Board of Education Meeting Minutes

August 5, 2008

ATTENDANCE: Susan Hamilton, Chair; Jody Bishop-Pullan; Glenn Iannaccone; Bruce Kimmel; Greg Burnett; Jack Chiaramonte; Rosa Murray; Shirley Mosby; Migdalia Rivas

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

OTHERS: Tony Daddona; Daisy Franklin; Mary Geake; Andrea Light; Eva Bartush; Bruce Mellion

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

Ms. Hamilton called the meeting to order at 8:15 p.m.

II. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE

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

III. SPOTLIGHT ON NORWALK PUBLIC SCHOOLS

Mr. Iannaccone read the following statement:

Alyxie Harrick was named recipient of the 2008 $120,000 Kevin Eidt Memorial Scholarship. Alyxie was selected from a pool of applicants in the Norwalk High Honor Society in good standing and at the top 10% of their class. She was chosen based on her application, recommendations, and interview which most reminded the selection committee of the qualities and accomplishments of Kevin.

IV. SUPERINTENDENT’S REPORT CMT Report

Dr. Corda presented the results of the CMTs for the 2007-2008 school year. He said the tests are administered to students in grades 3-8 in the month of March, which was a change from the previous years of having it in the fall. The students are assessed on the State exams in the areas of math, reading, and writing. This year for the first time, students in grade 5 and grade 8 are assessed in science. The State reports these results in 5 different levels: Level 1 is below basic and Level 5 is the advanced level. Students at level 4 and 5 are considered to be at goal; students at levels 3, 4 and 5 are considered to be at proficiency; and students at levels 1 and 2 are in the non-proficient range. He mentioned that it is important to remember that they are talking about the results of the CMT tests, not “No Child Left Behind.”

Dr. Corda said when they look at the percentage of students who performed at a below basic level, they look for a downward trend, with the goal of having the number get smaller and smaller each year.

In 2006, 15% of students in grade 3 math were at the below basic level. In 2008, 10% were at the below basic level. In grade 3 reading, 25% were at the below basic level; in 2008 it went down to 20%. In grade 3 writing, 10% were at the below basic level; in 2008, it went down to 7%. The expectation is that the number will continue to decrease. The intent is to get it to 0.

Changes in performance in grade 4 math were 15% to 10%; reading stayed the same at 26/27% level. At the State level, the percentages went up. In writing, the single-digit performance has gone down.

In grade 5, they see a decrease in the percentage in math and reading. Writing is stable. 8% of the students in science were at the below basic level, which is comparable to the State level of performance.

The intent is for the number to increase when looking at students at or above proficiency. In grades 3, 4 and 5, in grade 3 writing there were 77% of the students at proficiency in 2006; in 2008 it went up to 80%. In grade 5 reading, in 2006 the number was 65%. It is now 71% in 2008. There is an increasing amount of students who are at or above proficiency in grades 3-5 in the three areas.

In grade 6, in reading for students at the below basic level, they will examine what it is and how they are teaching it to determine if changes need to take place. In grades 7 and 8, for math and reading, they have seen a drop. In writing, the number stayed relatively constant.

Dr. Corda noted an improvement in performance of the sub-groups. The achievement gap is still there, but they are making progress on this.

Dr. Corda continued, saying that the gap in performance between the State and Norwalk is narrowing. Substantial progress was made by students in grades 5 and 8, between 2006 and 2008, in all of the content areas for students at proficiency and goal. At every grade, there is a decline for students at the below basic level in math. At every grade, there is an increase in the percentage of students reaching the advanced level in math. Except for grade 6, there was an increase in goal percentages for every grade. In reading and writing, the gains in proficiency for grades 3, 5, 7 and 8 exceeded the gains that the State saw.

Dr. Corda concluded his report, saying the focus needs to continue on what is happening in the classroom. They need to more effectively use student performance data to inform instructional decisions. Continued support needs to be given to building administrators and to the teachers. Student performance needs to be assessed on a more regular basis.

V. PUBLIC COMMENTS

Please note that these public comments are not verbatim.

Andrea Light, 7 Greenwood Place, said she is a neighbor of the Valverti’s. Jeff is in grade 3 and Gaby is in Kindergarten. She said that after the lottery was done, the Valverti’s had to move out of district (Jefferson School) due to a problem with their house. They were then informed that the children couldn’t attend Jefferson because they no longer lived in the district. Ms. Light felt that the policy is not communicated clearly. She asked how the policy was governed regarding students being admitted to the school via the neighborhood vs. the students being admitted to the school via the magnet lottery. She asked that the policy be communicated clearly for the future.

Daisy Franklin said she and Ms. Mary Geake were representing Ward B, and read a letter that was addressed to Gregg Burnett regarding his making unfortunate comments towards Ms. Rivas at a recent meeting of the Budget Committee. The letter said they strongly recommend and request that Mr. Burnett apologize to Ms. Rivas and the people of South Norwalk at the next available public meeting of the Board of Education before its members and the public.

Eva Bartush spoke about the professional courtesy resolution before the board tonight. . She asked them to support the resolution, as it allows teachers and staff members to be even more involved in their work, school, community, and their children’s education. She said they appreciate the work the Policy Committee has done on this and in such a timely manner.

Bruce Mellion provided each board members a copy of an information packet on Bullying, and he will share the other copies with the NFT building stewards and others in September. He said they are in support of the work that everyone has done regarding professional courtesy. He asked that they consider amending the title of the Director of Administration’s job description to be clearer.

VI. ACTIONS

A. Consent

1. Approval of personnel actions

** MS. MURRAY MOVED TO APPROVE THE PERSONNEL ACTIONS.

** MS. BISHOP-PULLAN SECONDED.

** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

B. Approval of minutes (July 15, 2008)

Minutes of July 15, 2008

** MR. CHIARAMONTE MOVED TO APPROVE THE MINUTES OF JULY 15, 2008.

** MR. BURNETT SECONDED.

The corrections to the minutes of July 15, 2008 are:

On page 1, under STAFF, change “McReady” to “McCready”.

On page 15, under ADJOURNMENT, it should read “The meeting was adjourned at 12:45 p.m.”

** MOTION PASSED WITH EIGHT (8) VOTES IN FAVOR (CHIARAMONTE, BISHOP-PULLAN, KIMMEL, IANNACCONE, MURRAY, BURNETT, RIVAS, MOSBY) AND ONE (1) VOTE ABSTAINED (HAMILTON).

C. Out of District Attendance

** MS. BISHOP-PULLAN MOVED TO APPROVE THE OUT OF DISTRICT ATTENDANCE POLICY RESOLUTION.

** MS. MURRAY SECONDED.

Ms. Bishop-Pullan said the Policy Committee met on July 10 to address the need for a resolution for the students who were impacted by the decision for this school year. They met again on July 22, with many teachers in attendance. The number of students affected is 13.

The resolution is as follows:

Resolved, that secondary students who have been impacted by the inconsistent administration of the attendance policy granting professional courtesy may attend the school for which they applied.

Mr. Burnett moved the following amendment to the resolution:

That the 13 secondary students who have been affected by the inconsistent administration of the attendance policy granting professional courtesy may complete the present school they are attending and/or to which they have applied. This resolution is a one-time amendment, and this resolution does not constitute past practice.

Mr. Iannaccone said that he couldn’t support this amendment. He could only support something that treats the teachers of Norwalk as equals to the teachers from out of town.

Ms. Bishop-Pullan said that the Policy Committee will put this topic on future agendas. It is not a closed case at this point.

The amendment was defeated.

** MOTION PASSED WITH EIGHT (8) VOTES IN FAVOR (CHIARAMONTE, BISHOP-PULLAN, KIMMEL, IANNACCONE, MURRAY, HAMILTON, RIVAS, MOSBY) AND ONE (1) VOTE ABSTAINED (BURNETT).

Dr. Corda clarified that this applied to only the 13 students affected by the decision for the 2008-2009 school year, and the Policy Committee will continue their work on this policy.

D. Approval of breakfast and lunch price increases

** MR. KIMMEL MOVED TO APPROVE THE BREAKFAST AND LUNCH PRICE INCREASES.

** MR. BURNETT SECONDED.

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

E. State of CT – Authorization for signature revision for the Child Nutrition Program

** MR. IANNACCONE MOVED TO AUTHORIZE THE SIGNATURE REVISION FOR THE CHILD NUTRITION PROGRAM – STATE OF CT.

** MS. BISHOP-PULLAN SECONDED.

Dr. Corda clarified for Mr. Iannaccone that this authorizes Dr. Corda to sign the necessary form(s), instead of Mr. Opdahl.

** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

F. Approval of NPS Before and Afterschool Program at Rowayton Elementary

** MR. BURNETT MOVED TO APPROVE THE NPS BEFORE AND AFTERSCHOOL PROGRAM AT ROWAYTON ELEMENTARY.

** MR. IANNACCONE SECONDED.

** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

VII. INFORMATION AND REPORTS

A. Discussion of policy #5125 – Student Records Policy

Ms. Bishop-Pullan said that as the handbook was being revised, they looked for policy consistencies. #3a, as stated in the handbook, will be consistent with the policy.

B. Discussion of Board members’ requests

Ms. Rivas said that when she asked for a certain report regarding consultants, she was told that it was not appropriate to request that type of report.

Some discussion took place among the board members regarding the process for requesting and receiving reports. It was suggested that the request be submitted again to the Executive Committee and put on the board agenda.

C. Discussion of Finance Audit

Ms. Rivas spoke about the process in which the financial audit was conducted. She requested permission to read a paraphrased statement that she wrote about the July 23rd Budget Committee meeting. It is as follows:

When it came time for the auditor to present to the Committee, he said “I had the opportunity as we always do with engagements like this, to review a draft with Dr. Corda and Mr. Burnett. That is just part of what we do to validate things. They asked that I go into more detail in some areas. I have not had the opportunity to go back and do some follow-up interviewing to add to the report. So, I have a fairly good draft in front of me that I would be happy to speak from and answer any questions.”

Ms. Rivas said she felt that the appointed Chair of the Committee is in violation of three of our Norwalk Public School By-Laws. The By-Laws are 91-31, 90-10, and 92-71. She also read an excerpt from Robert’s Rules of Order regarding Duties of Members in which it states that members have a responsibility to courteously call the violation to the attention of the board.

Ms. Rivas asked the Chair to take action upon the appointed Chair for these violations of the by-laws.

D. Report of Curriculum Committee

1. Discussion – Director of Administration job description

The Committee met on July 16 to review the 2 job descriptions. Dr. Corda said he would ask Counsel to advise on the position and if it is in the union or the bargaining group. Mr. Daddona confirmed that if the position is taken out of the union, they would have to discuss it with NASA. If it stays in the bargaining group, they would have to bargain on the impact of the position, which is the compensation.

2. Discussion – transition guidelines (ASI)

Ms. Mosby recommended that they keep the two secretaries that previously reported to the two directors of education, so that they could help out with the workload. The position that they just agreed on most likely won’t take effect for three or four months. She noted that there is a significant savings.

Dr. Corda said that due to increasing enrollment, there most likely will be a need to add one teacher to three schools, for a total of three new teachers.

Some discussion took place among the board members regarding savings, budget figures, workload, etc. Timing is important due to school starting shortly, and there only being one board meeting prior to the start of school. It was agreed that the board would be provided with numbers to review.

Ms. Rivas left the meeting at 10:25 p.m.

3. Discussion – Budget Committee Consultant report on Finance office structure

Ms. Mosby felt the credibility of the report is at stake as the report was not brought back to the entire board as requested.

Some board members felt that the report should have come directly back to the Committee, and that it was an impropriety to meet with one side and not the other.

Mr. Burnett said that there was no wrongdoing here; the exact same report presented to Dr. Corda and himself was presented to the Board. He felt that his integrity was being questioned and felt that this should be taken to a legal body.

Some discussion took place among the board members about the expectations of committees, boards, and chairs, and perhaps to put this on the agenda as an action item.

E. Board member announcements

Mr. Daddona provided Mr. Chiaramonte with information on elective courses that students can take to learn how to prepare for an interview, as well as information on the School to Career curriculum.

Ms. Hamilton said that she recently visited the Brighter Futures pre-school program and said it was wonderful.

Mr. Iannaccone said that the Fire Department has completed its rounds of the city’s summer camps where they instructed the children on fire safety.

ADJOURNMENT

** MR. IANNACCONE MOVED TO ADJOURN.

** MR. CHIARAMONTE SECONDED.

** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

The meeting was adjourned at 10:50 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Carolyn Marr Telesco Secretarial Services

Category: Minutes