Board of Education Meeting Minutes part 2

July 15, 2008

It was confirmed that the Board does the evaluation for the Human Resources Officer. Ms. Mosby asked, as a member of the Curriculum Committee, to see the objective on the minority, recruiting, training, hiring and retention to focus more on that and make it a goal. Ms. Bishop-Pullan agreed with Ms. Mosby. Dr. Corda said that when the hiring is done at the end of the season, a report is sent out.

** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

E. Approval of agreement between BOE and Local 1042 July 1, 2008 -

June 30, 2011

** MR. KIMMEL MOVED THE APPROVAL OF AGREEMENT BETWEEN BOE AND LOCAL 1042 JULY 1, 2008 – JUNE 30, 2011.

** MR. CHIARAMONTE SECONDED.

Mr. Burnett asked if this was discussed during the Executive Session held earlier this evening. Ms. Murray said yes. Ms. Mosby cited a conflict of interest and said she would abstain from voting.

** MOTION PASSED WITH SIX (6) VOTES IN FAVOR (CHIARAMONTE, BISHOP-PULLAN, KIMMEL, IANNACCONE, MURRAY, RIVAS) AND TWO (2) VOTES ABSTAINED (BURNETT, MOSBY).

F. Amplification of approval for trip to San Antonio

** MS. RIVAS MOVED TO APPROVE AMPLIFICATION OF APPROVAL FOR TRIP TO SAN ANTONIO.

** MR. IANNACCONE SECONDED.

Dr. Corda explained that the rationale for this, as shared by Mr. Secchi, was the same concern voiced by the parents, that the children should not be on the road on New Year’s Eve. There were no extra charges incurred by extending the trip by one day and making a stop, because they did not incur the charge for a second driver and accommodations as they were not going to be driving continuously.

** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

VII. INFORMATION AND REPORTS

A. Discussion of policy #5117 – School Attendance Areas

Ms. Bishop-Pullan said that a meeting was held on July 10, and about 15 teachers were there and spoke on the issue. She said the policy, as she knows it, is in the packet, and the policy has been that way for years. She further explained two clarifications regarding the professional courtesy issue. First, it is for teachers living out of district and who want to bring their children to Norwalk, and it is per their contract that was negotiated on. Secondly, the policy also states that the teacher is not choosing the school for their child, but having the child attend the school they teach in. She said the only financial impact the policy would have is if the number of students in the class goes over the normal amount and an aide is needed. She said the Committee made no recommendation at this point.

Mr. Daddona explained some information for the Board, outlining that childcare is listed on the Board of Education form that teachers/parents have to fill out when requesting out of district school attendance.

Some discussion followed regarding this, mentioning establishing a grandfather policy for the future, and the impact on the students being out of their district during elementary school but having the possibility of changing to their district school during middle and high school. It was clarified that the policy is granted only for a year, and the parent/teacher has to reapply every year. It was further clarified that if there was no room the following year, the student would not be allowed to attend that school.

The Board members continued to discuss this, saying that the policy hadn’t changed, just the implementation of it had. It was clarified that each year the parent/teacher applies, it is clearly stated that the process has to be validated each year, that it is not an entitlement.

** MR. IANNACCONE MOVED TO APPROVE THE EXTENSION OF TIME PAST 11:00 P.M.

** MR. CHIARAMONTE SECONDED.

** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

It was mentioned that if the policy is implemented as designed, the school administrators need to implement the policy as designed. Mr. Daddona said that the secondary letters were sent out already, and the elementary letters will be sent out tomorrow. It was decided to send this back to the Policy Committee.

B. Board members’ announcements

Mr. Burnett said that they will be having a Budget Committee meeting next Wednesday, July 23rd at 7:30 p.m. in Room A300. They will receive the report from the auditor who was commissioned to look at the Finance Department.

Ms. Mosby said there will be a Curriculum Committee meeting Wednesday night, July 16th at 7:45 p.m. in Room A300. They will review the job description of the Director of Administration.

** MR. BURNETT MOVED TO ADD AN ITEM TO THE AGENDA, DISCUSSION OF THE AFTERSCHOOL PROGRAM AT ROWAYTON SCHOOL.

** MR. IANNACCONE SECONDED.

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

Dr. Corda asked Ms. Mary Peniston to join them, as she has been involved with this. He said the Board had a proposal for an afterschool program both at Kendall and at Rowayton which would give them the opportunity to implement the model. The Board approved it at Kendall, but there were questions concerning Rowayton. There was also an issue raised by the Executive Director of the Y, about the opportunity to participate in the proposal. The Y informed them that they did not intend to submit a proposal. He said they wanted to discuss with the Board this evening a model that would enable them to have an afterschool program at Rowayton.

Ms. Peniston said that they have a small program serving less than 20 families and less than 50 children. She mentioned that a survey was taken recently. It showed that 65% of the families surveyed were in favor of a before and after school program offering enrichment and academic support. The fee would be based on a sliding scale. All services fall under one umbrella. Kendall is run in conjunction with NEF. The schools would not incur any operating costs. Approval for the program at Rowayton would require a vote at the August 5, 2008 Board of Education meeting.

Ms. Bishop-Pullan asked about the staffing. Ms. Peniston said that Rowayton has been managing a program with 4 or 5 aides for 50 children. Two are from the Y, and the others would be employed at Rowayton for the year. Others would have to be hired through NEF. She said they can’t proceed without the Board’s approval. Ms. Peniston said that if this went through, the Board would be notified of the program’s progress about halfway through the year. The fee would be 25% for reduced lunch students and 50% for free lunch students. The total fee is $335 per month for both the morning and afternoon programs. There is an $80,000 grant that would pay for the administrative costs. There are several families with ELL students. The staff will speak Spanish with the parents if necessary. There are no accommodations for Special Education students in this program, nor in the programs at the other schools, but that is not excluding them and they are able to attend. There will be one bus available for transportation to each school. There was some discussion about Care for Kids and the ability for families to pay for the program.

Ms. Peniston continued to answer questions from the Board members about the application process, the fee structure, pre-testing and post-testing, and academic benefits and performance in an effort to close or narrow the achievement gap. It was decided that the Board members would communicate their questions/concerns to Ms. Peniston so that they would be prepared to vote on this at the August 5, 2008 meeting.

IX. DISCUSSION OF UNPAID MEDICAL LEAVE FOR EMPLOYEE; CONTINUATION OF SUPERINTENDENT’S EVALUATION (Executive Session Anticipated)

** MR. IANNACCONE MOVED TO GO INTO EXECUTIVE SESSION TO DISCUSS UNPAID MEDICAL LEAVE FOR EMPLOYEE; AND CONTINUATION OF SUPERINTENDENT’S EVALUATION.

** MR. CHIARAMONTE SECONDED.

** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

The Board entered into Executive Session at 11:50 p.m.

X. ADJOURNMENT

The meeting was adjourned at p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Carolyn Marr Telesco Secretarial Services

Category: Minutes