May 4, 2022 at 7:00 PM - Regular BoE Meeting

Rationale: 
Wilfredo "Vito" Hernandez - Community Outreach Worker - BEHS and BCHS - 1998 - 2019
Security Guard  - Bristol Adult Education Program - 2001 - 2003

Jean (King) Masotti - Teacher - Grades 1-3 - Greene-Hills, Bingham, O'Connell, Mountain View and Jennings - 1959 - 1973

Rationale:  See the attached listing for the names of all recipients.
1. Invention Convention Winners
2. 100 Women of Color Award - Tamara Stafford-Kirk - P.E. Teacher -  Bristol Central
3. CABE Student Leadership
4. CTPTA Teacher of the Year - Julia Darcy - Grade 5 - Greene-Hills
5. Staff Achievement Award Winners
6. Teacher Appreciation Week
7. Administrative Assistants Day
8. Para-Professional Appreciation

Rationale: 
1. April 6, 2022 - Regular Meeting
2. April 20, 2022 - Special Meeting

Rationale: 

Communication & Community Relations	Finance	Operations	Personnel	Policy Committee	Student Achievement
Kristen Giantonio, Chair	Dante Tagariello, Chair	Eric Carlson, Chair	John Sklenka, Chair	Kristen Giantonio, Chair	Todd Sturgeon, Chair
Shelby Pons	Kristen Giantonio	John Sklenka	Eric Carlson	Shelby Pons	Kristen Giantonio
Dante Tagariello	Karen Vibert	Chris Wilson	Karen Vibert	Todd Sturgeon	Chris Wilson
Alternates:
Eric Carlson	John Sklenka	Todd Sturgeon	Todd Sturgeon	Dante Tagariello	Dante Tagariello

Rationale:  Student representatives from Bristol Central and Bristol Eastern will share activities, surveys, suggestions, and topics of interest in their respective schools.
Bristol Central                                         Bristol Eastern
Sydney Rodriquez - Senior *                   Trisha Mohan - Senior
Fatima Aamir - Junior                               Pushpita Hussain - Junior 
                                                                 Max Stavens - Junior *                                             

Rationale: 
Chair Jennifer Dube will update the Board and the public on topics related to the Board of Education.

Rationale: 

Dr. Carbone will report/update the Board on the following topics:

1. District Updates
2. Reimaging BPS 2022
   1. BAIMS Update

Rationale: 
Fippinger, AnnMarie - BOE - Director of Student Transportation

Rationale: 

Corcoran, Gerald - EDGE - Grade 1 Teacher
DelGobbo, Kelly - BCHS - Special Education Teacher
Lohr, Heather - SSS - Grade 4 Teacher
Nettis, Susan - GH - Instructional Support Teacher, Literacy
Ontko, Sherry - NEMS - Special Education Teacher, Grade 7
Pinette, Paul - BCHS -- Library Media Specialist
Robillard, Angela - GH - Speech and Language Pathologist
Scheer, Betsy - STAF - Instructional Support Teacher, Math

Rationale: 

Diaz, Gregory - BEHS - Technology Education Teacher - effective April 26, 2022
Evanoski, Jessica - WB - Special Education Teacher - effective May 19, 2022
Hoag, Sarah - STAF - Grade 5 Teacher - effective June 15, 2022

Rationale:   

Austin-Mathley, Nathaniel - BAIMS - Social Studies Teacher - effective August 23, 2022
Bouldin, Debra - ID - Grade 4 Teacher - effective August 23, 2022
Sullivan, Marianne - EPH - Grade 2 Teacher - effective TBD

Rationale: 
Silva, Alison - CHMS - Team Leader (Yellow Team) - effective June 15, 2022

Rationale: 

Bagley, Kenneth - BEHS - HS Instrumental Band and HS Instrumental Jazz Band - effective April 4, 2022
Carroll, Lisa - NEMS - Special MS Performing Groups and Instructional Technology Coordinator 6-8 - effective June 15, 2022
Diaz, Gregory - BEHS - Technology Student Association Advisor - effective April 26, 2022
Wininger, Erin - BEHS - Yearbook Advisor - effective June 15, 2022

Rationale: 

Carroll, Lisa - NEMS - Webmaster and Instructional Resource Manager effective June 15, 2022

Rationale:   

Aliff, Jessica - EDGE- Grade 3 Teacher - effective 4/4/2022 through 6/15/2022

Cyr, Alicia - WB - Kindergarten - effective 3/25/2022 - 6/13/2022

Timreck, Kaitlyn - EDGE - Grade 4 Teacher - effective 4/29/2022 through 6/15/2022

Rationale: 
Teachers trained to serve as TEAM (Teacher Education and Mentoring) mentors and cooperating teachers provide assistance and support to student teachers and first year beginning teachers in the district in areas such as lesson design and classroom management and provide feedback and support in the areas of instructional planning and student assessment. Cooperating teachers are those teachers who are trained to work with student teachers. We need to increase the number of cooperating teachers in the district in order to meet the need of student teachers. Mentors must be assigned to first-year teachers to provide mentoring and support to newly certified teachers; this program is required by the State Department of Education. Principals recruit teachers to apply to be a TEAM mentor/cooperating teachers; the applications are reviewed by the TEAM Coordinating Committee. The following teachers were approved by the TEAM Coordinating Committee and are recommended to be TEAM Mentors/cooperating teachers.  Approved teachers must attend a three day training program and update their training every three years.

 

Teacher	Assignment
Craig Bernier	Middle School Science
Logan Bourke	High School Mathematics
Rebecca McElwee	High School English
Lance Pepper	Grade 11 Health
Lindsay Gagnon	Elementary
Shelly Nocera	High School English
Danielle Autencio	Elementary LEAD
Jessica Lundquist	High School ELA

Rationale:   

Members of the public are invited to comment to the Board on any topic related to school business. Items requiring consideration by the Board must be approved as an agenda item by a 2/3ds vote of the Board members present.  Such items may be referred for further study and not necessarily acted upon at this meeting.

Anyone wishing to address the Board should adhere to the following procedures:

Before a Remote Meeting

1. Send your comments to: susaneverett@bristolk12.org
2. Be sure to put PUBLIC COMMENT - BOE in the subject line.
3. Include your name and address.
4. Direct your comments to the Board Chair.
5. Your comments will be read at the meeting by the Board Chair.
6. All comments should be written in an appropriate manner, comments regarding personnel or confidential student information shall not be discussed under public comment.
7. Any comments not adhering to the guidelines will not be read at the meeting.

During a Meeting

1. Everyone is requested to address the Chair for recognition.
2. Each speaker must state his/her name and address.
3. All speakers must observe rules of common etiquette.  Personalities are not to be injected. Anyone violating this rule will be denied the floor. Unless waived by the Chairperson or a majority of the Board,
4. Each speaker shall limit his/her remarks to three (3) minutes.
5. A speaker will not be recognized for a second time on the same topic.
6. The public may speak as agenda topics come up for discussion or information.  Anyone digressing from the topic will be ruled out of order.
7. Written statements and materials may be made available, in advance of comments, for distribution to Board members.
8. Speakers shall state their positions on the subject being discussed.
9. Board members will not respond directly to comments during the Board meeting. The Superintendent will direct the question to the appropriate staff member for follow-up

Rationale: 
After the conceptual estimate was complete, the total project cost estimate is $89,068,092. This stays in line with the Reimagining BPS. This allows for a new building on the current location that will accommodate 748 students. The increase in the cost compared to what was originally presented is due mostly in part to significant escalation.

Rationale: 
With the recent hiring of Lynn Boisvert, as the Director of Finance, we must add her on as an authorized signatory for the Bristol Board of Education. 

Rationale: 

Mrs. Andrea Schacht, Ms. Claudia Lanza and students at Bristol Eastern High School hope to expand their classroom by embarking on a nine day, educational adventure on an Explorica tour to Peru in April of 2023. The students will immerse themselves in the natural splendor and rich history of Peru, home to some of the world’s most ancient civilizations. Full details can be found in the attached itinerary.

In addition to gaining greater cultural sensitivity, global citizenship, environmentalism, and an international perspective on their studies, students return home feeling more confident and independent—qualities that stay with them throughout their academic, professional, and personal lives. 

The dates of our proposed trip are from Thursday, April 6th - Saturday, April 15th, 2023. This allows students to settle back into their homes before returning to classes on Monday, April 17th. One school day will be taken in order to go on this trip. Plans have been made to account for COVID-19 travel restrictions and contingencies, such as the inclusion of the Travel Protection Plus Plan for all students, but we acknowledge that the situation is ongoing, and will continue to update our plans to account for updated guidance. This trip is being presented a year in advance in order to allow families to make affordable monthly payments and plan ahead.

Rationale: 
Dr. Kimberly Culkin, Director of Special Services, will update the Board regarding Special Services programs and topics.

Rationale: 
The K-2 math curriculum was last updated in May of 2011. With the updates that were made this year, we transitioned K-2 to Illustrative Mathematics. This means that students will have consistent programming from kindergarten through Geometry at the high school level.

Rationale: 

 In June 2019, CT PA 19-12 was passed to develop an African American/Black and Puerto Rican/Latino Course of Studies at the high school level. Legislation identified the State Education Resource Center (SERC) as the coordinating entity to develop the curriculum for this course. State statutes require that local or regional boards of education offer this Black and Latino studies course in grades nine to twelve, inclusive, in the school year commencing on July 1, 2022.

The course is an opportunity for students to explore accomplishments, struggles, intersections, perspectives, and collaborations of African American/Black and Puerto Rican/Latino people in the U.S. Students will examine how historical movements, legislation, and wars affected the citizenship rights of these groups and how they, both separately and together, worked to build U.S. cultural and economic wealth and create more just societies in local, national, and international contexts. Coursework will provide students with tools to identify historic and contemporary tensions around race and difference; map economic and racial disparities over time; strengthen their own identity development; and address bias in their communities.

Rationale: 

The 6th grade Modern Band exploratory curriculum is broken down into 3 units which are the fundamental instruments in any modern band. As you can see, students will first learn Guitar, followed by keyboard, and end their semester learning body percussion as a tool to understand the drumset. Any one of these instruments on their own can take years to master, so the course is designed to teach the foundational skills of proper holding and playing technique with basic music literacy. An example of this is found in the Guitar unit where the learning targets range from I CAN: Hold my guitar in proper play position to I CAN: Identify the difference between a C and G chord and perform a two chord pattern song with those chords.

 

As you can see, the curriculum is intentionally scaffolded so that in 7th grade, they are reviewing some instruments (such as guitar) to learn a greater proficiency standard. This can be seen in the learning target, I CAN: Read tablature music and performa song using tablature on my guitar and bass. This is the next level up in terms of music literacy and performance. Additionally, each unit accumulates to the final unit of hip hop where students learn the basics of how to rhyme words in a comprehensive line. The learning target include I CAN: create a 4 verse composition and I CAN: collaborate with my peers to add beats, harmonies, and melodies to my piece. This final unit truly ties in the learning from 6th grade that is expanded upon here in 7th grade to create a composition that utilizes all of the instruments and skills in this culminating project. 

 

In the final year of 8th grade modern band, students again are learning at a higher proficiency level to perform the instruments they have been learning since 6th grade. To go off the same instrument of guitar, in 8th grade, some of the learning targets here read I CAN: Perform the e-minor, C, G, and D major chords using intro strumming patterns and I CAN: independently learn how to play a new chord. Additionally there are 2 more units that go greater in depth and are scaffolded from previous years learning. For example, unit 4 is on song structure where students learn the components that make up a song (intro, verse, chorus and hook) and culminate this into a final project in Unit 5 where students collaborate with one another to create an original song using all the instruments and analyze and apply feedback to their performance as well as provide it to their peers. 

Rationale: 
Along the same principles of modern band for middle school, high school students do not have to have any previous experience playing an instrument to take this course so there is no pre-requisite and students will earn .5 a credit. In thinking ahead to future years of students who will matriculate from BAIMS into this course, the first unit of Learning is an expedited unit for students to learn the basics of guitar, bass, keyboard, and drum set. The proficiency expectation is increased for this high school course as seen in the learning targets of I CAN: perform chord progressions on guitar, bass and keyboard, as well as I CAN: explain basic song structure.

Rationale: 

6th grade exploratory for vocal ensemble centers on ukulele. It is broken down into 4 units so that students can learn the basics of ukulele and accompany themselves while they sing. The learning targets found in Unit 1 are the very basics of ukulele including I CAN demonstrate how to properly hold, tune and play open string on a ukulele. Unit 2 introduces students to the music literacy aspect of playing the ukulele in performing the C Major scale and the skips associated within the C Major scale. Unit 3 culminates the two beginning units so that students are performing chords and finally scaffolds in the final unit of performing on the ukulele while singing simple melodies. 

 

In 7th grade, students experience digital music within the digital music mac lab at BAIMS. There are just 2 units as each unit is rather large and encompasses complex ideas. For example, learning targets found in unit 1 include I CAN select loops from a bank to demonstrate musical style, explain musical loops and how they can be extended in time, demonstrate how layering loops can affect the rhythm and harmon, and refine and present my project to the class. The second unit titled commercial project allows for students to explore the creation of a fictitious project that solves a problem a student is facing or sees someone in their life facing. This leads to the creation of a spoken advertisement to sell the product, use of microphones and recording live sound, creating musical backtrack to accompany the advertisement and refining and editing the work using music software to finalize and present their product. 

 

Finally, in 8th grade students experience songwriting which is broken down into 3 units. In the first unit they learn what standard notation is and chord basics of major and minor triads. This builds off of their knowledge from 7th grade and has a greater emphasis on music literacy proficiency. The second unit teaches students form of current song and students are expected to analyze example music for lyrics and lyrical structure which scaffolds into their own creation of lyrics regarding a topic they are passionate about. The final unit culminates the previous units where students will work directly within a notation or songwriting software to create their own piece with a verse, chorus and bridge as well as lyrics and 4-chord progressions that repeat to create the refrain in their music. This course is even more exciting as it serves as a taste of what the high school level of songwriting will bridge into.

Rationale: 

6-8:  The revision of the 6-12th grade chorus curriculum was intentional. The current curriculum was outdated with standards that were prior to the adoption of the national core arts standards of 2014. What you will see in this first reading is that the unit titles are exactly the same from middle school to high school. This was done intentionally and in a vertical team of our current 6-12th grade chorus teachers who I would like to thank for their work on this curriculum revision: Danielle Abucewicz, Michael Coderre, David Nelson, and Liza Siegel. The shift of this curriculum was powerful as we focused on skills which is applicable to any type of choral ensemble. This means that this same curriculum will be used at BAIMS because the focus is on skill rather than ensemble specific technique. The 15 units intentionally build upon one another and as students progress through the grade levels, the rigor is increased based on the music selection and complexity in each subsequent level and what is pedagogically appropriate.

Rationale: 
9-12: As I stated in the previous slide, this revision was necessary and allowed for us to shift our curriculum to focus on vocal skills rather than ensemble techniques. Because of this shift, this curriculum will also be used for BAIMS as the vocal ensemble curriculum. The difference between BAIMS and BC or BE is that students at BAIMS can take this course for just one semester as opposed to the full year creating the necessary flexibility for students to take a variety of courses at BAIMS. At BC and BE that is not an option, so students at our comprehensive high schools that sign up for chorus will take it for the full year. Again, you see the same titled 15 units of foundational vocal skills that are much more rigorous at the high school level as students are introduced to level 3 music and original pieces of mozart for example that are not arranged which increases the complexity and understandings of music literacy and performance.

Rationale: 

The first level course which focuses on using professional video and photo cameras, and the software used to edit them.  Students make their own videos similar to what content creators post on YouTube and other video services.

• Grades: 9-12

• Pre-requisites: None

• Credit: 0.5

Rationale: 

The advanced digital production course stresses the importance of teamwork. Through a variety of production projects, students will experience the duties of key positions within a television studio. From pre-production to post-production, students will participate in a variety of production roles including: script writer, storyboard designer, performer, anchor, camera operator, floor manager, audio director, teleprompter, technical director, assistant technical director, graphic designer, editor, director, and producer. This advanced course will focus on both studio and field production techniques. Students will have an opportunity to develop TV production skills and post-production techniques. Students will be expected to assist with the TV production of community and school events. Field assignments may require providing your own transportation. This class incorporates current technology used in Television Production Studios. 

• Grades: 9-12

• Pre-requisites: Digital Media Production

• Credit: 0.5

Rationale:  The Board will discuss any new business proper to come before the Board.

Rationale: 

Any communications/information regarding building projects:

1. MBIAMS Committee Update
2. South Side Building Update
3. NEMS Building Committee Update
4. Edgewood Roof Project Update
5. High School Culinary Project Update
6. ESSER/ARP Building Committee Update

Rationale: 

Commissioners will report to the Board on any groups/organizations in which they serve as Board of Education Liaisons and information pertinent to the Board.

This month, Commissioners representing elementary schools will give reports.

Rationale:  There being no other business to come before the Board, the meeting should be adjourned.