The quarterly Easton, Redding and Region 9 boards of education joint meeting on Jan. 28 addressed the implementation of a state law to address bullying and teen dating violence in schools.
Under Public Act 23-167, all public school districts are required to implement numerous changes to their bully policies outlined in their School Climate Policy. The changes must be in place no later than July 1, 2025.
Alisha DiCorpo, assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction, is spearheading the ER9 program.
The Connecticut School Climate Policy was developed by the Connecticut Association of Boards of Education with technical and substantive guidance from the Commission on Women, Children, Seniors, Equity & Opportunity and other members of the statewide Social Emotional Learning and School Climate Collaborative.
Shipman & Goodwin, legal counsel for the ER9 schools, will release specific details on what is required, and DiCorpo has already begun implementing the program. Along with attending training sessions, she is working to develop additional professional development opportunities for school personnel. Parents and students will be sent a safe school climate survey to assess how safe students feel in their schools. Parents can opt out of the survey if they choose.
Board members also discussed Chartwells’ contract for managing the school cafeterias. The current contract with Chartwells, provider of the schools’ meal programs, is up for renewal. The boards must decide whether to maintain their relationship with Chartwells or search for another provider. School administrators will distribute a survey to students and parents about their experiences with the cafeterias.
The final subject addressed was the presentation and acceptance of the Central Office budget for the 2025-26 school year. This budget allows for shared resources, split between the Easton, Redding and Region 9 school districts. Inflation and the need to maintain essential services drive increases.
The major budget drivers include salaries, which will grow by 3.25% (or $55,931); employee benefits, which will grow by 21.62% (or $52,169); professional services, which will grow by 20% (or $10,000); and lease, utilities and building maintenance, which will grow by 4.02% (or $5,455).
The budget also factors in cost efficiency offsets. Supply expenses will decrease by 5.29% (or $900), and technology, phone and internet expenses will decrease by 26.06% (or $21,504).
The total budget will grow from $2,269,951 for the 2024-25 school year to $2,371,404 for the 2025-26 school year, an increase of 4.47% (or $101,451). Each district’s portion will be $790,468, an increase of $33,817.
“We hope that our communities can support this nominal cost variance that carefully manages necessary expenses while incorporating cost-saving efforts to support district operations responsibly,” said Sara Scrofani, assistant superintendent.
The biggest Central Office change does not impact the budget. The districts’ current director of special education, Katherine Matz, is resigning from her position to pursue an opportunity at the state Department of Education. Superintendent Dr. Jason McKinnon proposed changing the title of the position from director to assistant superintendent of special education.
“This change does not have a budgetary impact on Easton and Redding because the new position will be budgeted at the same salary,” McKinnon said. “This strategic change is in line with other DRG A districts and is designed to attract more qualified and experienced applicants for this position.”
District Reference Group (DRG) A is a classification system that groups local and regional public school districts based on the socioeconomic status of their students.
