Board of Education

Middletown School Readiness Council Meeting Agenda Date: Wednesday, 12:00 - 12:30 P.M. May 17, 2023 Location: Remotely at our homes/offices Zoom Link: https://mpsct.zoom.us/j/93307684872?pwd=ZVJYNno2dno5YVBqbjV5Q1BxVDR2QT09 Attendance: Colleen Allyne Wendy Berlind x Camille Smith Sheila Daniels x Dawn Dubay x Colleen Fitzpatrick Dina Ford Heather Granja x Izzi Greenberg x Marla Hinz x Lina Kronenberger x Beverly Lawrence x Sarah Mack x Rohan Manning Cliff O’Callahan Christine O’Grady Michelle Peterson-Aresco Precious Price Vacianna Spaulding Dr. Vazquez-Matos Also Present: Submitted/Recorded by: Agenda Item Discussion/Motion Recommendations/Action Items Welcome Dawn opened the meeting at 12:00 P.M. thanking everyone for signing onto the meeting today.. 1. Introductions & Announcements: FRC: Sarah noted the FRC is doing well and preparing for summer programming. POP: Beverly had a story hour last night with the story being read in English and Spanish. She said it went well. She is getting ready for their Dance Party in the activity room at Russell Library this coming Saturday. EHS: Heather shared they are having their Partners Brunch on May 31st and are working on programming for the next year. Wendy is going to get books from the Friends of Russell Library over to Dawn’s office. Amy Slowik has been hired at Russell Library to take over the position held by Jenn  Billingsley. She is already working on increasing program offerings for weekends and is also working on summer offerings. Congrats to Wendy on reaching her tenure as a 12 yr max volunteer at Russell Library! Even Start: Lina noted graduation at MAE is coming up with two grads from her program. Families are at Mystic today. She noted the good relationship with FRC. Lina added that Sarah facilitated a Circle of Security training program. Lina is retiring after 30 years. Our best to Lina! HS: Marla noted things are good at HS. She is waiting to see where they will be in the Fall. Hoping to remain at Snow School. The current class is good with 12 children.enrolled. It was difficult to expand those numbers due to the late start. She is expecting a full class of 18 next Fall. Staff is set in place. Six children are going to K in the Fall. Some children will be enrolled in the Summer FRC program so that will 2. Acceptance of help them transition to K. Minutes: Accepting minutes of the April meeting: Izzi moved to accept the minutes. Wendy 3. Financial & seconded. Motion carried. Coordinator’s Report: Izzi Leg Update:Debt limit ceiling passed early in the session is impeding funds being available. Baby Bonds are back on the table, HUSKY for Immigrants is also being considered. State level child tax breaks, eviction and other housing proposals are on the table. Still work to be done to support children and families. Childcare for CT is still working hard to promote issues. There’s a postcard delivery initiative going on. You can go to the Capital. She noted CBIA was on this week to discuss health insurance, and Blue Ribbon Panel is very interesting. People from across a lot of sectors are involved. Dawn added Monday morning virtual meetings continue to be well attended. Izzi agreed. There will be a leg. Update and also a covid update. She said the next few weeks of Monday meetings will be good. Dawn reminded the council the summer program is starting on July 8th. Enrollment is limited and they are working on staffing. Looking for volunteers to support the children with needs. Not confident in meeting the needs of the children without volunteers. Purposeful Play and Exec. Function Session on June 6th for additional training at T&C to support P. Play. K discussions ongoing with the district. Classroom max of 18 not exceeding that amount and support for children without IEPs. K teams are currently visiting PreK programs to see incoming K children. U. Way is no longer the fiscal party for us and other groups in the City. Legal concerns led to this decision. This led to a big decision to move QE funds to the BOE.  This will be a positive move with QE monies earmarked to enhance quality in programs with consultants. Sheila will continue at some level. Dawn will take this task on. She noted change is never easy. In other matters; there are challenges at the program level involving staff. Izzi noted the changes are sad and there will be bad repercussions. The Middlesex Coalition is impacted as well by changes at United Way. Dawn is still looking for parents and other community people to come on board as the SRC members. In June, the typical SRC meeting will be held after school is out for the year on June 21st. Dawn is going to meet with Marla and spend some time with her staff discussing Purposeful Play and Executive. Function. 5. Other: 6. Adjournment: The next meeting of the The meeting was adjourned at 12:41P.M. School Readiness Council will be on Wednesday, Jun 21, 2023. Middletown School Readiness Council Shaping our Children’s School Success