Cromwell School District board meeting, date not confirmed yet
1 h 11 min · 0 public speakers
This board doesn’t post agenda times. Click a board member to jump to where they first speak; we list only members whose voice our check named. Video length 1 h 11 min.
- Who spoke · first speaks at
- Kelly FranklinBoard member
- Jessica LambBoard member
- Donna MatteiBoard member
- Laurie CantwellBoard member
- Alan SchumannBoard member
- Stephen HeizmanBoard member
- Kathryn RussSecretary
What happened
What happened at this meeting
Cromwell board revisits ECS teacher position and takes no action 8:41
- The board revisited a budget decision to remove a teacher position at ECS, and a district staff member recommended not adding the position back. 8:41
- Board members discussed enrollment projections, student-teacher ratios and the use of surplus funds. 13:02
- The board voted to table the discussion and revisit it as part of next year's budget process, and the motion carried. 1:05:49
Until Nov 4, lines where a board member takes a side don't name the member. Why →
Item by item (9)
- Call to order and agenda 6:57
- Staff recommendation on ECS staffing 8:41
- The board took up a request to revisit removal of an ECS teacher position that had passed through the budget process. 8:41
- A district staff member said moving a 2nd grade teacher to kindergarten would put classes at 15.3 students in kindergarten, 17 in 1st grade and 18.6 in 2nd grade, and recommended not adding another position back right now. 10:18
- The staff member said adding the position would be a bad precedent with staff in other buildings and other town departments. 11:24
- Board discussion of the teacher position 13:02
- One board member said an estimated 338 students with 20 teachers in '26-'27 would be a ratio of 1 to 16.9, noted the district ended 2 years with a surplus, and said another teacher is needed in the building. 14:10
- One board member said they were open to a 1-year position or to reinstating the position as full time. 15:48
- One board member said they would lean on the recommendation to stay the course with what had been proposed. 19:01
- Questions on staff vacancies and funding 19:16
- Donna Mattei asked about the number of long-term substitute vacancies 7 days before the start of school. 22:35
- A staff member said the district was working to fill the positions and hoped all would be filled before August 24th. 25:07
- A staff member said the board's attorney advised that the board could re-add a position using surplus funds or by directing the staff member to find it in the general budget, but said doing so after the budget process is not considered good practice. 35:31
- Further board comments on the position 25:32
- Dispute over budgeted teacher count 39:55
- Stephen Heizman said the budget had 22 teachers in '25-'26 and 21 in '26-'27, while the class size proposal is based on 20 teachers. 42:24
- A staff member said there was only 1 position not filled, due to attrition, and only 1 cut. 45:01
- One board member said the budget process was not transparent and that public comment was not added to the meeting; the speaker running the meeting said the attorney recommends against public comment at special meetings. 51:08
- School staff report on supports 53:06
- A school staff member said kindergarten enrollment went from 96 to 123 and that moving a 2nd grade teacher to kindergarten would bring class sizes to 15.3 in kindergarten and 18.6 in grade 2. 55:17
- The staff member described supports including the ESS program, the ROOT Center and staff training, and said 15.3 students would be sufficient. 56:35
- One board member said they felt confident with where the district stood and wanted updates during the school year. 59:49
- Motion on the teacher position 1:05:38
- Public comment eligibility and adjournment 1:09:36
Written by software from the meeting's transcript and checked sentence by sentence against it.
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