Board of Education Meeting Minutes

November 5, 2008

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

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

OTHERS: Josephine Tarado; S. Rodino; Margaret Bustell; Kim Graham; Ms. Supraja; Bruce Mellion; Mr. Welsh; Tony Daddona; Jane Friedlander; Alan Lo

I. CALL TO ORDER – 7:00 P.M. – Rm. A300

Ms. Hamilton called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m.

II. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE

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

III. DISCUSSION OF PENDING LITIGATION RE: NFT FEDERAL COURT LITIGATION & NFT ATHLETIC DIRECTOR ARBITRATION PENDING CLAIMS/PENDING LITIGATION RE SPECTRUM KIDS AND STACY LORE (EXECUTIVE SESSION ANTICIPATED)

Public session will resume at approximately 9:00 p.m.

IV. SPOTLIGHT ON NORWALK PUBLIC SCHOOLS

Mr. Iannaccone read the following:

The Westport Arts Center and the Westport Public Library presented the Westport Youth Film Festival’s 2008 audience award-winning film, “Autism in Our World” by Alexa DiCambio, a 2008 Norwalk High School graduate. The film was presented on October 29. Ms. DiCambio created the 23-minute film, a documentary which centers around the life of Cole Horne, a 10 year-old boy with autism. Ms. DiCambio spent a month filming the Horne family. Along with taking footage of Cole participating in daily activities, Ms. DiCambio also interviewed his family members and others close to him on the effects autism has had on their lives. Ms. DiCambio graduated with high honors and is a member of the National Honor Society. She is attending the School of Visual Arts in NYC where she was awarded the Silas H. Rhodes Merit Scholarship.

V. SUPERINTENDENT’S REPORT

Dr. Corda did not give a report, due to the lateness of the hour resulting from the extensive Executive Session.

VI. PUBLIC COMMENTS

Please note that these public comments are not verbatim.

Ms. Josephine Tarado spoke for a parent who had to leave. The parent did not want her name or her child’s name mentioned. She read the following: My daughter was diagnosed at Boston Children’s Hospital when she was two years old in June of 2005. She was referred to the Norwalk Public Schools in October of 2005. When she was three, she was placed in the Norwalk Public Schools. The district was using Sheila Flanagan, an uncertified therapist. We hired our own certified ABA therapist to evaluate the Norwalk program. Neither myself or my certified therapist felt the program was appropriate, so we placed her in a private school that focuses on autism at our own expense. She was at that school for one year. In October of 2007, we placed her back in the district. The district was using John Burke, another uncertified therapist. On October 7, Spectrum Kids was assigned to my daughter’s case by the Norwalk district. Spectrum Kids worked with my daughter from October of 2007 to August of 2008. No significant progress was made during this time. On August 28, 2008, her first day of kindergarten, Spectrum Kids resigned. In my daughter’s IEP, it states that my daughter is entitled to 1 hour per week of consultation time. We have not received any consultation time since the beginning of the school year. There was a PPT on October 30, when the district offered the services of IPP. IPP said their current therapist working with the district is not yet certified. Ms. Tarado said she is the parent of an 11 year old who had to be outplaced in a private school due to uncertified therapists in the district’s program. Her family lost out on four years of proper therapy and treatment. If Norwalk had certified therapists at that time, he wouldn’t have to have been outplaced. The early years for a child with autism are very important to have the proper people in place to treat them.

Ms. S. Rodino said she is the mother of a 6 ½ year old autistic child. The child was first diagnosed at 3 ½ years old. He was constantly sick and hyperactive. He couldn’t talk or express himself. When it was confirmed after evaluations and visits to Yale, the diagnosis was faxed to the school, to the attention of Stacy Lore and Sheila Flanagan. She said that Ms. Eileen Rosenthal said Ms. Rodino’s son was an exhibitionist, after some occurrences of him removing his clothes. Ms. Rodino said that Ms. Lore had the knowledge of the basic therapy, and the first three months went along without problems. Ms. Rodino began receiving calls from the therapists who were cancelling their appointments with her because Ms. Lore hadn’t paid them for months. She then took her son to NYC for two hours of auditory therapy per day. Her son is now in Kindergarten and has several challenges to contend with, but does not have any support except for 1 hour of speech therapy.

Ms. Margaret Bustell spoke of how parents could work together with the Board of Ed to fix the Spectrum Kids situation. She explained the rates of autism are through the roof and are expected to rise, and the supply has not kept pace with the demand. She said the problem with Spectrum Kids is the result of a much larger statewide problem. School districts don’t have a mechanism in place for evaluating potential employees for behavior analysts and consultants as is the standard practice for other related service providers. She said that Stacy Lore is not the only ABA provider that Norwalk has paid who did not have the proper certification. Without the proper techniques in place, this area of special education creates a potential breeding ground for corruption. Each school district should be required to obtain and maintain a copy of each behavioral analyst’s proof of certification and submit an annual summary to the State. The State requires certification from behavior analysts employed by the State for birth to three. She said as parents, they would like to work together with Norwalk, Attorney General Blumenthal and elected officials to share information and pursue any potential legal action against Stacy Lore and Spectrum Kids as deemed appropriate. She said the ultimate decision is up to the Board, but she felt it was important to make a statement so that if there is anyone else out there who was looking at this as an opportunity to make some quick cash off the backs of special needs kids, they could make sure it wouldn’t happen. She said that they would also like to work with the same group of individuals to ratify statewide recognition of certified behavior analysts as related service providers and the monitoring of these professionals as routine practice. Lastly, she wanted Norwalk to work with the parents to position the district as a leader in the statewide initiative, by recognizing certified behavioral analysts as a related service provider and voluntarily inputting the IDA standards. She thought that Norwalk was as much a victim of Spectrum Kids as the parents were, and she felt that Norwalk could take the initiative moving forward and be an example for the rest of the State.

She provided statistics regarding the fraudulent billing, saying that the home program used time sheets, and the school got the invoices, but there was no mechanism in place for the school to match up the information given on the time sheets. She said there was no log in place for school shadows to confirm if they were at the school. She looked forward to meeting with Dr. Corda, and being part of the solution, and not the problem. Mayor Moccia asked what the length of the certification process was. Ms. Bustell said she couldn’t speak to the specifics but would get him the information. She said that a minimum of a Master’s Degree is needed, as well as 120 hours shadowing a current CBA.

Ms. Kim Graham said at the last meeting, she spoke of her son Nathan’s digression under Stacy Lore of Spectrum Kids, and the more than 100 hours of missing therapy she is still owed for her son. She said that she would like to reiterate the importance of a quick resolution in this matter. She suggests the Board address the following key questions: Did a procedure exist for verifying credentials before the Stacy Lore situation? Moving forward, how have the procedures changed in light of the current situation? How can it be prevented from happening again? How many consultants are presently hired in Norwalk? She said she understood the Special Education budget is roughly $1.6M. What is the forecasted autism program for Norwalk? It could take years to get qualified professionals for the program, and it seems it will be a long way to resolve the situation. She said she applauded the Board for discussing this very difficult situation this evening, and she said that as autism is on the rise, they need to be proactive, not reactive.

Ms. Supraja thanked the Board for the opportunity to speak regarding the Spectrum Kids situation. She suggested a few things that could help. She asked them to give high priority to what the parents are requesting. She said her son is now receiving speech therapy, which wasn’t in place before but she requested it. The children can be mainstreamed sooner if the parents’ requests are met for the appropriate therapy. She felt that the current therapists’ records should be in the school, as well as in a central location so that other States could view them also.

Bruce Mellion said that at the last Board meeting, the Closing of the Brien McMahon Construction Project item had been moved from the Action portion of the agenda to the Information and Reports portion of the agenda. He said a meeting had taken place this past Monday with Mr. Lo, Mr. Hawley, and Mr. Shamas from the City, Mr. Horowitz and Ms. Koroshetz Brown from Brien McMahon, along with himself and others who reviewed all of the open construction issues and concerns. A summary document will then be produced with the items listed that need to be followed up on. The work will either be done by contractors who were supposed to do it, or by Norwalk Public Schools maintenance depending upon the warranty and the nature of the item. One unexpected item did come up at the meeting, and it is the blinds that were of inferior quality and installed incorrectly during Phase 1. He said he felt that all the issues can and will be addressed, as long as they are followed up on, and then the project can be closed out. He thanked retired Principal Joe Rodriguez and others for their help in seeing this situation resolved. He requested that when the project is finally closed, a letter should be sent to all Brien McMahon High School staff thanking them for their cooperation, patience and understanding during the project.

He said information regarding 3rd party billing was sent in the Friday package. He said his concern is that the teachers, particularly the Speech and Language Pathologists, who have the heaviest burden of the billing, do not have programs on laptops, and so it then becomes a paperwork burden. He said Ms. Friedlander is looking into getting the programs installed on the laptops so they can reduce the time spent on paperwork and can spend more time with the children.

Mr. Mellion continued, saying he had a concern regarding the Staff Director. He said that the Staff Director is inaccurate and while the information comes from the City, there is no mechanism to ensure it’s accuracy since Craig Reichenbach retired. It contains names, addresses, and phone #’s that are old and outdated, and should not be used until it is updated.

VII. ACTIONS

A. Consent

1. Approval of personnel actions

** MS. BISHOP-PULLAN MOVED TO APPROVE PERSONNEL ACTIONS.

** MR. CHIARAMONTE SECONDED.

** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

B. Approval of minutes (October 7, 2008)

Minutes of October 7, 2008

** MS. BISHOP-PULLAN MOVED TO APPROVE THE MINUTES OF OCTOBER 7, 2008.

** MR. BURNETT SECONDED.

The corrections to the minutes of October 7, 2008 are:

Under Public Comment, the correct spelling for Ms. Margaret Bostell is Ms. Margaret Bustell.

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

C. Approve Brien McMahon High School SDE Project No. 103-0212 and 103-0213 as complete

** MS. BISHOP-PULLAN MOVED TO APPROVE BRIEN MCMAHON HIGH SCHOOL SDE PROJECT NO. 103-0212 AND 103-0213 AS COMPLETE.

** MR. BURNETT SECONDED.

Ms. Bishop-Pullan thanked Mr. Hawley, Mr. Lo and Mr. Shamas for their follow-up to the concerns the Board had to close out the project.

Mr. Iannaccone asked if the items that were part of the contract were complete. Mr. Lo said there were 15-20 items, or discrepancies, on the punch list that are in the process of being addressed.

Ms. Mosby said for the record, that they included the Principal for her input. She wanted to make it clear that it was based on the fact that the Board requested it; it was not based on the threat of the commission coming in.

Ms. Murray asked how the Board can receive items on work being done and when the items are completed. Mr. Lo said they would create a list of the items discussed and forward it to the Principal and others, and then the contractor would check and make sure it is complete. She requested that the information be forwarded to the Board members in their Friday packets so they could be made aware of the progress being made.

Mr. Kimmel wanted to be sure that the only issue directly related to the renovation project is the vertical curtains. He didn’t want to find similar situations of expired warranties where the City would have to pick up the costs. Mr. Lo said that the vertical blinds were not a suitable product for the school and they have all been switched to horizontal blinds. Mr. Lo explained that mostly everything is out of warranty, except for mechanical items that cold have a 3-5 year warranty.

Mayor Moccia thanked everyone involved for their efforts in getting this $76M project to completion.

** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

D. Approve Roton Middle School SDE Project No. 103-0232 as complete

** MR. BURNETT MOVED TO APPROVE THE ROTON MIDDLE SCHOOL SDE PROJECT NO. 103-0232 AS COMPLETE.

** MR. IANNACCONE SECONDED.

** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

E. Approve appointments to DDDT

** MR. IANNACCONE MOVED TO APPROVE APPOINTMENTS TO DDDT (District Data Decision Making Team).

** MR. CHIARAMONTE SECONDED.

Dr. Corda said that an orientation session has taken place for the new additions to the team. With the addition of these 6 new individuals, they will be increasing the diversity of the team.

** MOTION PASSED WITH SEVEN (7) VOTES IN FAVOR (CHIARAMONTE, BISHOP-PULLAN, KIMMEL, IANNACCONE, HAMILTON, MURRAY, BURNETT) AND TWO (2) VOTES ABSTAINED (RIVAS, MOSBY).

F. Approve reallocation of funds for NHS Culinary Arts program

** MR. CHIARAMONTE MOVED TO APPROVE REALLOCATION OF FUNDS FOR NHS CULINARY ARTS PROGRAM.

** MR. KIMMEL SECONDED.

Ms. Murray asked to make an amendment to the motion. She said that at the last meeting, she spoke about instructional equity in the curriculum and ensuring the physical tools placed in Norwalk High School would assure the support of a post-secondary education.

The amendment is as follows:

** MS. HAMILTON MOVED TO APPROVE REALLOCATION OF FUNDS FOR NHS CULINARY ARTS PROGRAM TO ENSURE THAT THE NHS CULINARY ARTS PROGRAM SUPPORTS A TRANSITION TO A POST-SECONDARY PROGRAM (INCLUDING COMMERCIAL EQUIPMENT).

Mr. Burnett said the equipment is already in the specs. Dr. Corda suggested a schematic be provided to the Board for their information.

** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY IN FAVOR OF AMENDMENT.

G. Approve placing a hold on Director of Administration position ** MS. MURRAY MOVED TO APPROVE PLACING A HOLD ON DIRECTOR OF ADMINISTRATION POSITION.

** MS. RIVAS SECONDED.

Ms. Murray said that the recommendation from the last meeting was to put the approval for the position on hold. Dr. Corda said that if the person was to be in place by July, they should advertise for it no later than February.

** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

H. Approval of field trips

1. Roton & Ponus Ridge Middle Schools to Japan

** MS. RIVAS MOVED TO APPROVE ROTON & PONUS RIDGE MIDDLE SCHOOL FIELD TRIP TO JAPAN.

** MS. MURRAY SECONDED.

Mr. Kimmel said he would vote on field trips related to language and instruction, regardless of cost.

Mr. Burnett said the cost is $2,075, which is slightly less than the $3,000 cost they saw previously for a trip to Japan. Dr. Corda said that there was a student special travel rate, along with contributions from Dr. Jassey, that might have contributed to the reduced cost of the trip. Mr. Burnett said it would be helpful to get more discounted rates for all field trips to try to bring the costs down so that more students could attend.

** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

2. Roton to Heredia, Costa Rica

** MS. RIVAS MOVED TO APPROVE ROTON SCHOOL FIELD TRIP TO HEREDIA, COSTA RICA.

** MR. CHIARAMONTE SECONDED.

** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

3. Norwalk High School to China

** MS. RIVAS MOVED TO APPROVE NORWALK HIGH SCHOOL FIELD TRIP TO CHINA.

** MR. CHIARAMONTE SECONDED.

Mr. Chiaramonte asked about the two-week trip being taken during school session. Mr. Welsh said it was the same timeframe as last year, during the time sophomores take the CAPT exam and the upperclassmen are on an abbreviated schedule. He said there is a model United Nations conference taking place during the same time and this fits well into the curriculum. He said that Beijing is a terrific experience for the students. The students will have one week of home stay with the Sister school during the trip.

He said there is a trip planned to go to the United Nations in NY on November 17th. He said the class enrollment is under 50, and there are 10-15 students going on the trip. In response to Mr. Kimmel’s questions about funding, Mr. Welsh explained that the State has a relationship with Shandung Province and coordinates with the sister cities schools. The State of Connecticut has contributed fairly generously to it over the years. There is no limit on how many students can go, and every student is aware of the Shandung scholarship. Some discussion took place regarding why a small percentage of the class is not going. Some students came forward to speak about the trip, and said they had the opportunity to go last year, but chose not to because of a conflict with another trip. They said that some students have conflicts with sports or other activities.

Mr. Iannaccone said he has supported several trips during the past year, but he did not approve the Egypt trip because they did not bring it for approval within the 4 month time frame. He said that the trip to China is 6 or 7 days short of that timeframe, and he asked why the approval wasn’t brought to them last month. Mr. Welsh said he didn’t have an answer for that. It was noted that the 4 month time frame is not from the date of approval. The Egypt trip did not come with a recommendation. The China trip does. The Egypt trip was not connected to the curriculum at middle school; the students were in 8th grade but they studied Egypt in 6th grade. There will be an intern in the classroom for the students not attending the field trip.

Ms. Bishop-Pullan inquired about the trip's tie-in to the curriculum.

Ms. Rivas noted that this was the first time a scholarship was available for the full price of the ticket. She wanted to make sure that all the students knew of the scholarship opportunity, and she asked how the students were informed of it. Ms. Molly Young, a student in the class, said that it wasn’t on paper, but it was mentioned everyday in class. Mr. Welsh said he was confident that all of the students in the class knew of the scholarship opportunity.

Ms. Mosby wanted to know the composition of the minority students going on the trip. She said she supports the students going out of the country on these trips, and she wants to see an increase in minority students going next year.

Ms. Rivas requested that a flier be sent next year to the Board for them to review, in order to know that all students know of the trip and the scholarship opportunity.

** MOTION PASSED WITH FIVE (5) VOTES IN FAVOR (CHIARAMONTE, IANNACCONE, HAMILTON, BURNETT, MOSBY); ONE (1) VOTE OPPOSED (BISHOP-PULLAN); AND THREE (3) VOTES ABSTAINED (RIVAS, MOSBY, KIMMEL).

VIII. INFORMATION AND REPORTS

A. Special Education Discussion

Ms. Mosby explained that this involved accountability and issues that need to be addressed regarding services for children. She asked Ms. Friedlander some regarding accountability and reporting structure. Ms. Friedlander said that Special Ed Teachers report to the Principal; all 5 Special Ed Administrators report to the Director of Pupil Services; the Director of Pupil Services reports to the Assistant Superintendent; and the Assistant Superintendent reports to Dr. Corda.

Mr. Daddona said Ms. Friedlander works one on one with her staff of 5 administrators. The Special Ed department and the Curriculum department are in the process of merging so they can function as one department. As a co-teaching model, the responsibilities have to be shared. He requests every administrator to provide their weekly schedules and spot checks are performed.

In response to Ms. Murray’s question, Ms. Friedlander said the Assistant Director’s role is a dual role, in that there is some responsibility for schools and procedures.

Ms. Friedlander said the Spec Ed Administrators report to her and have a certain number of schools assigned to them. They help supervise the Special Education instructions, they participate in PPT’s, they model PPT’s, and have expertise regarding the Special Education law and regulations.

Ms. Friedlander said that professional development is offered, sometimes on site. Mr. Daddona said part of the role of every administrator is to offer the staff professional development and to identify an area with needs for professional development. Ms. Friedlander said that professional development has been offered in the past to address PPT issues, but that every PPT is different.

Mr. Kimmel said he wanted to be sure that no gaps happen in services that are to be provided, in light of the recent Spectrum Kids situation. Ms. Friedlander said the children that were in Spectrum Kids have had PPT’s and are receiving services from other providers agreed to at the PPT by the parents and the staff.

** MR. IANNACCONE MOVED TO EXTEND THE TIME PAST 11:00 P.M.

** MR. CHIARAMONTE SECONDED.

** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

Mr. Kimmel asked Dr. Corda to comment on the Spectrum Kids situation. Dr. Corda reiterated what he said at the last meeting, that they are taken the issues seriously and they are being as comprehensive as they can. Counsel is conducting an inquiry. A report will be made available in late November or early December.

Mr. Iannaccone said they need to address the children falling through the cracks, as parents had mentioned earlier in the evening. He wants to be assured that the lost hours are made up. Ms. Friedlander said they have met, or will meet, individually to have PPT’s with the families.

Ms. Rivas asked for an organizational chart listing the responsibilities of the Special Ed staff, with a brief description of each category, as well as a parent organization chart. It was suggested that the Special Ed handbook be incorporated into the Special Ed website, and have hard copies available.

B. Board Member Announcements

IX. ADJOURNMENT

** MR. IANNACCONE MOVED TO ADJOURN.

** MR. CHIARAMONTE SECONDED.

** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

The meeting was adjourned at 11:10 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Carolyn Marr Telesco Secretarial Services

Category: Minutes