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Greenwich School District board meeting, date not confirmed yet

1 h 57 min

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 57 min.

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What happened

What happened at this meeting

Greenwich board approves youth survey and Western Middle School entrance waiver request 37:38

  • The board voted 7⁠-⁠0 to approve a plan to administer the Greenwich Together Youth Survey to students in grades 7 through 12 in the Greenwich Public Schools. 37:54
  • The board also voted 7⁠-⁠0 to approve submitting a written request to the Board of Selectmen seeking a waiver of the School Building Committee requirement under Section 2⁠-⁠39 for the Western Middle School main entrance project. 52:59
  • A district staff member reported a total enrollment of 8,133 students for the 2026⁠-⁠2027 school year, compared to 8,319 last year, a decrease of 186 students or 2.2%. 53:39
  • Board members also heard financial, technology and human resources reports and asked questions of the presenters. 1:07:43
Item by item (14)
  1. Opening and approval of minutes 0:00
    • The meeting opened with the Pledge of Allegiance and a consent agenda item to approve minutes of the September 24th and October 8th special meetings. 0:00
    • Karen Krause made a motion to approve the meeting minutes. 0:51
    • The minutes were approved 7⁠-⁠0. 1:02
  2. Monthly reports 0:56
    • A district staff member said the PSAT was given at GHS that day and that this is the first year 9th graders will take the PSAT 9 in the fall and again in the spring. 1:10
    • The staff member said the budget presentation would take place in 2 weeks. 2:18
  3. Committee reports 2:28
    • Veronica Chiavaroli said the Riverside School Building Committee selected Arcadis as owner's representative and that updated cost estimates would be reviewed with the capital plan at the end of November. 2:35
    • Veronica Chiavaroli said a school building committee is planning for Phase 4, anticipated to begin in the summer of 2027, which will focus on making classrooms ADA compliant. 2:35
    • Bob Chaney said the Central Middle School Building Committee is on track and plans to hold RTM and BOE meetings in November at the new building. 5:29
  4. Student government reports 6:24
    • Student representatives reported on class activities and fundraisers at GHS. 6:39
    • A student representative said pushback on the phone ban had decreased but that there had been pushback on the AirPod and wireless headphone ban. 8:34
    • The student representative said student government was working on a proposal to possibly update the headphone policy based on student input. 10:09
  5. Employee and parent group reports 10:40
    • A speaker asked board members to submit a budget proposal that reflects the real needs of the schools, even if that means exceeding guidelines. 12:42
    • A second speaker reported on school fundraising activities and said the group wants to see updated goals for academics districtwide. 13:39
  6. Community comments 17:26
    • Speakers at public comment described the role of the Special Education Advisory Council in advising the board on special education. 18:26
    • A speaker asked the board to work with the council to establish a quarterly process for sharing and reviewing its recommendations. 23:46
    • A scheduled virtual speaker could not be located, and the board moved on. 24:54
  7. Youth survey administration 25:08
    • Karen Krause asked whether the survey had any commercial use, and a presenter confirmed it was only for community use. 28:20
    • A presenter said parents can review the survey beforehand and opt their children out, and that results are not broken out by school. 29:01
    • Jonathan Katz asked whether the group had explored third-person questions to address social desirability bias, and a presenter said that format is used in youth focus groups. 35:54
    • The board voted 7⁠-⁠0 to approve administering the Greenwich Together Youth Survey to students in grades 7 through 12. 37:54
  8. Building committee waiver for entrance project 37:53
    • A speaker said the project is about $2.5 million including contingencies and is about 65% designed. 39:58
    • Karen Krause asked whether the project would not seek state or federal reimbursement because it was ineligible or too small, and a speaker said it was the latter. 41:36
    • In response to Jeffrey Csoka, a speaker said 68 of 81 capital line items have no building committee and are managed by the district. 42:38
    • After a 5-minute break, the board voted 7⁠-⁠0 to approve submitting the waiver request to the Board of Selectmen. 52:59
  9. Official enrollment update 52:56
    • A district staff member reported total enrollment of 8,133 students, a decrease of 186 students or 2.2%, and projected K-12 enrollment to bottom out at approximately 7,610 in 2029 before reaching 7,896 by 2036. 53:39
    • The staff member said high-needs students rose from 29.7% to 31.7% of total enrollment. 53:39
    • Karen Krause asked whether projections were adjusted for new apartment applications, and a staff member said that data was not reflected and an update would come. 58:02
  10. Technology department report 1:07:39
    • A staff member from the IT department said the team supports over 3,000 district computers and handled approximately 14,000 support tickets last year, with 98% of survey respondents reporting satisfaction. 1:07:43
    • Bob Chaney commented on the department's retention rate. 1:13:02
  11. September financial report 1:13:46
    • A staff member said about $48 million had been spent and encumbered through September, or 23% of the budget, compared to 26% last year. 1:13:53
    • The staff member said daily breakfasts rose from about 360 to 677 and that the free breakfast program is cost neutral with state reimbursement. 1:15:21
    • Jeffrey Csoka asked where department code 600 appeared in the table, and a staff member said the administration figures roll up into that total. 1:16:50
  12. Human resources and staff absenteeism report 1:18:29
    • A presenter said the district had hired 63 new teachers and 46 new professional assistants since July 1st. 1:19:47
    • Karen Krause asked whether the district had enough substitutes, and the presenter said it had plenty. 1:40:04
    • The presenter said the state provided funds for professional assistants of between $1,000 and $1,200 individually to offset insurance costs. 1:53:32
  13. Agenda plan discussion 1:54:35
    • A speaker said the Finance Committee planned to discuss the capital budget on November 6th before deciding when it would go on the board agenda. 1:55:42
    • Karen Krause noted the board had agreed to rename the absenteeism report as a quarterly HR update. 1:56:15
  14. Adjournment 1:56:48
    • A motion to adjourn was made and seconded. 1:56:54
    • The motion to adjourn passed 7⁠-⁠0. 1:57:00

Written by software from the meeting's transcript and checked sentence by sentence against it.

What was said

What board members said, in order

One, how adequately is our current pool of substitutes addressing the absentee rates that we're running right now? Do we have enough subs?Karen Krause · Secretary1:40:04
Other meetings

Other meetings of this board

Video: posted by the district as “October 22, 2026 Board of Education Business Meeting”