April 2, 2025
Curriculum Subcommittee Meeting
Present: Liz Barlow, Cheri Burke, Monica Logan, Jennifer Parsons, David Peling, Karen Richmond-Godard.
Scheduling Update
Starting with school year 2025-26, the bell schedules will be aligned at GMMS and GMHS, and content-specific collaboration time will be prioritized. The schedule will be an 8-period day plus lunch. There will be 45-minute classes (41 minutes on Thursdays), three-minute passing time, staggered lunch waves with 30-minute lunches. Students can take up to eight credits. There will be CREW/Advisory on Thursday.
The committee looked at whether to include extended blocks. Some classes such as science and culinary find the longer blocks necessary. It was determined that 93-minute blocks are needed, but not daily. For 2025-26, at the high school, there will be an extended block about seven times per semester. Next year a new schedule will be tried and tweaked as needed. Professional learning/collaboration will align with non-teaching periods within departments to collaborate. The new schedule will increase instructional time by 86 hours per year, and students will have 45 minutes/day/class.
May 21, 2025
Present members: Liz Barlow, Monica Logan, Heather Lombardo, David Peling, Karen Richmond-Godard, and Student Representatives Ali Zafar and Katie O’Neill. Absent: Sofia Brenson.
Chairperson’s Report
Logan spoke about parental concerns over 10th grade curriculum regarding healthy living standards and asked Assistant Superintendent Jennifer Parsons to share information. Parsons said that although the lesson of concern had a set of resources with it, students were not required to use those resources. She stated, per state law, students may opt-out of instruction involving HIV/AIDS and further stated that all students may opt out of any lesson if they are not comfortable. The topic of the day is posted at the beginning of each class period, the curriculum is transparent for parents. High school courses are linked directly to the standards for which Granby Public Schools is accountable and that coincide with the program of studies. Parents are encouraged to look at the syllabus accompanying any class. She shared the district is currently working on adding reminders for opting out in the syllabus.
Awards and Recognition
Katie O’Neill was recognized for recently winning the 2024–25 InvestWrite Contest. Katie came in first in the state and tenth in the nation.
Public Comment
Nick Faraco, Granby resident and former high school Guidance Counselor at Simsbury High School for 35 years, inquired about the objective of the assignment in the Wellness Class. He has ascertained that it was somewhat controversial and, if this is the case, parents should be aware.
Christine Santa, high school parent, stated her daughter was given permission to opt-out and her son did not opt out for fear of receiving a zero. She stated videos were shown regarding sexual relations and she inquired why parents were not notified of these sensitive topics. She requested that action be taken regarding this curriculum and the sensitive material.
Jennifer Slade, parent of a 10th grader, stated her daughter did not feel she had the option to opt out of LGBTQ content. The content was inappropriate. She inquired if opposing viewpoints to these topics can also be shared.
Sean Wilmington, parent of a high school student, said his ask is simple— please post assignments for parents to view prior to being taught. Clear up any confusion so parents and students are clear and ensure that students can opt out.
Marta Beckwith, mother of a high school student, stated she would like to see the content posted somewhere. She was appreciative of the opportunity to sign off on the movie Schindler’s List.
Mike Kramarenko, Notch Road, stated there is a lack of communication when it is convenient for the board and backs are turned when it comes to sexuality. He stated he believes no one under the age of 18 should be viewing anything with sexual content. He also stated he was disappointed that at a recent board meeting a board member spoke about attending a district equity committee meeting on the topic of gender and gender oppression, which he believes was banned by the President.
Annual Facilities Report
Christopher DeGray, director of facilities, presented the Annual Facilities Report and gave a brief overview of the department stating he has successfully hired permanent and temporary staff and made some changes. For details, please read the meeting minutes, available on the BOE website.
Superintendent’s Response to
Public Concerns
Superintendent Cheri Burke thanked the parents who reached out to the high school principal and teacher. The district strives for transparent communication and wants to hear about issues but may not always agree. Every individual should be heard. She shared the lesson given was at the teacher level and is directly aligned to a standard or an objective and gave an example. This lesson had nothing to do with sexual relations and, rather, sexual orientation and identity. These topics are uncomfortable. She agreed that the district needs to do better with communication. She shared that she viewed all of the videos and agreed that as a parent, she might have been uncomfortable with some of them as well, such as suicide, grieving, etc., that may be challenging for certain students. Parents should have the tools they need to determine if they would like to opt-out their child. The district wants to partner with parents and for communication to be two-way. Barlow asked if the standards are district or state and Burke replied that they are state standards. Peling asked how students will know in advance if they will be uncomfortable. Burke stated the lesson’s objective and its expected learning goal are posted on the board for students. He also asked if the district can pick and choose which standards to include in the curriculum and teach to students. Logan stated the district should be cautious in micromanaging teachers but better communication needs to take place and can be improved upon. Zafar stated people are upset and asked if a student opts out are parents informed. The answer is: not currently. Zafar believes parents should receive a notification. He also asked that the opt-out process be communicated earlier in the year, with reminders.
Superintendent’s Annual Report
Burke presented her Annual Report for the 2024–25 school year and stated she sees her role as a superintendent to inspire her staff. For details, please read the meeting minutes, available on the BOE website.
Transfer of FY26 Funds to
Small Capital Fund
The board considered the approval of a not-to-exceed $650,000 from the BOE General Fund to the Small Capital Fund in order to fund the cost of a new roof on the central office building, bleachers in the high school gymnasium and additional funding towards the plan for District Safety and Security. The board unanimously approved.
BOE Capital Plan Approval
Burke stated a 10-year capital improvement plan was established with the town and this plan was previously adopted in June 2024. CPPAC will meet in June and the BOE needs to identify and prioritize the projects: turf and track field replacement, GMMS renovation, BOE building roof replacement, district facility storage and district safety and security program. The board unanimously approved.
Looking for additional information?
You can access the full minutes from any town meeting by visiting granby-ct.gov/AgendaCenter