Region 20: Bus Snags, MOU Payments, Student Cellphone Policy

09/11/2025
Present: Diane Barnes, Robert DeLayo, Krista Rizzo (all online),
Kara Cruoglio, Ashley Hall Daddona, Margaret Hunt, John Morosani, Tiffany Parkhouse, Billie Jean Sideris, Ashley Westfall, Susan Wheeler (all in person). Absent: Scott Pottbecker

The regular meeting of the Region 20 Board of Education began with a moment of silence to commemorate the anniversary of the September 11 attacks.

Superintendent Dr. Jeffrey Villar delivered a brief report on the district’s ongoing strategic planning process and school climate survey at the Strategic Planning Subcommittee meeting The consent agenda—including minutes, employee hires, and a scholarship—was approved without discussion.

Villar thanked district staff for preparing schools for the opening of the year. He visited all schools on opening day and addressed a bus transportation issue that occurred. “As a superintendent that lives in the district, my son, too, missed the bus,” he said. Villar highlighted concerns with transportation, citing “a holistic view as to school start times and times in relationship to the number of busses” as central to the problem. He explained, “that is really what’s causing some of the problems that we experience with transportation and why kids are on busses for really long periods of time.” He added that changes would be considered carefully.

Villar also thanked the First Selectmen of the four towns, noting that each had made its first annual payment under the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). Chief Financial Officer Julia Cardillo later reported, “Our cash flow is significantly better” and confirmed that invoices due in July had been processed. Villar reported the hiring of a special education teacher and an educational assistant.

Cardillo then reviewed the current fiscal state of the district. Four budgetary lines are currently “in deficit.” Three of the four stemmed from costs not known at the time of budget preparation; insurance broker fees, central office software, software for an educational program. To avoid issues in the future, she plans to implement a uniform system for budget request documents. Cardillo also noted that other budget lines are projected to end in surplus, making it possible to cover deficits with budget transfers.

During public comment, Goshen resident and Region 20 teacher Rebecca Hubschman addressed the loss of staff during the previous budget cycle. She urged the Board to “restore ELA [English Language Arts], Math and progress monitoring interventionists in all elementary schools. as it prepares the Fiscal Year 2027 budget.

The Board next reviewed a student technology use policy; discussion focused on student cell phone use at Plumb Hill Middle School. Hall-Daddona (Goshen) asked that the policy include discretion for principals to allow students to contact parents during the school day. Sideris (Morris) suggested that the schools have ways to contact parents and “if we’re able to get a call or text from our kid, then we can get a call or a text from the [school-wide communication] system.” Villar emphasized that “principals have the authority to make a good decision in the moment that's good for a student, regardless of time of day.” A second reading of the policy is scheduled for September 25.

The Board voted to retain CLA as its auditor for Fiscal Year 2026. CLA was the only firm to submit a proposal. The proposal was about $22,000 higher than budgeted, but Cardillo identified a specific budget line to cover the difference. The Board discussed the timing of budget transfers to address deficits. Villar stated, “I’ve typically seen it more passed into January” and reminded members, “you have the power and authority to make those changes.” Discussion centered around making transfers in January, March, and May. To ensure transparency, Cardillo will track potential transfers in her monthly report, and each transfer will require a specific Board motion.

09/25/2025
Present: Diane Barnes, Robert DeLayo (online)
Kara Cruoglio, Ashley Hall Daddona,  Margaret Hunt, John Morosani, Tiffany Parkhouse, Scott Pottbecker, Krista Rizzo, Billie Jean Sideris, Ashley Westfall, Susan Wheeler(in person)

The Board opened with committee reports from the Policy and Facilities Committees. The Policy Committee focused on policies impacting students; identifying 12 policies that require review in the coming months. The Facilities Committee reported on ongoing projects at Goshen Center School and Warren School. Later in the meeting, the full Board approved the replacement of two water heaters at Goshen Center School, with the $14,000.

Updates from the Student Council at Lakeview High School and members of the FFA were presented. During public comment, Morris resident Lois Silver asked the Board to include regular updates on the district’s transition students, aged 18–22. She said, “It’s upsetting to me to never hear about the transition students…I think that it might be great if every once in a while there was a representative that talked about transition students and what they’re doing.”

Superintendent Villar reported a recognition by the CT Interscholastic Athletic Conference (CIAC) of Lakeview High School’s athletic department. The department was given the Fred Balsamo Award for Sportsmanship. The CIAC donated two portable immersion tubs to the district as well.

Regarding Villar’s recent visits to the district’s elementary schools, he noted that teachers “have had supports removed from them” in their work implementing the curriculum. He explained that he intends to continue “being in schools and watching and monitoring this process throughout the year as I think about how are we going to move forward as a district to address some of those curriculum and instructional issues.”

Dr. Villar spoke about the role of data in decision-making, both for monitoring school climate and measuring academic performance. The district has arranged to work with a vendor that will provide a data analysis dashboard free of charge for one year to support this effort.

During public comment, Goshen resident Rebecca Huschmann expressed concerns about reductions in elective offerings at both the middle and high school levels. “Our kids deserve a diverse curriculum that allows them to explore different interests and prepare for real world careers,” she said, “that doesn’t just mean the basics, it means business, music, art, computer science, world language, and more.”

The Board then moved to approve a policy on student electronic devices that had been under discussion at its previous meeting. Margaret Hunt of Litchfield asked that the regulations accompanying the policy be provided to the Board. Villar responded, “That draft, I’ll remind you, was shared and so I will I can resend it out again.” He also said he would draft a letter to the community to share information about the policy. In addition, the Board approved revisions to prior meeting minutes to clarify the superintendent’s role in selecting a school climate survey.

On the subject of meeting minutes, Villar offered guidance about documentation practices. He reminded the Board that “really the only thing that should be recorded in minutes are motions, right?” He added that the current minutes are “a little more robust than they need to be, which is why we run into this dilemma” of clarifying discussions after the fact. He suggested, “the more we can stick to recording motions and actions, the better off we are for sure” and proposed, “we can talk about how to maybe be more effective with our minutes.”