Board of Education Special Meeting Minutes

September 22, 2008

ATTENDANCE: Susan Hamilton, Chair; Rosa Murray, Vice Chair; Greg Burnett, Bruce Kimmel, Jody Bishop-Pullan, Glenn Iannaccone; Shirley Mosby (6:39 p.m.); Jack Chiaramonte (6:44 p.m.), Migdalia Rivas (6:47 p.m.)

STAFF: Dr. Salvatore Corda, Superintendent of Schools OTHERS: Bruce Mellion, NFT President; Paul Blumenthal, Missy

Conrad CALL TO ORDER

Ms. Hamilton called the meeting to order at 6:37 p.m.

PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE

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

PUBLIC COMMENT

Let it be noted that the following comments and remarks by all speakers have been summarized and are not necessarily verbatim.

Mr. Mellion came forward and said that he appreciated that the Plan was now posted on the website. He said that he felt that each teacher should receive a copy of the Plan rather than having to go to the website.

Mr. Mellion then said that he did not see where the para-professionals were mentioned in the report.

Ms. Mosby joined the meeting at 6:39 p.m.

Mr. Mellion pointed out that there was a discrepancy with the years stated on the cover and the dates on page 11. He then reviewed some specific concerns in the Plan and indicated what their page numbers were for the Board.

Mr. Chiaramonte joined the meeting at 6:44 p.m.

Mr. Mellion went on to list a few of the goals in the Plan and had some questions about their due dates and whether or not the actions were actually taken. He also indicated there were a few terms such as “SGP” (School Growth Plan), which were not included in the Glossary.

Ms. Rivas joined the meeting at 6:47 p.m.

Mr. Blumenthal then came forward. He said that he had difficulty obtaining the copy of the District Plan. He said last week, a statement was made that NCLB was a moving target. He went on to point out that 2014 the target was 100%, which was constant through out the program.

Mr. Blumenthal then referred to a remark made at the last meeting about weighing a cow on a frequent basis. He said that he believed that it fit in with the District Improvement Plan because weighing a cow frequently would provide data.

Mr. Blumenthal then went on to address the District Improvement Plan. Mr. Blumenthal said that the reason that this meeting was taking place was because the Norwalk Schools had not met the needs of some of the students. He then pointed out the discrepancy with the dates that Mr. Mellion had noted earlier. Mr. Blumenthal said that he believed this Plan was a contract and wondered what would happen if the District failed to meet those goals.

Mr. Blumenthal said the Plan was very difficult to understand for the members of the general public. He then read out a sentence from page 3, which he felt was confusing and imprecise language. He added that the Plan did not clearly articulate the causes as to why the District was in need of this Improvement Plan.

Mr. Blumenthal said that the Cambridge Report addressed the issue of changing the dynamics of the interpersonal relationships, but this was not articulated in the District Plan. He added that the Plan did not clearly indicate what the Plan would do to the teachers’ daily workload. The Plan did not clarify that everyone is committed to excellence. He felt that more care should be given to the scholarship documented in the Plan.

Mr. Blumenthal said that he was unhappy with the parent partnership aspect of the Plan and said that he had spoken with the State Department about this. While it is important to have a welcoming school, it would be more important to have parental involvement in the homework. He then suggested that a homework handbook that would involve parents be created and this is not included in the Plan.

Mr. Blumenthal then asked how the District measures the success of the students education. He then asked how the public measures the success of the education being provided for all the students.

There was no one else present who wished to speak at this time.

ACTIONS

Approval of District Improvement Plan

** MR. KIMMEL MOVED TO APPROVE RESOLUTION THAT WAS BEFORE THE BOARD ON SEPTEMBER 16, 2008, WHICH WAS TABLED PENDING MODIFICATIONS BY THE CHANGES MADE ON PAGE 17. ** MS. BISHOP-PULLAN SECONDED.

Ms. Bishop-Pullan then asked how future modification could be made. Dr. Corda then explained that once the plan is submitted to the State, modifications could be made and the Board would be informed of updated to the plan. He added that there was some broad language regarding objectives, because the goals were not set yet.

Ms. Bishop-Pullan then asked about the District Data Decision Team, which would be making the modifications. Dr. Corda confirmed that it would be the team, which was modified at the last meeting. Dr. Corda said that the minutes of this meeting would be provided to the Data Team for consideration.

Ms. Rivas said that she had a problem with the resolution because the resolution was not written down and given to the Board Members at the meeting. She felt that it would not be accurately recorded. She also objected to the fact that there was a typographical error with the years in the report.

Mr. Kimmel said that it was important to have the full resolution read into the record. Mr. Kimmel then went on to request that Dr. Corda read a resolution into the record. He also said that he would like to have a regular update on the Plan at the Board meetings. He said that he would like as soon as possible with concrete examples of what is being done up to the present about what has been done on the Plan in the October meeting. He requested that items that were mentioned in the public comment be listed and confirmation as to whether or not these items were completed.

Ms. Rivas said that she agreed with Mr. Kimmel and added that there was a separate page in the Plan, which lists what the Board’s goals are.

Dr. Corda said that the resolution as it was tabled was “moved that the BOE approves the 2008-10 District Improvement Plan with the amendment of composition of the District Data Decision Making Team to include three teachers and three parents, the names of which are to be to be submitted to the Board of Education and approved no later than October 21st.”

Ms. Rivas said that it was important to have the word “diversity” included in the event that someone was not able to continue.

Ms. Conrad objected strongly and said that the word “diversity” must be included. Ms. Hamilton then said that Ms. Conrad was out of order. Ms. Conrad said she didn’t care. Ms. Hamilton requested that Ms. Conrad sit down because she was out of order.

** MR. KIMMEL MOVED TO AMEND THE RESOLUTION FROM:

“MOVED THAT THE BOARD OF EDUCATION APPROVES THE 2008-10 DISTRICT IMPROVEMENT PLAN WITH THE AMENDMENT OF COMPOSITION OF THE DISTRICT DATA DECISION MAKING TEAM TO INCLUDE THREE TEACHERS AND THREE PARENTS, THE NAMES OF WHICH ARE TO BE TO BE SUBMITTED TO THE BOARD OF EDUCATION AND APPROVED NO LATER THAN OCTOBER 21ST.”

TO:

“MOVED THAT THE BOARD OF EDUCATION APPROVES THE 2008-10 DISTRICT IMPROVEMENT PLAN WITH THE AMENDMENT OF COMPOSITION OF THE DISTRICT DATA DECISION MAKING TEAM TO INCLUDE THREE TEACHERS AND THREE PARENTS, THE NAMES OF WHICH ARE TO BE TO BE SUBMITTED TO THE BOARD OF EDUCATION AND APPROVED NO LATER THAN OCTOBER 21ST. IT IS THE INTENT OF THE BOARD TO INCREASE THE RACIAL AND ETHNIC DIVERSITY OF THE EXISTING DATA DECISION MAKING TEAM AND TO MAINTAIN THAT DIVERSITY THROUGH OUT THE LIFE OF THE DATA DECISION MAKING TEAM.

** MS. BISHOP-PULLAN SECONDED.

Ms. Rivas said that she did not understand how the motion would be modified. Ms. Bishop-Pullan clarified how the amendment would be added to the motion.

** THE MOTION TO APPROVE THE AMENDMENT TO THE RESOLUTION AS READ PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

Ms. Rivas asked whether the Board would be informed if there were any additional changes to the Plan. Dr. Corda said that they would be informed.

** THE MOTION TO APPROVE THE 2008-2001 AS AMENDED PASSED UNANIMOUSLY. ADJOURNMENT

** MR. IANNACCONE MOVED TO ADJOURN. ** MS. BISHOP-PULLAN SECONDED. ** THE MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

The meeting adjourned at 7:32 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Sharon L. Soltes Telesco Secretarial Services

Category: Minutes