Board of Education Meeting Minutes

January 7, 2008

ATTENDANCE: Susan Hamilton, Chair; Rosa Murray, Vice Chair; Glenn Iannaccone, Secretary, Gregory Burnett, Bruce Kimmel, Jody Bishop-Pullan; Shirley Mosby (7:52 p.m.); Jack Chiaramonte (7:55 p.m.); Mayor Richard A. Moccia (8:05 p.m.); Migdalia Rivas (8:10 p.m.)

STAFF: Dr. Salvatore Corda, Superintendent of Schools

OTHERS: Stuart Opdahl, Bruce Mellion, NFT President; Steven Serasis, Common Council; David Davidson, Amanda Brown, Common Council; William Krummel, Common Council; Douglas Sutton, Common Council, Fred Bondi, Common Council; Laurel Lindstrom, Common Council

CALL TO ORDER

Ms. Hamilton called the meeting to order at 7:48 p.m.

PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE

Ms. Hamilton led the Board and those present in the Pledge of Allegiance

LISTEN TO PUBLIC COMMENTS AND RESPOND TO QUESTIONS ON 2008-2009 BUDGET

Ms. Hamilton said that a few questions had been sent in to Mr. Burnett and that she would like Mr. Burnett to read the questions and Dr. Corda would supply the response.

Mr. Mellion said that on behalf of the NFT and the NFEP he would like to say they support the Superintendent’s recommendation. He then pointed out that on page 9 that a portion of the funds from the State had been withheld by the State to pay for the Cambridge Study. Mr. Mellion said that this should be duly noted.

He then pointed out that there was a gross imbalance in Tech Education because Brien McMahon only had two Tech Ed teachers, while Norwalk High had five teachers.

Ms. Mosby joined the meeting at 7:52 p.m.

Mr. Mellion then asked that an asterisk be included on page 108 to show the net dollar value of the insurance contribution. He added that there was a cost shifting from the Department to the employees. This will be ineffective unless there is some modest financial incentive.

Mr. Chiaramonte joined the meeting at 7:55 p.m.

Mr. Mellion said that the union had been asking for a wellness program for some time.

Mr. Mellion also pointed out that there was a small cadre of employees that are still paying for a reduction of hours, which impacts their pension. This needs to be looked into and corrected.

Mr. Burnett then said that the Board had received some questions from four individuals about the budget.

The first one came from Jane Wilkins, which had to do with class size at Marvin School. Mr. Burnett stated that Dr. Corda had addressed that issue with Ms. Wilkins directly.

Another email was received from Angela Cinci about the nurses’ salary. There was a concern raised about the entry level of an experienced nurse having the same salary as an entry level teacher. This issue had been addressed at an earlier meeting.

Council Member Michael Geake had two details questions about specific salary figures. He also asked about the identification of the schools in priority order regarding the stage curtains.

Dr. Corda said that he felt that the best way to handle the issue was to hand out the written responses to the Board members and those present. He added that there were also some lengthy responses to questions received from Mr. Davidson.

Dr. Corda then directed everyone’s attention to the Teachers Salaries Contract Increase and Increments. Dr. Corda then reviewed step by step the process for calculating the salary figures.

Mayor Moccia joined the meeting at 8:05 p.m.

Dr. Corda repeated his earlier statement that he had responded to the questions about the class size and the nurses’ starting salary via email.

Dr. Corda then said that he would proceed to Mr. Davidson’s questions. Attrition rates are never perfect and that the tolerance of about 3 plus or minus is quite normal. The District tries to take into account when calculating enrollment projects is determining staffing needs. It is difficult to project the number of sections needed for a class when the classes are reaching the maximum class size. An attrition ratio for K-1 is determined by comparing the number of three years enrollment for kindergartner students Norwalk live births from five years previous. Other attrition figures for K-1 are calculated by looking at the numbers of first grade students that are enrolled in second grade.

Ms Rivas joined the meeting at 8:10 p.m.

In middle school, from six to seven, the number of students spread over four schools is so small (.98) that using 1.0 was within tolerance. The attrition rate for the next grade is .96. The number as it relates to staffing is negligible.

He then explained that there has been a decrease of students at West Rocks. The enrollment change at Ponus has increased. At the middle school level, the changes has allowed the District to make the necessary changes to accommodate the changes without a need to hire an additional teacher or let a teacher go.

At high school, the attrition rate is 1.44. There is an increase of students, often from private middle school students who chose to go to public school. Teachers at the high school can teach at multiple levels, which give some flexibility in terms of staffing. At McMahon, the Tech courses are electives and the students choose to take other courses. When CGS is added to mix, it is important to remember that the CGS students take their English courses at CGS, also. The CGS students’ math and science courses are taken within the Brien McMahon structure. A discussion then followed regarding how this impacts the Brien McMahon student numbers.

Ms. Bishop-Pullan asked about the certification of teachers in high school. Dr. Corda said that while there is more flexibility, the science teachers must be certified in the area that they teach, such as biology.

Mr. Davidson then had several detailed question about the statistics used. Dr. Corda reviewed the information and how the numbers are projected. Dr. Corda also pointed out that while there may be a drop in the overall student population, there may be one less student in one class and three in another and two somewhere else. Mayor Moccia agreed and pointed out that while a class may be reduced by one or two students, the class must still be held. Mr. Kimmel said that his school had dropped from 1,300 pupils to about 900 over a period of years. However, because of the diversity of the student body, the staff has actually increased.

Mr. Kimmel asked about the variation of students enrolled in given programs between Brien McMahon and Norwalk High School. He said that he was wondering about the differences between the enrollments and also wondering about the problem of excessive study halls at Norwalk High School last year. Dr. Corda reviewed this and commented that some students elect to enroll in the AITE program. Mayor Moccia commented that Wright Tech was in the process of re-evaluating their program.

Ms. Brown said that her daughter had attended AITE program last year and did not like it. She is currently enrolled at McMahon’s CGS and doing quite well.

Dr. Corda said that there had been a question about the change of estimate for diesel fuel. He said that this had been covered in information packet that was provided on the errata sheet.

There was a significant increase of $300,000 in the English Language Learning Department. Dr. Corda explained that the District is obligated to supply a program for the students who do not speak English at home.

Another question was asked about the increase students estimates, and how those numbers were the ones that were provided. Dr. Corda said that the principals of each of the schools provide those numbers to him.

Regarding the fringe benefits costs, Dr. Corda said that the figures were on the last page of the handout. Based on the number of contracts, which is based on the month of November because it is when the staffing settled, there were 1,703 insurance contracts. He then indicated the offsets for the cost, the reimbursements from COBRA, reimbursements from grants and the net figure, which is reflected in the budget.

Mr. Davidson said that there was a variation on the numbers and asked for an explanation. Dr. Corda said that this was because of deposits made to the trust fund required by law. Mr. Opdahl said that it was deposited into a reserve and then would be withdrawn at the appropriate time. He added that the District had not had a full year’s experience with the new legislation. Mr. Davidson asked where it would end up in the budget and which expenses would be reduced because of this. Mayor Moccia said that GASBY requires this and the funds will be drawn down as needed. A discussion about the details of this followed.

Mr. Chiaramonte asked about the contract definitions and how the final figures were determined. Dr. Corda then reviewed this with him.

Council President Bondi asked about the fringe benefits for the Central Office. He said that when there were snow days, the Central Office would be closed even though City Hall was open. He added that the offices were closed during the week between Christmas and New Years. Dr. Corda said that during the week between Christmas and New Year’s, a portion of the staff was on vacation, but there were many others at the Central Office doing the budget until late at the night.

He then added that if the school buildings are closed, the school secretarial staff is not obligated to come to work. This is also true for the secretarial staff at the Central Office. Dr. Corda said that it would not be fair to have members of the same union be penalized because the school building is closed. Dr. Corda also said that with the new technology, employees who are not on site could often work at home.

Mayor Moccia said that he can not close City Hall without notifying the Fire Department and the Police Department. If the employees live a distance away, the Mayor says that he leaves it up the department heads to allow employees to leave early or not come in.

Council President Bondi asked about the out of district students. Dr. Corda said that these were students from Norwalk that had been educated out of town. Council President Bondi said that there were a number of students who were coming into Norwalk who do not live in the District. Dr. Corda said that the number of students that the District has been able to investigate and document who do not live in Norwalk was fewer than 10. Currently, there are 30 students who are under investigation to verify that they do in fact live in Norwalk.

There was a discussion about the number of students and the cost of educating those students. Savings don’t appear until there are concentrated in particular areas, such as 25 fewer first graders, and then there are some savings, because it is one less teacher needed.

Ms. Mosby asked about the break down for the CGS students versus the number of Brien McMahon. Dr. Corda said that the information listed on pages 21-1 and 21-2 would provide the breakdown of the numbers. Dr. Corda then reviewed the numbers on those pages with her.

Mr. Kimmel asked about the Wellness Programs that Mr. Mellion had asked about earlier. Dr. Corda said that the figures that Ms. Rotolo had presented to him indicated that the District’s share of the program was $60,000, which could almost provide for another teacher. Dr. Corda said that he was not in a position to make a recommendation on this because of the priorities. He said that he was not opposed to the idea, but that there were other priorities that had been proposed.

Mr. Chiaramonte asked about the $15,000 per contract and if the wellness program would reduce the cost. Mayor Moccia commented that the numbers would not decrease immediately and that the City had instituted this program last year, but it would be a few years before cost savings were realized.

Mr. Krummel then said that he would like to ask about the CGS program and what the phrase “totally funded” meant. Dr. Corda said that the costs of the instructors were covered by the funding. Mr. Krummel then asked if an outside student came in and took courses at Brien McMahon, the District would charge them tuition. Dr. Corda said that this would be so. Mr. Krummel then said that the CGS students take courses from the McMahon staff; the District did not receive reimbursement for that student. Dr. Corda said that this was so. Mr. Krummel then said that the phrase “totally funded” then relates to only the operating costs of CGS. Mr. Kimmel then pointed out that the Norwalk students who were attending CGS were covered by the grants. If the Norwalk students left the CGS, then the District would have to hire more teachers for increase of students at Brien McMahon.

Mr. Davidson then had a question about the special education costs and the 15% increase for Norwalk students being educated out of district. Dr. Corda said that this was an accurate.

ADJOURNMENT

** MS. MURRAY MOVED TO ADJOURN. ** MS. BISHOP-PULLAN SECONDED. ** THE MOTION PASSED UANNIMOUSLY.

The meeting adjourned at 9:30 p.m.

Respectfully submitted.

Sharon L. Soltes Telesco Secretarial Services

Category: Minutes