Board of Education Meeting Minutes

July 1, 2008

ATTENDANCE: Susan Hamilton, Chair; Jody Bishop-Pullan; Glenn Iannaccone; Bruce Kimmel; Greg Burnett; Jack Chiaramonte (7:50 p.m.); Rosa Murray; Shirley Mosby

STAFF: Dr. Salvatore Corda, Superintendent of Schools; Sheri McCready

OTHERS: Lisa Anzalone; Eileen Madaffari; Melissa Petropolos; Jim Tagariello; Danielle Tagariello; Steve O’Connell; Eva Bartush; Susan Daignault; Paul Blumenthal; Amar Shamas, Gilbane; Mark Gorian

I. CALL TO ORDER – 7:45 P.M. – Rm. A300

Ms. Hamilton called the meeting to order at 7:45 p.m.

II. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE

Ms. Hamilton led those present in reciting the Pledge of Allegiance.

III. PUBLIC COMMENTS

Please note that these public comments are not to be considered verbatim.

Lisa Anzalone, of 15 Winnipaug Drive, has been an employee of Norwalk Public Schools for 9 years and her daughter attends Brien McMahon High School. She re-applied for her daughter’s out-of-district placement in December, it was denied. She was told that the professional courtesy was being cut off to Norwalk out-of-district students; not to those who live outside of Norwalk and work for the Board of Education. She said that it doesn’t make sense as it has been going on for 30+ years. She said that it was not fair that her daughter has to start at Norwalk High School this year, as a sophomore, and as a new student to the school. She asked that a grandfather policy be put in place. She noted that it is not mentioned anywhere that a Junior now will be allowed to stay as a Senior in the same school for the following year, even though it is in the best interest of the student. She hoped that they would consider what is right for the students.

Eileen Madaffari said she and her husband both work in the school system, 20 and 25 years respectively. Their daughter just graduated from Brien McMahon High School, and she had been an out-of-district student. She had embraced the Global Studies Program. Her son is now entering high school, and is willing to accept the Global Studies Program. High school can be four very critical years, and to have students suddenly have to switch gears can be very difficult. She said it was unfair for two people working in the system to be told that their children can’t attend the school of their choice. She asked that they continue the out-of-district policy for professional courtesy reasons.

Mr. Chiaramonte joined the meeting at 7:50 p.m.

Melissa Petropolos, 3 Michael Street, said she spoke last week regarding the professional courtesy, and wished to make a few points about it tonight. She said her fourth grader and kindergartener came to Rowayton School at the beginning of the school year, and 9 days before school started, her kindergartener was told she couldn’t come to Rowayton. This created a great deal of anxiety for the student, as well as her family. She asked that they look at the subject of professional courtesy from the point of school culture. She said that the teachers who are granted the professional courtesy enjoy having their child in the same school, reciting the Pledge of Allegiance together, celebrating school events and birthdays together, etc. If they want teachers to be committed to the school to raise scores and be involved, giving them the opportunity to have their own children at the same school would allow that.

Jim Tagariello said that he has been a teacher and a coach in the system for 23 years, in addition to being a product of the system. He felt it was hard to believe that the professional courtesy was not being granted to teachers who work and pay taxes in the city. He said that their children who will go to school in the city won’t affect the overall numbers. The people that they are granting the professional courtesy to are making the numbers go up. He said he hopes they continue the professional courtesy.

Danielle Tagariello, a teacher at Rowayton School, said her son is 6 years old and entering the 2nd grade. She said he knows it is a special permission situation that he is allowed to attend “mommy’s school”, which creates anxiety for him. He enjoys the school, and she gets to know his classmates and his teachers. When she asks him why he wants to stay at the school, he says that he likes seeing her every day. She now has to wonder if she should send him to his home school before the privilege is taken away from them. She asked that they please reconsider the professional courtesy policy as it has been dealt with in the past, when it was more of a formality, instead of becoming an issue each year prior to the start of school.

Steve O’Connell, a teacher and building steward at Columbus Magnet School, said he appreciated the opportunity to address the board. He read a 5 ½ page statement from the Norwalk Federation of Teachers, and he said was a culmination of a month-long process of thought. It is as follows:

*****

Dear Norwalk Board of Education Member,

Once again we want to thank you for the opportunity to bring our serious concerns before you. You have been very attentive to our petitions and we feel the board has made the correct decision in postponing the closing of the Columbus Capitol Project Action item at its last two meetings. We would like to enlighten you as to the plight of the staff at Columbus during the past two years since the moving/abatement/construction project began.

The level of frustration among the staff has been palpable. Many times since the beginning of the project we have had teachers come to us, fill out pre-consultation forms, and speak up at faculty meetings. Some have expressed their fears and some have come to us in tears. They all felt as though we were sold one bill of goods yet the delivery was something for less. We were given the impression that this project would improve our work space over the pre-construction conditions. Well, we have a nice new elevator, but the ventilation system and the air quality are highly suspect. Many items were damaged or are missing. Aesthetically, the beautiful, towering hallways now have ugly, gargantuan pipes hanging overhead at every turn. The individual room ventilation units, which we were told would not take up that much space, have changed the configuration of every room, taking away precious and safe instructional space, especially in the smaller rooms. Also, because of the excessive noise these units generate when they are on, teachers must turn them off in order to teach the students. We were told one thing: Something for different occurred.

Still, let us focus on the problems at hand. About a month ago we came to you with a list of concerns that, as I said, was made in haste because we had just learned that an action item to close out the Columbus Capitol project was on the agenda. We were happy that you decided to proceed with caution and table the item. Since then the NFT Building Stewards at Columbus conducted a survey, asking the staff to come up with a more definitive list of problems/concerns in their rooms and the school since the construction project began. The list you saw on June 24th is a result of that survey. Some items were dropped and some were added.

It’s important to note that at not time since the Board of Education meeting on June 3rd did a building administrator or someone from Central Office express concern to us about our list, ask us to show them the problems teachers have encountered, or share the “punch list” with us and clarify the pending issues. We were only asked for a copy of the original list we gave you. Problems and health issues are real to the staff members who are experiencing them week after week. Frustration piles up over time when concerns are ignored.

Communication is a big obstacle here. Last week when Mr. Lo was answering your questions, it was quite clear that he was not aware of the updated list we gave you that night. He would have been if someone had asked for it and involved us in the follow up process. We tried repeatedly to contact Mr. Lo by phone this past week, but his message said he is on vacation, since June 19, and we could not get through to the other numbers he left in his message to call. No one from the building administration or central office tried to contact us. In fact, the whole situation and delays possibly could have been resolved without the board’s intervention if the NFT stewards and staff members were part of the solution. This has not been and is not the case.

Next, and most important, is the health of the staff and students. To the best of our knowledge, there are 12 staff members in the building that have medical reasons for air quality adjustments in their rooms. Their rooms have air conditioners that are used during the warmer months to offset their respiratory ailments. Some are waiting for delivery of units for similar reasons. For one teacher an A/C unit is not practical, yet the air quality in her work space has caused respiratory damage and forced her to resign her position because conditions have not improved. She has repeatedly asked the administration for help in resolving this matter to no avail. Her doctor has told her not to work in the building because of the severity of her condition. An intern, who subs for this teacher, has become ill many time when she is in that work space. Other teachers and an administrator also have similar respiratory conditions affected by the air quality in their work spaces.

We ask. Is that what was intended to happen? Please do something to correct these unacceptable health conditions?

As a side note, I am a resident of the town of Fairfield and have had my four children attend the schools there for the past fifteen years. Unfortunately, three of them attended the formerly infamous “old” McKinley School. A school that made national headlines because of mold problems and severe teacher student health problems. A school very similar to Columbus built only two years after Columbus School was completed. I watched town officials ignore warning signs after some renovation work and some severe rainstorms caused an acceleration of mold growth and related illnesses. What is happening at Columbus sounds vaguely and eerily familiar.

The important matter here is not whether some one checked off a punch list and was satisfied that they did their job. The crucial issue is,

“Do the new major construction project aspects performed at Columbus work the way they are supposed to or not?”

The elevator works properly. The ventilation/heating system does not. This is not a punch list item. This is an experiential item. The staff is split in half because of the unbalanced conditions that occur throughout the year. Some rooms are colder than others. Some rooms are hotter. Some teachers and students have air conditioned rooms, while some teachers and students sit in the hallways with fans on to cool down or have extended library study time if it is available (the library has A/C).

In the winter, some students and teachers wear sweaters or jackets to stay warm in their rooms. Some teachers have personal, separate direct heating units in their work spaces to keep warm. Blower units have to be turned on and off frequently because the air coming out of them is too hot. The variation in temperature, from the gym to the classrooms to the library, swings widely.

In the warmer early fall and late spring months the heat in the rooms varies from one side of the building to the other. On one occasion this past spring, the blowers on one side of the building’s second floor were blowing hot air into the classrooms, raising the temperature in the room to the point where students had to be moved to the hallway to protect their health. The disparity is further heightened by half of the rooms in the building having air conditioning and half not having it. The cause for this is related to air quality, which we thought was to be improved by the construction project. A question arises.

Was the impact of the disparity of having half the rooms in the building with individual A/C units and half not having one ever considered when the ventilation units were put in? It doesn’t appear this question was considered.

Was there an air quality test done at Columbus School? We never saw one take place. We were told that the building is “fine”, but never given the data to review that supports that statement. This, in addition to the fact that staff members are suffering from air quality related issues. The Connecticut School Indoor Environment Resource Team has a program called Tools for Schools. It is an educational program and has methods for testing indoor air quality. It was discussed in consultation meetings with a school administrator in March, but, to our knowledge, nothing else was done with it since then.

In conclusion, we ask the board to consider what the purpose of installing a new building ventilation system at Columbus was. Has that purpose been fulfilled? It appears not. A tremendous amount of time and resources have been put into the Columbus Capital Project. We have one major aspect that works properly, the elevator. We have one that does not, the ventilation/heating system. Also, there are other health considerations, such as mold.

One final thought. If it was the construction project at Columbus that required the hiring of a moving company, which may be the cause of missing and damaged items, then there is responsibility assigned to the company in charge of the Columbus Capital Project. Was not someone in charge of the overall project?

We trust that the board holds parties responsible for these serious health and safety issues. It would be tragic if we had to revisit air quality and other issues after the Columbus Capital Project is closed.

Thank you for your patience and consideration of these important matters affecting the health of all at Columbus Magnet School.

Norwalk Federation of Teachers

*****

Eva Bartush, 1 Grumman Court, spoke on the out of home school placement for Board of Education employees’ children who live in Norwalk. She said that she and her husband are Norwalk natives and graduated from Brien McMahon High School in 1989, and they chose Norwalk as the city they would live in and raise a family in. She has been an employee of the Norwalk Public Schools for 15 years, and she considers herself to be a very dedicated employee to the district. She said that on several occasions over the past several years, teachers who live in Norwalk have been denied the request to have their children attend the school they work in. This is a professional courtesy that has been granted to teachers living inside and outside of the district for the past 30 years. She said her request has been denied twice, and rather than discuss the details of her unpleasant and unfair treatment, she wished to present the reasons why they should grant the Norwalk teachers, who are also taxpayers, professional courtesy. Granting professional courtesy to all Norwalk teachers who pay taxes in Norwalk has many positive implications for the entire district. Large corporations have historically put in in-house day care programs because they know that their employees will be more productive if childcare is provided for them close to their work. This holds true for teachers, also. Their school-age children don’t need childcare while they are in school but to know that their child is close to them can bring great peace of mind. It also allows teachers to get more involved in their child’s education. Unlike other professions, including Central Office, the teachers couldn’t step away from their class of 25 students for an hour to attend an event in their child’s class. They would have to take the entire day off from work, costing the district money by having to hire a substitute. If in a separate school, the teacher(s) would attend their child’s school events in the evening, most often when there would be a conflict with the same event being held at the school they work in. She said it speaks volumes to the other parents that the teacher(s) think that the school they work in is so great that they want to have their children attend the school. It does not cost the Board any money to have children of teachers attend the school the parent works in. It is discriminating and wrong to deny professional courtesy to teachers who live in Norwalk. She asked that they make sure that the professional courtesy is granted to all who request it, not just those who live outside of Norwalk.

Susan Daignault, a resident and product of the school system, said she has been a teacher for 15 years at Naramake. She wished to speak on the topic of professional courtesy. Her daughter was displaced 6 days before her first day of kindergarten at her mom’s school. Thankfully, she was allowed to attend that school the following year, and her second daughter is now attending the same school. Each year they have to go through the anxiety of re-applying and not knowing what the outcome will be. She said she still has not received the letter of acceptance, expected around June 15, so the anxiety has started again. She asked the Board to grant the teachers the professional courtesy as taxpayers of Norwalk, who chose to live and work here.

Paul Blumenthal, 4 Logan Place, said he has two children entering the 6th grade. He commended the Board for handling the difficult tasks it had to face during the past few weeks. He thought the Board is wonderful in terms of its makeup. He said he had spoken to a retired teacher that afternoon, and the teacher brought up the low morale. He asked the Board not to take the teachers for granted, and to take their concerns into account.

IV. ACTIONS

A. Consent

1. Personnel actions

** MR. CHIARAMONTE MOVED TO APPROVE THE PERSONNEL ACTIONS.

** MS. BISHOP-PULLAN SECONDED.

** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

B. Columbus Elementary Capital Project Complete

** MR. BURNETT MOVED TO APPROVE THE COMPLETION OF THE COLUMBUS ELEMENTARY CAPITAL PROJECT.

** MR. IANNACCONE SECONDED.

Mr. Amar Shamas, of Gilbane said he and Mr. Mark Gorian were presenting the project for final acceptance by the Board of Education in order to move forward and close out the project as mandated by the State of Connecticut. The construction process was two years. He said the Norwalk Facilities Construction Commission (NFCC) oversees all construction aspects, and the Building Advisory Committee (BAC) is involved as well. The project went through heavy renovations and was completed in August of 2006. There were some additional construction activities that took place with respect to the heating and ventilation system, making it substantially complete in January of 2007. There were several meetings held with the Principal, engineers and designers to get their approval on the balance report that the building was completely installed in conformance with the requirements, as well as the air ventilation system was balanced within the requirements. He said the approved report was signed in February of 2007 and said a copy was attached.

Mr. Shamas said regarding the ventilation system, the designers are required to meet certain code requirements for the upgraded ventilation. With respect to the individual a/c units, they were installed by the Norwalk Public Schools. He said there were several lists produced regarding the missing items from the move (summer-fall 2006), but he said he was not aware of all the missing items in a list provided to him recently. He said they are looking into reconstructing the history regarding the missing items and will come back with recommendations.

He said he and Mr. Alan Lo went through the most recent list item by item to make sure everything was addressed. He said that over the last year, when several meetings were held to close out the project, they were not aware until the Board of Education meeting last month that there were items that still needed to be addressed.

Mr. Mark Gorian concurred with Mr. Shamas, saying that many issues were brought up at Board meetings and they were not aware of the bulk of them. He said he is willing to resolve any outstanding issues to everyone’s satisfaction, even though he felt that many of them don’t pertain to any of the contractual obligations.

Ms. Mosby asked Mr. Gorian to contact Mr. Steve O’Connell to resolve the issues together. Mr. Gorian said he felt it wasn’t fair to be criticized for not responding to issues. He said his department is not known for neglecting issues.

After some discussion among the Board Members, Mr. Gorian and Mr. Shamas about the ventilation system in the school and some issues still remaining, Mr. Gorian stated that he would work with due diligence in getting the issues resolved. He gave the people at Columbus School his assurance that the issues will be resolved.

** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

C. NEON use of BMHS Kitchen Facility and delivery vehicle

** MS. MURRAY MOVED TO APPROVE NEON USE OF MBHS KITCHEN FACILITY AND DELIVERY VEHICLE.

** MS. BISHOP-PULLAN SECONDED.

Mr. Burnett said that even though he is on the NEON board as a citizen, not as a board member, he would recuse himself from voting.

** MOTION PASSED WITH SEVEN (7) VOTES IN FAVOR (CHIARAMONTE, BISHOP-PULLAN, IANNACCONE, MURRAY, HAMILTON, KIMMEL, MOSBY), AND ONE (1) VOTE RECUSED (BURNETT).

D. Approve Board of Education Bylaw 9130 concerning appointment to committees

** MR. BURNETT MOVED TO APPROVE THE BOARD OF EDUCATION BYLAW 9130 CONCERNING APPOINTMENT TO COMMITTEES.

** MS. BISHOP-PULLAN SECONDED.

** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

E. Approve terms and conditions of employment for Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction

** MS. MURRAY MOVED TO APPROVE TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT FOR ASSISTANT SUPERINTENDENT FOR CURRICULUM AND INSTRUCTION.

** MR. CHIARAMONTE SECONDED.

Ms. Murray said she has copies of the revised information.

** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

F. Approval for Child Guidance Center of Mid-Fairfield to use Kendall Elementary School for a two-week fee-based summer program in August as an orientation for new and returning students at Kendall

** MR. BURNETT MOVED TO APPROVE THE CHILD GUIDANCE CENTER OF MID-FAIRFIELD TO USE KENDALL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL FOR A TWO-WEEK FEE-BASED SUMMER PROGRAM IN AUGUST AS AN ORIENTATION FOR NEW AND RETURNING STUDENTS AT KENDALL.

** MR. IANNACCONE SECONDED.

Dr. Corda said he received information that the cost would be $360 for the two week program.

** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

V. INFORMATION AND REPORTS

A. Job Description for Director of Administration

Dr. Corda said they drafted a job description that combines the responsibilities of the Director of Elementary Education with the Director of Secondary Education. He said that Mr. Daddona suggested that as the new Assistant Superintendent of Instruction, he be allowed to continue to supervise the Adult Education and School to Career programs. In addition, Dr. Corda wanted to make it clear that the Director of Administration position would also have the responsibility of working collaboratively with elementary Principals relative to Title 1 money, priority school money, and the middle school alternative program.

Ms. Murray recommended that the job description go through the curriculum committee.

Ms. Mosby said that as Chair of the Curriculum Committee, she would be interested in reviewing the job description.

Dr. Corda reminded the Board members that time is of the essence.

B. Board members’ announcements

Mr. Burnett said he sent out communication to the Board members for the schedule of the Budget Meetings between July and October. The next meeting is scheduled for July 24.

Mr. Burnett said he sent out communication regarding the NHS ceremony to be held Thursday, July 3rd at 5:00 p.m. to thank those that contributed money towards the marquis and the LCD flat screen projectors in the main entrance and cafeteria.

Ms. Bishop-Pullan said that the Policy Committee met this evening, and they continue to review the volunteer policy. They have recommendations going forward. The next meeting is on Thursday, July 10, at 7:00 p.m. when they will continue to review the bullying policy. This policy needs to be updated by State law. They will also review the out of district policy.

VI. DISCUSSION OF STATUS OF CUSTODIAL NEGOTIATIONS; PARAMETERS OF NASA NEGOTIATIONS; TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT OF HUMAN RESOURCES OFFICER (Executive Session Anticipated)

** MR. BURNETT MOVED TO GO INTO EXECUTIVE SESSION TO DISCUSS STATUS OF CUSTODIAL NEGOTIATIONS; PARAMETERS OF NASA NEGOTIATIONS; TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT OF HUMAN RESOURCES OFFICER.

** MR. CHIARAMONTE SECONDED.

** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

The Board entered into Executive Session at 9:15 p.m.

X. ADJOURNMENT

The meeting was adjourned at 10:15 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Carolyn Marr Telesco Secretarial Services

Category: Minutes