Hours after the end of the 2019-20 school year, Superintendent of Schools Dr Lorrie Rodrigue told the Board of Education during its June 16 meeting that it was a relatively quiet end of the year.

The last day of the school year was preceded by celebrations — graduation events for Newtown High School and Newtown Middle School and car parades for Reed Intermediate School and the four elementary schools.

Board of Education Chair Michelle Embree Ku thanked “our teachers and staff” along with local families for the effort made this year. “We made it to summer,” she added.

During the meeting, which was conducted via phone and video, the school board approved its monthly financial report for May, a creative writing and a journalism curriculum for Newtown High School, recommended budget adjustments for the 2020-21 budget, a policy on budget procedures and line item transfers with amendments after discussion, and more.

Discussion on the 2020-21 budget adjustments centered around projected enrollment and staffing levels, though other adjustments were part of the motion. Dr Rodrigue explained staff adjustment considerations included the number of projected students per classroom and known significant learning needs. The adjustments made now, she pointed out, do not mean that more adjustments will not be made closer to September and October when state guidelines around COVID-19 should be known and enrollment numbers will be firmer. With the reductions and adjustments, according to meeting discussion, there is a total of 1.6 full time equivalent positions added to the budget. Director of Business Ron Bienkowski recommended the 2020-21 budget be monitored in the next year to find line item turnover to cover the added cost.

Board member Rebekah Harriman-Stites voiced concern that the district was making staffing adjustments prior to knowing what state guidelines for the current pandemic will be in the fall.

Supporting Harriman-Stites’s concern, member John Vouros said, “We just don’t know what’s going to happen this summer and then the fall.”

Dr Rodrigue explained current known data around staffing levels and educational needs support the adjustments.

The board voted unanimously to support the adjustments.

The board also voted unanimously to approve the monthly financial report for May. According to the report, the district received the second installment of the Excess Cost and Agency Placement Grant, a reimbursement grant for special education costs. The district received $238,494 more than budgeted, and Bienkowski explained the district spent more, then received more, since it is a reimbursement grant. The report also projects the remaining end of the year balance for 2019-20 to be $800,000, “about $436,000 less than last month,” the report reads.

Later in the meeting, the board unanimously supported a motion to renew a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) contract for its remaining two years for Newtown High School and Reed Intermediate School with Harry Grodsky & Co of Middletown for $135,750 for the second year of the contract and $139,700 for the third year of the contract.

“This company gives us excellent service,” district Facilities Director Bob Gerbert said of the contract. Later he said, “I think picking up these additional two years will be beneficial to us.”

In other meeting news, the Board of Education approved a July newsletter, created by its communications subcommittee, with some adjustments, to be released to district families. Board member Dan Cruson, Jr, explained the expectation for the newsletter is that it will be quarterly and it will also be printed and placed around town, in places like the Newtown Community Center, for residents to read.

“It is a tour de force. It is more than a newsletter,” Ku said, before thanking the subcommittee for its effort on the project.

Assistant Superintendent of Schools Anne Uberti also presented a new curriculum development guide, created by a district curriculum development council. It was designed to create a practical guide with defined expectations for those creating or reviewing curriculum in the district, according to Uberti.

Board of Finance Chair Sandy Roussas also spoke with the school board about a reviewed Board of Finance fund balance policy. The purpose of the fund balance policy, Roussas explained, is to state with particularity what percentage of the fund balance the town should carry. She also shared that carrying a healthy fund balance helps the town with borrowing costs, and it benefits the town to observe the policy.