Board of Education

Please Notes: These minutes are pending Board approval. Board of Education Newtown, Connecticut Minutes of the Board of Education Meeting held on July 8, 2025 at 7:00 p.m. in the Council Chambers, 3 Primrose Street, Newtown, CT. A. Plante, Chair A. Uberti J. Vouros, Vice Chair F. Purcaro D. Zukowski, Secretary T. Gouveia. S. Tomai 11 Staff C. Gilson 3 Public D. Linnetz 1 Press B. Leonardi Mrs. Plante called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. Item 1 – Pledge of Allegiance Item 2 – Action on Appointment of Middle Gate School Principal MOTION: Ms. Zukowski moved that the Board of Education accept the recommendation of the Superintendent and appoint Jenna Connors principal of Middle Gate Elementary School. Mr. Vouros seconded. Mrs. Uberti couldn’t be happier as the Board appoints Jenna Connors as the next principal of Middle Gate School. Jenna brings a wealth of experience to the role having served the Newtown Public Schools as a math specialist and lead teacher at Hawley, Assistant Principal at Reed Intermediate School, and most recently Interim Principal at Middle Gate. Her deep understanding of curriculum, commitment to student success, and strong relationships with the Middle Gate staff and the school community positions her to lead Middle Gate with confidence and care and this is very well deserved. Motion passes unanimously. Mrs. Plante congratulated Mrs. Connors, that she has the Board’s support, and they were happy to have her fully in place for next year. Mrs. Connors thanked everyone for their trust and confidence and she is honored to serve as principal. Ms. Zukowski requested to remove the donation from the consent agenda. Item 3 – Consent Agenda MOTION: Ms. Zukowski moved that the Board of Education approve the consent agenda which includes the correspondence report. Mr. Vouros seconded. Motion passes unanimously. Item 4 – Public Participation Item 5 - Reports There was no Chair report. Superintendent’s Report: Mrs. Uberti referred to the article in The Newtown Bee regarding the recycling efforts in the schools and commended John Barlow and Judit DeStefano for their leadership in launching this composting initiative. Sandy Hook School piloted it last fall and it was rolled out to the other elementary schools by mid-year. The financial benefit for us was a $25,000 savings in district hauling costs. It’s been a true town partnership with collaboration with public works and the composting station at the transfer station. She previously reported that there are serious and costly HVAC problems at the high school and was pleased to report after meeting with the Town yesterday there may be funding available for replacement of problem equipment. John Barlow is working on a proposal and we will meet with the Town in a Board of Education -2- July 8, 2025 couple of weeks. Our administrators are reviewing outcomes from last year and planning for the next school year. Last year building and operational goals were presented to the Board and she is working with Mr. Purcaro to possibly start the process earlier. There were no committee or liaison reports. Mrs. Plante reported that Reed is doing an awesome summer reading program. Item 6 – Old Business Action on Minutes of June 3, 2025 MOTION: Ms. Zukowski moved that the Board of Education approve the minutes of June 3, 2025. Mr. Vouros seconded. Motion passes unanimously. Action on Minutes of June 10, 2025: MOTION: Ms. Zukowski moved that the Board of Education approve the minutes of June 10, 2025. Mr. Vouros seconded. Motion passes unanimously. Second Read and Action on Policies: MOTION: Ms. Zukowski moved that the Board of Education approve Policy 5137 Connecticut School Climate Policy and Administrative Regulations. Mr. Vouros seconded. Motion passes unanimously. MOTION: Ms. Zukowski moved that the Board of Education approve Policy 3434 Annual Audits. Mr. Vouros seconded. Motion passes unanimously. Second Read and Action on Non-Mandated Policies to Rescind: MOTION: Ms. Zukowski moved that the Board of Education approve rescinding policies 1-18 in Section 6D under Old Business. Mr. Vouros seconded. Motion passes unanimously. Second Read and Action on Grades 5 and 6 Computer Integration Curriculum: MOTION: Ms. Zukowski moved that the Board of Education approve the Grades 5 and 6 Computer Integration Curriculum. Mr. Vouros seconded. Motion passes unanimously. MOTION: Ms. Zukowski moved that the Board of Education approve the Differential Equations Curriculum. Mr. Vouros seconded. Motion passes unanimously. Second Read and Action on Spanish I Resource “Reporteros:” MOTION: Ms. Zukowski moved that the Board of Education approve the Spanish I resource “Reporteros.” Mr. Vouros seconded. Motion passes unanimously. Item 7 – New Business NFT Negotiations Process overview Mrs. Plante reviewed the process for the upcoming Newtown Federation of Teachers contract negotiations this summer. Discussion and Possible Action on Tuition for the 2025-2026 School Year: MOTION: Ms. Zukowski moved that the Board of Education set the tuition for the 2025-2026 school year at $24,826. Mr. Vouros seconded. Ms. Gouveia explained how the tuition is calculated. The amount is 6.36% higher than last year. Last year the Board approved a 5% increase. Since Covid the Board approved lower Board of Education -3- July 8, 2025 amounts. We have six staff members’ children who are enrolled. They benefit from the 25% cost decrease for the first child and 15% for any other children. Ms. Tomai was in favor of keeping it closer to a standard increase. Ms. Zukowski asked if there was a reason for the 25% decrease. Mrs. Plante noted that it was in the policy and suggested the amount of $24,000. Mrs. Linnetz said we don’t know what the district is going to achieve with this increase. She feels the amount is what it costs to educate a student and asked if it could be brought to the Policy Committee for a discussion. Ms. Zukowski agreed taking it to policy. Mr. Leonardi agreed. The tuition rate should be based on what the per pupil cost should be and have our employees pay a percentage of the full cost. MOTION: Ms. Zukowski moved to amend the tuition for the 2025-2626 school year to $24,000. Mr. Vouros seconded. Vote: 6 ayes, 1 nay (Mr. Leonardi) Motion passes. Ms. Zukowski called the motion as amended passes 6 to 1. MOTION: Ms. Zukowski moved that we accept the donation to Newtown Public Schools originally in the consent agenda. Mr. Vouros seconded. Ms. Zukowski said it would be nice for the public to know about this donation. Mrs. Uberti explained that the proposal for this gift was brought to the district safety and security committee which includes several members of the Town’s emergency management team, the Director of Health, the Chief of Police and members of his department, the First Selectman, a member of the Board of Education, myself and the Director of Security and they agreed that this would be something they would support. They philophically agreed that no one piece of equipment or strategy will ensure staff safety. All of our buildings are hardened which prevents an intruder. If someone were to enter with a concealed weapon, the only thing to protect the building is an armed guard. No one is suggesting this would be 100% foolproof but its part of a safety management plan. She believes this is why the weapons detection system would be implemented at Newtown High School. This is a gift by the Sandy Hook School Foundation which is looking to sunset their foundation and have to expend the remainder of their funds. The funds are in alignment of their mission statement. Those funds have been used for extremely wonderful things supporting the schools and the survivors. This is what they would like to donate the money for. Initial questions are around the logistics and would have to be answered. There would need to have an implementation and rollout plan. They changed the language in the donation to allow us to do this work and she suggested October 30. She has many questions which would have to be answered before we can accept it. They have the right to revoke the funds if we can’t implement it. Ms. Zukowski asked if we got any input from social services or school climate resources. Mrs. Uberti said it would be premature to ask for input on something we don’t have and don’t know if we will have it. We have to see if there might be potential roadblocks. The Board has to decide whether to accept the gift or not. If it is accepted it falls under her purview to see if its something we can implement. There is a level of trust that she would be doing what is in the best interest of the schools. Dr. Longobucco would be involved with other stakeholders. Board of Education -4- July 8, 2025 Ms. Tomai noted that the Board was just made aware of this the middle of June and many of us had questions. Ms. Tomai read the following statement. “Metal detectors in schools may negatively impact student mental health, potentially increasing anxiety, stress, and feelings of fear or insecurity. Research indicates that students in schools with metal detectors may not feel more safe than those in schools without them, and may even feel less safe. The presence of these security measures can create a climate of fear and oversurveillance, making it harder for students to trust and feel a sense of belonging, which are crucial for a healthy learning environment. Implementing metal detectors should only be after a comprehensive assessment of all risks and threats, as well as mental health costs.” “According to the National Center for Education Statistics, about 2% of elementary schools, 7% of middle schools, and 10% of high schools in the U.S. use metal detectors. According to the National School Safety and Security Service, “metal detectors used on a daily basis are typically limited to large urban school districts with a chronic history of weapons-related offenses. U.S. schools regularly using stationary metal detectors on a day-to-day basis are the exception, not the rule.” Before the Board of Education of Newtown Public Schools makes a decision to be an exception to the rule that could have massive negative impacts on the metal health, education experience and education outcome of our students, just because it’s “a free gift”, it is imperative that we do a thorough assessment of actual risk and perceived reward. This is a very strong step in a direction that cannot be undone and there is no clear evidence that it actually increases safety. I am not in favor of this.” Mr. Leonardi said that security checkpoints have become a fact of life. As it relates to schools, a study between 1970 and 2020 the overwhelming majority of shooters were age 13 to 18. If we have professionals in our district, including the Director of Security, who has advised that the high school is one of the least secure buildings and have a chance to enhance that security we need to take a hard look at this opportunity to bring metal detectors into the school. The Board of Education has a stated goal of ensuring that all the buildings meet violence protection standards and our job is to make tough decisions. He appreciates Ms. Tomai’s comments but would hate if something happened and we did not take this gift. He is in full support of this. Ms. Zukowski asked what we were trying to solve. Newtown doesn’t have a crime history of weapons-related incidents. This will create a false sense of security. We have to look at the impact of this on every staff member, student, and parents entering the school. It would also cause more anxiety. She cannot support this gift. Ms. Tomai added that the Citizens for Juvenile Justice did a study in 2023 and addressed metal detectors in schools which caused students to feel uncomfortable and the Wilder Research Institute found metal detectors can have a ripple effect on students’ mental health potentially leading to increased stress and disturbances leading to PTSD. Mr. Vouros agreed with Mr. Leonardi. If we were to accept this gift and proceed as Mrs. Uberti stated, there would be students involved in these decisions and ultimately it will be brought back to the Board. Mrs. Uberti said there would be communication with the Board throughout the process. The foundation explored options for the gift they are offering. Ms. Zukowski wished the gift was money possibly going to the Town social services to help children struggling with mental illness. Mrs. Plante noted that the nature of the gift is you don’t get to decide what the gift is. Board of Education -5- July 8, 2025 Mr. Vouros clarified that if we accept the gift the Board doesn’t get to reject or offer alternatives. Mrs. Uberti said there are a lot of logistical questions that need to be answered. She would be updating the Board on what those challenges were and if we were able to lay out what that would look like. Assuming we determine there is a path to do this, there would be an implementation plan that would be shared with the Board. Once the gift is accepted and we decide we can’t implement it, we would have to return the gift because it can only be used for that purpose. Mr. Vouros verified that we have until October 30 to do all preliminary work and if we don’t like what we are hearing we give the money back. Mrs. Plante would feel more comfortable if there was contingency built in to bring this back to the Board to sign off on the implementation plan so we do see it again. Ms. Zukowski asked if we could postpone the discussion so we can get more input to see if the Board could support such a gift. Mrs. Plante feels we should vote tonight and see if the majority of the Board accepts the gift in concept and be sure we do some research to be sure the student and community voices are heard. Ms. Tomai was not sure we could get all of the data we need and alternative options to see what the parents and students would feel comfortable with. October is not enough time to get this information. We needs a full assessment and to look at alternatives that would be less intrusive. Mrs. Plante said we have to decide if we can implement this or not. Dr. Gilson agrees with what Ms. Tomai and Ms. Zukowski said. He verified if we do the shelter in place and lockdowns. Mrs. Uberti said we do shelter in place and modified lockdown drills in the schools. She doesn’t know how the community will react. We began the school year on the heels of a school shooting where the student took a weapon from their locker and after that incident she received a number of emails from parents asking why we don’t have something to prevent this in our schools. Dr. Gilson asked if this would be something we would be considering to put in our budget if it wasn’t a gift. Mrs. Uberti said we’ve had a number of safety enhancement products presented to the safety and security committee but this one has not. We can’t afford any of them. Dr. Gombos is a member of the Sandy Hook School Foundation and district security committee and in their discussions it came up about looking at safety enhancing products. Ms. Tomai said we haven’t had the opportunity to look at other products and learn the impact. This has not been given enough consideration of the damage it could cause. What are we trying to combat with this? Mrs. Uberti said we are trying to prevent a student from coming into the building with a concealed weapon and causing catastrophic damage to other students. Ms. Tomai stated this was not a priority we considered addressing in our own budget and she does not consider it a gift. Board of Education -6- July 8, 2025 Mrs. Linnetz understands the frustrations we are hearing and agrees with a lot of the points that Mr. Leonardi made and the suggestion Mrs. Plante made of bringing back your findings for an implementation plan so the Board can understand what that would be and be part of the approval. The SHS Foundation has a mission regarding the physical and emotional well-being of our students and have done tremendous work and she doesn’t want the Foundation to feel the intent of their gift is nothing but good. She believes a lot of the information shared is factual and generalized and feels those most familiar with our district needs to take a deep dive and comeback with a recommendation to the Board so she is comfortable voting to accept the gift understanding that Superintendent Uberti and her team will do significant diligence in evaluating whether this makes sense for implementation in our high school. MOTION: Ms. Zukowski moved to amend the motion to add “provided that the findings and implementation are presented to the Board for its approval by October 7”. Mr. Vouros seconded. Dr. Gilson would like to hear from the public. Ms. Tomai also feels the public should be involved and open to public participation. Mrs. Plante said the public could provide input at any of our meetings. Mrs. Linnetz asked if this needs to be in our motion and wants to know the critical pieces to make the decision. Ms. Tomai wants it to be clear that what needs to be presented we feel comfortable enough to make the decision which will include an appropriate level of public participation, an assessment and demonstration of the actual risks, and a thoughtful analysis of the mental health impacts. Dr. Gilson trusts Mrs. Uberti’s judgement and that she will respond to our concerns. He would caution about some of the research. It is on what would be best for our schools. MOTION: Ms. Tomai moved to amend the amendment to state “provided that the findings which shall include a reasonable amount of public participation and feedback and an analysis of the potential mental health impacts as well as alternatives shall be presented to the Board in addition to any related implementation plan for Board approval. Mrs. Plante was comfortable with Ms. Zukowski’s amendment. Vote on Ms. Tomai’s amendment: 4 ayes, 3 nays (Mrs. Plante, Dr. Gilson, Mrs. Linnetz: Amendment passes. Vote on Final Amendment: Ms. Zukowski moved to amend the motion to add “provided that the findings and implementation are presented to the Board for its approval by October 7” and add Ms. Tomai’s modification to the amendment to add “and provided that the findings which shall include a reasonable amount of public participation and feedback and an analysis of the potential mental health impacts as well as alternatives shall be presented to the Board in addition to any related implementation plan for Board approval. Vote: 7 ayes Amendment passes. Mrs. Uberti asked what alternatives Ms. Tomai referred to in her amendment. Ms. Tomai said once we establish the risks, it would be important to consider less intrusive ways of providing protection. Board of Education -7- July 8, 2025 Vote on main motion to accept the gift: 5 ayes 2 nays (Ms. Zukowski, Ms. Tomai) Motion passes. Item 8 – Public Participation MOTION: Mr. Vouros moved to adjourn. Dr. Gilson seconded. Motion passes unanimously. Item 9 – Adjournment The meeting adjourned at 8:44 p.m. Respectfully submitted: _____________________________________ Deborra J. Zukowski Secretary