In today's August Brookfield Spotlight, First Selectman Tara Carr shared "Three Main Points from the regular Board of Education meeting of July 19, 2023". Please read below!
1. Joy Greenstein, Chair of the Facilities subcommittee, provided an update on several important building projects.
The BHS Guidance Wing Roof Repair project will most likely occur in early September, and will take approximately 10 days.The BHS HVAC controls project is nearly complete.The BHS Boys Locker Room project is underway and demolition is nearly complete. Masonry is in progress. Lockers will be delivered in August and the project should be completed by late August. Bids for the BHS Media Center A/C project have come in higher than the amount budgeted. The Director of Facilities is working with the team to value-engineer the project to complete it within the available budget. The district has approached Aquarion Water with a request to tie into their water line to provide water to WMS. We are awaiting a response from Aquarion.The Building Conditions Study for BHS and WMS is complete and the committee received a draft of the report. A final report will be presented to the Board at a later date. Several custodian positions will be open in the next few months. A head custodian has been hired for CLES. Click here to hear Mrs. Greenstein's full report
2. Mr. Bill Roland, the new Director of Special Education, presented a follow-up plan in response to the CREC Special Education Program Review.
Mr. Roland has been meeting with families as well as building staff to understand the concerns and needs as he integrates himself into the district. Mr. Roland will be conducting a department review regarding programs, outplacements, budgets and allocations to make sure students' needs are being met. Core goals are to establish a road map specific to Special Education that aligns with the district's Strategic Plan across four domains: resources, organizational structures and processes, student learning, and communication and collaboration. Mr. Roland will work with staff to develop a needs assessment to ensure our systems are student-centered and student-focused and will also engage with parents, SEPTO members and building administration to prioritize strategies in order to ensure that the needs of our district's most vulnerable students are being met. Click here for Mr. Roland's complete presentation
Candlewood Lake Road is being widened, and site work will be continuing through this Fall. The HHES gym has been demolished and the footbridge to CLES has been constructed. The CLES Administrative team met today and will meet again next week to finalize hard dates for Kindergarten orientation, teacher move-in, and Grades 1-5 walk-throughs. The week of August 14 is the target week that teachers could begin setting up classrooms and the week of August 28 is likely the week that students can visit the building (CLES/district communications will be forthcoming the week of August 1st once dates are finalized). Playscape and smallwares have been ordered. Classroom floors are done and cleaning is being scheduled. Boxes are being moved into corresponding rooms. School supplies were delivered to WMS as a staging area for CLES and will be moved to the new school in the coming weeks. Pre-K hallways are nearly complete. Protective covering has been removed from most Terrazzo flooring. Multi-purpose room floor will likely be done the third week of August. The gym will be the last room to be finished. Technology, including phones, computers, smart boards and cameras are nearly ready. Sidewalks and courtyards are nearly finished. Click here to hear the presentation from Superintendent Barile and Rosa Fernandes as well as the latest slide deck from CLES!