Region 20 Board of Education Meeting: Year-End Budget Surplus Projected
1/15/2026, 7 pm
Present: Chair Tiffany Parkhouse, Ashley Hall Daddona, Robert DeLayo, John Morosani, Krista Rizzo, Billie Jean Sideris, Susan Wheeler, and Margaret Hunt, and attended by Zoom: Diane Barnes
The meeting opened with the recognition of students whose poetry had been published in a student publication; two students read their poems.
The Board then heard Committee reports. DeLayo (Facilities Committee) reported on building repairs at Goshen Center School. Hunt (Curriculum) reported on a presentation of the adopted OpenSciEd program at Plum Hill Middle School (Litchfield).
Sideris made a motion to remove approval of an out-of-state professional development conference from the Consent Agenda. Daddona seconded the motion, which passed. The Consent Agenda was approved following a motion by Sideris and a second by Rizzo.
In his report, Superintendent Jeffrey Villar congratulated students and teachers at Lakeview High School (Litchfield) for an outstanding winter concert. He then assured the public that former police officers who are hired by the District for school security are vetted as carefully as possible to ensure that they did not leave law enforcement for “malfeasance.”
He praised Lakeview Principal Michael Valerio’s response to a recent building problem at the school, noting that the issue made clear a difficulty with emergency early dismissals — some busses took nearly 1.5 hours to arrive at the school.
Chief Financial Officer Julia Cardillo reported “nothing new” and projected a year-end surplus. She requested budget transfers totaling $288,122.04 to support work on the Fiscal Year 2027 budget. Sideris moved to make the transfers, Hunt seconded, and the motion passed.
The Board acted on several items, including approving a motion directing the Superintendent to investigate the feasibility of a facilities utilization study (moved by Sideris and seconded by Wheeler) and adopting nine policies (moved by Sideris and seconded by Hunt).
Two proposed field trips were discussed, with Villar noting they did not “conform to [the] existing [Board] policy,” as they were not directly related to a class curriculum. Hearing from the sponsors of a trip to the Galápagos Islands, Board Members expressed concern about both the cost of the trip and student safety. A motion to approve the trip was made by Hunt, seconded by Rizzo, but was not approved by the Board. A motion to approve a trip to Walt Disney World for the cheer team was made by Rizzo and seconded by Daddona. The trip was approved.
Villar noted that he had received a request from Litchfield First Selectman Denise Raap asking that the District create an ad hoc finance committee as described in Connecticut General Statute 10-51c. The request was tabled until Feb. 5th.
An out-of-state professional development activity for a school nurse was discussed. Sideris wondered “why we have to send someone to Vermont … for multiple days … [when] we do have very active organizations here in the state.” Lakeview School Nurse Theresa Simaitis provided information about the conference, and Assistant Superintendent Julie Haggard provided additional information supporting the request. A motion to approve the conference was made by Rizzo, seconded by DeLayo, and approved.
