No vendor approvals needed.

CFO, B. Chan went over dashboard. 

As of the end of August 2025, we are 3.2M in the bank. to last us through the end of December. That is excluding any grants we can draw from until about the end of October. This is sufficient enough to last us till then. 

David would like to compare budget to actual of FY25. 

B. Chan reports the school tracked everything very closely. We ended year with the cashflow at about $230,000.

D. Zieff reports that as we go through Fiscal 26, we will see how much we can end the year with as surplus. Non-traditional fundraising might be something we can do. 

In the beginning of the year B. Chan put together a budget of about 11.5M$, a lot of it was a wild card. At the end of the year we ended with about 800,000 of a difference. If we take 65% personal and 10% school operations and 20% to facility. 

B. Chan went over State Reconciliation statement. B. Carlson shared that given the upside of any surpluses we come across, with our efforts regarding the classrooms to increasing our enrollment to 750, how much would that surplus be? J. Scalice mentioned that we will most likely be close to 450k.  

When will our part of our audit process be done? J. Scalice reports that they are coming tomorrow and we are about a month ahead of schedule. If we keep doing what we are doing and meeting with them, we hope to be done by November. The deadline by the state is end of December. We loaded everything to the portal so we are looking good for now. 

L. Hubbard went over enrollment updates for the board. 

Unanticipated 9th-Grade Attrition (Aug–Sept)

• 36% of 9th-grade students withdrew unexpectedly.
   
• Preliminary destinations (pending full data review):
  • District schools (incl. New Bassick)
  • Trade/CTE schools (Bullard-Havens, Platt Tech)
  • Private schools

As of today, we are at 641 students. 

6th grade: 51 out of 70 seats filled (Compared to 43 out of 70 last year)

9th grade: 36% Attrition (Compared to 10% last year)

10th grade: 27% Attrition (Compared to 10% last year)

What are our recruitment efforts? 

• Radio & Social Media
• Mass Mailing 
• Robocalls
• Canvassing 
• Open House 

What's our 2 week plan?

• Call Banking
• Direct Mailing 
• Canvassing at Parent Events 
• Contacting Waitlisted Families

COO, L. Hubbard, went over Teacher Certification Updates:

• 2 uncertified returning staff
• 12 Uncertified New Staff
• 81% All Staff Certified

CEO, J. Scalice, went over school updates. 

Professional Development for summer focused on establishing strong routines within the classroom and promoting student engagement.

• Emphasis on Year 2 goals of collaborative student engagement
• Reduction of technology during instructional periods
• Increased student ownership of learning

New Cell Phone Policy:

Parent Communication:

Direct to parent principal communication and district communication over the summer; parent

and student info sessions; Parent updates

Replacements: 

Activities opportunities in cafeteria (card and board games), and more opportunities for student discussions in class to reduce the desire to access phones

Consistency: 

1. Verbal Warning
2. Device Removal
3. Additional infractions require a parent pick-up

Results:

Walk-through results (9/12)

• 0 cellphones observed in MS (100%)
• 3 Cellphones observed in HS (<1%)

Reducing Phone Time Through Increased Positive Student Climate and Culture

Reducing Chronic Absenteeism- 

Increased Contact: Significant increases to daily contact through personnel contact instead of automated contacted has shown a decrease in Chronic Absenteeism from this point last year of 48%

Quicker Removal: Identifying “ghost” students through parental contact has reduced absenteeism and conflicts related to enrollment. This has reduced the overall number (currently being filled) but has increased the reliability of our numbers. 

 Attendance Plans:

Reducing “ghost” students allows us to place more emphasis on students who are enrolled to design actionable support plans.

Grading Policy:
Grading policy changes have placed more emphasis on student participation; equating to a higher demand on attendance

More Support:

The addition of a Social Worker focused on “Historically Absent” students has helped us align more direct support with the actual needs of students. 

Calendar Updates:
 

Beginning October 1, 2025, the State of Connecticut will officially recognize Diwali (The Hindu Festival of Lights) as a State Holiday. This occurs on October 20, 2025.
 

In honor of our families, we have amended our calendar to reflect this State level change and will be closed. 

We will open on Tuesday, November 4, 2025 (this year) to reclaim the day. Tuesday’s are half-days and will still provide staff with time to exercise their voting rights.