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Superintendent's Weekly Update-March 8, 2026

Posted Date: 03/08/26 (08:00 PM)
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Dear BPS Community:

I attended two events this past week that left me truly inspired.
On Thursday night, I had the honor of serving as a judge for the Boys & Girls Club Youth of the Year competition. Each of the candidates demonstrated remarkable poise, compassion, and character. They spoke passionately about their desire to serve their community and improve children's lives.

Congratulations to Victor and Josie for being selected. As superintendent, I am incredibly proud of the way they represent the very best of our students and our community. Their intelligence, resilience, and strong character were evident and inspired everyone in the room. Victor and Josie are thoughtful, driven young people who are already making a positive impact, and I have no doubt they will grow into outstanding leaders in the years ahead.

On Friday morning, I had the pleasure of attending the Invention Convention at South Side School. Student ingenuity, imagination, and creativity were on full display, and the students enthusiastically engaged judges as they explained their inventions. Congratulations to Maci and Sofia, who will now move on to the Connecticut finals. A special thank you to teacher Lenora Fenory for coordinating such an outstanding event and providing students with this wonderful opportunity to showcase their ideas and talents.  Our community has a bright future with students like these leading the way.

I am also grateful to our Mayor, Ellen Zoppo-Sassu, and members of the City Council who have attended multiple events at our schools since being elected. It means so much to have them present, spend time with our students, administrators, and staff, and learn more about the great work happening in our schools.

I concluded my week by welcoming the Connecticut Association of Latino Administrators and Superintendents (CALAS) to Bristol for their annual scholarship fundraiser at Ventana’s Restaurant. CALAS is a professional organization and an official state affiliate of the Association of Latino Administrators and Superintendents (ALAS), dedicated to fostering quality education for Latino students and developing Hispanic/Latino educational leaders. It was an honor for our community to host such an important event that supports students and future leaders in education.

On Saturday, I attended the Hartford St. Patrick’s Day Parade, where I had the opportunity to spend time with Bristol Board of Education Commissioner Robert Parenti and Eric Feeney, founder of Friends of Feeney. The mission of Friends of Feeney is to help children and families who need assistance after heartbreak and tragedy. I was especially grateful for the opportunity to meet a family who shared how they benefited from the generosity and support of Friends of Feeney after a traumatic event.

It was a meaningful way to end a week filled with inspiring examples of community, service, and support for our students and families.  

In Partnership,
Iris White
Superintendent of Schools


                                                                                        Invention Convention at South Side School

                                                                                   Boys and Girls Club Youth and Junior Youth of the Year
Legislative Advocacy:
This week, I submitted testimony to the Legislative Education Committee on two important public education funding bills: Senate Bill 7 and House Bill 5002.

Both proposals address the “foundation amount” used in Connecticut’s Education Cost Sharing (ECS) formula—the base amount of funding the state provides per student. This foundation amount has not been increased since 2013, despite significant cost increases for school districts. Updating this figure and tying future increases to inflation is an important and necessary step to ensure sustainable and equitable funding for public schools.

Senate Bill 7, introduced by State Senator Martin Looney, would increase the foundation amount from $11,525 per student to $15,500 over four years and then adjust it annually for inflation. As part of this proposal, urban superintendents are advocating for the foundation amount to increase to $13,500 in the first year (Fiscal Year 2027), rather than $12,500.

House Bill 5002 would also increase the ECS foundation amount by tying it to inflation beginning this year. This would raise the per-student amount from $11,525 to an estimated $12,210, with adjustments continuing annually moving forward. My submitted testimony is attached. 

I continue to have productive conversations with Mayor Ellen Zoppo-Sassu regarding the school budget and ways we can implement thoughtful structural changes to reduce costs while continuing to support the needs of our students and schools.  In the coming weeks, the Bristol Board of Education will vote on my proposed Superintendent’s budget. Following that vote, we will present the Board of Education’s adopted budget to the Board of Finance on Tuesday, March 24, at 6:00 p.m. in the City Council Chambers.

School Calendar:
Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to share feedback regarding the school calendar and options for making up school days lost due to inclement weather.
Community input is an important part of this process, and I appreciate the thoughtful comments and perspectives shared.  A Board of Education meeting will soon be scheduled to vote on the resolution. Once the meeting date is confirmed, additional information will be shared with the community.

Student Tools for Emergency Planning (STEP):

Once again this year, the Bristol Department of Emergency Management, in conjunction with Bristol Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) members, has conducted the FEMA  STEP Program for 5th-grade students in the city schools.  The program has been well-received by the principals and teachers. The STEP (Student Tools for Emergency Planning) Program is a FEMA-generated program that educates students on emergency preparedness.  This approximately 90-minute program introduces students to emergency preparedness for themselves and their families through an interactive FEMA PowerPoint presentation.  Students also receive a student manual and a backpack containing a flashlight (batteries included), a whistle, and a Mylar blanket. The STEP curriculum follows the guidance of the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices and the Council of Chief State School Officers Common Core State Standards.  Many thanks to Harley Graime, City of Bristol Emergency Management Director, for coordinating the program with us every year.

Presentation at Ellen P. Hubbell School


Presentation at West Bristol School


Read Across America Week and United Way Read Across America Day:
Schools across Bristol recently celebrated Read Across America Week and United Way Read Across America Day by welcoming guest readers into our classrooms to share the joy of reading with our students. We were especially proud to host the United Way Read Across America Day kickoff at the Bristol Senior Center, where we welcomed volunteers who then traveled to schools in both Bristol and New Britain to read with students. It was wonderful to see so many community members come together to support literacy and inspire a love of reading. Thank you to all the guest readers who generously gave their time, and to the sponsors who helped make the day possible, including Bristol Health, Otis, and American Eagle. Partnerships like these help create meaningful experiences for our students and strengthen the connection between our schools and the community.

       Read Across America Day Kick-Off at the Bristol Senior Center

                                                   With the guest readers at the Read Across America Day Kick-Off at the Bristol Senior Center

                                                                     


MyAmerica Project:
Eighth-grade students at Chippens Hill Middle School (CHMS) will be participating in the MyAmerica Project as part of the upcoming 250th anniversary of the American Revolution. As part of this meaningful initiative, students worked in groups of four to five to design a square patch that represents their ideas, values, and vision of America. Each group hand-drew its design onto a piece of fabric, which will then become part of a much larger project. The patches will be sewn together with contributions from students across all 50 states to create a giant American flag that will be displayed on Boston Common in Massachusetts. This powerful project was originally created after the events of 9/11 as a way to bring people together and celebrate unity across our country. It is inspiring to see our students take part in such a symbolic effort as we approach this historic milestone.  Thank you to Mrs. Danielle Federowicz, Red Team 8th Grade Social Studies Teacher, for organizing the effort at CHMS.