December 7, 2022
Board Members present: Kristina Gilton, Monica Logan, Donna Nolan, David Peling, Whitney Sanzo, Sarah Thrall, Rosemarie Weber and Student Representatives Tess Bajek and Chase Alexander
Superintendent’s Announcements
In Dr. Grossman’s absence, Jennifer Parsons, Assistant Superintendent, congratulated Ada Linden, sixth grade student, who was selected as a Student Reader for the Nutmeg State Intermediate Book Award Committee.
Also, congratulations to Gavin Baron, who was selected for the Hartford Marathon Foundation Susie Beris MD Youth Running Program’s Junior Team and was invited to participate in the 5K run Dec. 4. Gavin came in 49th out of 1,399 runners.
Congratulations to high school students Cooper Boyd, Ezra Holt, Christian Cusano and Trevor Thompson who were all accepted into NAFME All-Eastern Mixed Choir for April 2023. This is a school record!
Assistant Superintendent’s Report
Parsons stated the second Granby Equity Meeting of the year was held last week and the committee reviewed how the district did acknowledging cultural heritage months. Four teams are working on action items from last year’s plan, such as how to communicate with families, a community book club, guest speakers and student leadership clubs.
Approval of 2023-24 School Calendar
The calendar was approved unanimously.
Pupil Services Department Continuous Improvement Plan
Angela Ehrenwerth, director of pupil personnel services, presented her Continuous Improvement Plan for 2022-23. Goal #1, Student Learning and Achievement—students with special needs will show measurable gains in academic achievement when provided effective core instruction by designing specialized instruction that is standards- and curriculum-aligned, developing IEP goals and objectives that include learning conditions, and continuing special education instructional coaching in Grades PK-5. She reviewed STAR Assessment Data for identified students at or above goal for reading and math in the fall and shared the targeted percentage goal for this group in the spring. Weber inquired about the progress monitoring tools. Ehrenwerth said the department plans to continue what is currently being used and making some lateral swaps in technology use.
Goal #2, Community Engagement: The department will partner with families to support engagement, ongoing communication and collaboration between staff and students. This will be accomplished by continuing to partner with SEPTO; ongoing collaboration with families, improving upon eliciting feedback and continuing to build on- and off-campus internships for high school students with special education needs.
Goal #3, Safety and Social Emotional Well-Being: Support social/emotional/ behavioral learning of students and staff achieved by utilizing a team process with conducting Functional Behavior Assessments; collaborating with Granby Youth Services and, continuing to work with the SEL Committee to examine curriculum, interventions, and supports at all tier levels.
Goal #4, Budget Development and Fiscal Management: To be fiscally responsible through careful identification of needs and appropriate spending to support student learning and growth by monitoring caseloads, student needs and staff assignments, supporting current implementation of co-teaching at the middle and high schools, and investigating the possibility of alternative education programming.
Goal #5, Embracing Diversity: Support the implementation of the Granby Public Schools’ Anti-Bias/Anti-Racism Plan by promoting equitable practices and outcomes for all students. This goal is being accomplished by supporting the mission of the Best Buddies and Unified Sports programs as well as the newly implemented Young Athletes Program at Kelly Lane School, continuing to build staff capacity to differentiate instruction and assessment, and partnering with the district’s Family Engagement Specialist to better support students across different communities.
Goal #6, Professional Learning: Provide meaningful professional learning opportunities to enhance practice and increase learning outcomes for students, accomplished by supporting staff in the implementation of the new State of Connecticut (CT-SEDS) program; providing job-embedded technical assistance for co-teaching teams, and supporting staff in seeking professional learning opportunities to effectively meet the individual needs of their caseloads.
December 21, 2022
Board Members Present: Kristina Gilton, Donna Nolan, David Peling, Whitney Sanzo, Sarah Thrall, Rosemarie Weber, and Student Representative Chase Alexander
Board Members Absent: Monica Logan and Student Representative Tess Bajek
Superintendent’s Announcements
Dr. Jordan Grossman said over $4,000 was raised with the CCMC PJ Day Fundraiser and over 156 pairs of pajamas were collected at Wells Road Intermediate School. Since 2010, over 1,800 pairs of pajamas have been collected by Wells Road.
Business Manager’s Report
Anna Robbins presented the November 2022 Statement of Accounts and stated the full-year forecast shows an overbudget condition of $615K, which is better than the previous month by $70K. The forecast for regular education of $40K is favorable and holding steady from the previous month.
Purchased instructional services, specifically substitutes, continues to contribute to the overbudget condition. In addition, the cost and usage of electricity continues to climb. Savings in salaries as well as in transportation offset these increases. Special education is overbudget $655K, which is $68K better than last month. Tuition and transportation continue to reflect multiple changes in placements since the budget was developed. Individual needs have also prevented our typical sharing of transportation for multiple students this year. Revenue to the town is favorable $439K due to the increase in the special education Excess Cost Grant as well as billing for special education services from other towns which should bring in about $90K more. The district remains in a positive forecast for this year and the five-year forecast. Sanzo inquired if the Excess Cost Grant was a one-time grant. Robbins explained it is not a one-time grant and is based on our spending. Any spending that goes over the 4.5 times rate of our per pupil expenditure, the state reimburses 73 percent and that revenue goes to the town.
FY24 Plus-One Budget
Grossman presented the FY24 Plus-One Budget and stated this budget strongly aligns with the Granby Public Schools’ Moving Together Strategic Plan and was very difficult to put together with the rising cost of utilities, the cost of ESSER grant funds being moved to the operating budget as well as the increased cost of special education. He said this budget does not cut any programs at this time and is at 5.94 percent. Grossman explained just to roll over from this year to next year, the budget would be at 2.68 percent. The increase for special education is a 2.98 percent increase over this year’s budget; a 0.38 percent in all other line items; a savings of 0.12 percent in retirement savings, and a 0.02 percent in ESSER Grant funds. Grossman said that the average increase in special education over the last four Plus One Budgets is 0.96 percent.
For further budget details, please refer to the BOE website for the Meeting Minutes.
Finance/Personnel/Facilities
Weber reported this subcommittee reviewed preschool tuition and it has been several years since this has been increased. It was approved to increase tuition by two percent, about $30. In a food service update, breakfast and lunch are no longer free except for those who qualify. No issues have been reported