our last speaker is Victoria Mason.

[39:06] My name is Victoria Mason.

[39:07] 2, 0, 7, 2, Taylor Grace Court, 2, 2, 6, 0, 1 and we'll nervous, so please excuse my nervousness.

[39:16] Thank you for the opportunity to speak before you in regards to the Pre-K program.

[39:21] Just to talk a little bit about my family, we had an unexpected job loss, which was our primary income to our family.

[39:28] So needless to say, we were, and it tells Ben, financial hardships, and, you know, challenges, we never faced as a family.

[39:37] And education is something that is very important to our family, and it's something that we are not willing to compromise.

[39:44] So sitting with my husband, trying to make ends meet, trying to budget, how are we going to get our child into a pre-cap program?

[39:50] It was stressful, and as adults we try to hold that stress to us, but

[39:55] inevitably it trickles down to our children and that can be detrimental.

[39:59] So having this program available has been life-saving for us.

[40:04] So I have a daughter that is currently enrolled in it, and she benefits from it as well,

[40:10] but our family as the whole does, and here I'm a nurse, excuse me.

[40:16] and to see her flourish in this program has been absolutely amazing and at home she

[40:22] thrives she does really well socially and so I thought you know this is going to be

[40:27] great putting her into pre-K. I was totally wrong. The transition was really hard for

[40:32] her and she struggled. She did not want to make friends. She didn't want to play

[40:36] the friends. She didn't want friends in her space. Even an environment within the

[40:42] and the schedule, the routine. It was hard for her to adapt to that. So the socialization of this program is monumental to me.

[40:49] It has been absolutely amazing. And so from where she is from, you know, the start of school, the first few months, is leaves and bounds.

[40:58] She now wants to make friends. She's playing with others. She's inviting others into her space to play.

[41:04] So, I can't say more about the socialization of this program, she is comfortable and feels

[41:10] confident and has the skills of how do I approach a group of children who's already engaged

[41:16] in already playing, how do I appropriately engage in that, enjoying that group and she has those skills.

[41:23] She is comfortable in the school environment and again, she's confident there.

[41:29] So, I am really appreciative of the Pre-K program, everyone who's involved in it, and just

[41:37] to see her growth and academically as well, what she's doing in the program, the project

[41:41] she brings home, her conversation level, and her writings, you know, I'm a proud mama,

[41:47] and I appreciate it. And I definitely know that in order to have a successful educational

[41:52] journey, it starts the beginning, it starts in preschool, it starts with this foundation,

[41:57] They need this as, you know, the start of their success in the educational years to come.

[42:07] And so I appreciate the moment. I hope it will be here for years to come.

[42:11] Thank you very much.

[42:13] Thank you.

[42:16] Before I close public comment, is there anyone else here that would like to speak that didn't have a chance to?

[42:25] If not, I will close public comments and we'll move on to the consent agenda.

[42:30] That could sit on gender, but any member like should we move an item from the Cassandra gender

[42:38] if not I'll entertain a motion

[42:41] All right, so less and

[42:49] Evan

[42:50] All in favor

[42:53] Post

[42:55] The next item

[42:58] Is the agenda

[43:01] The first item on the agenda is art to zero one nine dash one one resolution endorsing

[43:10] the city of Winchester's board and commission member appointment and operation guidelines.

[43:19] Is there any discussion on this?

[43:23] Councillor Beach.

[43:24] Thank you.

[43:25] Mayor.

[43:26] The last time this came up I've heard it against it but I think make sure we're clarified

[43:30] with the counselors. I think we were on the same page. I think after talking a couple of

[43:36] you, you thought that I met, we would interview every single applicant in front of the

[43:40] whole body and that's not what I just want to know that when the interviewers or the screeners

[43:45] talk to all of the applicants that at least they bring information about that to share so we can

[43:51] pick the truth from that. I think that's what we did in January. So, I think we're on the same page,

[43:55] I'm a supporter, but thank you.

[43:58] Thank you.

[43:59] Is there any other discussion?

[44:02] I'm so quick, Mayor.

[44:04] If you may, I may.

[44:06] What's been yellow is what we amended, and then what's in blue?

[44:10] What's amended after our last meeting?

[44:13] And what's in yellow is what is new,

[44:16] period everything else is what we were already doing within our current practice.

[44:20] We're just trying to document all of that.

[44:22] So we have one document that guides the entire process going forward.

[44:27] I just want to comment and regards this.

[44:29] I appreciate Amy's steadfast work on this.

[44:33] I still prefer face-to-face on these interviews.

[44:38] I know there's inconveniences and that sort of thing where they want to Skype for the meetings.

[44:44] Whatever that may be, I still think that that is necessary item.

[44:50] But as a whole, I think it's a step in the right direction now, thank you.

[44:55] Is there any other discussion?

[44:57] Mr. Mayor.

[44:58] Thank you.

[45:00] The only comment that I'll make is, I'm still not 100% personally supportive of the remote participation, like kind of voting, I think it's difficult to run a meeting or be engaged in meeting.

[45:15] For anybody who's attended a conference call can know that it can be chaotic, which I don't want to speak.

[45:23] It's remote participation electronic building in Section 7, page packet page 142.

[45:31] You know, I think all of us try to make all of the meetings here,

[45:34] and I know that people in different boards and commissions will also try to make their meetings.

[45:39] And I know we're showing an ability to limit it, but I think it can be,

[45:44] I guess I don't see any advantage of having it in there, and sometimes it's difficult to attend meetings if you're sick or you're at a town or things like that.

[45:54] So I understand probably why this was included, but I just think that my opinion doesn't need to be here.

[46:01] I think everything else sort of makes sense. It is long, but I do personally have a problem with having the ability to do remote access.

[46:12] So that was my main concern with this, otherwise, I think, obviously it's included.

[46:19] A lot of items in here and I think, you know, anytime you have a document of this size,

[46:24] hopefully folks will read it and we'll be able to enforce it.

[46:28] But I just wanted to make the point about the electronic writing.

[46:32] That was a concern.

[46:34] Thanks.

[46:35] to address Councillor Wellingham's point. This is what is included in state law and City Council

[46:41] adopted a resolution in 2014 that allowed remote participation. That's the sole reason

[46:47] it's in here. It counsel wants to revisit that. We can certainly do that, but that's this is

[46:54] what is in state law. That's why it's in state law. I guess that's a question. Thank you. Related

[47:00] And I'm just wondering, is there an ADA, is there an ADA reason to have this in here?

[47:07] I mean, if we're talking about temporary or permanent disability, I mean, I get what you're saying.

[47:15] You know, I guess if there is there's some other reason that we're not seeing that it should be in here.

[47:22] State law requires them to set, requires the member who's requesting to have a member of participation to say what their temporary or permanent disability is.

[47:30] You no longer can say you have an emergency and be allowed to participate remotely, which is what you used to be able to say.

[47:37] So, it's possible for this to not be in here, and that condition could still be made yet.

[47:44] Because we still have the council resolution that put that in effect.

[47:53] Is there any other discussion?

[47:55] How's it going?

[47:56] I have a monitor point on page 134,

[48:05] recently received word that Cleaning Incorporated has

[48:07] dissolved, which one I'm sorry, packet page 134, regional boards, chart of, okay.

[48:23] What was the Cleaning Incorporated has dissolved?

[48:28] It's no longer.

[48:29] Okay, I should get out of here.

[48:32] We can strike that one.

[48:34] Thank you.

[48:35] Thank you.

[48:38] Is there any other discussion?

[48:42] There's no other discussion.

[48:43] I have to take a motion.

[48:50] Am I hearing that you all want to remove the remote participation section?

[48:56] Or...

[48:57] Or leave it?

[49:00] I'm not.

[49:00] I don't remember that we had it.

[49:02] I mean, I'm getting old now.

[49:03] But I don't remember discussing this via resolution.

[49:06] It's something I think we should bring up probably,

[49:09] because I think there's an allowance for council members

[49:11] to do it as well, and then it's come up in the past.

[49:15] So I'm not suggesting that we would

[49:17] remember that we probably should have it

[49:18] for our further discussion at something like that.

[49:21] I don't think we need to do anything with this night.

[49:23] First night.

[49:24] Let me take one.

[49:26] We never had a problem with the floor.

[49:29] And if we ever had absentee issues,

[49:31] is typically a person that uses on the way out a person

[49:34] that toward a commission that kind of lost interest

[49:38] in that position.

[49:41] Part of it to serve is being willing to participate

[49:44] in the meetings and being there physically,

[49:46] I think it's very important, because not only

[49:47] do you experience the actual physical nature

[49:52] of the person's highly vote, feedback, cooperation, et cetera,

[49:56] I just think it's important at that individual there

[49:58] for those meetings.

[50:01] And if I understand correctly that it's only if you have a disability that you can't

[50:06] Just temporary permanent facility.

[50:10] So I have a motion.

[50:12] Second.

[50:13] Second.

[50:16] All in favor?

[50:17] All in favor?

[50:19] All in favor?

[50:19] Opposed?

[50:22] Motion carries.

[50:24] The next item is the first reading in order to amend Section 27-10.

[50:35] Pretending to real property tax rate.

[50:39] Thank you, Mayor.

[50:41] Tonight in your packet, we will actually go greater in depth with this, when we get into the work session.

[50:47] The reason this is on the regular portion of the agenda and not on a consent agenda is because the item was afforded on a non unanimous vote,

[50:54] which means it goes to the regular portion of the agenda in case there are questions that Council has.

[50:59] During the last work session, Council requested a 91 cent and a 92 cent budget option be prepared,

[51:06] And that's in your packet tonight.

[51:09] The goal for tonight's work session and both this discussion is that I need counsel to indicate to me what budget tax rate.

[51:18] What tax rate you would like me to prepare the City Manager's proposed budget upon?

[51:23] You're not adopting anything tonight.

[51:25] You don't have to discuss anything on this item.

[51:27] This will simply be something that you need to give me feedback on in the work session so that I'll know what tax rate to use to prepare that.

[51:35] because at our next meeting on the 23rd,

[51:38] I have to present to you a balanced budget

[51:40] based on that tax rate.

[51:42] So if you would like for me to defer

[51:44] my presentation till after we have the school board

[51:47] come up and give theirs, I'm happy to do that.

[51:50] Would you prefer that?

[51:51] I think it might be better.

[51:53] Good.

[51:54] Thank you.

[51:56] The next item is the motion to appoint Mike Bokenow

[52:00] as a award one member of the city school board

[52:04] to an unexpired four-year term ending June 30th, 2021.

[52:10] I'm sorry.

[52:11] All the favour?

[52:12] All right.

[52:13] Suppose the motion carries, get the motion to a jar.

[52:19] So, second favour?

[52:20] All the favour?

[52:22] All right.

[52:23] Thank you.

City Council Regular Meeting

Agenda

Transcript